HSDPA with 3 launched?

smcelhinney

Noticed that 3 have launched an HSDPA-capable datacard today
http://www.three.ie/ihandsets/datacards.html

Does this mean they have HSDPA launched on the network? Kept that quiet..

Looks good.

quintron

yes added under handsets now..
interesting... they might as well come out with some new handsets now.. thats prob asking too much..

Random

Does it have full unrestricted internet access?

joerules

Very Interesting. Here are 3's Data tarrifs:

250MB: e24.99 a month, 49c/mb outside of bundle
3000Mb: e39.99 a month, 49c/mb outside of bundle

For reference
Vodafone(business tariffs):
15MB: e10 a month, e2.50/mb outside of bundle
25MB: e15 a month, e2.00/mb outside of bundle
Unlimited (fair use): e49 a month

O2(business tarriffs)
10MB: e8.26(exc VAT), 83c/MB outside bundle
25MB: e16.52(exc VAT), 83c/MB outside of bundle
2000MB: e40(exc VAT), 75c/MB outside of bundle

ciaranfo wrote:

Does it have full unrestricted internet access?

From 3's website: "Use it your way. Web surfing, email, instant messaging, video, internet radio. You can do it all." So it seems you unrestricted in that sense.

rogue-entity

HSDPA is to 3G as GPRS is to GSM. The upgrade is quick and painless really. They just need to upgrade the software at the cell sites IIRC. They claim to have covered Dublin and will have total coverage on their network by Feburary. That is pretty fast considering. They are also going to be rolling out streaming TV on their handsets so that will probably fit into their X-series thing (if they dont decide to do it for free like the content on their portal).

Urban Weigl

You can compare with 3 Austria pricing here:
http://www.drei.at/SelectMenu.wa?seIDM=52C4E440-0E12-48E3-8259-04A03410EB38

Prices are half price for the first 12 months, and you can choose between a data card and a HSDPA USB modem.

So the Irish prices seem reasonably competitive. One difference I did notice is that if you get it in Ireland, you can only use it here at the moment, whereas if you get it in Austria, you can use it with no roaming charges in all 8 countries they operate in, which includes Ireland. So you could pick up the card in Austria and use it here, for example. Or in Hong Kong, Australia, Sweden, Denmark, etc.

joerules

I just got the card on the card on the 3000mb package. Will let you all know how it goes

Blaster99

Urban Weigl wrote:

So the Irish prices seem reasonably competitive. One difference I did notice is that if you get it in Ireland, you can only use it here at the moment, whereas if you get it in Austria, you can use it with no roaming charges in all 8 countries they operate in, which includes Ireland. So you could pick up the card in Austria and use it here, for example. Or in Hong Kong, Australia, Sweden, Denmark, etc.

Where does it say that you can only use it here?

flodis79

This is very interesting! Could someone who has tried this tell me if I can pop the SIM card into a usual 2g or 3g phone and use the APN to connect from the phone? And can I buy only a data sim card and use the bundles with it? I will only use this offer in a phone, not in a laptop.

flodis79

Urban Weigl wrote:

You can compare with 3 Austria pricing here:
http://www.drei.at/SelectMenu.wa?seIDM=52C4E440-0E12-48E3-8259-04A03410EB38

Prices are half price for the first 12 months, and you can choose between a data card and a HSDPA USB modem.

So the Irish prices seem reasonably competitive. One difference I did notice is that if you get it in Ireland, you can only use it here at the moment, whereas if you get it in Austria, you can use it with no roaming charges in all 8 countries they operate in, which includes Ireland. So you could pick up the card in Austria and use it here, for example. Or in Hong Kong, Australia, Sweden, Denmark, etc.

But can I pick up the card in another country and then choose a data price plan here?

jrey1981

This looks very interesting.

I'd just need to know if this area was covered then I might get one.

Urban Weigl

flodis79 wrote:

But can I pick up the card in another country and then choose a data price plan here?

No. You'd have to pick up both in Austria in my example, otherwise you won't receive a subsidy on the card.

bkehoe

Anyone know if you can get the "Mobile Broadband" packages added to an existing account - e.g. so I can use my phone as the modem/access the internet unrestricted on my phone?

joerules

bkehoe wrote:

Anyone know if you can get the "Mobile Broadband" packages added to an existing account - e.g. so I can use my phone as the modem/access the internet unrestricted on my phone?

When I rang up they said this wasn't possible. I had to take out another contract and will get another another SIM.

flodis79

joerules wrote:

When I rang up they said this wasn't possible. I had to take out another contract and will get another another SIM.

Is that a data-only sim or is it capable of voice as well?

Del2005

Can't seem to find their usage conditions on the site. But are you allowed to use Skype or similar services on this?

Sam Vimes

Del2005 wrote:

Can't seem to find their usage conditions on the site. But are you allowed to use Skype or similar services on this?

i seem to remember reading that you can use it

Urban Weigl

Skype is allowed, in fact Three are heavily promoting its use in most of their markets as one of the benefits of 3G. They're also giving away free Skype vouchers with their data cards in the UK, or at least used to do so, and obviously they've bundled Skype with X-Series. Certainly won't be a problem.

Ditch the landline eh? Just use Skype for international calls that would otherwise cost a fortune on the mobile.

joerules

flodis79 wrote:

Is that a data-only sim or is it capable of voice as well?

That's a good question. You can send text messages but as for voice....

Urban Weigl

joerules wrote:

That's a good question. You can send text messages but as for voice....

And more importantly, since it's not "unlimited" like Vodafone, how can you monitor your usage so you don't accidentally use 4000MB instead of 3000MB? Because that would result in an extra charge of €490! :eek:

Can you ask 3 to cut you off after 3000MB for the remainder of the month? I'd certainly prefer that over receiving a shocking bill out of the blue.

wiredmacker

I checked the www.three.co.uk website and it seems that they allow customers to use 5 hours of skype for free without getting charged extra. Mind that was for the phones not the data cards. I checked this a couple of weeks ago not sure if this has changed

1huge1

wow this sounds really good
especially in comparassion to vodafone and O2's deals
but i only just got a 3G signal with 3 and im kinda in the middle of nowere so chances of me getting HSDPA are very slim for the near future

but id still get it just for 3G speeds as no one offers broadband here yet (thankyou eircom) so for €39 for 3000mb i would definetely get it even with only 3G speeds of 400kb

Sparky

Hmmm extreamly interesting considering I'm currently using a vodafone mobile data service thats €50 for 5gb a month and I don't even reach HSDPA speeds where ever I do be while out on the road.

I have an enternal WWAN card in the laptop so I assume I could just get the datacard (as I may use it in another laptop) and sim and just use my sim in the laptop.

Very decent prices I may say.

Urban Weigl

Sparky-s, see my post here: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055030500

Hope that helps you get HSDPA speeds.

Tom Dunne

Very interesting.

Do we actually have something resembling competition here?

I am going to wait a month or two for things to settle down and give some serious thought to ditching my DSL connection.

Blaster99

These are not ADSL replacement services. The caps are pathetic, the service is fairly unreliable (albeit more stable of late), speeds vary quite a bit, the latency is huge. If you're a very moderate user and you're thinking of getting something like Ripwave or Clearwire or you can't get any form of broadband, then these things are worth looking at. Or if you need mobile internet access, of course.

Tom Dunne

Blaster99 wrote:

These are not ADSL replacement services.

Oh, don't get me wrong. I am under no illusion that that is the case. I use my landline purely for internet access, we rarely make landline calls.

Blaster99 wrote:

Or if you need mobile internet access, of course.

This is what interests me more. Of course I don't need it, I want it.

Sam Vimes

tom dunne wrote:

Very interesting.

Do we actually have something resembling competition here?

I am going to wait a month or two for things to settle down and give some serious thought to ditching my DSL connection.

knowing three there'll probably be some hidden, extremely retarded term that makes it all but useless

Cabaal

anyone else find it weird that three.co.uk doesn't ewven appear to have a package with a 3GB cap like Three.ie does?
http://three.co.uk/personal/handsets_/datacard_/overview.omp

even three.ie's basic package is more cost affective then three.co.uk#s
is that not really bloody weird?

while these are not ADSL replacements their very handy for people that want kinda fast net connection but don't want the hassle of getting in and paying for a PSTN line to go down that route or they can';t get wireless, also good for people that travel

wiredmacker

Cabaal wrote:

anyone else find it weird that three.co.uk doesn't ewven appear to have a package with a 3GB cap like Three.ie does?
http://three.co.uk/personal/handsets_/datacard_/overview.omp

even three.ie's basic package is more cost affective then three.co.uk#s
is that not really bloody weird?

while these are not ADSL replacements their very handy for people that want kinda fast net connection but don't want the hassle of getting in and paying for a PSTN line to go down that route or they can';t get wireless, also good for people that travel

Yep that seems to be true for most UK internet broadband services as well, most of them don't seem to have a download cap, unlike Ireland however :mad:

Cabaal

wiredmacker wrote:

Yep that seems to be true for most UK internet broadband services as well, most of them don't seem to have a download cap, unlike Ireland however :mad:

don't think you get what I'm saying though, three.co.uk do have caps and there alot less then what three.ie are offering from what I can see,

As for ISP's in the UK, the vast majority do have caps, FUP's and trottle ports (ala P2P) with the exception of some providers like AOL etc