I can’t live without my dongle. There, I’ve said it. As head of Mobile Broadband it probably comes as no surprise to you, right? Well more than 1 million of you now have one on Three, so I suspect that I’m not alone.
Though we suspected we were on the cusp of something big when we launched the UK’s first £10 a month Mobile Broadband plan back in 2007, we couldn’t have imagined then how quickly the dongle would become such a staple part of our digital lives.
We’ve tried to stick to two broad principles when it comes to Mobile Broadband, and the first of those is value. We always saw the future of mobile being driven by data, and you’ll still find that our Mobile Broadband price plans offer the biggest allowances on the market – our 15GB plan is still our most popular.
Principle two is quality of service which is key, with network speed being a big part of that. We’ve spent millions over the last three years to bring you a strong and reliable 3G network, so that when you connect to it you get a signal that doesn’t drop and speeds that let you do more of what you love when you’re online.
So now we’ve got an announcement to make; a new addition to our dongle family that I believe supports both of those principles. On 7th April we’ll be bringing a new premium dongle to Three.
The premium dongle comes with the latest HSPA+ technology to give it greater network performance. And a brand new form factor which is its rotating head which allows it to point vertically upwards instead of sideways allowing it to grab hold of our 3G network more easily. The rotating head also acts as a cap so you’ll never have to worry about losing that extra bit of plastic again.
The rotating head coupled with a new chipset has meant that in our own speed tests we’ve seen the premium dongle deliver speeds up to 40% faster than some of our older models. So whether you’re updating your Facebook status or replying to your work emails you can now do it a lot quicker.
Existing Pay As You Go or Pay Monthly customers who are not eligible for upgrade, can purchase the premium dongle for £59.99 from three.co.uk or 3Store from 7th April. Existing Pay Monthly Mobile Broadband customers who are eligible to upgrade can call 500 from a Three handset or 0843 373 0500* from a landline, to hear what offers are available, and order from today. You can find out more about it here.
Matt in the Mobile Broadband team here has made a quick video to take you through the benefits of premium dongle – take a look and let us know what you think…We’ll also be hosting a few competitions over on our Twitter and Facebook pages, so keep an eye out for your chance to win one.
521 Responses to The latest dongle technology comes to Three.
Moderator: Lauren 01/04/2013
@Fran – I’m afraid I can’t comment on any other companies services.
fran 31/03/2013
why has voderpone got a better service for up streaming than you and yet you charge for this. why?
Moderator: Kaz 12/07/2012
@Alan – thanks for you comments and I’ll pass them to our mobile broadband team for consideration.
Alan 12/07/2012
I only have a minor criticsm; Design of the Premium Dongle. The swivelling connecter would be better if it didn’t connect the dongle back to front. At the moment when connected the user can’t see the indercator LED signifying signal strength recieved i.e. whether 3G or HSPA+ without refering to the desktop. Most inconvenient when using the new Wi-Fi Hub.
Moderator: Lauren 22/05/2012
@Tim – I’ve passed your comments on to our Social Media Care team who will be in touch by email to investigate your issues.
Tim 22/05/2012
Thank you for your response Lauren.
Sorry I haven’t responded sooner, but guess what, the network which according to 3 has “no problems”, has major problems,,, I haven’t been able to connect at all for about a week.
Please don’t tell me there is a problem with my system, because there quite obviously isn’t,,, unless hardware errors miraculously fix themselves,,, which of course they don’t.
So quit with the excuses, admit there is a problem with your network and FIX it.
My guess is that it is seriously congested.
And no, I haven’t been in touch with Tech Team, because the last time I contacted them, they hung up on me, I was polite and respectful to them, would be nice if they were the same.
Disgraceful company who have absolutely zero respect for their customers.
Very professional conduct
Moderator: Lauren 10/05/2012
@Tim – sorry to hear you’re still having issues. Have you spoken with our Mobile Broadband tech team regarding your signal issues?
Tim 09/05/2012
If anyone is still being fed lies by these cowboys,,, just do a search for 3 MBB reviews. If the network and service are as good as they boast they are, than explain the countless thousands of bad reviews by dissatisfied customers.
And the number of complaints about 3 MBB far outnumber the alternatives,,, do yourselves a favour and avoid this useless company like the plague.
If I had the funds, I would be dragging them through the courts for breach of service contract and false advertising, unfortunately I don’t have the funds, perhaps if enough of us group together we can tear them apart in the courts,,, but wait, I must be in cloud cuckoo land,,, the regulators say they are on the side of the consumer but in reality these cowboys can ride rough shod over their poorly treated customers,,, profit, profit, profit,,, money is there God.
/sarcasm on;
Keep up the good work 3.
/sarcasm off;
Moderator: Kaz 19/04/2012
@Tim – Sorry to read that you have been having issues. Just checked the postcode you supplied and there are no issues with masts in your area and you should be getting strong indoor and outdoor coverage. I was wondering if you have tired using your MBB SIM in another device to see if that improves signal? Or tried using a phone on our network at this postcode? I can’t see any reason why your coverage should be bad and sorry I can’t really be of anymore help.
Tim 18/04/2012
Excuses, excuses, excuses.
3 things 3 are good at giving.
I’ve been told it’s a problem with my dongle, which is of far better quality 3 supply, problems which miraculously fix themselves.
My house is made from the wrong type of bricks.
There is a problem with your local mast which will be fixed (when exactly). because If it has been “fixed”, it certainly hasn’t improved anything, network is worse than it has ever been.
When I first started using 3 MBB the service was good, but it has steadily got worse, never any improvement.
I know you can provide the service, sometimes, very rarely it actually works as “advertised”, but it never lasts long, disconnects, staying connected but absolutely no traffic downstream, always traffic upstream though, as if my dongle is “shouting” at the mast but the mast ignores it.
Would love to hear the next excuse,,, please make it original, this is getting very boring now.
It amazes me how these cowboys stay in business
Moderator: Kaz 11/04/2012
@Melanie – Please can you supply a full postcode and I’ll check for coverage in that area. Alternatively you could use our coverage checker
Melanie 11/04/2012
@Paul did you get an answer to ‘I want to use a dongle in Earls Court exhibition halls, will this dongle give better reception?’ I shall be attending an exhibition in a few weeks and really could do with knowing the answer?
Moderator: Kaz 05/03/2012
@Tim – So to here that you are still having network issues, I’ve just checked and your 2 local masts are not working at 100%. However there is worked planned on both these masts starting this weekend, hopefully by early next week your network issue should be fixed.
Tim 05/03/2012
Well after almost 1 week of perfect operation, I believe your theory that it’s my hardware at fault is complete and utter rubbish.
Because, correct me if I am wrong, hardware doesn’t suddenly work perfectly and then go back to its previous (in 3′s expert opinion) faulty state.
NO MORE EXCUSES.
Get it fixed, I know you can provide a stable connection, one day last week I managed to stay online, with a useable connection for approx. 10 hours,,, yes TEN hours.
Now thanks to 3′s incompetence I’m lucky if it stays connected for 5 minutes.
For what it’s worth here is my postcode yet again,,, (REMOVED)
I will also repeat myself from a previous message,,, if I sold a product to 3 that “sort of worked as advertised”, they would be chasing me through the courts for breach of contract.
But us, the customers can damn well whistle can’t they.
Oh and by the way, the BBC are investigating 3 and the other MBB providers, hopefully they will bring to light the truth behind these despicable companies.
P.s. 4 disconnects in the time it’s taken me to type this,,, and it’s not a very long message is it ?
Would you accept a “service” of this quality ?
paul 01/03/2012
I want to use a dongle in Earls Court exhibition halls, will this dongle give better reception?
paul 01/03/2012
Hi.
I want to use a dongle in E
Moderator: Kaz 26/02/2012
@Greg – Sounds like there is either an issue with your dongle or a temporary network issue. Please can you provide a full postcode so I can check for recent mast problems.
Greg 24/02/2012
Hi, my dongle speeds used to be great. Lately however all the dongle does is flash the green light on and off repeatedly On for 1 second off for 2 seconds over and over. I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling software but no change.
Paul 21/02/2012
Great video. So upbeat, refreshing and straight to the point. I now have one. Even in my poor reception area it works great.
Moderator: Johanna 13/02/2012
@rae – if you post your full postcode I can take a look for you?
rae 12/02/2012
hi i have a big problem i h=got a message from 3 saying they were updating in my area and now i cant get on to the internet at all please help me as i am disabled and cant go out the internet is my life yours not happy rae