Tech Talk: New line in broadband

It’s a quaint anachronism that in an age of satellite communication, data still has to be carried across fields on cables held up by telegraph poles – yet it’s unlikely to change any time soon.

Mobiles may have done away with the need for some of our landlines, but the internet has not.

Of course, you can connect your laptop to the web by plugging in a dongle from a mobile phone company, but that’s not a practical solution for desktop PCs, games consoles, set-top boxes or the rest of the ever-expanding range of internet-enabled gizmos. Which is where the Web Cube comes in. The mobile operator Three has chosen Leeds, along with Edinburgh and Glasgow, to test its “broadband in a box” solution before a likely nationwide roll-out.

More closely resembling a desktop shredder than a traditional router, the Web Cube needs to plug into nothing other than a 13 amp socket to transmit the internet around your house. This makes it ideal for homes without a normal phone line; university digs, for instance, of which Leeds has more than a few.

Unlike portable MiFi devices, which also use mobile signals to create an internet hotspot around them, the Web cube is designed to sit in your home and stay there, just like a conventional connection. Once plugged in, you need never go near it.

Your devices find it as they would any other wireless hotspot. All you need do is enter the password stuck to the instruction leaflet, and you’re connected. The password is there to stop your neighbours eating your data.

That’s an important consideration, because data doesn’t come cheap. Three charges £15 a month for 10GB of data plus £60 for the cube itself. Those willing to sign a two-year contract get a better deal: 15GB of data for £16 a month and the cube thrown in free. This sounds expensive compared to some standard domestic broadband packages – but remember that with those you’re paying at least £10 extra each month to rent the phone line from BT.

The Web Cube has a 30-metre range and quotes a maximum download speed of over 10Mbps, but Three says typical speeds will be between 2-5Mbps. This compares with many base-level fixed-line broadband packages, which are fine for general web surfing and social networking but not for heavy-duty gaming and downloading – activities of which students are known to be fond.

The Web Cube is available from Three’s showrooms in Leeds.