Five ways to boost your wireless broadband speed

Wireless broadband speeds can often be hit or miss. We take a look five simple steps that should help improve your broadband speeds.

1) USE A USB CABLE

Don't plug your dongle straight into your laptop; use the USB cable that's supplied. Not only does this reduce the impact of electrical interference from your PC, it gives you the flexibility to position the dongle for maximum reception, potentially adding crucial extra bandwidth.

2) BUY AN UNLOCKED MODEM

Modems may be cheaper when you buy them from a specific network, but then you're tied to that provider. Consider buying an unlocked modem and carrying a selection of pay-as-you-go SIM cards.

Standalone modems aren't ludicrously expensive: you can buy a 7.2Mbits/sec Huawei E169 for $99 from unique mobiles , for example. The networks literally give away the SIM cards for free, or a nominal charge, so there is nothing to stop you getting a SIM card for every Australian network.

A selection of SIM cards is particularly useful for those who spend much of their lives on the road, as the gaps in one company's 3G network may be filled by another provider. Remember that Telstra BigPond and 3 share some of their same 3G network, and Virgin Media's service runs off Optus' network, so there is little point in doubling up with these providers.

3) SWITCH TO OPEN DNS

The DNS servers used by the mobile broadband networks "tend to be pretty patchy", according to PC Authority's wireless and mobile expert, Paul Ockenden. DNS look-ups could take longer, or web addresses fail to resolve at all. Try a free alternative such as OpenDNS if you notice a delay in websites loading, despite a strong signal.

4) TETHER YOUR PHONE

Those who struggle to get a decent 3G connection indoors may be better off avoiding USB dongles and tethering their PC to their smartphone. This allows you to place the mobile handset on a window sill, where it has more chance of picking up a decent signal, without having to awkwardly shuffle your furniture around so your desk is near the window. Alternatively, consider buying a mobile Wi-Fi router.

Both 3 and Telstra sell excellent 3G Wi-Fi routers [see iTnews review of Telstra's latest] that allow you to plug in your dongle and share the connection among multiple PCs/devices. The portable MiFi router (web ID: 351289) sold by 3 and others could perform a similar function.

5) CHANGE YOUR APN

Mobile networks assign different APNs (Access Point Names) to customers on regular monthly contracts and pay-as-you-go deals.

We have it on good authority that some mobile networks reward lucrative contract customers with priority and thus marginally improved bandwidth. If you're determined to get every last kilobit per second out of your connection, it may be worth considering signing up for a long-term deal with one of the fast networks, such as Vodafone, Telstra or 3.