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This article was taken from the February 2013 issue of Wired magazine. Be the first to read Wired's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by <span class="s1">subscribing online.
How we tested Tester Chris Finnamore used speedtest.net in urban and suburban locations to measure upload, download and ping times. He tested web-browsing and tried HD and standard streaming via BBC iPlayer, and ran the same tests on a fixed line ADSL connection as a control for comparison.
Vodafone pay-as-you-go dongle Oh dear. Our tester used a Vodafone smartphone to find the testing location, and the network was so slow, Google Maps was unusable. The network was also too slow to run the speedtest.net download-and-upload tests, and BBC iPlayer was unwatchable. We double-checked the results using our Vodafone smartphone as a wireless hotspot, with the same results. It does come with a handy lanyard attached to the dongle cap, but that's about all we can praise here.
Wired: Looks nice when worn around your neck
Tired: Sub-1995 speeds
Score: 2/10
Price: £24.99 prepay cost for 500MB on Pay As You Go
Three Huawei E3256 Premium dongle Three's mobile broadband boasts a neat dongle with a fold-away USB connector, and no software to install -- you manage your account through the web interface. The dongle gave us impressive transfer speeds -- in central London we achieved the second-fastest downloads after EE's 4G dongle, and in the suburbs Three was the speed king. It was also the only dongle apart from the 4G that could handle HD video streaming from BBC iPlayer.
Wired: Suburb speed
Tired: Not cheapest
Score: 8/10
Price: From £8.89/month for 1GB, £5 upfront cost
T-Mobile mobile broadband USB stick 615
T-Mobile's internet-manager software may be ugly, but it gives you a wealth of information, including at-a-glance data usage and a speed graph for uploads and downloads. In our urban speed-test T-Mobile's network couldn't keep up with Three's download rate, but uploads were quick. Suburban performance let it down, though.
Wired: Swift uploads
Tired: No HD iPlayer
Score: 7/10
Price: From £7.50/month for 1GB, £29.99 upfront
O2 mobile broadband dongle E173 There's nothing flashy about O2's dongle, but you can at least buy it in black, white or pink. The connection-manager software does little but connect and disconnect, and loading speeds were unremarkable in urban areas. However, it was the second-fastest dongle in the suburbs after Three's, though we still couldn't quite achieve smooth BBC iPlayer HD streaming.
Wired: Downloads
Tired: Basic software
Score: 6/10
Price: From £10.21/month for 1GB, £10.20 upfront
EE E392 At the time of testing, EE's 4G broadband dongle was only receiving a 4G signal in a limited number of locations in the UK (see ee.co.uk/coverage for current details). The test download speeds were 8Mbit/s faster than a comparable home ADSL connection, and uploads almost 30 times quicker. Web browsing can't quite match ADSL, but it's still pretty snappy -- and way ahead of 3G.
Wired: Speedy
Tired: Pricey
Score: 9/10
Price: From £15.99/month for 2GB, £49.99 upfront
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
