[Karsini]

Originally Posted by Sam Vimes

Well a lot of people think that not being able to use it at all in large parts of the country sucks and would rather have edge but whatever makes you happy

Exactly. I'm thinking of signing up for Meteor's service so I can get internet access when I'm away from home. I wouldn't be using it for anything heavy, I have my 10Mb UPC connection for that. I'd just want to be able to go online wherever I might be.

As I'd be using it as a secondary connection I'd only want to do it as prepaid, leaving me with either 3 or Meteor. Putting aside any prejudices I have of 3, I'd choose Meteor because they have EDGE rather than relying on dial-up speed GPRS outside of 3G coverage.

[watty]

Meteor, while making use of O2 masts, does have worse coverage/capacity. My phone call reliability increase immediatly after switching from Meteor to O2 was amazing.

Meteor only pay for roaming to O2 masts were there is NO Meteor coverage at all.

[Karsini]

Originally Posted by watty

Meteor, while making use of O2 masts, does have worse coverage/capacity. My phone call reliability increase immediatly after switching from Meteor to O2 was amazing.

Meteor only pay for roaming to O2 masts were there is NO Meteor coverage at all.

Meteor switched to using Vodafone for their roaming didn't they?

[Sam Vimes]

Originally Posted by Karsini

As I'd be using it as a secondary connection I'd only want to do it as prepaid, leaving me with either 3 or Meteor. Putting aside any prejudices I have of 3, I'd choose Meteor because they have EDGE rather than relying on dial-up speed GPRS outside of 3G coverage.

There is no relying on GPRS outside of 3G coverage with 3, it just won't connect at all. 3 only has 3G masts and their roaming deal with vodafone only works for calls and texts

@watty, didn't meteor switch their roaming deal to vodafone a few years ago?

[Sam Vimes]

Originally Posted by Karsini

Meteor switched to using Vodafone for their roaming didn't they?

It seems they did:
http://kenmc.com/2006/11/14/meteor-r...with-vodafone/

[watty]

same principle applies. I guess they switched as Vodafone has most masts. They took over Eircell, the original eircom Mobile.


Tesco are still using O2?

[Karsini]

Originally Posted by Sam Vimes

There is no relying on GPRS outside of 3G coverage with 3, it just won't connect at all. 3 only has 3G masts and their roaming deal with vodafone only works for calls and texts

Ooh, another reason not to go with them! I never knew data wasn't working with 3's Vodafone roaming.

Originally Posted by watty

Tesco are still using O2?

Yes as far as I'm aware.

[Sam Vimes]

Originally Posted by watty

Tesco are still using O2?

Yes they are. They don't have any of their own masts. They're an MVNO

[Walkman]

Originally Posted by watty

I suggest that 3's maps may be "optimistic" as they have about 440 masts now and will have 600 after the current roll-out. They originally talked about having 770 masts. They had to meet various coverage targets by 2007. They claim to meet them.

3 currently have 787 live masts nationwide.

[watty]

Originally Posted by Walkman

3 currently have 787 live masts nationwide.

Any authoritative reference?

If true, it's still less than 1/2 what they need. Or does the 787 include Vodafone masts they have agreed roaming on?

[bealtine]

Originally Posted by Walkman

3 currently have 787 live masts nationwide.

I think 3 have 400+ masts live nationwide, please prove me wrong.

[Walkman]

Originally Posted by bealtine

I think 3 have 400+ masts live nationwide, please prove me wrong.

Like I have sorted before a mate of mine works for them. No this figure is 3's own masts not any vodafone. Can I ask why you think they have 400.

[bealtine]

Originally Posted by Walkman

Like I have sorted before a mate of mine works for them. No this figure is 3's own masts not any vodafone. Can I ask why you think they have 400.

A mate of mine works for them and says different.

[watty]

Unless anyone's mates are senior and in the right department they won't know.

Curiously some people senior enough to know about these things in some companies make a point of NOT knowing so they can't inadvertently let cats out of bags.

We know that Vodafone has the most sites and there are definately 5643 "sites". Though GSM and 3G at same place and same operator might count as two sites. I'm fairly sure that a mast shared between 2 operators (with their own spectrum each) counts as two sites.

[buckfastmonkey]

hello all, does anybody know if these mobile broadband services are suitable for gaming over xbox live??? i use digiweb 8 meg but lately the service has turned to poop on a stick. i would say the connection is dropped in at least half of all sessions, SO ANNOYING.