O2 Mobile Broadband Pay As You Go

Independent review with up to date prices, details and special offers for this package...

No contract - pay as you go!
Choose your download allowance
Free access to 6100 Wi-Fi hotspots in the UK
£19.99 for the USB modem (in black, pink or white!)
Pre-loaded usage plans: 1GB or 2GB
30 day money back guarantee

At a glance

Our Rating:

Monthly Price:	£2
USB Modem Cost:	from £19.99
Contract Length:	Pay As You Go

Mobile Broadband:
Max Speed:	Up to 3.6Mb
Usage Limit:	0.5GB

See all options for this package

O2 mobile broadband review: PAYG

GET online without getting tied into a costly contract with these fairly simple, mid-priced mobile broadband packages from O2.

Pay for your time online?

Unlike many other mobile broadband packages, where you pay for your usage allowance, with O2 mobile broadband you pay for the time that you'll be online... at least in theory.

The service looks like a scaled-down version of traditional home broadband because you have to stick to a usage allowance for your 24 hour, 7 day or 30 day period.

However, when you exceed your usage allowance you'll be cut off no matter how long you've been using, so effectively you're still paying for usage rather than time!

If you are a light user who only wants to use mobile broadband for browsing once in a while or for a few hours every day then it'll be fine: you'll probably more or less use your allowance in the time you have.

It'll also suit you if rarely use mobile broadband but when you do use it you want to watch a film or download large files since you can just power through the usage allowance without worrying about the time limit.

Luckily for O2, there's a lot of people in the two former categories.

The only people that it won't suit are very light users, since their allowance could run out before they have a chance to use it all up.

If you think that might be you, you could opt for a pre-loaded usage option. 1GB pre-loaded will last for three months and 2GB - bizarrely - lasts for a month.

They aren't particularly good value - 1GB costs £10, it's £7.50 to top up by 1GB for a week - so it's one for very light users only.

The dongle

Pay as you go dongle prices vary wildly from provider to provider but O2's dongle is now one of the best (albeit for a limited time only) just £9.99.

The technology is still pretty new and it seems that some mobile broadband providers are either seriously slow on the uptake or keen to take advantage of the general confusion surrounding the technology by over-charging.

It's also available in a choice of black, pink or white because imagine what would happen if one didn't accessorize ones dongle properly (I know! Omg!).

Access to 'The Cloud'

Unlike some other mobile broadband providers that we could mention - hello, T-mobile - O2 PAYG customers can also use their dongle to get free access to the company's wireless network 'the cloud'.

There 7,500 of these WiFi hotspots in the UK so it's a nice extra, particularly if you'll be using your mobile broadband in urban areas which are likely to have this kind of access.

It is worth noting however, that the unlimited WiFi access will only work while you're in credit - so sadly, you can't get free access to The Cloud without paying at least something at some point.

Finally, O2 have a 30-day happiness guarantee so if you're not satisfied with your services you can return your dongle and get a full refund.

Now, to us, that's a great reason to give O2 mobile broadband a go.