Two new netbooks have been added by Vodafone mobile broadband to its range of “free laptop” packages.

The Samsung N130 and the Dell Inspiron Mini 10 are launched to be used by the broadband users. One can avail these packages by paying £25 a month for a free laptop plus 1GB of data. They need to pay £30 a month for a laptop along with 3GB monthly download allowance on a contract of 24 months. The Samsung N130 supports a 10.1in screen. It is adorned with a 160GB hard drive and comprises of an integrated webcam. This device incorporates a latest Windows 7 operating system.

As far as the Dell Inspiron Mini 10 is concerned, it has similar size and also supports a built-in webcam and a 160GB hard drive. It runs on Windows XP.

Both laptops are available at £250 and a typical 3GB mobile broadband package if purchased separately will set you back £15 per month.

Michael Phillips, Broadbandchoices.co.uk product director, said: “Laptop deals are great for spreading the cost of a new PC, and a mobile broadband package is the perfect partner for one of these ultra-portable netbooks, allowing you to make the most of your new laptop by logging on and surfing the web no matter where you are.

“There are a few things you need to be aware of when signing a new mobile broadband contract though,” he advised. “You should always run a postcode search to make sure that you’ll get adequate mobile broadband coverage where you live and also make sure that you keep an eye on your downloads so that you never exceed your limit. Vodafone charges £15 per extra GB of data so out of bundle costs can soon add up.”

Around third of customers are planing to switch broadband provider because of shortfall in broadband speeds. There is a downfall in speed satisfaction for the third consecutive year.
Though there has been an improvement in the customer satisfaction across a number of areas. It has been disclosed by a latest research conducted by Broadbandchoices.co.uk that there has been an increase in the number of consumers who are not satisfied with the actual speeds despite ever higher advertised speeds. There were around a third of the 8,000 respondents in the study who were not satisfied with their speeds as compared to 27% last year and only 16% in 2008.
It was stated by around 28% of respondents that they were looking forward to switch broadband provider because they were not satisfied. It is a very big rise from 2009 when there were only 17% who were looking forward to switch due to poor broadband speeds.
The most exciting thing is that there are more than three quarter of customers subscribing to superfast broadband connection of 24Mb or more were satisfied with their speeds which is a huge augmentation on average satisfaction levels.
Michael Phillips, Broadbandchoices.co.uk product director, said: “The steady increase in speed dissatisfaction is indicative that consumers are taking advantage of access to online content that places more demand on their Internet connection but as ISPs advertise – and consumers subscribe to – ever faster services, their expectations are failing to be met. Service providers need to be careful since our research would show that many customers have had enough and are more willing to express that dissatisfaction by changing suppliers.
“Broadband users unsure of their connection should use a broadband speed tester and if their service consistently falls short of expectations, should seriously consider their options including switching to a 24Mb+ package.”

The download limits on home and business packages have been increased by Eclipse Internet. Now it will proffer 100GB per month on selected plans.
There has been an increase in the Home Select package. There has been a rise in its download allowance from just 10GB per month to 50GB per month. On the other hand, the download allowance in case of the Home Pro package which is made for “serious gamers and film addicts” has been doubled. It has increased from 50GB to a massive 100GB a month. In addition to this, there has also an increase in download allowances across the business broadband packages by ISP. The Home Office package has been increased to 10GB a month, the Business Bronze to 50GB while the Business Silver tariff to 100GB a month. No change was noticed in the Business Gold package. It remained unchanged comprising of unlimited download allowance, subjected to a fair usage policy.
Clodagh Murphy, director of Eclipse Internet, commented: “We’ve increased the limits of these packages in response to changes in the online behaviour of our customers, who predominantly run small businesses either from offices or from home. All our teams, from customer service to marketing to technical support are based on a single site making it much easier for us to respond quickly to the changing needs of our customers, be that higher usage, backup and hosting services or e-commerce.”
Customers can monitor usage limits with the help of Eclipse’s online Traffic Controller tool.
Michael Phillips, Broadbandchoices.co.uk product director, said: “Eclipse is responding to the changing needs of consumers, who are playing more games online, downloading more music and movies and watching more Internet television. Customers need a fast, reliable service that offers a download allowance that suits their needs.”

TalkTalk broadband has turnabout and has declared to show high respect to old Tiscali contracts.
Moreover, it is also planning to shift the Tiscali customers to its own network from the beginning of January. It made a statement that those customers who are not shifting to a TalkTalk package could have to pay a higher monthly fee. For example, Tiscali broadband-only customers need to pay around £19.99 per month instead of paying £14.99 in case they didn’t settle. In the beginning, it was thought that most intruded customers were far off the contract and free to switch broadband provider. It was later unveiled that few people still had months left of their contract.
TalkTalk has made a statement that it will show a high respect for all the contracts of many Tiscali customers. Also it will proffer a more effective substitute.
A spokesman stated “Customers who signed up or altered their package between September and December 2009 will be offered six months service at half price when they sign up to a new contract with TalkTalk,”.
“Those customers who do not want to sign up to a new contract will be credited for the monthly price increase until the end of their contract.”
Line rental was provided to most of the customers signing up to the Tiscali packages as part of their deal followed by the packages involving broadband, home phone and line rental at just £15.99 a month.
Michael Phillips, Broadbandchoices.co.uk product director, said: “This is great news for existing Tiscali customers who wanted to hold onto their low-cost deals for as long as possible.
“The six months half price offer is also very tempting, and TalkTalk does offer very good value in its own right, with 8Mb broadband, evening and weekend landline calls, anytime local calls and line rental for a total of just £18.48.
“Users looking for a higher-spec package can sign up to TalkTalk’s 24Mb broadband Pro, for £14.99 a month with ‘unlimited broadband’ downloads, subject to a fair usage policy, and anytime landline calls.”

As stated by TalkTalk broadband, parents’ lack of awareness is permitting children to get rid of risky behaviour online.
It has been stated by ISP that there are a quarter of children who have sent or been sent inaccurate material through email. Moreover, one in 20 have interacted with a stranger by means of a webcam. Many children are getting away with this behaviour online mainly because of the unawareness of their parents regarding the Internet habits and online safety measures.
According to the findings of the research, around 11% of people are there who had either enforced someone online or been a sucker of cyber bullying themselves.
It was stated by more than 60% of people that they cheat their parents regarding the material they have been searching out online. On the other hand, over half agreed that they mostly remove the history on their web browser so that their parents can’t see what they have been searching out online.
Tristia Clarke, from TalkTalk, said: “We all know there are threats in the virtual world just as there are in the real world, but it’s crucial that parents’ responses to these risks are measured and sensible.
“Our research underlines the need for greater communication between parents and children – it’s the best way for parents to get a sense of the likely risks to their children and therefore manage and minimise them where possible.”
It has been claimed by 55% of the children that they have much more internet knowledge as compared to their parents. Almost half spend minimum two hours of unsupervised Internet access every day.
Professor Tanya Byron, author of the Byron Review into the risks of harmful content on the internet, said: “The internet doesn’t have to be a dangerous place for children and in fact can be hugely beneficial to their development and education.
“As long as parents are armed with effective tools they can ensure their children are spending time online safely and responsibly. But it’s crucial that parents educate themselves about what’s going on online and what their kids are doing there.”
Michael Phillips, Broadbandchoices.co.uk product director, added: “There are a number of steps that you can take to ensure that your children can enjoy the internet safely. Talk to your children about the websites they use and their online habits, so you can spot any changes in their behaviour, and make sure that they know not to share their details with anyone online.
He further advised “You can also install parental control and internet security software and learn how to check your PC’s web history if you want to see which sites your children have been visiting,”.