Another 3G Data service is launched . This time from 3

Sponge Bob

Along with the Voda 3G network 3 would have about the best coverage. Their 3g service is 'up to' 3.6mbits .

€39.99 a month for 3Gb Cap as against Vodas 5Gb cap for €48 a month. No comparison really. Add in the historically crummy customer service from 3 and the lack of support ....which may have been addressed somewhat ...... along with the lack of decent roaming on three and its a no brainer for me anyway. Voda or Voda or Voda .

For occasional (when stuck) use the three option may be better as a backup system than Voda as the cards are cheaper than voda and speed could be better short term. So far the package is tied to a Huawei card option only.

To really highlight what 3 think of us compare these packages

3 looks a tad better than O2 who have a 2Gb Cap at about the same price and worse coverage but interestingly 3 will support Skype on these yokes when they are launched in january .

watty

Has 3 Ireland been sold to China Telecom (or what ever they called) with rest of Hutchinson's UK 3?

Sponge Bob

watty wrote:

Has 3 Ireland been sold to China Telecom (or what ever they called) with rest of Hutchinson's UK 3?

Yes watty, its so the Peoples Liberation Army can take over The Panama Canal

Blaster99

Sponge Bob wrote:

Along with the Voda 3G network 3 would have about the best coverage. Their 3g service is 'up to' 3.6mbits .

€50 a month for 3Gb Cap as against Vodas 5Gb cap for €48 a month. No comparison really. Add in the historically crummy customer service from 3 and the lack of support ....which may have been addressed somewhat ...... along with the lack of decent roaming on three and its a no brainer for me anyway. Voda or Voda or Voda .

For occasional (when stuck) use the three option may be better as a backup system than Voda as the cards are cheaper than voda . So far the package is tied to a Huawei card option only.

To really highlight what 3 think of us compare these packages

3Gb €50 a month Card €49 (3 Ireland) 12 Month contract
3Gb €25 a month Card €0 (3 Austria) then €37 a month for the second 12 months of a 24 month contract .

3 looks a tad better than O2 who have a 2Gb Cap at about the same price and worse coverage but interestingly 3 will support Skype on these yokes when they are launched in january

Perhaps you should try to get the basics right before you start to rant. The charge is €39.99 per month in Ireland.

Sponge Bob

Blaster99 wrote:

Perhaps you should try to get the basics right

and the Panama Canal, what about the Panama Canal ??

D.S.

Hi,

Does anyone know whether there will be a charge for skype-to-skype calls when abroad with this service? I am seeing conflicting information on this on the web.

Also, and maybe this is a question for a seperate post, but do you think that the x-series service will bring down mobile bills due to the ability to make skype calls?

I am currently based in the UK Mon-Fri and my roaming charges are killing me.,. so I am very interested in this service due to the skype offering..

Blaster99

3's normal call bundles include UK roaming calls so that saves quite a bit. You will still eat up minutes when receiving calls but at least they're not charged at 60c a minute or whatever the other operators charge.

With regards to data roaming, I guess you'll have to call them and ask to be sure. Normal GPRS roaming on a phone is free on other 3 networks, so I would think general data roaming will be free too but you never know.

kieranodonovan

Hey all,

My 12 month ordeal with Meteor is finally over - now I'm just holding off too see if this X-series craic is any good.

Is it definitely launching in January and does anyone know what voice/x-series combo type packages they will offer.

I was going to opt for the 60euro plan - will I be paying much more to get a decent voice/txt plan and X-series capability?

Anybody have any inside info?

Cheers,
Kieran


( Remember... METEOR = :mad: )

Slaanesh

I was doing my monthly scouting for broadband providers in Kilmessan in Meath.

I looked at this 3G business and rang voda and 3 to see if 3G was available ... no focking chance. If you look at the 3 coverage map it has a little dead spot just east of trim, you guessed it, Kilmessan.

http://www.three.ie/iexplore/icoverage/IrelandZoom4.html

Sponge Bob

Slaanesh wrote:

I was doing my monthly scouting for broadband providers in Kilmessan in Meath.l

But is Noel Dempsey , minishter of comms and guru , not your local TD ???

Get on to him .

Slaanesh

Sponge Bob wrote:

But is Noel Dempsey , minishter of comms and guru , not your local TD ???

Get on to him .

Hahahahahahaha ... oh sorry, you're serious?

Sponge Bob

Slaanesh wrote:

Hahahahahahaha ... oh sorry, you're serious?

It may have a slight effect, a perturbation of the ether which will bend 1 bar right into you . Dont expect a convoy of red vans to appear at your door tomorrow along with the men in the white and the hi vis coats , Voda don't take it that seriously.

It will no longer be a minister in 4 months so get a bit of use out of it while you can

kieranodonovan

So er... does anyone know anything more about X-Series Irish Launch?

kieranodonovan wrote:

Hey all,

My 12 month ordeal with Meteor is finally over - now I'm just holding off too see if this X-series craic is any good.

Is it definitely launching in January and does anyone know what voice/x-series combo type packages they will offer.

I was going to opt for the 60euro plan - will I be paying much more to get a decent voice/txt plan and X-series capability?

Anybody have any inside info?

Cheers,
Kieran


( Remember... METEOR = :mad: )

matthiku

Slaanesh wrote:

I was doing my monthly scouting for broadband providers in Kilmessan in Meath.

I looked at this 3G business and rang voda and 3 to see if 3G was available ... no f... chance. If you look at the 3 coverage map it has a little dead spot just east of trim, you guessed it, Kilmessan.

http://www.three.ie/iexplore/icoverage/IrelandZoom4.html

I had a similar problem here just east of Ennis, a little dead spot in my area:
http://www.three.ie/iexplore/icoverage/IrelandZoom3.html
But then I did 2 things: moved my Laptop into the loft and attached an external antenna (~ € 50 o rmaybe less on ebay) to it - now I get 4 bars out of 6 on the indicator of the 3 datacard software!

Furthermore, Three promised to extend their coverage within the first quarter - so just be patient and try a few things...

niallb

Hi Slaanesh,
I'm just down the road from you, and thought there was no chance at all of 3G around here.
I bought a USB vodafone adapter anyway, for always on.

http://www.siteviewer.ie showed a 3G mast in Drumree,
so I started scanning, I found a location in the living room
about eight inches from the ceiling that gave me a blue light.
The spot is tiny, but I've since found two others, one outside the house,
and one in the attic.

I've rigged up an amplifier with a small satellite dish,
and jumped the signal from "nearly 1 bar" to 3 bars - I'm locking at 384k.
Main thing for you though is that I'm aiming the dish at the quarry
just up from Kilmessan, so the signal is in your direction.

PM me a number, and call down to see it working.
I can bring the kit up to your place and see can we find anything.
The whole assembly is on a boom microphone stand, so
it's very flexible.
Don't give up!

NiallB

EDIT: I've only had it working since yesterday, or I'd have photos up. :-)

smellslikeshoes

kieranodonovan wrote:

So er... does anyone know anything more about X-Series Irish Launch?

I think you have the wrong topic this has nothing to do with voice or text services this is about broadband. Your not going to get a proper reply here.

godskitchen

niallb wrote:

Hi Slaanesh,
I'm just down the road from you, and thought there was no chance at all of 3G around here.
I bought a USB vodafone adapter anyway, for always on.

http://www.siteviewer.ie showed a 3G mast in Drumree,
so I started scanning, I found a location in the living room
about eight inches from the ceiling that gave me a blue light.
The spot is tiny, but I've since found two others, one outside the house,
and one in the attic.

I've rigged up an amplifier with a small satellite dish,
and jumped the signal from "nearly 1 bar" to 3 bars - I'm locking at 384k.
Main thing for you though is that I'm aiming the dish at the quarry
just up from Kilmessan, so the signal is in your direction.

PM me a number, and call down to see it working.
I can bring the kit up to your place and see can we find anything.
The whole assembly is on a boom microphone stand, so
it's very flexible.
Don't give up!

NiallB

EDIT: I've only had it working since yesterday, or I'd have photos up. :-)

Its great to see people offering to help out others! does not happend a lot anymore.......

Also how far are you from your 3G mast? do you have line of sight?

JWB

niallb wrote:

I've rigged up an amplifier with a small satellite dish,
and jumped the signal from "nearly 1 bar" to 3 bars - I'm locking at 384k.
Main thing for you though is that I'm aiming the dish at the quarry
just up from Kilmessan, so the signal is in your direction.

EDIT: I've only had it working since yesterday, or I'd have photos up. :-)

Hi NiallB,
I am in a similar "nearly 1 bar" situation with the USB modem. I might have to ring Voda and see if they'll swap my USB for a PCMCIA card so that I can use an antenna.

I would be very interested in seeing how/what you have rigged up. Have you it mounted indoors/outdoors? What about USB cable lengths, any trouble there?

Looking forward to seeing those pics

JWB

p.s. the USB modem is snazzy but two drawbacks in comparison to the cards as far as I can see.
1. No external antenna connection
2. No compatable broadband router like the Linksys that takes the PCMCIA card and relays via WiFi. Now thats cool.

DaBreno

JWB wrote:

Looking forward to seeing those pics

Same as that! I can get two-three bars at the mo and Im looking around for ways to bump that up to 4-5 bars. Should really pay off when they roll out HSDPA.

JWB wrote:

p.s. the USB modem is snazzy but two drawbacks in comparison to the cards as far as I can see.
1. No external antenna connection
2. No compatable broadband router like the Linksys that takes the PCMCIA card and relays via WiFi. Now thats cool.

Agree completley, Ive been looking for a Wireless router for the the USB card with no success. Ive since bought a Data card off Ebay cheap enough and am attempting to get a Linksys wireless router to fit it.

Its costing me a bleedin arm and a leg, but as god is my witness, I will have a fast internet connection!!

niallb

Hi,
No line of sight. I'm in a deep valley about three miles from the Hill of Tara.

Someone else from boards helped me when the service launched by dropping around to see could I get a link. (Thanks Deb for sorting that out.)

The USB dongle is plugged into an old laptop that I was using
as an ISDN router and I'm actually relaying the link through the house via wifi through a seperate AP.

I tried a lot of different cables, with mixed success.
I now have a 5m one going from the living room to the office via the attic.
I've a 1.8m extension at the end of that. I tried putting a powered hub in
between to keep everything in spec, but it proved unnecessary.
I found though that joining more than two cables together even at a shorter length didn't work for me.

I would have definitely gone for the PCMCIA card, but it was out of stock
when I got the subscription, and I could have swapped in a week when they got them in. The antenna socket was what I wanted.
I'd already gotten the PCMCIA version (borrowed) working at GPRS speeds under linux, and wanted to try the USB one.

I've also ordered a Nokia 6680 to see would that give me more convenient access, so I'll keep you posted.

Here's a few pics. I'll write it up when I have it solid.
After the storm last night, I've a slightly poorer link than I did,
but it's still working!

This should probably break out into its own thread if it goes on,
as it's a little off topic to OP.
To keep it relevant, with the dish I also pick up a "3" signal for the first time - but it's not 3G yet.
Vodafone and O2 phones don't work where we live, so getting 3G to work was amazing. (Meteor works perfectly, so we'll see where that goes.)

Back later,
NiallB

netwhizkid

That is one extremely interesting set-up you have there niallb, A satellite dish indoors and all :eek: I know you said you'll write up more and do such a guide would be very handy for other people in fringe areas like yourself. How far away do you think you are from the transmitter?

I am about 5 miles from my nearest transmitter and was wondering am I too far for a satellite dish type system to work? I have seen a dish system being used like your own to boost up an Eircom FWA signal which was 16kms from the transmitter. But they are two very different technologies.

Great photos and very interesting so it is.

niallb

Thanks!

It's intended as test kit rather than a final installation.
It's a little sensitive to bouncing kids.

I'll be taking it for a walk with slaanesh later tonight and
post up when I get a chance with our results.

I'm not aiming directly at any Vodafone mast I'm aware of, so I'm picking out a signal that is already reflected. My view of the masts around is taken from comreg, but it hasn't been updated since early 2006.
There are more than one.

Because of this I'm not yet certain how far my signal is coming.
I've done some basic war driving looking for masts with 3G added since then, but the blue led only activates I think for Vodafone ones.
The command "AT+COPS=?" lists all detected networks, so I may retrace those steps and get a better picture.

I'm finding some "3 network" signals with the dish as well, and they have
a number "2" appended to them in the listing which I'm almost certain now signifies a 3G signal.

Interestingly, the vodafone USB modem claims not to be network locked, (If that's what '0' network lock means) so a 3 sim may be useful.

If I could find a command to give me the ID of the mast I'm registered to,
I could be much more specific about how far I am away.

The documentation on the E220 card is a little sketchy.
Some commands don't work on it that appear to work on the 620.
Once the Nokia 6680 arrives, I may be able to use it to ask
more questions of the network!

Anyone know any AT command to find the station ID for the Base Transceiver Station?

As for distance, on GPRS you can go well over 10km to the mast,
and several times that with some scary network side reconfiguration.

3G range seems to depend partly on how many people are using it.
If you've a lot of people using 3G on one station, your distance limit to access it may be less than 1km.
If the mast is in a sparsely populated area (like mine!) you'll get much further, but it'll still be only a few km.

If anyone knows more about the technical side of that, I'd love to discuss it here,
because it would have a huge impact on how useful this is going to be long term. This would need to be a new thread I guess - it's not 3 specific anymore.

Vodafone in South Africa have been rolling this out for some time,
and there's some interesting discussion on it over there.
Here's a link on signal strength.
My own findings tie in well with this, though I found it worked
OK at a strength of 8 (-97 dBm). Dropping to 7 or below is unusable.

Unfortunately since the storm two nights ago, 8 is the best I've got.

NiallB