Broadband Good for Students

Mobile broadband has improved massively over the last year or so.  The reality is that 4G LTE, or Long Term Evolution, is much, much faster than 3G ever was.  This article will look at whether 4G broadband is a sensible solution for students, and some of the other options available to this group of users.

Is 4G Connectivity Fast Enough?

4G connectivity is certainly fast enough for just about anyone’s internet connectivity needs.  Orange Broadband has found that speeds are averaging between 8 and 12Mbps, which is around the level that the average fixed line broadband solution runs at.  This will enable individuals to do just about anything they could not do on their 3G connections, including streaming high-definition voice and video chat, and even multiplayer gaming

The theoretical speeds of 4G are even much better.  Orange Broadband say that their connections are up to 100Mbps, and that their upload speeds may go up to 40 or 50Mbps.  It remains to be seen whether other broadband providers are going to be able to offer even faster speeds but, at the moment, we only have the one provider to look at.

Orange Broadband, T Mobile Broadband -- The Only Provider

Everything Everywhere is a joint venture between Orange Broadband and T Mobile, and they are the first company to have an early release of 4G connectivity.  Essentially, they were able to use a portion of their 3G spectrum, and release early in return for selling a part of their 1800MHz spectrum to 3 Mobile.  Following the Ofcom auction of the 4G spectrum, Vodafone, 3, O2, BT - through a subsidiary and MLL, among others, have all purchased portions of the spectrum.  We should expect to see different providers rolling out throughout 2013 and into 2014, which will increase the scope of connectivity on 4G to around 99% of the country.

Work Groups through Mifi

Through MiFi, several students are going to be able to do work on the move or in the park using one broadband connection.  Indeed, it’s possible to get five connections on to the same mobile broadband line with good speed these days.  This is perfect for work groups who don’t what to meet at a location with a wireless hotspot, and for locations where you can only use mobile broadband as the only practical solution.

MiFi for Home Student Connections

Indeed, MiFi also makes it possible for students to get online at home with their MiFi device.  Perhaps the biggest issue will be who has responsibility for the device because taking it out will mean that other people in the house don’t have a connection.  But certainly, speeds will be enough for two or three people to jump on the same connection simultaneously and do fairly high-intensity activities. 

Data Costs on Orange Broadband

We’ve already seen that data costs are going to remain high on mobile broadband for the foreseeable future.  A fortune has been spent by the various internet service providers on their lots of the broadband spectrum.  Therefore, they’re going to want to recoup their expenditure, and data costs are likely to stay high.

Broadband packages on smartphones are probably going to come with 2, 3, 4, or 5GB of data, and the unlimited package - or ‘all you can eat’ - packages that we see will come with probably 20 to 30GB of data, at the most.  In terms of high-definition streaming, this is not a lot of data.  Certainly, on our smartphone, it’s plenty for the kinds of activities we may want to do, but when it comes to using mobile broadband as a home broadband solution, and with several media hungry students consuming data, it may well not be enough.

The great thing is that, at the end of the period where students are together in the same house, the MiFi device can be taken away and the contract not wasted.  Indeed, one of the biggest problems with fixed line broadband, with some providers, is that it is a lengthy contract to be committed to.  For example, BT Internet tends to have contracts that start from 18 months’ duration.  We’ve seen a few student contracts that have nine months duration, for example, from Virgin Broadband, but these tend to be expensive over the course of the period; and sometimes, it’s actually better for students to take a 12-month contract and pay to exit the contract at the end, out of money saved from the first nine months.

Fibre Optic Broadband for Students

Fibre optic broadband is certainly a great option for many student homes.  It doesn’t have to be expensive, and it provides the opportunity to get speeds of up to 100Mbps on Virgin Broadband and, perhaps, in the future, even up to 330Mbps on BT Broadband.

Even a package of 38Mbps is enough for most student households to do all the things they need to do, and it’s available for £20 or £30 a month.

Bundles for Students

It’s also possible to get a bundle of different services in order to facilitate a more comprehensive home entertainment and communications environment.  For example, by getting a Sky Broadband, talk and digital TV package, you can get a really high-value set of services which, shared between five or six students in a student house, may equate to just £10 or £15 each per month per person. 

The true value in these packages is often the fact that the Sky TV channels provide a medium for entertainment so that students can stay in more often rather than go out.  I certainly remember when I was a student - if I’d had Sky so that I didn’t have to go out and watch the Champion’s League, I would have saved a fortune.

Friday could be movie night and, instead of spending time on those student union affairs downing pints and spending untold amounts of one’s student loan, the only expense could be a contract for digital TV through Sky.  For some students, the investment in a complete media communication package is the best one they could make in their student lives - except, perhaps, their books.

Top Tip for Students

One thing that many students don’t understand is that they can actually use their smartphones as their mobile internet device when they are out and about.  This can be easily achieved by either tethering their phone to their device using their micro USB to USB cable, or by setting up their smartphone as a wireless hotspot.

Setting Up as a Wireless Hotspot

Setting up as a wireless hotspot simply involves turning on your mobile broadband signal to broadcast, and having the security set up.  Often, this is the simplest of tasks - going to your settings, wireless settings and checking a box to broadcast your broadband signal.  Normally, you can, from the same screen, set up a password; and then, from the device that you wish to connect, simply click manage connections or search for networks and find the network name of your phone, and enter the password.  Then you have a connection from your smartphone to your laptop that is available any time you want, without having to set it up again.

Of course, having wireless set up on your phone will drain your battery faster and, if you tether your phone to your laptop, you will drain the battery of your phone unless there is a charging relationship between the two devices.

Be careful if you do use your smartphone this way, as you can consume a lot of data very quickly.  For example, if your laptop ran an update of Windows, you could consume 50 or more megabytes extremely quickly, without even knowing that it happened.

The data costs on smartphone contracts are quite expensive and, so, you need to be aware of the use of your data when you’re using other devices.  Also, do make sure that your connection is secured; otherwise, other people can jump on your connection and could well consume a month’s worth of data in a few minutes by streaming high-definition movies.