Mobile broadband can be an expensive business - the technology is still fairly new
, the company's keen to take advantage of consumer confusion.
Never fear, though, armed with knowledge of these top five mobile broadband tricks you'll be able to dodge the bullets to get online and keep as much of your cash as possible.
First is perhaps the most obvious and yet the most overlooked aspect of mobile broadband: that is, going over your monthly usage allowance.
Mobile broadband allowances are notoriously tiny and it tends to cost a lot of money if you go over them - providers charge by the MB rather than the GB which is the increment in which they sell the usage.
There are 1024 MB in one GB so if the price is 5 per MB that'll add up rather quickly.
You can combat this by keeping an eye on your usage using the free software available or - more accurately - with some downloadable software.
Second is getting what you pay for with so-called free laptop deals.
To check whether you're being ripped off add up the price of buying the mobile broadband and the laptop separately and compare it to the price of the deal.
In some cases consumers can find themselves pleasantly surprised with this method. For example a Samsung R530 review will tell you that it's over 100 cheaper in a deal.
More usually, deals such as the Compaq CQ61 laptop tend to be around 30 cheaper.
Third is the famous trick of inflated rates for using mobile broadband abroad.
Under EU law, mobile broadband providers are forced to give UK users a reasonable price when they're in Europe using their products.
However, mobile broadband providers often keep this quiet so check for pre-paid or add-on 'travel' deals before you go away.
Forth is the trick of lowering the price of a modem but saying that you have to top-up by a certain amount when you sign up.
This affects those who are looking for the cheapest modem on the market - make sure that you check for this subsidiary cost before you sign up.
Lastly, five: check that you can do what you want online.
It's amazing how much mobile broadband providers can restrict the way that you use the service - they can block VOiP sites such as Skype for example.
Check that your service suits your usage before you sign up altogether.