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Broadband Internet service has become a "must have" for those already enjoying the high speed Internet provided by cable broadband, DSL, or T1 services. Still, many dial up Internet users are reluctant to make the switch to broadband due to the increased cost in Internet access, and fail to recognize broadband's money saving potential.

Broadband Internet is so much more than lightning fast web browsing. Along with broadband Internet emerges opportunity to take advantage of new money saving technologies not available to dial up Internet users. Broadband phone and the up and coming IP TV are just a couple examples of the newest technologies dial up users are missing out on.

Broadband Internet users also save money by downloading their own music, games, and even movies instead of renting or purchasing them for a much higher price from a retail outlet. Of course dial up users can do this as well, but not in a very timely fashion since it could take up to a couple of hours just to download a simple song.

Broadband Internet rates have reduced dramatically within the course of the last five years. High speed Internet can now be purchased for as little as fourteen dollars a month in some places, and usually has a top end comfort level of around fifty dollars or less per month. This means broadband can sometimes be even cheaper than dial up ISP.

Broadband Internet is probably one of the few services that end with the customer never having buyers remorse. Broadband is just one of those things that people find many useful and even practical applications for. An entire book could be, and probably has been written about the usefulness of broadband Internet access.

If you have been considering making the switch to broadband, you'll find many vendors these days offer incentives such as reduced cost for service, free equipment, and rebates to ease the burden of any start up cost for high speed broadband Internet service. In the end, broadband is just as affordable yet better and faster than dial up Internet.

Daymon Hoag is the founder of Cheapest Service where you can shop for Broadband - High Speed Internet - Cable - DSL - Wireless

O2 recently announced their mobile broadband offering, making them the last of the big 5 operators to get involved in that online world. But is their offering good enough? Is it too little too late?

Mobile Broadband - why is it important?

Mobile broadband is changing the world, no two ways about it. The ability to get online, and to get broadband speeds of upwards of 1.8Mbps, while in motion, is a great thing to have. Just imagine surfing the net on the train, or on holiday, or in a pub, or even on the beach, all using your own connection, and all getting the kind of super-fast speeds you'll get at home. That's what mobile broadband is, and that's why it's great.

Of the big 5 networks, 4 of them already offer amazing deals on mobile broadband. You've got T-Mobile, the trend-setter, the first ones to really go headlong into it. You've got Three, the funky one, offering super-cheap mobile broadband deals. You've got Orange, the unlimited one (well, unlimited, but capped), with a sexy, slim modem. And you've got Vodafone, the fast one, with speeds up to 7.2Mbps. But where's O2 in that list?

O2 Mobile Broadband - was it worth the wait?

Well, now, O2 have announced their mobile broadband offering. And, I'm sorry to say, it's rubbish. The cheapest package comes in at 20 per month, which is nowhere near good enough, when compared to the other 4 networks. And then there is the big killer, the big fly in the ointment. You can only get O2 mobile broadband if you're already an existing O2 customer. Erm. Hello? O2? That's rubbish. Do you not want new customers on your network?? All in all, it's a serious let-down, and a real shame.

Looks like it can be summed up in one phrase, unfortunately. O2: great for mobile phones, absolute bobbins for mobile broadband...

Expert on mobile phones and mobile broadband, having worked in the industry for over 7 years.

Motorola Razr V3 phone is undoubtedly the best selling phone in history by a long margin. No matter where you travel, it is the most commonly seen device held in people's palms all around the world. As a result, Motorola Razr V3 unlocking is a huge market.

Since the popularity of the V3 phone soared exponentially, so has the need to unlock this phone. More and more people are travelling nowadays and they carry their phones as they travel and therefore no longer wish to be bogged down by network restrictions.

If you are one of those folks who wish to unlock their phone and have acquired the unlock code to that end, then this article will guide you on how to input that unlock code, so you can effectively unlock your device and free it from the shackles of your network carrier.

Once your phone is unlocked, you will be able to use any SIM card from any network in your phone. As a result, no matter you travel within your country or worldwide, you will have no problem inserting a SIM from one of the local carriers and save on exorbitant roaming charges. Unlocking will most certainly increase the retail value of your phone as well, so if you decided to sell your phone at some point, your unlocked phone is most likely to bring in a higher appraisal value compared to a similar locked phone.

For sake of simplicity I am assuming that you have the unlock code of your phone available. The first step toward inputting that unlock code is to take out the battery and insert a not allowed SIM card. A not allowed SIM card in this case is a SIM card that did not come with the phone. A SIM card which belongs to a network carrier other than what you phone is locked to also qualifies as a 'Not Allowed' SIM card.

Once you have the 'Not Allowed' SIM card in your phone and you power up your phone, you will see a dialog box displaying 'Enter Special Code', or 'Enter Subsidy Code'. At this point you can go ahead and enter the unlock code provided to you. Entering the unlock code properly would unlock your phone.

Reboot and your device should now be unlocked.

If you get a prompt displaying 'Contact Service Provider', or 'Phone Blocked', you should leave your phone at that prompt for up to 8 hours. This will reset the internal timer and should automatically change the prompt to 'Enter Subsidy Code', at which point you should enter the unlock code provided following the instructions detailed above.

I have found that http://UnlockAcell.com provides remote unlock by code services at great prices. On the other hand if you are interested in unlocking phone by software, the website http://UnlockSoftwares.com has effective and late model phone unlocking softwares at reasonable prices. You could have an unlocked phone within minutes of visiting that website. For cellular phone ringtones, wallpapers, or for simply wapping to other mobile phones I found http://WapDaddy.com to be a great resource.

I was expecting some nice gifts and not being threatened with worm.win32.netsky on Christmas day morning. When I turned my computer on windows security alert boxes kept popping up to say that my computer had been hacked into and had a virus and another warned that it had been infected by worm.win32.netsky. My Internet Explorer was constantly opening and trying to take me to spyware removal download sites.

There were 3 new icons on my desktop 'privacy protector', 'Error Cleaner' and 'spyware & malware protection'. I had definitely not downloaded them so I reasoned that they could only be part of the problem that I was having. They started scanning by themselves, one told me that I had 161 spyware problems and another 243. Worm.win32.netsky was at the top of both lists and lower down were references to credit card hacking. My desktop turned dark red and a warning bar appeared telling me to click on it to protect my computer.

At first I was worried then logic took over. My virus and spyware software, which comes with my broadband service, updated the day before and when I ran a check it came up with nothing. I had vaguely heard of worm.win32.netsky and did not think that it was so new that a virus scan would not pick up on it. I figured that the whole attack was to panic me into buying one of the products. I am stubborn and if I buy spyware protection it would not be through those methods.

I did a google search for worm.win32.netsky and found a long list of sites. Most of the sites described it as part of the netsky family of email worms that comes to your computer as an email attachment. When you click on the attachment the worm activates then installs itself on your computer and propagates. It harvests email addresses stored on your computer and spreads further by sending itself to them. One or more spyware removal downloads were recommended, but I still did not believe that the computer was infected by anything more than bullying sales methods.

I finally found a forum where a member had described exactly the same thing happening to him. Apparently Worm.Win32.Netsky is a scam, fake malicious software called Smitfraud, an anti-spyware program trojan, engineered by Internet hackers. A fraudulent way to get you to buy spyware removal software. He was pointed in the direction of SmitFraudFix v2.274 and the fix worked for him. I downloaded it and used it and thought that it had worked.

The next day the warnings and desktop icons reappeared. I quickly ran Smitfraudfix again and then I restored my computer to 14 days before the problem appeared. So far so good, the fix and restore seem to have worked. SmitFraudFix v2.274 which apparently only works with Windows XP or 2000 was a free download so the whole thing cost me nothing but time and anxiety. Just to make sure I got a free download of Spyware Doctor from Google and ran it to make sure that my computer was clear and deleted cookies with it.

One of the sites that my IE insisted on going to was selling XP Antivirus. If you do a search for XP Antivirus you will find claims that it is a corrupt anti spyware application that will try to trick you into buying it by falsifying error reports. Do not even think about buying it. XP Antivirus will not remove spyware it will not do anything useful, just scam you out of money.

Where did the problem come from? I am not sure. I had not opened any email attachments for months and would only open attachments if I were expecting them. I downloaded some ebooks and software the day before but had not opened them at that point. I always check downloaded files with a virus scan before I unzip them anyway.

Another possibility is that I visited a dodgy site and the rogue anti spyware program leached onto my computer. In fact when I thought about my surfing the night before it is the most probable explanation. No I do not make a habit of visiting dodgy sites! I was checking my article directory stats and towards the top of a long list of incoming links was a domain that I did not recognise. Out of curiosity I clicked on the link and was taken to a porn site. I did not stick around long enough to see if or why there was a link to my directory, but I will have to do a search to see if any of the articles have links to that site and delete them if they have.

I recall that several years ago when I ran a magazine I checked a link from an advertisement that a subscriber had wanted me to publish. That was a porn site and a virus attacked my computer immediately afterwards. I got rid of the virus and needless to say I did not accept the ad. As I check the links with the articles submitted to my directory I cannot be as careful as I would like to be.

They say that curiosity killed the cat; well it only inconvenienced and annoyed this one. The whole thing is fraudulent and a scam. I am really glad that I did not get caught out but no doubt many others will. Fortunately I always do a search if I am unsure of anything or want to find out about something. The best and most honest answers or information usually comes from forums, not the sites with reviews and links to the products.

Of course worm.win32.netsky might really have been a worm from the netsky family then I really would have had a bigger problem to deal with. I thought that my broadband virus and spyware software would look after my computer but I will now look for something better. I really cannot understand the mentality of the malicious people who manufacture worms and viruses, or the scamsters who try to trick you out of your money.

Patricia Jones owns several websites including a travel destination site, a free digital download site and a website hosting service