vodafone data "unlimited"

jrey1981

Electric News has revealed the new Vodafone Data "Unlimited" service will actually limited to 5GB/month.

It is going to run at 3G speeds in what I guess will be towns and cities.

Does anyone know if it is technically possible and commercially viable for them to roll out HSDPA to rural areas, in which case we might have a real prospect of using this instead of broadband for faster than 56k internet access, hopefully at a cost that is similar to a broadband subscription?

jesus_thats_gre

It will take a long time before HSDPA is rolled out deep into rural parts of Ireland.. They will start in urban centres and expand outwards over time.. A node b can cost anything up to 80k and it would take hundreds of these to cover the country.

jrey1981

bang goes another hope.

anyone want to protest at eircom egm?!

Static M.e.

Jrey did you consider using the vodaphone/O2 datacards? BB available anywhere in Ireland they can charge per MB though but ifs just for browsing I would think they are effective.

Also Digiweb do a satelite service for Ireland now, while expensive at €99 Month it could suit you. I Know for some of the rural areas I look after, this is what we are planning to go with. (They have a special offer at the moment too)

Ive never used or endorse either, but it might be worth looking at

jesus_thats_gre

Jrey the 3G data cards that this operate under wills till work without 3G coverage. They will step back down to GPRS and you will still have the flat rate service of 5GB a month for €50 or so.

I also noticed that you are in Wicklow. It is possible that coverage could be exanded into your area depending where you are. For example, if you are along a major commuter route or something, Vodafone are likely to try and ensure areas like these are covered.

jrey1981

Satellite bb not an option due to the cost. Current dialup is roughly same speed as GPRS, so no point switching. I would pay the extra cost for HSDPA, but its not worth it just for GPRS speed.

Just read an article in todays Sunday Business Post about the HSDPA rollout. Would like to think that the Vodafone HSDPA coverage will stretch down here, but I am between 2 bb-enabled villages, so it is optimistic to say the least.

In view of the €120m that has been wasted by the government on metropolitan area networks (MANs), that kind of money would be better spent subsidising HSDPA rollout to cover areas that cant currently get bb, and would therefore speed up bb penetration, with an added bonus that Vodafone would get a boost to its customer numbers as well.

That would be a win-win-win as far as I can see. Government meets bb target, we who are currently stuck with 56k or "offline" get access at bb speeds, Vodafone gets new customers.

Of course the EU might have something to say about the government subsidy, but if they can do it for the MANs, why not for this?

inode

you will only get about 20kb/s with the service

jrey1981

inode wrote:

you will only get about 20kb/s with the service

No - its a bit better than that on GPRS.

O2 are apparently going to make an announcement regarding HSDPA as well in the next month or so.

Hopefully they will offer something competitive, and between them and Vodafone, I might actually have coverage here!

Urban Weigl

I've been on Vodafone Data Unlimited (BTW, I've heard nothing of any 5GB cap, in fact Vodafone have told me the complete opposite several times). That said, I don't plan to use more than a few gigs anyhow -- basically just using it for web browsing and email.

Anyway, what I wanted to say is that I can recommend it -- it works great. It's very fast, even with UMTS (before they upgrade to 1.2mbps). Browsing speed is comparable to ADSL, and I was downloading some podcasts earlier, and got stable speeds of 48.2 kiloBytes per second. That's the full 384kbps! Uploading is slower, but still quite acceptable.

I am 5.5km from the nearest small town (Ballyhaunis, with a population of 1400). I hear you can extend the range to 12km or so using an external antenna, but I didn't need anything like that to lock onto a 3G/UMTS signal (getting "Good" signal strength).

cgarvey

I concur with UB on that one.

inode, dunno where you're getting your figures from, but I've yet to connect (and maintain) a sub 50Kbps+ connection in various places all 'round the country.

jrey1981

Urban Weigl wrote:

I've been on Vodafone Data Unlimited (BTW, I've heard nothing of any 5GB cap, in fact Vodafone have told me the complete opposite several times). That said, I don't plan to use more than a few gigs anyhow -- basically just using it for web browsing and email.

Anyway, what I wanted to say is that I can recommend it -- it works great. It's very fast, even with UMTS (before they upgrade to 1.2mbps). Browsing speed is comparable to ADSL, and I was downloading some podcasts earlier, and got stable speeds of 48.2 kiloBytes per second. That's the full 384kbps! Uploading is slower, but still quite acceptable.

I am 5.5km from the nearest small town (Ballyhaunis, with a population of 1400). I hear you can extend the range to 12km or so using an external antenna, but I didn't need anything like that to lock onto a 3G/UMTS signal (getting "Good" signal strength).

That is interesting. Presuming your nearest 3G mast is in Ballyhaunis, that would suggest there might be hope for me - I am about 4km from where I guess my nearest 3G mast is - although on the coverage map, I am in a yellow area which suggests I would be outside coverage. I even emailed them and they suggested I would not get a reception.

I wonder if they would let me try it on the condition of being able to get a 3G reception...having said that, I will have an office soon anyway which will be covered by broadband, so it is no longer that important.

themole

Urban Weigl wrote:

I've been on Vodafone Data Unlimited (BTW, I've heard nothing of any 5GB cap, in fact Vodafone have told me the complete opposite several times)..

hi.

Do you have a link where i can find out info on "Vodafone Data Unlimited". I was looking around their site but its pretty poo for finding info on. I did find this article.

Cheers

cgarvey

It's under the business section of the site .. Prod Info .. Pricing

dahamsta

I really don't understand how they're able to advertise this as "unlimited". It's limited by their own definition!

adam

JohnnieM

jrey1981 wrote:

That is interesting. Presuming your nearest 3G mast is in Ballyhaunis, that would suggest there might be hope for me - I am about 4km from where I guess my nearest 3G mast is - although on the coverage map, I am in a yellow area which suggests I would be outside coverage. I even emailed them and they suggested I would not get a reception.

I wonder if they would let me try it on the condition of being able to get a 3G reception...having said that, I will have an office soon anyway which will be covered by broadband, so it is no longer that important.

for info on masts try this
http://www.askcomreg.ie/mobile/View_Mobile_Sites.36.LE.asp

excellent for seeing whos sites and which type

gunnerfitzy

Most of the internet reports I've read say that VOIP is not possible with the Data Unlimited tarrif. Anyone like to hazard a guess why Skype is working perfectly on my laptop? I am most certainly not complaining though!!

Stephen

Rumour has it they like to employ traffic shaping to fúck up VoIP.

Stephen

Is this service symmetric? i.e. can you get up to 384kbps upstream too?

edit: ah, just found their faq. 64k upstream.

trap4

Urban Weigl wrote:

I hear you can extend the range to 12km or so using an external antenna, ...

Mind telling me where you heard that Urban? Or is it an... ahem.... Urban legend?

Seriously though I'd love to know how to do it if its possible. I've been very happy with my Vodafone unlimited data service, connecting easily to 3G for at least 95% of the time I'd say but I have a friend who's a nice bit further on from the mast and might benefit from that external atenna hack. Any advice is appreciated

-James.