In my newly-installed Ubuntu 12.04 LTS, my ZTE K3805-Z Vodafone-branded USB 3G dongle shows in the notification area as a 'Mobile Broadband' connection called 'Vodafone Contract'. So far, so good!
...BUT I cannot access the Internet. I receive the error 'Problem loading page - server not found'. Firefox works with a wired connection and the dongle works under Windows Vista (which I detest!). If someone out there can fix this, I promise to delete Windows Vista!