3 is among the cheapest wireless broadband, but speeds are horrific

Three, like many of the other wireless broadband providers in the Labs this month, doesn't buck the prevailing modem trend. Your selection of modems is between Huawei modems in a variety of makes and models.

The software for the Huaweis means that only a splash screen stands between Three's offering and those of either Virgin or Optus.

We initially commenced testing with a modem sent to us by Three, but that turned out to be the slower 3.6Mbits/sec limited E160 modem, rather than the 7.2Mbits/sec modem we'd requested.

Unfortunately we were only able to source a replacement after we'd completed all of our Queensland based testing with the slower modem, which is why we've left those figures out of our final data tables.

Even so, comparing the older E160 and newer E1756 figures one thing becomes sparkling clear. Three's not just a bit on the slow side. It's exceptionally slow.

Even with the faster modem Three consistently came last in every single test. Three was the sole carrier unable to deliver a signal or roam correctly in our regional test, even given it's meant to be capable of utilising Telstra signal at relatively hefty data prices.

To be fair to Three, they rather specifically sell Mobile Broadband within a limited and mostly metropolitan cloud in any case with an option to roam onto Telstra's network at very high prices something of an optional extra.

Still, not once could we actually get the Three modem to pick up a Telstra signal even when it was sitting right next to a system happily churning through Telstra-supplied data.

Three captured a lot of market share in years gone by simply by offering up cheaper broadband products than the rest. It's a laudable thing from a consumer endpoint, but the problem for Three at the time of writing is that the competition has caught up with this.

Looking at plan values Three is only marginally cheaper than the significantly faster Virgin and Vodafone offerings, both of which had no significant problems outside metropolitan areas.