Australian technology news, reviews, and guides to help you
Australian technology news, reviews, and guides to help you

Vodafone adds more plans to connections on the go

Your mobile does a good job of keeping you connected to the web, but if you have a tablet or laptop, you might want net access on those, too, and Vodafone seems keen to deliver.

This week, Vodafone has added to its plans, handy if you’ve been looking for a way to stay connected where ever you go.

“Our customers are telling us they need more flexible mobile broadband options that will allow them to stay connected online when they’re out and about, and sometimes across more than one device,” said Antony Saul, General Manager of Vodafone Postpaid.

According to Vodafone, research for the brand suggests people are going online more than ever to do activities like “banking, online shopping, social networking, and entertainment”, at least two of which can only be performed online (social networking and online shopping), and are as easily figured as water is wet.

However, we are going online more and more, that much is true, with the connected world putting so much at our fingertips, and so if you have a computer and you’re out and about, there’s a good chance that getting connected is what you’re aiming to do.

This week, Vodafone is hoping you’ll consider its network to make that task easier, offering new plans to get you online when you’re out and about, whether it’s via a tablet with 4G capabilities or using a mobile dongle.

The plans start at $15 per month running the length of two years (24 months), offering 3GB monthly for that $15 spend, 10GB for $30, 20GB for $45, or 30GB for $60 monthly, with extra repayments on top of these arriving if you plan to get a Samsung Tablet (Galaxy Tab A) with them, or even a small hotspot.

What if you don’t want a new plan?

While Vodafone has new plans made for mobile broadband, it’s important to realise that you may not need one at all, because your smartphone could happily do double time as a modem.

Whether you’re running Android, iOS, or even Windows Phone, there’s a good chance you have a mobile hotspot mode on your device, meaning it can double up as a mobile modem and switch to that data connection bundled with your phone to a data connection for more devices, like your tablet and laptop.

If you go this route — and we wouldn’t blame you, as it’s a whole lot easier to use what you have than to buy a new dongle — just remember that devices connecting to your phone over WiFi and using it as a hotspot may rack up downloads significantly more quickly, because WiFi is WiFi, and that means things like updates and downloads may start up without you realising it.

Also remember that mobile downloads can still cost a bit, and mobile hotspot modes can tax the battery of your phone, so be sure to keep the phone plugged in if you plan to use your mobile’s hotspot mode for over two hours.

Read next