Traditional Cable & DSL services are ISPs bound to one location and are offered by companies like Comcast, Cox, Qwest, and so on.
Monthly Costs:
Cable & DSL services range from about $30 to $60 a month with a wide range of speeds available - from less than 1Mbps to over 5Mbps. Typically, DSL is a bit less expensive than Cable, but also usually offers slower speeds as well.
Mobile Broadband is typically $59.99 a month. Sprint currently offers the best value as they have truly Unlimited service. Some of the other providers have a 5GB limit on usage per month.
As you can see, on a pure cost basis, Cable & DSL are less expensive.
Or are they? Not always. What if you are a person who travels for work or pleasure? If you need to connect on the road, and have to pay $10 or $20 per connection, you can easily spend quite a bit more than the cost of Mobile Broadband. This does not even consider the time and effort of finding the wifi hot spot in the first place.
With the addition of a Mobile Router, you can create a wireless network that multiple computers can share. So, with one $59.99 Mobile Broadband plan, you can provide internet service for your house or a small office.
The Bottom Line If you never travel, and don't want to access the internet anywhere except from your house, get Cable or DSL as you can save some money versus Mobile Broadband.
However, if you want the flexibility of taking your service anywhere you go, and yet still want a fully functional home or office network, then Mobile Broadband with a Mobile Router will give you the most bang for the buck.