Product Vodafone Mobile Connect Modem
Manufacturer Huawei
Price £192.95 inc VAT (Expansys)
Web site www.vodafone.co.uk

THE PRODUCT on review here is classified as the Vodafone's Mobile Connect Modem. However, the same piece of kit is, in effect, the E220 HSPDA USB modem produced by Huawei.

So in other territories, you can obtain exactly the same thing – only with a different badge on the casing. Since it has now been superseded by a 7.2 Mbit/s, version you can obtain this without having to sign an expensive contract. Given the disgraceful genuine data throughput speeds that most UK ISPs actually offer, it is not difficult to describe this product as providing a true broadband connexion, only wirelessly.

In fact, it's easy to forget that you're actually connected wireless in the first place – in sharp contrast with previous versions of Vodafone's wireless modems which employed standard 3G, or worse still, GPRS. They were slow.

The only catch is that with HSPDA is you get a reasonably high download speed – the manufacturer quotes up to 3.6 Mbit/s but the upload speed is only 384 Kbit/s. The INQ tried testing the link against a broadband testing service and got a measly 72 Kbit/s. By contrast, a 2Mbit/s Wi-Fi link reported 1.7 Mbit/s. So on paper it feels faster than it actually is.

Besides the perceived decent internet performance, the installation procedure was astonishingly simple. That's down to the fact that, in addition to acting as a USB modem, the E220 is actually a memory stick too! Although you can't actua lly save files onto the E220. Nonetheless, because it has the driving software stored on the modem, you don't have any messing around with CDs. The software just pops up automatically.

After the software has installed, the next step is to insert the SIM card. Again this was a doddle – because the modem sports a little tray into which you fit the SIM and then slide the tray back in again.

To get the modem going, you need to insert the PIN number but that is printed on the back of the SIM card holder, anyway. It start the internet connexion, the INQ found it easiest just to click on the Vodafone icon in the main menu bar.
Believe it or not, the E220 has another function. It works as a text/SMS modem too. So you can easily type up messages and text your mates from the luxury of your laptop's keyboard.

In short
This modem makes a nonsense of paying high fees for a commercial Wi-fi service, particularly now that HSDPA is becoming increasingly widespread. It's easy to use and more than sufficiently fast for standard web tasks. Plus, now that there's a 7.2 Mbit/s version, you should soon be able to pick up one at a bargain price.

The Good
Easy installation. Works anywhere.

The Bad
Bulky compared to stick modems or Expresscard formats.

The Ugly
Upload speeds are poor.

Bartender's verdict