Vodafone to introduce flat rate wireless broadband

अधिनायक

How many 3g networks are there in Ireland? Is it three plus one more to come for meteor? Will there be 4 physical networks or did the govt let the slippery feckers piggyback off each other? Anyhow, with some competition like this, is it possible that an adventurous 3g network operator would actually promote VOIP to gain a big load of customers? Disruptive technology and all that malarkey.

Urban Weigl

http://www.askcomreg.ie/mobile/3G.72.LE.asp

Blaster99

They're targetting this product at a different audience/problem than a mobile phone, so I suspect they don't really care too much about VoIP when it's all said and done. In order for you to use VoIP you have to start up your laptop, sit down somewhere, connect up a headset, blah blah blah, a lot of work to just make a phone call in the scheme of things. Seeing as Ireland has such crap BB availability, this could be sold as a fixed broadband solution and in that case they can sell its ability to use VoIP as a feature. I'd say they'll be more pieved off about P2P.

That said, has anyone tried a SIP based service yet? Skype is quite good at less than optimal connections, whereas the G.whatever codecs are very sensitive.

Cantab.

Wireless network ping times are not directly proportional to download speed: that is, wireless networks are inherently slow in terms of round trip time (~300ms). Handshaking is slow, but once the wireless network is streaming data, you get good performance. Because of this, you'll find that mobiles use HTTP 1.1 instead of HTTP 1.0 where instead of downloading seperate images, .xml files etc., they're all downloaded at once via one TCP connection. So it is beneficial to use HTTP 1.1 to minimise the effect of round trip times.

In summary, ping times are certainly not everything. Download speed is what's really important. At present, the network is not being used that much for high density data transmission: as the network is used more and more, the bandwidth per user will decrease quite noticably (this is primarilty because of limitations in the air interface between neighbouring users). For now, the vodafone network is great! It'll be interesting to see how the network performs once it gets congested!

Blaster99

A lot of people do online gaming where ping is all.

I would expect this service to deteriorate quite significantly over time, but we'll see. I'm thinking of ditching my Clearwire and Eircom hotspot subscriptions in favour of this thing for sure.

bk

Cantab. wrote:

In summary, ping times are certainly not everything. Download speed is what's really important.

That isn't always through, many applications require low pings, gaming, VoIP, one that is in particular important for business users is VNC over VPN.

jrey1981

It was no surprise when I looked at the latest vodafone coverage map that I am still in a green area. If I went up the road a mile or so, I would be in a red area. Typical.

Have emailed Vodafone asking if they plan to extend coverage along the R752 road where I live.

jwt

Don't worry about the map, it's a bit out of date.

If you have a 3g phone check to see if you can make a 3g video call.

Even if you cant, if you are close you can use an external aerial.


John

Blaster99

The phone indicates 3G signal strength, isn't that enough of an indication?

Patrickof

If you've a 3G handset, try to receive that Sky TV service from Vodafone, its free till September to use it. If it works, you're in 3G coverage.

jwt

Blaster99 wrote:

The phone indicates 3G signal strength, isn't that enough of an indication?

You would think so but I've had 3G bars on my phone but can't make video calls, or download streaming content.

YMMV

John

Urban Weigl

jwt wrote:

You would think so but I've had 3G bars on my phone but can't make video calls, or download streaming content.

YMMV

John

Vodafone tell me their 3G data card provides better reception (compared to a 3G phone). Remember you also get a little clip-on antenna to improve coverage, so I'd expect it to work even in areas with barely any bars coming up on a "normal" phone.

Neuro

I just checked out Vodafone's coverage map. I'm in the orange zone and appear to be about 250m from the edge of the red zone. What's the likelihood of me getting good speeds using this Vodafone datacard? How do I go about connecting it to my PC, which has no PCMCIA slot?

kaizersoze

Neuro wrote:

I just checked out Vodafone's coverage map. I'm in the orange zone and appear to be about 250m from the edge of the red zone. What's the likelihood of me getting good speeds using this Vodafone datacard? How do I go about connecting it to my PC, which has no PCMCIA slot?

You'll need to get one of these:
http://www.vodafone.ie/sme/mailonthemove/laptopconnectivity/3grouter/index.jsp
Also available here:
http://elara.ie/products/detailsfull.asp?productcode=ECE1121637&productID=163393

Foxwood

kaizersoze wrote:

You'll need to get one of these:
http://www.vodafone.ie/sme/mailonthemove/laptopconnectivity/3grouter/index.jsp
Also available here:
http://elara.ie/products/detailsfull.asp?productcode=ECE1121637&productID=163393

Or a PCMCIA adapter for a PC. Something like this.

Urban Weigl

I can vouch for the quality of the Linksys/Vodafone 3G router. It appears to be of high quality construction, and works like a dream (once you download the latest firmware with HSDPA support). It has the advantage that you can position it for ideal 3G reception, unlike a PCI adapter (I doubt you'll have a strong signal underneath your desk)!

And if you ever switch to DSL, cable, or some other form of connectivity, you can use it as a normal broadband router as well.

Last but not least, because it's self-contained, there's no driver software you need to install on your PC. And because it's a router, you can connect to the internet from any computer on your network.

jrey1981

If anyone has the Vodafone 3G data card, any chance you could come down to where I live in Wicklow and see if it gets a reception?!

Failing that I wonder if Vodafone would let me return it if I couldnt get a reception? Does the 14-day cooling off period in contract law apply to this?

Blaster99

You can have a look at http://www.askcomreg.ie/mobile/View_Mobile_Sites.36.LE.asp and see if you can find any Vodafone 3G masts in your vicinity for starters. I would be surprised, to be honest.

http://62.17.23.101:8080/liteview6.5/servlet/MapGuideLiteView?REQUEST=MAP&WIDTH=696&HEIGHT=696&FORMAT=PNG&LAYERS=VodafoneCoverCombo.mwf&BBOX=-50000,0,450000,500000

Thats spongebobs map,I dont know how up to date it is but it suggests that 3g is in Rathdrum and in Arklow but not in between.Avoca will be on one of the many masts in between and probably 2.5G or less.
Depending on where you are, the terrain will be against you,I think.

Blaster99

Blaster99 wrote:

You can have a look at http://www.askcomreg.ie/mobile/View_Mobile_Sites.36.LE.asp and see if you can find any Vodafone 3G masts in your vicinity for starters. I would be surprised, to be honest.

Well thats a handy map.
Just discovered I have a vodafone 3g mast 3 fields away or about a half mile as the crow flies.I dont have a LOS though due to a small bit of higher ground 100ft or so higher than here.
I know it doesnt really need an LOS but does the nearness sound good?
The only problem is,I have a LOS to maybe 2 or 3 more voda masts all at least 4 miles away-which one would take priority? The one thats less than a mile away but without a LOS and is 3g or the others that arent 3g and are a big distance away but in a line of sight?

Patrickof

Earthman, get your hands on a 3g vodafone phone. Go onto vodafone live and select the TV by 3g (it might be called Sky on Mobile or Sky on 3G or something like that). If it works, then you have 3G coverage wherever you're doing this test and the datacard will work - it'll work slightly better as it has an external antenna.

jrey1981

Had a look at the comreg map, but it looks as if it needs updating. The Rathdrum mast comes up as non-3G.

Thought I had a line of sight to another one, but it seems to be an O2 mast from what the map says. D'oh !

Tubbritt

Hi Guys.

Just wanted to let you all know that I’ve been an anonymous fan / user of this website for a very long time, also hoping that someday broadband would eventually reach where I live.

Anyway… to make a long story short, now that my Exchange has finally been enabled ( Kilmeaden, Co Waterford ), and I now know that the cables are so crap that the signal will never reach me, I stumbled across this Vodafone Thread.

So………Went into town today and picked up a card. While I was only expecting a GPRS signal ( since I have a Three 3G Mobile) and would have been totally happy with that due to the fact that I can only connect at 28K on dial up here (and still even get disconnected), to my surprise I’m getting 1 bar of 3G.

It may as well be one bar of solid gold at this point for how stable it is, and how fast it is. I’ve been kicking back here taking this for a good test drive, and it’s rather exciting.

I’m getting a stable 39KB/s download here using GetRigth download manager.

Kind Regards.
James

Sponge Bob

Tubbritt wrote:

It may as well be one bar of solid gold at this point for how stable it is, and how fast it is. I’ve been kicking back here taking this for a good test drive, and it’s rather exciting.

I’m getting a stable 39KB/s download here using GetRigth download manager.

And thats the interesting bit. Vodafone 3g (to my mind) is in reality a decent flat rate dialup for many Irish people and at a decent price. If you need BB for a short while you can throw the laptop into the car and drive towards 3 bar and 4 bar territory .

The equivalent eircom product is over €50 a month , line rental + flat rate 180 but cannot be sped up.

eircomtribunal

Sponge Bob wrote:

And thats the interesting bit. Vodafone 3g (to my mind) is in reality a decent flat rate dialup for many Irish people and at a decent price.The equivalent eircom product is over €50 a month , line rental + flat rate 180 but cannot be sped up.

It is actually the first narrowband (+often broadband) flat rate offer in Ireland.
Our regulatory impostors in Comreg, who were under ministerial direction to introduce dial-up flat rate, never did so (no actual flat rate product was ever offered from FRIACO), but deliberately misinformed the DCMNR and the public by pretending to have followed the directive (as can be seen from the reporting ComReg was obliged to do back to the DCMNR).

Sponge Bob wrote:

If you need BB for a short while you can throw the laptop into the car and drive towards 3 bar and 4 bar territory .

Or stick the card into the router with antenna placed at the highest place in your house, which will give you broadband service, where the card in the laptop will not achieve it (depending of course on your location - but you'd be surprised).
P.

Tubbritt

Hi Guys.

I was just wondering here in regards to the true meaning of “Unlimited Access” and the mention of the “Fair use” policy in the terms and conditions.

Does anyone actually know what they consider fair use ?. I can see myself using 2GB to 3GB a month easily here.

Kind Regards.
James.

smellslikeshoes

Theres talk of 5gb a month but I dont think anyone really knows for sure.

Urban Weigl

smellslikeshoes wrote:

Theres talk of 5gb a month but I dont think anyone really knows for sure.

As far as I understand it, as long as you don't go mental on file sharing networks, or download for hours a day, you'll be grand. Vodafone just don't want people blasting their network, since bandwidth on 3G is limited. I think that's fair enough. If you want to download huge amounts of data, DSL or cable is going to be a better solution for you.

If anyone is interested, here are some ping stats. I'm pinging BT Ireland's primary DNS server, and I was 5.5km away from the nearest 3G base station at the time.

spyglass:~ urbanweigl$ ping 194.145.128.1
PING 194.145.128.1 (194.145.128.1): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 194.145.128.1: icmp_seq=0 ttl=48 time=169.463 ms
64 bytes from 194.145.128.1: icmp_seq=1 ttl=48 time=168.308 ms
64 bytes from 194.145.128.1: icmp_seq=2 ttl=48 time=169.077 ms
64 bytes from 194.145.128.1: icmp_seq=3 ttl=48 time=167.953 ms
64 bytes from 194.145.128.1: icmp_seq=4 ttl=48 time=167.770 ms
64 bytes from 194.145.128.1: icmp_seq=5 ttl=48 time=168.590 ms
64 bytes from 194.145.128.1: icmp_seq=6 ttl=48 time=168.441 ms
64 bytes from 194.145.128.1: icmp_seq=7 ttl=48 time=167.363 ms
64 bytes from 194.145.128.1: icmp_seq=8 ttl=48 time=168.104 ms
64 bytes from 194.145.128.1: icmp_seq=9 ttl=48 time=166.966 ms

--- 194.145.128.1 ping statistics ---
10 packets transmitted, 10 packets received, 0% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 166.966/168.203/169.463/0.712 ms

Blaster99

Has anyone tried a SIP VoIP call yet?

godskitchen

Hello there guys and girls, I have just moved here from england and a 10Mb cable connection (now connecting at 16.8Kbps with dial up) and as you can guess I would like some kind of always on connection. I have seen the Vodafone data card advertised and it’s really the only option for me even if I can’t pick up 3G (Don’t know anyone with a 3G phone)

I live in Mayo just outside Newport.
My nearest mast is Croaghmoyle, which according to http://www.askcomreg.ie/mobile/site_viewer.asp
Has O2, Vodafone, Meteor and 3 masts on top of it. Says only the "3" mast is 3G and the rest are GSM.

How up to date it the Comreg site??

I was wondering if anyone knows if this site is Vodafone 3G? They would be silly not to make it 3G at some point as it’s in such a good place and can be seen for well over 40K away!

One last question, what would I need to boost any Vodafone signal I am getting at my house though a data card and router??
Can I put up some kind of external aerial?


Many thanks in advance!