Vodafone to introduce flat rate wireless broadband

Urban Weigl

The ComReg map is several months out of date. For example, my nearest town is not listed as having a 3G mast, because one was only put in two months ago. Your best bet is to call Vodafone on freephone 1907, tell them the name of the town. They should be able to inform you if 3G is available around your area.

By the way, you can get a 3G phone online from https://www.vodafone.ie/df/ for €89 including 80 euros call credit.

oscarBravo

godskitchen wrote:

I live in Mayo just outside Newport.

There's a group broadband scheme just going live in Newport at the moment. If you can see the church, you may already be in coverage.

jwt

Bit the bullet and bought a card and connection.

Currently running of it as we type/speak/read.

In worst room in house connected at 384kb

Quick speed tests at 199kbs to 269kbs again in the worst location in the house. vodafone software is showing 2 bars on out of 5.

Only down side is that the card/software supplied insists on killing my WLAN connection as the data card expects to be the wireless adapter so I loose my internal wireless network.


Expect to figure that out during the course of tonight.

Ping to BtIreland dns servers

Reply from 194.145.128.1: bytes=32 time=174ms TTL=51
Reply from 194.145.128.1: bytes=32 time=172ms TTL=51
Reply from 194.145.128.1: bytes=32 time=191ms TTL=51
Reply from 194.145.128.1: bytes=32 time=189ms TTL=51


More results and opinions as I play
John

Edit 1
WLAN bit solved

In Mobile Connect Software window
goto

tools / options / preferences
Click WLAN tab

Untick Enable WLAN interface on this device

reboot

All should be well.

As an aside irishisptest.com gives an average of 242kbs rat-my-isp.com gives and average 260kbs if i use the included antenna. Which given the rate-my-isp.com is pulling the test from the US makes me wonder about vodafones peering.

godskitchen

oscarBravo wrote:

There's a group broadband scheme just going live in Newport at the moment. If you can see the church, you may already be in coverage.

Is it westnet you are talking about? I live near Beltra Lake a cant see the church in Newport, the only thing westnet can do is put in an AP near me, but of course they won’t do that unless there are around 20 people who also want broadband. Most people around here think Broadband is some kind of musical group that play a broad spectrum of music!

oscarBravo

godskitchen wrote:

Is it westnet you are talking about?

Not directly, no. Newport built their own group scheme using WestNet backhaul.

godskitchen wrote:

I live near Beltra Lake a cant see the church in Newport

I know the Newport guys are planning to cover out as far as Glenhest - maybe you should talk to them about Beltra.

godskitchen

oscarBravo wrote:

Not directly, no. Newport built their own group scheme using WestNet backhaul. I know the Newport guys are planning to cover out as far as Glenhest - maybe you should talk to them about Beltra.

I pretty much live in Glenhest, who should i be talking to, Westnet? The guy i was talking to before i think was called John, cant recall his second name though!

Cheers.

oscarBravo

godskitchen wrote:

I pretty much live in Glenhest, who should i be talking to, Westnet?

Like I said, we're basically just a supplier to the Newport co-op scheme. If you want to PM me contact details, I'll get them to the relevant people in the co-op.

jrey1981

jwt wrote:

Bit the bullet and bought a card and connection.

Currently running of it as we type/speak/read.

In worst room in house connected at 384kb

Quick speed tests at 199kbs to 269kbs again in the worst location in the house. vodafone software is showing 2 bars on out of 5.

Only down side is that the card/software supplied insists on killing my WLAN connection as the data card expects to be the wireless adapter so I loose my internal wireless network.


Expect to figure that out during the course of tonight.

Ping to BtIreland dns servers

Reply from 194.145.128.1: bytes=32 time=174ms TTL=51
Reply from 194.145.128.1: bytes=32 time=172ms TTL=51
Reply from 194.145.128.1: bytes=32 time=191ms TTL=51
Reply from 194.145.128.1: bytes=32 time=189ms TTL=51


More results and opinions as I play
John

Edit 1
WLAN bit solved

In Mobile Connect Software window
goto

tools / options / preferences
Click WLAN tab

Untick Enable WLAN interface on this device

reboot

All should be well.

As an aside irishisptest.com gives an average of 242kbs rat-my-isp.com gives and average 260kbs if i use the included antenna. Which given the rate-my-isp.com is pulling the test from the US makes me wonder about vodafones peering.

Any idea how far you are from the nearest 3G mast?

jwt

Hard to tell around here as there are multiple masts but which have 3G running on them is another matter.

the nearest mast is about 1/2 a mile with near LoS to it. So I don't think that one has been upgraded. Next nearest is either Mother Hubbards due east about 1.5 miles or Kinnegad about 3 miles west.

Can't be more help than that I am afraid


John

wingnut

cgarvey wrote:

So what do Vodafone (who'll be the target of my next ASAI complaint, once Perlico is done)

Only read this thread now. I complained about the use of 'Unlimited' when I first saw the tarriff on the website. Received emails from the ASAI of Ireland that they are looking into it, due to reply soon.

Urban Weigl

For those who only have the newer ExpressCard slots in their laptops (mostly new Dell and Apple laptops afaik), I've been testing the Sony Ericsson V600i as a 3G modem. It's available from Vodafone's online store for 89 euros including 80 euros call credit.

It works great, and the signal strength seems good. I'm getting about the same speeds and pings as I am with the data card. This is my test setup: MacBook Pro -> Bluetooth connection to Sony Ericsson V600i. I'd expect it to work grand with any laptop that has bluetooth. I don't know about using the supplied USB cable, as I haven't tested that.

Blaster99

Does the 3G card work in a 3G phone? Someone above claimed that wouldn't work.

Urban Weigl

Blaster99 wrote:

Does the 3G card work in a 3G phone? Someone above claimed that wouldn't work.

Yes. The 3G data unlimited card works fine in the 3G phone (in my case the V600i). I am not sure why anybody would think it would not work. You can even use it in an old phone that only supports GPRS, though obviously your connection will be slow. Depending on the room in the house, I get up to 4/5 bars of coverage with the V600i.

You obviously won't be able to make billable calls with the Data Unlimited SIM card (interestingly, calls to free numbers and incoming calls work, which I didn't expect).

cgarvey

That is good news. It usen't be the way for Voda UK, and a few of the bigger EU networks. I presume they blocked this by coupling IMEI to the SIM, but I don't know. Also, I presume it was so that you'd take out another SIM with them for voice, as I can see no reason otherwise.

If Voda IE do allow use of the unlimited plan SIM in a phone-as-modem (don't care about the calls), then the MacBook is back in the plan

.cg

Urban Weigl

cgarvey wrote:

If Voda IE do allow use of the unlimited plan SIM in a phone-as-modem (don't care about the calls), then the MacBook is back in the plan

Before I bought the phone, I talked with data support (quite knowledgeable crowd there), and they confirmed that putting the SIM card in any phone would work. So I ordered the V600i online, popped in the SIM card, and it worked straight away -- like a charm! This phone seems to get good 3G reception as well, my initial impression is it works just as good as the data card, even though the data card has the advantage of an external antenna. I am well pleased. In fact, I am writing this post on it right now.

Windows users will need to install the driver software for the V600i (supplied with the phone), Mac users don't need any driver software, but will need to download a modem script (one that will work with any Sony Ericsson phone can be found for free here). There's also a link for Linux users on that page.

The APN/Telephone number you need to use is "office.vodafone.ie"; username and password are both "vodafone".

leoc

I'm 200-400m from a red area on the Vodafone map. (Presently my guess is that the nearest Vodafone 3G station is ~1900m away and not yet on Comreg's map.) Using the current-issue Data Connect card (Huawei E618) and the little external antenna provided, I get one bar of UMTS/3G and these figures from irishisptest.com:

Date               Download Speed  	Upload Speed      Qos   RTT   	Maxpause
29/07/2006 22:11   222 kbps (28 KB/s)   57 kbps (8 KB/s)  79%   155 ms   583 ms
29/07/2006 19:17   237 kbps (30 KB/s) 	56 kbps (7 KB/s)  61%   166 ms 	 353 ms
29/07/2006 19:10   193 kbps (25 KB/s) 	54 kbps (7 KB/s)  43%   174 ms 	 709 ms
29/07/2006 19:06   168 kbps (21 KB/s) 	55 kbps (7 KB/s)  58%   172 ms 	1011 ms
29/07/2006 19:00   246 kbps (31 KB/s) 	53 kbps (7 KB/s)  65%   195 ms 	 429 ms

Total Averages:
                   214 kbps (27 KB/s)   55kbps (7KB/s)    62%   173 ms   617 ms

Quite variable and never quite broadband, but consistently higher bandwidth than two-channel ISDN and vastly nicer overall. I hope to throw in an SLP17 soon to firm up the reception, but already I'm very happy.

Now you've seen the baby photos . Two more points:

• Be sure to try a 3G-only profile before giving up hope of a 3G connection in a marginal area. Using a 3G-preferred profile, my card nearly always makes a GPRS connection here.
• The information on this thread (and this one) has been very helpful - big thanks to Urban Weigl and everyone else who contributed.

godskitchen

nice one leoc, that really good info!

Tubbritt

Hi all.

For what it’s worth, there seems to have been a change in the 3G signal in the Kilmeaden area of Co. Waterford today.

My Three phone never picked up a 3G signal at home before, and now I’m getting a full signal in the village, and where I live ( between kill and kilmeaden) 3 bars.

My Vodafone data card is now picking up a 3G signal without the aerial even attached, and with it attached I’m getting 3 bars as apposed to 1 since I got the card.

Obviously something happened today. Delighted I can now make video calls from home too :-)

Sponge Bob

a new cell. the red areas on the map are behind reality on the ground to some degree. Kilmeaden is beside a main 'N' road though is it not ???

Tubbritt

Kilmeaden is beside a main 'N' road though is it not ???

Yes, the road goes straight through Kilmeaden. Yep…could be a new cell I guess.

Vodafone only have two in the area and they are very spread out compaired to O2 and Meteor.

They have one close to portlaw is that’s 3G enabled, and the other in Kill is not. I get the feeling a new one has popped up somewhere closer now that I can pick up this Three signal.

Where I would like to know since I’m up so high I can see all the masts in every direction. None of which are new.

watty

New stuff goes on old masts all the time.

Urban Weigl

Vodafone is working on a 3G/UMTS/HSDPA modem that will work with any PC or laptop with a USB port:
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/08/01/vodafone_hsdpa_3g_modem/

For some reason it looks a lot like the Mighty Mouse... :eek:
From the shape, though, I think it's made by Huewei as well. Vodafone just changed the colour to hip "iPod white", and added their logo and branding. Anyhow, it should be of interest to people with new laptops as well as desktop PC's.

oscarBravo

I decided to try a "mobile" test. I drove from Ballyvary (just about within Castlebar's 3G coverage, on high ground) to Foxford and on to my home between Knockmore and Ballina. This route has several nulls in Voda coverage, to the extent that (even with the car kit) I plan my phone calls so as not to have the calls dropped.

I dialled in before leaving Ballyvary, and started a ping running. I stopped the ping when I arrived home. Conclusions: the connection was never dropped, which I was quite surprised at. Ping times go to hell in a handbasket during cell handoffs, and when handing off from 3G to GPRS.

1850 packets transmitted, 1807 received, +30 duplicates, 2% packet loss, time 1854138ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 178.186/901.598/17472.679/1370.370 ms, pipe 18

The duplicate pings tended to happen around cell handoffs also.

17.472 seconds - that's some ping! I guess gamers won't be using this in moving cars...

Blaster99

I'm tempted to fit a 3G router in my car and stream internet radio. I would normally do my driving in 3G areas so it might work. Perhaps a little cost-prohibitive as things stand but could be an interesting project.

Urban Weigl

Blaster99 wrote:

I'm tempted to fit a 3G router in my car and stream internet radio. I would normally do my driving in 3G areas so it might work. Perhaps a little cost-prohibitive as things stand but could be an interesting project.

Streaming radio works surprisingly well when things fall back to GSM/GPRS; I did some testing with Real Player, the streams I tested were BBC Radio 4 and RTE 1. The quality was fine.

DonegalMan

Oh Happy Days - thank you Vodafone, and damn you to hell Eircom

Just got Broadband for my son who thought he would never get Broadband - exchange not on list to be enabled and anyway he's probably too far from it, couldn't even get ISDN due to distance restriction.

He's about mile and a half outside red area on Vodafone map but quite high up so we took a chance and bought the card. He's only getting one and a half to 2 bars 3G but connecting at 384kb - ping times are a bit crap at 200+ but he can live with that, no gaming involved.

I've seen references here to using an external antenna - if he did this, would it improve his reception and consequently his speed?

If so, where can he get a suitable antenna?

smellslikeshoes

Just after getting it going after fiddling around for a couple of days. Im using a lynkys router. Had a few problems that got sorted out with a few downloads and the help of vodaphones fantastic phone support. So far Ive only been on gprs Im connecting at around the same speed as I was on dialup 41-46kbs but it feels much more solid. Its fantastic to be able to surf the net without tieing up the phoneline.Im close to an orange bit on the map so Im going to try moving it around the house tommorrow to see if I can get a 3g signal cause Im in a bad part of the house at the moment.
Like Donegalman Im over the moon to be away from eircom. This product is going to take a lot of dialup customers away from eircom.:D Thanks to everyone on this thread.

uncle_sam_ie

Urban Weigl wrote:

Before I bought the phone, I talked with data support (quite knowledgeable crowd there), and they confirmed that putting the SIM card in any phone would work. So I ordered the V600i online, popped in the SIM card, and it worked straight away -- like a charm! This phone seems to get good 3G reception as well, my initial impression is it works just as good as the data card, even though the data card has the advantage of an external antenna. I am well pleased. In fact, I am writing this post on it right now.

Windows users will need to install the driver software for the V600i (supplied with the phone), Mac users don't need any driver software, but will need to download a modem script (one that will work with any Sony Ericsson phone can be found for free here). There's also a link for Linux users on that page.

The APN/Telephone number you need to use is "office.vodafone.ie"; username and password are both "vodafone".

If I used that V600i sony phone as a modem at home could I connect my two Macs off of it? And, your link to the modem script that you would need to work it with that sony, I'm guessing it's the "Ericsson HSCSD & GSM Scripts" that I would need. Were the scripts hard to install? Is there any thing I should be aware of while installing them?

Thanks, Urban Weigl

Sponge Bob

Have to say the buzz and word of mouth around ruralish Galway for this product is great. Unlike other BB products lots of people are 'finding it' themselves because Voda has advertised it properly and checking with me afterwards to confirm it works as advertised and at that price. I am only too happy to confirm it and recommend it.

They find the pricing is unbelievable for Vodafone who have never led on pricing before. I am delighted to inform that that it does what it sez on the can and that the quality is good in the orange areas .

Again it must be noted that many of these people are on crappy 12k or 16.8k eircom lines with high end flatrate and are only too happy to dump eircom for something that actually works even if it only works at 43k ....and save money at the same time. One character I know now leaves his laptop in his car doing his 'heavy' downloads while he goes to mass on Sunday . Theres organisation for ya

Persons on traditional eircom 12k or 16.8k lines notice an improvement in pings straight away .

lucernarian

If we didn't have broadband already at home here, the vodafone offer would be very attractive indeed.

Vodafone have the house in orange but adjacent to a green area. But the land rises a little too much between here and the mast for LOS to the mast near to the northwest of Drogheda. I'm wondering, would the Linksys router work with just GPRS? Any information I've looked up about it does not mention GPRS. We would probably have to use an external aerial on the roof to get the signal.

It must be great for those people to move away from 12k speeds. I used a comp which connected at about 12 or 14 kbps not far from here (Yes, inside the Pale, sponge bob) and it's a painful experience.