USB Modems

Thursday, 04 March 2010 11:55 Last Updated on Thursday, 04 March 2010 12:15

USB Modems allow access to the Internet from any computer, anywhere. They are ideal for laptops but are also useful in rural areas where a landline is not available.

They use mobile phone technology and so the coverage is available is the same as that of the mobile phone. Check the signal from each provider to be sure of getting a signal. In any case, when buying a 'dongle' always make it a condition of the sale that it works at the address you will be using at.

As with mobile phones, you can choose to prepay or enter into a contract.

Here are the prices for Vodafone as at February 2010 (Vodafone provide a good signal in my area of Spain - Sax, Alicante).

Max Speed	Monthly cost	Modem Cost	Contract Length	Download Limit
21 Mb	39 Euros + iva	39 Euros + iva	No fixed contract	None
21 Mb	39 Euros + iva	0 Euros	18 month contract	None
7 Mb	19 Euros + iva	0 Euros	18 month contract	500mb*	*After 500mb 2 Euros per day

My recommendation for regular users of the Internet who download music, videos etc is for the contract to give the maximum speed and unlimited download. I would pay the 39 Euros for the modem to avoid being tied into a contract.

For 'light' users who use the internet mainly for surfing and emails I would take the 19 Euros contract. If you exceed the 500mb then 2 Euros per day is a good option. By the way, on this contract, if you exceed 3Gb then your speed is reduced to 1Mb (plenty quick enough).

While we're talking about speeds, the speeds mentioned are maximum and you are most likely not going to get these speeds in rural areas.