3pay- what will work?

tallus

flodis79 wrote:

Can second that.

Third that

The_Hustler

GekkePrutser wrote:

However now I'm getting the message (when accessing any page): "Service Interruption: Sorry, this product is temporarily unavailable while essential maintenance is taking place. Please try again soon".

I'm pretty sure everyone was getting that message at that time. I was anyway.


24 hours have passed and neither of my problems have been fixed. I was hoping some of that maintenance would involve actually fixing things.

Timmins

@The_Hustler: keep us updated on your situation, i'm in the same boat as you as i want to purchase a phone on 3pay to use as a modem.

Let us know if the proxy is removed and all becomes well!

Thanks

The_Hustler

Latest Update: As it's over 48 hours I used the online advisor thing again and the guy didn't even try to help. He just basically said ring 333 and press 5 to get to tech support. At no stage does the number 5 do anything like that but I got onto customer services and they said my profile says I didn't submit age verification. If that was the bloody problem they should have just taken my passport again in the shop when I offered it. They're saying 24 hours again. It's ridiculous.

If I haven't been age verified, why can I access pages using their google menu?

During the conversation, I said I gave my passport and her next sentence was "what form of ID did you submit?", so I thought I better not approach her with the proxy issue, I'll do that again when I'm finally age verified.

She did start claiming ALL my services would be activated after 24 hours but sadly I doubt she was referring to the proxy, just that I wouldn't have to use google.

tallus

The_Hustler: It's really frustrating to deal with them isn't it. Took me quite a few calls to get it sorted out. Tech support didn't fix the proxy thing, but they passed it on to another dept to "update my profile". Try emailing them from the 3ireland site too, that always gets you a phonecall from them and it certainly pushed my problems to the fore.

GekkePrutser

The_Hustler wrote:

I'm pretty sure everyone was getting that message at that time. I was anyway.
24 hours have passed and neither of my problems have been fixed. I was hoping some of that maintenance would involve actually fixing things.

Thanks, I was posting that because I was also hoping that that message would mean that the proxy was being removed on my account, but apparently not because the next morning it was back on the age verification as usual. I think everyone who is still on the proxy got that message.

However last night I rang 333 and told them I already did the age verification. They promised to escalate and fix it within 24 hours. And indeed since this evening I can access all websites, and POP3 and opera mini are working. The web surfing however is still pretty slow (GPRS-like speeds) and SIP (voice over ip) is not working. So I think I'm still behind some kind of proxy, unless they are blocking SIP now to protect their revenue (It was confirmed to work by someone else in Dublin but it may have changed now).

I'll try more in the coming days, if it turns out I'm still behind that proxy I'll try to get it removed through 333.

Edit: Even SSH connections are working (though the latency is very long, a couple of seconds) on ports 22 and 443 so I think it's just the SIP port that's blocked and I'm probably not behind the proxy. That SIP is not a big deal for me anyway. It's a shame about the latency and speed though because I was hoping it would be better (it should be better on UMTS). But anyway, it works, I can now leave my email open all day and use the Google Maps program, Opera Mini, IM+ etc... Without having to worry about the cost or spending 2 euro's a day like I was on Meteor.

Is the latency / speed the same (pretty bad for UMTS/3G standards) for everyone else out there too? Or would it be a local issue? I'm in Galway city.

@Timmins: I haven't tried using the phone as a modem yet, will do so in the next few days, I'll let you know!

The_Hustler

GekkePrutser wrote:

However last night I rang 333 and told them I already did the age verification. They promised to escalate and fix it within 24 hours. And indeed since this evening I can access all websites, and POP3 and opera mini are working.

I like the sound of that, maybe I won't need to contact them again once I'm age verified, the proxy may just be gone.

Which pisses me off a bit because I specifically went into a shop to get age verified for a second time and they claimed it was just my bookmarks and told me to do a google search. When that worked they just said it was definitely my bookmarks, but it just turns out 3's age verification thing is weird and lets you access most sites through google.
This could have all been sorted if they just took my passport. It's a week I've had this now.

Also I don't think the guy I dealt with on their online advisor thing on Sunday did anything, I wouldn't recommend using that. Just ring 333.


P.S. I very much doubt that you are behind a proxy if those applications are working.

rc28

The_Hustler wrote:

P.S. I very much doubt that you are behind a proxy if those applications are working.

I agree, i think he is experiencing slow speeds because don't the hsdpa phones and mobile bb work off the same masts? 3's broadband is ridiculously congested with some people frequently getting below dial-up speeds!;
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055115306&page=14

GekkePrutser

rc28 wrote:

I agree, i think he is experiencing slow speeds because don't the hsdpa phones and mobile bb work off the same masts? 3's broadband is ridiculously congested with some people frequently getting below dial-up speeds!;
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055115306&page=14

Yes, I think that's the reason too. Everything except the SIP is working now and the web speed is a bit faster now during the day. Still have to try the modem option but I'm sure that'll work if everything works from my phone. Thanks for that link! I hadn't noticed that other topic yet.

The_Hustler

Timmins wrote:

@The_Hustler: keep us updated on your situation, i'm in the same boat as you as i want to purchase a phone on 3pay to use as a modem.

Let us know if the proxy is removed and all becomes well!

Thanks

Final update: 24 hours later- Age verified and everything works! Fantastic. No proxy at all!


One thing though, I tried watching mobile youtube on m.youtube.com and my video player opens up but nothing plays. (This doesn't work on opera mini, just on the normal internet). I wish that worked, would be cool.

GekkePrutser

Just to let you guys know: The speed seems to have improved a lot for me in the last few days. I can now even log in to my SIP provider (however it stops working after a minute, I think the NAT gateway is set to close ports too quickly). Never mind.

It's now quick enough for internet streaming radio (128kbps), which is great for me because I can listen to radio stations from home (Netherlands) on my way to work! I got the unlimited package so I can listen quite a long time within those 2GB.

Now that I have this package on 3, I finally have all the things I wanted to do on my mobile:

• Internet Radio on the go (well some stations anyway)
• Push Email
• MSN Messenger on my phone
• Logging in to SSH servers in case of emergency
• Real web surfing
• IRC when I need to contact someone

And all without the risk of excessive bills due to exceeding limits because it's on 3pay.

It's really made my mobile a lot more fun! So thanks to all of you for giving the heads-up about the removal of that proxy otherwise I wouldn't have known.

Edit: Internet radio is actually only working for stations that have their shoutcast server on ports other than 80 (e.g. 8000). Shoutcasts on port 80 get disconnected after approx. 2 minutes. This must be caused by 3's gateway because it happened to several different stations when i tried a few. Strange, but not a big deal because I can forward through alternative ports on my server

nazoil

Was talking to CS last night and was advised to delay buying a bundle for a few days until the "upgrade" is complete.

tallus

GekkePrutser wrote:

Just to let you guys know: The speed seems to have improved a lot for me in the last few days. I can now even log in to my SIP provider (however it stops working after a minute, I think the NAT gateway is set to close ports too quickly). Never mind.

It's now quick enough for internet streaming radio (128kbps), which is great for me because I can listen to radio stations from home (Netherlands) on my way to work! I got the unlimited package so I can listen quite a long time within those 2GB.

Now that I have this package on 3, I finally have all the things I wanted to do on my mobile:

• Internet Radio on the go (well some stations anyway)
• Push Email
• MSN Messenger on my phone
• Logging in to SSH servers in case of emergency
• Real web surfing
• IRC when I need to contact someone

And all without the risk of excessive bills due to exceeding limits because it's on 3pay.

It's really made my mobile a lot more fun! So thanks to all of you for giving the heads-up about the removal of that proxy otherwise I wouldn't have known.

Edit: Internet radio is actually only working for stations that have their shoutcast server on ports other than 80 (e.g. 8000). Shoutcasts on port 80 get disconnected after approx. 2 minutes. This must be caused by 3's gateway because it happened to several different stations when i tried a few. Strange, but not a big deal because I can forward through alternative ports on my server

Can I ask what email client and phone you have GekkePrutser? I have a V3x and I can't get the pop3 email client to work on it at all.

GekkePrutser

tallus wrote:

Can I ask what email client and phone you have GekkePrutser? I have a V3x and I can't get the pop3 email client to work on it at all.

I have a Nokia E60, however I use IMAP for my email and not POP3. IMAP works well on my phone because it uses the IDLE mode, it keeps the connection to my mailbox open and I get instant notification of new emails. It's basically a poor man's push mail and works quite well. It also saves on bandwidth because it doesn't have to reload your mailbox every time you check however with 3's unlimited package this is no longer relevant

With POP3 it should work as well though. I can't really confirm because changing protocol on my phone would require deleting the whole mailbox and all settings.

tallus

Ok thanks

podgeandrodge

GekkePrutser wrote:

It's now quick enough for internet streaming radio (128kbps)

Hi gekkeprutser
can you give me a quick rundown on how to get streaming radio - is it just a case of going to the radio stations website and clicking "listen here" or is there a setup involved?

GekkePrutser

podgeandrodge wrote:

Hi gekkeprutser
can you give me a quick rundown on how to get streaming radio - is it just a case of going to the radio stations website and clicking "listen here" or is there a setup involved?

No, unfortunately it's a bit harder than that (on my phone anyway). It depends what the radio station is using. It could be one of 3:

• Windows Media: Not possible unless you have a windows mobile smartphone (e.g. iJam)
• Realplayer: You can use the built-in realplayer in Nokia Symbian Series 60-style phones (not sure if they all have it but my E60 does). In this case you can just click on the link on the radio stations website. It doesn't work for me on 3 though but I didn't really play around with it because not many stations I listen to are using it.
• Shoutcast: This is what most stations use. It is possible but you will need to make your own playlist.

So I just use Shoutcast, to do this you need a Nokia Symbian Series 60 phone (mainly N- or E-series) and you need to install the Nokia Internet Radio application. Then, you'll need to make a playlist, you'll need to edit this file, and add all the radio stations you want to it. You can save this to the 'shoutcast' folder on your memory card. It'll then get picked up by the internet radio application.

I tried opening .pls files directly from the radio stations but Nokia's client is very picky, it will crash if there is a domainname (e.g. stream.radiostation.com) in the file, instead of an IP address. So I've had better results putting just the IP's and domain names into a dedicated file.

By the way, some radio stations offer multiple streams, make sure you pick the 'iTunes' or 'Winamp' or 'MP3' stream in that case, those are usually shoutcast streams.

Edit: It may also be possible on non-Symbian phones but you will need a Java-based player, there might be some around but I never checked because I already have the Symbian phone...

Timmins

If all the reports here are true it seems 3's service is getting quite a bit better.. I'm more obliged to invest in a new phone now

AdMMM

After seeing this thread I emailed Three customer support asking to be age verified for good and to be taken off their proxy. Within 2 hours I got a call from them saying that their tech department would make the changes within 48 hours. 24 hours later and I find that I'm off the proxy and all third party applications work, including Opera Mini which really is a smart piece of kit!

tallus

Good to hear |.Murderer.| Not all of us had such a smooth transition

Timmins

Heh, i got a k610i on wednesday and got home to (as expected) find the age verification message. I went down to xtra vision to see if i could age verify it there, but alas it can only be verified in actual 3 stores..

**** this, i said, and rang 3 customer care and made up some story along the lines of "i was in the 3store yesterday and they age verified me but its still not working!". The lady on the end ofthe line was pure apologetic and escalated it to the technical team and it was sorted on thursday morning

I also got the phone working as a bluetooth modem on my macbook, so if anyone needs help with that give me a PM. I haven't found much info about it online at all, but there are a new set of modem scripts which are handy out for sony ericsson phones.

The only thing i'm finding annoying is the fact that the SMTP port seems to be blocked when i'm using Mail.. Any fixes for that out there ?

GekkePrutser

Timmins wrote:

The only thing i'm finding annoying is the fact that the SMTP port seems to be blocked when i'm using Mail.. Any fixes for that out there ?

It works fine for me! So I don't think the port is blocked. I have successfully sent several messages during the last week. However I have noticed that some of 3's IP's are blacklisted due to open relays (which can be used for sending spam), so it could be that the mailserver you are connecting to is simply rejecting the connection because of that.

The mailserver I'm using doesn't do this and I can send mails when I authenticate against it but I'm having trouble connecting to IRC sometimes, the server I use checks the spamlists too.

There's a website out there where you can check if your current IP is blacklisted, such as This one, you just have to tell it your current IP address, make sure you view this through an external site such as This one because it may be different from the address provided to your PC through 3, if they use a NAT gateway.