UK : 3g Sim Card Options : Z Series

Hi,

For those with inbuilt WWAN cards, what mobile network are you currently using? My Z series came with a t-mobile card; but I have not been able to find pricing details for these, unless it is the same price as if you were getting a free USB modem as well.

What is anyone else using, and how much are you paying?

 

I personally feel t-mobile is the best in the UK although I've heard o2 have reduced their prices.

You get the sim with the laptop, you have to call t-mobile up and register then off you go. I think it's like 15 quid a month but you can have the pay as you go option too.. £2 for the whole day etc..

http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/shop/mobi...ns/pay-monthly/mobile-broadband-laptop/plans/

heres the pay as you go bit http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/shop/mobile-broadband/pay-per-day-options/

 

Ahsan, is the WWAN module locked to t-mobile? I wonder if they negotiate prices, it seems unfair to pay the same price as the USB modem people given we have paid for the WWAN module in the laptop!

 

Hi, the WWAN module is not locked. It'll work with any UK network even Three.

I don't really use the mobile broadband on my Sony Z. For this reason, i find TMobile PAYG to be the best value but i also have Vodafone 3g on my N95 so i've installed Nokia PC Suite and run "Connect to the Internet" and it seamlessly does. Vodafone gives me 500mb of fair use per month for free so thats enough for me. I could stick my vodafone sim into my Z and use it that way too but via Bluetooth is fine for me needs.

 

I have a T-Mobile contract - £15 per month for 3GB. It's worth noting that the 3gig isn't a hard limit though... I've never yet reached it but I'm told they just email a warning or two before slightly throttling your speed until the next billing period - much fairer than some other networks. For instance, Vodafone will charge you another £15 if you go even 1 byte over the limit!
I don't use my contract as much as I thought I would, but I love having the option there when I need it without thinking about it or having to plan ahead by topping up.

I used my T-Mobile SIM to roam in Portugal on holiday and it worked seamlessly, but the extra cost is prohibitive - around £1.50 per MB. I quickly got myself a PAYG SIM on the P-TMN network for €15 including 300MB usage and topped that up another couple of times. It worked out more expensive than my UK contract price per meg but much cheaper than roaming with my UK SIM.

 

Thanks guys for the help, I will probably go for £15/month if its 12 month contract and not longer; i have an iphone and while that has data i imagine trying to get it to sync easily with the laptop is going to be a pain - not to mention drain the iphone's already rather anemic battery life.

Good point on PAYG sims abroad. I assume no one has brought out a pan-european PAYG data sim like there are a few voice ones with fairer prices. I think the EU regulators will force down data roaming costs pretty soon anyway.

 

One other questions. I just bought my laptop, in the box was a 2 year warranty extension for registering the laptop, but it expired 30th September.

Any chance I will still be able to get this somehow?

 

Call Sony to find out. As far as I know, it was a time-limited offer to encourage early adopters to take the plunge... but Sony might be able to do you a deal or extend the offer. Can't do any harm to ask!

 

FYI,

O2 offers prepay mobile broadband for £2 per day for up to 500gb. See the best so far. Hopefully other networks will follow.

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/240207/o2-offers-prepay-mobile-broadband-for-2-per-day.html