USB modem and 3

culabula

It IS coming and very soon.....it now features in the latest edition of the 3 magazine.

I have some exclusive information about it and will post soon when I get to sit down, pour myself a drink and be massaged gently by three Thai ladies (the last part is the fantasy of the old and bewildered.....).

JNive

lol, good going there, should be pleasant.

legs11

comes with mandatory 12 month contract i guess.......

will they swap a redundant pcmcia card for it?

culabula

The new modem should be released this month, hopefully next week.
It will be called the 3DataModem.
It is exactly the same as the Vodafone one and so will support Macs.
The SIM provided with it will be a data only SIM –there will be no voice or SMS (even though the Vodafone version offered SMS within the software supplied).
The DataModem/SIM will not roam on other networks onlike the datacard/SIM: it will roam on all other 3 networks worldwide including Israel(!).
The datacard will remain on sale.
Holders of the existing datacard can apparently migrate to the new tariff (TBA)
The current tariff of 3GB will remain but the 250mb is going.
The rumoured new tariff is 10GB @ 19€ a month.

More info as I get it.

culabula

legs11 wrote:

comes with mandatory 12 month contract i guess.......

will they swap a redundant pcmcia card for it?

Well, of course it will, what's wrong with that?

There's every chance that you will be allowed to swap or upgrade at an advantageous rate, at least. Remember, be cool.

jimmycrackcorm

Now if only I had a usb port on my phone then I'd be able to get the mobile broadband to work properly.:rolleyes:

JNive

i guess, the recent vodafone price reductions are to prepare for the new tariff from 3 and the launch of the O2 service, once both these occur we should really see good compeition, considering O2 are Vodafone's main competitor in the mobile market.

I can see the vodafone package going to 10GB soon and going from EUR40 down to EUR30, and keeping the SMS/Voice capability ( wonder if they will keep the USB Modem sims different to the datacard ones like 3 )

Fun Fun Fun

culabula

JNive wrote:

)

Fun Fun Fun

"Until her daddy takes the T-Bird away....."

culabula

jimmycrackcorm wrote:

Now if only I had a usb port on my phone then I'd be able to get the mobile broadband to work properly.:rolleyes:

Ya wha?

jimmycrackcorm

The 3ireland.ie pages load ok but every day at some point I find that normal internet web pages aren't coming back - just a tcp error. There is always a noticeable delay as you wait for the widerweb to reformat the pages for mobile display.

godskitchen

culabula wrote:

The current tariff of 3GB will remain but the 250mb is going.
The rumoured new tariff is 10GB @ 19€ a month.

More info as I get it.

So at what price point will the 3000Mb be? im guessing they wont try and keep it the same.

neilled

legs11 wrote:

comes with mandatory 12 month contract i guess.......

will they swap a redundant pcmcia card for it?

Well upgrading any handset on any networks normally involves renewing a contract for 12 months or more. Whats new with that? Pretty much standard industry practise.........

culabula

godskitchen wrote:

So at what price point will the 3000Mb be? im guessing they wont try and keep it the same.

That's what I'd like to know.

Urban Weigl

legs11 wrote:

comes with mandatory 12 month contract i guess.......

The reason for the 12 month contract is that they are selling you a subsidised USB modem, data card or phone. So they need to be able to recoup the cost.

Now if you were to buy only the SIM card and supply your own equipment, or pay full whack for the equipment, there would be no contract.

Solair

I enquired about providing your own data card, or indeed a laptop with a built in HSPDA adaptor and I was told in no uncertain terms that "Three operates a policy of locked sims and only equipment supplied by Three can be connected to our network"

It kind of defeats the whole purpose of GSM/3GSM/UMTS !! i.e. the interchangable SIM.

Urban Weigl

That's not actually enforced, however they do currently force you to buy a subsidised handset or data card. Can't just get the SIM card on its own, unfortunately. In Italy, I see 3 are even selling subsidised laptops! :eek:

jimmycrackcorm

Urban Weigl wrote:

That's not actually enforced, however they do currently force you to buy a subsidised handset or data card. Can't just get the SIM card on its own, unfortunately. In Italy, I see 3 are even selling subsidised laptops! :eek:

Lets be very clear about this. Three post pay does enforce the locking of the sim to the handset / card. Idiots.

culabula

jimmycrackcorm wrote:

Lets be very clear about this. Three post pay does enforce the locking of the sim to the handset / card. Idiots.

How? Mine doesn't.

Solair

I think I'll be moving to a network who doesn't treat me like a criminal if I try to put my SIM into another handset and who doesn't treat me like crap generally.

I'm unbelievably unimpressed with them and I'm really sorry I signed a 12 month contract with them.

Their customer service is completely unprofessional.

Tom Dunne

culabula wrote:

The rumoured new tariff is 10GB @ 19€ a month.

More info as I get it.

Ok, now you've got my interest.

I wonder if there are Linux drivers for the USB modem? Probably not. Damn me for installing Linux on my laptop.

Sam Vimes

culabula wrote:

The SIM provided with it will be a data only SIM –there will be no voice or SMS (even though the Vodafone version offered SMS within the software supplied).

are you sure about that? the current datacard can be used to send sms and it would be odd to remove the feature for a usb modem which is also capable of it.


but this is 3 were talking about :rolleyes: i wouldn't put it past them

culabula wrote:

The DataModem/SIM will not roam on other networks onlike the datacard/SIM: it will roam on all other 3 networks worldwide including Israel(!).

so they've crippled it for no apparent reason? why would they prevent the usb modem from romaing but not the datacard?

jimmycrackcorm wrote:

Now if only I had a usb port on my phone then I'd be able to get the mobile broadband to work properly.:rolleyes:

how do you mean? your phone can be plugged into a usb port with a data cable

tom dunne wrote:

Ok, now you've got my interest.

I wonder if there are Linux drivers for the USB modem? Probably not. Damn me for installing Linux on my laptop.

dual boot?

culabula

Commander Vimes wrote:

are you sure about that? the current datacard can be used to send sms and it would be odd to remove the feature for a usb modem which is also capable of it.


but this is 3 were talking about :rolleyes: i wouldn't put it past them


so they've crippled it for no apparent reason? why would they prevent the usb modem from romaing but not the datacard?

As sure as I can be with official 3 Ireland instructions in my hand. I too am amazed they are blocking SMS but I believe they are really going to target the dispossessed of broadband and they don't want to confuse people. Just pure data, data, data-at home, on the move and there where you can't get fixed broadband. That appears to be their strategy. Keep it simple.

As for the roaming aspect your guess is as good as mine. I suppose that if they are going to go for households they don't want any extraneous charges prompting mass and wholesale returns such as we have seen so far -or at least massive complaints for bills of over 1200 euro etc.

Me, I just don't get the israel bit.

culabula

There seems to be a new '3' network in Indonesia. 3 Ireland seem to have confused that with the non-existent 3 Israel. So I guess we can take all other information with large pinch of coarse sea-salt too........

Urban Weigl

Heard about the new 3 network in Indonesia a few weeks (months?) ago, don't remember when exactly, but it was a little while ago. It's funny they mixed up Indonesia with Israel.

legs11

cula,

its 1,500e not 1,200e...........;)

culabula

legs11 wrote:

cula,

its 1,500e not 1,200e...........;)

Wasn't actually referring to yours: a friend of mine got a bill last month for 1200€ plus.

culabula

Tuesday (14/05) is now the day mentioned for the USB modem launch. New tariffs as promised, but they are at this point remaining extremely tight-lipped.

JNive

lol, oh this is going to be fun :-) i just know it

JTMan

The Sunday Business Post had an article on this today ...

Price per month: 20 EUR
DL Speed: 3.6 MB
Cap: 10 GB
usage above: 5c per MB
cost of adaptor: 130 EUR
Launch : "this week"

No word on what happens (????) to those who are paying 39 EUR for 3GB and 50c per MB after that.

Sam Vimes

Fungus wrote:

The Sunday Business Post had an article on this today ...

Price per month: 20 EUR
DL Speed: 3.6 MB
Cap: 10 GB
usage above: 5c per MB
cost of adaptor: 130 EUR
Launch : "this week"

No word on what happens (????) to those who are paying 39 EUR for 3GB and 50c per MB after that.

sounds very interesting. now all they need to do is train their staff in something other than how to say "i don't know" and they're sorted

culabula

Fungus wrote:

The Sunday Business Post had an article on this today ...

Price per month: 20 EUR
DL Speed: 3.6 MB
Cap: 10 GB
usage above: 5c per MB
cost of adaptor: 130 EUR
Launch : "this week"

No word on what happens (????) to those who are paying 39 EUR for 3GB and 50c per MB after that.

As I have posted, migration WILL be allowed (according to official in-house bumph).