T-Mobile USB Stick > Reviews (3)

T Mobile as far as I am aware and according to older news reports, had received a number of consumer complaints concerning the network coverage difficulties experienced as well as other fundamental issues related to the T Mobile services in general, so was quite skeptical about purchasing this Internet package despite the advantages of it being pay as you go. Just recently, it received a Broadband Genie award and most likely because the 3GB USB has undergone considerable technical designs this year with its French Orange merger contract.

Initially, these dongles were retailed at £35 for a 3GB that I had paid last year, though prices have come down since the recent unification that have re-developed these standard USB devices to greater performance objectives, I am yet to afford a rival replacement as they don't all come cheap – I was lucky to afford this at the time as had a bonus pay from work, otherwise it would have taken some months to get the cash together so as to afford even the top up amounts, that at £15 per month isn't bad, but works out to be a costly affair in addition to purchasing the dongle package so is not suitable for all incomes!

One of the greatest advantages however of Installing the USB is that the PC aoutomatically recognizes new hardware, you just then have to follow simple instructions to run the programme, so absolutely no knowledge is required of operating systems or liscence key hazards. The mini-disc they provide does nothing more than welcome you to T Mobile broadband, it is not a necessary component you need to run on your PC – I didn't even bother with this as the USB did everything it is designed to do and creates the manager, from which you can access all the basic functions.

~~~~~No connection/Slow connection issues~~~~~

Having read plenty of complaints already about the performance of this dongle, permits me the same right to agree with these customers who, like me, have experienced maddening frustrations regarding the dissapointing results of this simple, yet idle USB that might execute better performance on another planet other than Earth!

The signal strength is always at least between three and four bars, good enough for web browsing activity, yet even though this is the case, it's surprising just how difficult it is to make connection to the Internet. I've had days in which I couldn't connect at all despite uninstalling and re-installing the USB, disconnecting and reconnecting from the manager, closing and re-opening Windows operating system – I'm amazed that my PC has withstood all this activity, so proves that they are built with dynamite endurance.

I'm no computer wizard, though I do have sound knowledge of what can slow your PC down, so have set all the programmes accordingly such as ensuring that web browsing is deleted daily from the Internet options control, third party sharing activated, disc space clean up and defragmentation once a month and even changing the web browser. You would think that that there is a software fault somewhere, lying in ambush that you have do some few hours of detection work, but if you aren't sure about these functions and how to adjust system settings, it is best to read upon them well before attempting to make changes you might not be able to undo if you can't remember the actions you took.

I recommend buying an ariel booster for the USB if there are less than three signal bars because it will sort the problem rapidly, though is an added expense, T Mobile should provide them as part of the package deal. They can be purchased from some online stores for £25.00 each (can't recall where I got mine from) though has been a god send in resolving some of my Internet connection issues and are easily assembled to pop onto the end of your USB, you just strap them around the base (the bit where the little light flashes) whilst connected to the PC.

However, some connection issues are coverage rooted and because sometimes, the weather can cause havoc with the signal, though rarely unless you live in rural parts in which even mobile phone signals suffer the same plight. A lot of people experience slow or failed connection if they have forgotten to pay for a top-up (booster) at least a day or two in advance before their time to use the Internet has expired – something I have learned a very big lesson and had no idea that they don't give you extra time if say you have a late income payment, they will automatically disconnect you from browsing on the very day you are due to pay and don't.

The other difficulties with the top-up process is that even if you do pay on the day your time has ran out, will not automatically guarantee you access to the Internet because I had the problem last year of trying to pay but the debit card I registered with T Mobile, was not recognized. I then had to register a different one the following day which meant that the £15.00 I paid, they took £2.00 off this to pay for the previous day's browsing, I hadn't even had access to my Internet! - I was livid and called them but they just explained that I needed to purchase an additional £5.00 worth so that it would bring my balance back to a month's worth of Internet usage.

I did as they instructed and purchased a voucher from the T Mobile store, but the coupon number failed to be recognized as I tried to send it via SMS. I knew how to send it as this was the initial payment method I had used before registering a bank card, so it wasn't anything I was doing incorrectly. I had to speak again with a T Mobile representative, who recorded the incident and asked me to send the voucher to them so that the matter could be investigated. I never did send it off as it was only for £5.00 and they generously topped my account up given that they could at least verify the receipt number, they themselves tried to code in from their end, but experienced the same issue.

~~~~~~Vanishing Act~~~~~~

Recently, for a 48 hours, I experienced a no-connection problem that almost sent me bananas!. There was no explanation for it at all and because my PC is equipped with the latest anti-virus that detected no threats, I couldn't understand why I couldn't browse and do my reviews. If my PC were more than a few years old or wasn't configured to accept most types of new hardware, then understandably you can't expect the USB to perform as it should.

The MF262 is appropriate for XP and XP Professional operating systems and most other PCs except for Apple Macintosh and some other older models such as Acer.

I have a six month old, refurbished Dell with XP Professional installed all complete with Anti-virus, so there should never have been any problem connecting to the Internet as I had been doing many months before this issue occurred. I did a system restore as well as inspect the PC thoroughly for any technical failures but nothing could be found. When the third day arrived, I was up and running as if nothing had happened and knew then that it was a USB issue but didn't know what exactly, even now it's a mystery as to why my Internet did a vanishing act?

~~~~~Speed Manager~~~~~~

One very important thing with this application control on the manager page is that it needs to be set to medium-low, otherwise you will suffer extreme cases of anxiety not understanding what role this function has on your Internet browsing activities. If you regularly visit sites that contain pictures and music such as You Tube, Face book etc, then you won't be able to access these pages fully if the speed manager is set above meduim-low or perhaps even lower.

~~~~~~3 GB~~~~~~~~~

Presuming that most people know what a GB is, then the rest is easy to explain. Most modern PCs operate at around 64-bit system capacity, so a 3GB ram is ideal when the memory supposedly doesn't override that of the computer's own, in which case can interfear with Internet browsing if it were a higher ram. However, I am beginning to consider that a 3GB can and does have relationship issues with the PCs system performance when it can slow things down or even cause temporary death after a short while and possibly explains why I was without connection for two days?

I cannot possibly be the only one to have experienced this problem that there is little you can do to if your PC acts out of character with the dongle installed.

~~~~~~Conclusion~~~~~~

I could write articles on USB sticks and operating systems but don't want to drift from the review or even confuse the reader, so am satisfied that I have covered all the areas I set out to concerning this product, that in my opinion, isn't great at all, but as with all technology, has its imperfections. USB manufacturer are still quite novel at developing the ultimate gear they continually need funding to upgrade standard versions and rely upon a loyal consumer base in order to achieve their goals so that they can provide customer satisfaction in the longer term scheme of things, their recent merger with Orange should see to this that it happens.