HSDPA with 3 launched?

smcelhinney

Noticed that 3 have launched an HSDPA-capable datacard today
http://www.three.ie/ihandsets/datacards.html

Does this mean they have HSDPA launched on the network? Kept that quiet..

Looks good.

quintron

yes added under handsets now..
interesting... they might as well come out with some new handsets now.. thats prob asking too much..

Random

Does it have full unrestricted internet access?

joerules

Very Interesting. Here are 3's Data tarrifs:

250MB: e24.99 a month, 49c/mb outside of bundle
3000Mb: e39.99 a month, 49c/mb outside of bundle

For reference
Vodafone(business tariffs):
15MB: e10 a month, e2.50/mb outside of bundle
25MB: e15 a month, e2.00/mb outside of bundle
Unlimited (fair use): e49 a month

O2(business tarriffs)
10MB: e8.26(exc VAT), 83c/MB outside bundle
25MB: e16.52(exc VAT), 83c/MB outside of bundle
2000MB: e40(exc VAT), 75c/MB outside of bundle

ciaranfo wrote:

Does it have full unrestricted internet access?

From 3's website: "Use it your way. Web surfing, email, instant messaging, video, internet radio. You can do it all." So it seems you unrestricted in that sense.

rogue-entity

HSDPA is to 3G as GPRS is to GSM. The upgrade is quick and painless really. They just need to upgrade the software at the cell sites IIRC. They claim to have covered Dublin and will have total coverage on their network by Feburary. That is pretty fast considering. They are also going to be rolling out streaming TV on their handsets so that will probably fit into their X-series thing (if they dont decide to do it for free like the content on their portal).

Urban Weigl

You can compare with 3 Austria pricing here:
http://www.drei.at/SelectMenu.wa?seIDM=52C4E440-0E12-48E3-8259-04A03410EB38

Prices are half price for the first 12 months, and you can choose between a data card and a HSDPA USB modem.

So the Irish prices seem reasonably competitive. One difference I did notice is that if you get it in Ireland, you can only use it here at the moment, whereas if you get it in Austria, you can use it with no roaming charges in all 8 countries they operate in, which includes Ireland. So you could pick up the card in Austria and use it here, for example. Or in Hong Kong, Australia, Sweden, Denmark, etc.

joerules

I just got the card on the card on the 3000mb package. Will let you all know how it goes

Blaster99

Urban Weigl wrote:

So the Irish prices seem reasonably competitive. One difference I did notice is that if you get it in Ireland, you can only use it here at the moment, whereas if you get it in Austria, you can use it with no roaming charges in all 8 countries they operate in, which includes Ireland. So you could pick up the card in Austria and use it here, for example. Or in Hong Kong, Australia, Sweden, Denmark, etc.

Where does it say that you can only use it here?

flodis79

This is very interesting! Could someone who has tried this tell me if I can pop the SIM card into a usual 2g or 3g phone and use the APN to connect from the phone? And can I buy only a data sim card and use the bundles with it? I will only use this offer in a phone, not in a laptop.

flodis79

Urban Weigl wrote:

You can compare with 3 Austria pricing here:
http://www.drei.at/SelectMenu.wa?seIDM=52C4E440-0E12-48E3-8259-04A03410EB38

Prices are half price for the first 12 months, and you can choose between a data card and a HSDPA USB modem.

So the Irish prices seem reasonably competitive. One difference I did notice is that if you get it in Ireland, you can only use it here at the moment, whereas if you get it in Austria, you can use it with no roaming charges in all 8 countries they operate in, which includes Ireland. So you could pick up the card in Austria and use it here, for example. Or in Hong Kong, Australia, Sweden, Denmark, etc.

But can I pick up the card in another country and then choose a data price plan here?

jrey1981

This looks very interesting.

I'd just need to know if this area was covered then I might get one.

Urban Weigl

flodis79 wrote:

But can I pick up the card in another country and then choose a data price plan here?

No. You'd have to pick up both in Austria in my example, otherwise you won't receive a subsidy on the card.

bkehoe

Anyone know if you can get the "Mobile Broadband" packages added to an existing account - e.g. so I can use my phone as the modem/access the internet unrestricted on my phone?

joerules

bkehoe wrote:

Anyone know if you can get the "Mobile Broadband" packages added to an existing account - e.g. so I can use my phone as the modem/access the internet unrestricted on my phone?

When I rang up they said this wasn't possible. I had to take out another contract and will get another another SIM.

flodis79

joerules wrote:

When I rang up they said this wasn't possible. I had to take out another contract and will get another another SIM.

Is that a data-only sim or is it capable of voice as well?

Del2005

Can't seem to find their usage conditions on the site. But are you allowed to use Skype or similar services on this?

Sam Vimes

Del2005 wrote:

Can't seem to find their usage conditions on the site. But are you allowed to use Skype or similar services on this?

i seem to remember reading that you can use it

Urban Weigl

Skype is allowed, in fact Three are heavily promoting its use in most of their markets as one of the benefits of 3G. They're also giving away free Skype vouchers with their data cards in the UK, or at least used to do so, and obviously they've bundled Skype with X-Series. Certainly won't be a problem.

Ditch the landline eh? Just use Skype for international calls that would otherwise cost a fortune on the mobile.

joerules

flodis79 wrote:

Is that a data-only sim or is it capable of voice as well?

That's a good question. You can send text messages but as for voice....

Urban Weigl

joerules wrote:

That's a good question. You can send text messages but as for voice....

And more importantly, since it's not "unlimited" like Vodafone, how can you monitor your usage so you don't accidentally use 4000MB instead of 3000MB? Because that would result in an extra charge of €490! :eek:

Can you ask 3 to cut you off after 3000MB for the remainder of the month? I'd certainly prefer that over receiving a shocking bill out of the blue.

wiredmacker

I checked the www.three.co.uk website and it seems that they allow customers to use 5 hours of skype for free without getting charged extra. Mind that was for the phones not the data cards. I checked this a couple of weeks ago not sure if this has changed

1huge1

wow this sounds really good
especially in comparassion to vodafone and O2's deals
but i only just got a 3G signal with 3 and im kinda in the middle of nowere so chances of me getting HSDPA are very slim for the near future

but id still get it just for 3G speeds as no one offers broadband here yet (thankyou eircom) so for €39 for 3000mb i would definetely get it even with only 3G speeds of 400kb

Sparky

Hmmm extreamly interesting considering I'm currently using a vodafone mobile data service thats €50 for 5gb a month and I don't even reach HSDPA speeds where ever I do be while out on the road.

I have an enternal WWAN card in the laptop so I assume I could just get the datacard (as I may use it in another laptop) and sim and just use my sim in the laptop.

Very decent prices I may say.

Urban Weigl

Sparky-s, see my post here: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055030500

Hope that helps you get HSDPA speeds.

Tom Dunne

Very interesting.

Do we actually have something resembling competition here?

I am going to wait a month or two for things to settle down and give some serious thought to ditching my DSL connection.

Blaster99

These are not ADSL replacement services. The caps are pathetic, the service is fairly unreliable (albeit more stable of late), speeds vary quite a bit, the latency is huge. If you're a very moderate user and you're thinking of getting something like Ripwave or Clearwire or you can't get any form of broadband, then these things are worth looking at. Or if you need mobile internet access, of course.

Tom Dunne

Blaster99 wrote:

These are not ADSL replacement services.

Oh, don't get me wrong. I am under no illusion that that is the case. I use my landline purely for internet access, we rarely make landline calls.

Blaster99 wrote:

Or if you need mobile internet access, of course.

This is what interests me more. Of course I don't need it, I want it.

Sam Vimes

tom dunne wrote:

Very interesting.

Do we actually have something resembling competition here?

I am going to wait a month or two for things to settle down and give some serious thought to ditching my DSL connection.

knowing three there'll probably be some hidden, extremely retarded term that makes it all but useless

Cabaal

anyone else find it weird that three.co.uk doesn't ewven appear to have a package with a 3GB cap like Three.ie does?
http://three.co.uk/personal/handsets_/datacard_/overview.omp

even three.ie's basic package is more cost affective then three.co.uk#s
is that not really bloody weird?

while these are not ADSL replacements their very handy for people that want kinda fast net connection but don't want the hassle of getting in and paying for a PSTN line to go down that route or they can';t get wireless, also good for people that travel

wiredmacker

Cabaal wrote:

anyone else find it weird that three.co.uk doesn't ewven appear to have a package with a 3GB cap like Three.ie does?
http://three.co.uk/personal/handsets_/datacard_/overview.omp

even three.ie's basic package is more cost affective then three.co.uk#s
is that not really bloody weird?

while these are not ADSL replacements their very handy for people that want kinda fast net connection but don't want the hassle of getting in and paying for a PSTN line to go down that route or they can';t get wireless, also good for people that travel

Yep that seems to be true for most UK internet broadband services as well, most of them don't seem to have a download cap, unlike Ireland however :mad:

Cabaal

wiredmacker wrote:

Yep that seems to be true for most UK internet broadband services as well, most of them don't seem to have a download cap, unlike Ireland however :mad:

don't think you get what I'm saying though, three.co.uk do have caps and there alot less then what three.ie are offering from what I can see,

As for ISP's in the UK, the vast majority do have caps, FUP's and trottle ports (ala P2P) with the exception of some providers like AOL etc

Sponge Bob

Commander Vimes wrote:

knowing three there'll probably be some hidden, extremely retarded term that makes it all but useless

Quite. And their fabulous customer service department will be fully trained on every subtle nuance.

Sam Vimes

Sponge Bob wrote:

Quite. And their fabulous customer service department will be fully trained on every subtle nuance.

like the other day when i phoned them up to ask about it and the guy had never heard of it

Sponge Bob

Their CS probably thinks that HSDPA is a really nasty social disease.

On the plus side, Three have improved their rural coverage a lot in the past 6 months. The map on the website and in the shops is way out of date (maybe 4-6 months) for the west of Ireland but their CS has not been told anything much about these new coverage areas. therefore the best way to find out is to scan witha 3g phone in your area and see if IRL-05 shows up indoors or outdoors. If coverage is found outdoors only the signal is probably too crappy for data so don't bother with them .

I think a lot of people would be surprised at where they may be found nowadays , many of whom have no other BB options at all .

On the minus side its three . I will wait 6 months to see how things setttle down first. There is no point finding out the bad news and sneaky condition some 2 months into a 12 month contract.

joerules

Hey,

So I got the card but I'm at work and can't use it yet. What's in the Box?: the Card in a nice plastic container which has the build quality of a Video or DVD coverbox (very sturdy) and a "3 Monthly" guide package (if you have 3 you know what I mean) which contains the SIM. Am really curious but I'm snowed under with work. Will report back later.

joerules

An Update:

I got the card installed. Big warnings about installing the software first before inserting the card. No restart was needed. When I plugged it in, the drivers got installed. It logged into the network and said connected at 3.6Mbits. Very nice. Felt fast while I surfed the web (well only to yahoo.ie). Did a quick speedtest (i think it was speedtest.net or something). Here are the result:
Server: in Derby, UK
ping: 234ms
Download: 809Kbits
Upload: 58Kbits.

From what I remember from American websites, the HSDPA download results here are typical (i don't know about the upload). I'll let you know how things progress.

flodis79

joerules wrote:

An Update:

I got the card installed. Big warnings about installing the software first before inserting the card. No restart was needed. When I plugged it in, the drivers got installed. It logged into the network and said connected at 3.6Mbits. Very nice. Felt fast while I surfed the web (well only to yahoo.ie). Did a quick speedtest (i think it was speedtest.net or something). Here are the result:
Server: in Derby, UK
ping: 234ms
Download: 809Kbits
Upload: 58Kbits.

From what I remember from American websites, the HSDPA download results here are typical (i don't know about the upload). I'll let you know how things progress.

Nice! Can you please check if you can use the sim card in a normal 3g phone or even 2g phone? Will it work? Is there a telephone number on the sim or only data-sim?

1huge1

^^ ya would also like to know
but when i asked the guy at customer care if i could use my current sim in a data card he said no and id need to set up a new subscription

are they different somehow or one is set up for data cards and one for mobiles

joerules

Hi,

So I put the SIM into my 3 phone and I could ring my flat. I also got a message saying I should register for my email address (I got the same when I signed up for 3). So it seems like there is nothing special about the SIM. It must be set up differently on their billing system.

flodis79

joerules wrote:

Hi,

So I put the SIM into my 3 phone and I could ring my flat. I also got a message saying I should register for my email address (I got the same when I signed up for 3). So it seems like there is nothing special about the SIM. It must be set up differently on their billing system.

Could you use it for data connection on the phone?

Urban Weigl

flodis79 wrote:

Could you use it for data connection on the phone?

Yes. You'll want a phone that supports HSDPA, though. At the moment, the only phone that supports HSDPA available in Ireland, or at least from 3, is the Motorola V3xx.

1huge1

^^ whats the differences between that and the V3X im guessing only the HSPDA ya?
also it isnt on 3 ireland website yet so are they selling it in carphone warehouse or what?

Urban Weigl

It's on http://store.3ireland.ie/ -- top most phone on that page. It's basically an improved version of the V3x, plus 3.6 Mbps HSDPA support. It doesn't really interest me so much because I don't like Motorola phones, so I didn't check all of the specs, better visit Motorola's web site for that.

cormie

So what's stopping us from going to Austria and paying half what it would cost here and using it here?

It's very good for 20 a month, not so sure about 40 though.

I'd be very interested in this if you could use VOIP, totally replace the landline:)

Does anyone know if you need a contract with these, or could I use say, a 3G sim card from an o2 Sony Erickson K610im?

So what does a 3GB cap get you these days anyway? Regular net use but no downloading or big youtube use?:) Seems fair enough.

cold_filter

flodis79 wrote:

This is very interesting! Could someone who has tried this tell me if I can pop the SIM card into a usual 2g or 3g phone and use the APN to connect from the phone? And can I buy only a data sim card and use the bundles with it? I will only use this offer in a phone, not in a laptop.

You wont be able to get HSDPA speeds as you will need a HSDPA device i.e. datacard in order to access the network.
both Vodafone,3 & o2 shoul dhave HSDPA enable phones out in the first quarter of next year.

flodis79

cold_filter wrote:

You wont be able to get HSDPA speeds as you will need a HSDPA device i.e. datacard in order to access the network.
both Vodafone,3 & o2 shoul dhave HSDPA enable phones out in the first quarter of next year.

Yes as aforementioned in the thread, the only phone with HSDPA out in Ireland is the razr v3xx. i was just wondering if it would be possible to connect at all by putting the sim in a phone or if the APN is secret and hardcoded in the datacard.

1huge1

i suppose if 3 release a new nokia smartphone that has HSPDA i would consider getting it
since ive got a upgrand to use thats gonna be €0 less i believe
i already have a v3x so getting a v3xx would be fairly pointless

joerules

Hey,

Just playing around with it. So the APN is 3ireland.ie. I think that's the same as the one in my regular 3 phone (i could easily be wrong though). If that's the case then there's nothing special about the SIM. The difference is on the billing side. I sometimes used bluetooth on my Powerbook to browse the (limited) web on my 3 phone. It was quicker than the phone too. Just got my first bill and it's under a "Mobile Broadband" section. It lists the data transfered but the cost was 0. A sign of things to come?

Urban Weigl

IMHO what 3 ought to do is allow this to be added to HSDPA-capable phones at a discount, if you get both voice and data with them. That would certainly "motivate" a lot of people to move to 3. Because right now, while I'll consider getting a data card from them once my contract with Vodafone expires, IF their product has better coverage than Vodafone at that point and if the price is competitive, I will probably keep my voice with my existing provider.

If on the other hand they allowed the 3000 MB package to be added on to an existing pay monthly plan, for let's say an extra €25 (assuming you have a HSDPA-capable handset), I'd move both, and spend more money with them than I would otherwise. Make sense?

pyramuid man

I honestly expected o2 to come out with hsdpa first as they took so long to open up their 3g network and they were using the umts for VPN's mainly and other applications rather than the mobile network. Just a thought

Urban Weigl

pyramuid man wrote:

I honestly expected o2 to come out with hsdpa first as they took so long to open up their 3g network and they were using the umts for VPN's mainly and other applications rather than the mobile network. Just a thought

Considering I'm already using HSDPA with Vodafone, and 3 have HSDPA live in Dublin now and will have the rest of the country soon, I doubt O2 can still be first. Now third, that's likely, considering that Meteor will take some time to build their 3G network.