Two questions: firstly what's the best way to get broadband these days, DH is talking about a dongle? And secondly, can anyone recommend a free virus protection?

[theinsider]

We've had a router since we moved house a year ago, and are approaching the end of the contract. It's been crap since the start so we're looking at different options. When it was being so slow as to be virtually unusable earlier I tested the speed, it was 4 kb per second

Could anyone help me with which of the various options available these days are best for us? We use the net for surfing, photo-management, email, the odd youtube video. We don't do tons of music/video downloading. Is a dongle what we need? What are the other options? Do we still need to sign up to a monthly contract, I've heard about sticks where you buy them preloaded (with what??) and they provide up to a year of internet? What kind of price should we be looking to pay?

And secondly, due to desperately slow speeds we've removed our Kaspersky which on investigation seemed to be doing nothing useful, so are now without virus protection if anyone could recommend the best free protection I'd be really grateful. (We used to have paid-for Norton but it seemed to die in defence of our computer 6 months ago - it killed the attacking virus but never functioned again).

Thanks in advance for any help, I'd be really grateful Oh and because of the lack of protection, if anyone is able to help could you only post website names, not do links as we don't want to follow any unproven links at present, thanks

avg seems to be a good free protection for me!

AVG for virus protection

avg

AVAST is good.

we have broadband from sky for £5 (have sky package)

I have a dongle with t-mobile as i travel lots it is £15.99 a month.

3 are doing a preloaded one.

right well, AVG looks like a likely one then thanks.

Any ideas about the best way to get broadband?

Crosspost Mat, thanks

Got to go and bath 'n' bed dc now, but will be back later, thanks.

Are preloaded ones good? The way to go? What's the benefit, is it just that you aren't tied to a contract?

Definitely AVG from free.avg.com

You might want to go to www.samknows.com/broadband/search.php and get details of your local exchange. It's safe to give the checker phone number and/or postcode.

What package do you have now? There may be a problem at your end causing the bad speeds which will also apply to any new contract so you might want to do some investigating before you change

Thanks, onager, that's really interesting, a bit techy for me but dh reckons our exchange capability is ok, so thanks that's good to know.

He's getting a bit tetchy with me now, so Mumsnet please prove me right ...

DH: "Ask them about "wireless 3G conectivity via a USB modem" - is it any good?".

Me: Is that a dongle?

DH (exasperated) "No just ask them, seeing as you have so much faith in them"

Me: Ask them what?

DH: "Is it any good?"

So please, before broadband wrecks my relationship

Surely if your exchange is decent then getting net via 3G would be daft? What is 3G coverage like in your area?

When you tested your speeds, what company were you with, what time did you test it?

be unlimited are great for internet, but you need a BT phone line with them. My DP needs the net to work from home and we have speeds at around 10.4 Mb/sec. We have been with telewest and BT in the past and find be unlimited far better.

think of 3G connectivity as like mobile phone reception - some areas have better reception and some companies offer better coverage.

3g packages also have rubbish caps on how much you can download, so downloading films/music/watching tv shows back, might be out of the question!

Mcafee is very good anti-virus software with firewall.

You can get it free here until 31st December

Make sure you enter the offer code!!

You don't actually get it free from that link but, the link gives you all the details you need to get it for free

I have the same dongle as jura (the vodafone one).

I would say that it's fine for one off connecting or if you're out and about. I wouldn't want to rely on it as my own home broadband tbh. Even with 3G, I think if you're downloading files/music, you really want a reliable home broadband connection.

Who are you with now because your connection sounds horrific? I would examine the local options first. You also need to check how strong the 3G coverage is in your area before you opt for the usb dongle thing.

I have a 3G card for my laptop through work. On the plus side it is truly portable - and I can get online in minutes - which since I travel a lot and spend a lot of time in unfamiliar hotel rooms is a boon. No faffing around taking hours to get the hotel's broadband connection to work on my laptop.

There are two big downsides though. The first is cost. It is very expensive, or at least the package that work gets through Vodaphone - around £80 a month depending on where I've been. There might be cheaper options.

The second downside is that it is rather slow.

I use a dongle-y usb modem thingamajiggy and it works fab, quicker than our old wireless was. It is 3g and unlimited usage up to 5GB.

I had one before this which was much slower, quite painful in fact, but this one is great.

Ok, brilliant, thanks to everyone.

I've installed AVG, so we're protected again. I feel far more comfortable now.

On the subject of broadband lots of useful info and points for consideration so again thanks.

And on the most important point, DH has agreed that Mumsnet has produced tons of useful information and experiences and is a great resource. Good all's right in the world.

So I'll go back to chat now I feel quite uncomfortable in geeky stuff

well, just so that you can tell your dh, I am a developer on a 3G Broadband via USB modem product for a network operator.

I have spent the last few years developing and testing this product.

MN really does know everything, lol.

It is a GREAT product. Points to consider are - do you have a good network in your house? what USB modem are you getting, good is if it has HSDPA, even better HSUPA. If your dh thirsts for even more info, I can tell him how these technologies work

Connecting to the internet tends to be marginally slower than if you have a LAN connection (c 6 seconds, IIRC). But on the plus side, you can get on the internet in so many places.

Also, you cannot expect a 3G network eg in a tunnel. I have been fairly surprised how patchy the 3g network is in teh countryside, you dont tend to notice this when you are just phoning. The modem will switch to gprs, but thats slower of course.

when its on 3G, it has a decent speed, and if it is HSDPA, you dont notice any difference from normal LAN.

Can anyone explain how to download the virus protection from AVG free, ie without signing up to one of the offers which costs money?
Am bit confused (techonphobe here)!
Thanks

Nighbynight - thank you, we've had a couple here, and will therefore read your post more carefully in the morning But you have certainly made DH agree (which he already had) that yes, MN knows everything. I think the bit where you said "it's great" is what's going to stick in our mind.

Pannacotta, I googled AVG, went with the suggestion google came up with of "AVG free dowload" (I think) and used the link about 3 down, no one expected me to pay for anything. (But I can't vouch for how good it is as only installed it tonight)

Well I get to test it for free!
But my favourite way to get the rest of the team to take my bugs seriously is to start my "I'm a customer and I'm paying xxx euros a month for this, I expect it to work! " rant.

we do work hard at trying to make it perfect, honestly.

So if it doesn't put you at risk of outing yourself Nighbynight, which operator (is that the right word, DH gone to bed, and anyway he's not an expert, just knows more than which isn't difficult ) should we go with? And how much should it cost?

Thanks theinsider, will try that.
Hope it works ok!!