vodafone 3g modem

memeandmark

hi i have a vodafone 3g modem and still have not being billed is it a bi monthly thing or monthly nothing has come out of my account i have the modem since end of feb..wondering is anyone else wondering when we willl get billed...also if anyone is encountering any problems eg..slowing down computer system or just slow connection..any response thanks

niallb

I've had mine since December, and still have not been succesfully billed either.
I get threatening letters with ever increasing amounts on them every month,
and ring to confirm my bank details with them, which are correct on record.
Vodafone just apologise and tell me it will definitely be taken on such and such a date, but it's still not happening.

By any chance did you buy yours through a Carphone Warehouse?
They've made a hames of the contracts on the last two phones
I've bought from them - one Meteor and now the Vodafone modem.

anthony4335

Have mine since last year, and get billed every month. The only diff is that I pay mine through my credit card.

limerick_woody

i've had mine since february and they have billed me.

Dean820

I get billed every month through Direct Debit.

mayhem#

What's the monthly download limit on these modems?

E.

DaBreno

Have one myself. Alas the bills are all to regular.

mayhem# wrote:

What's the monthly download limit on these modems?

It depends on what package you signed up for. The modems themselves dont stop downloading at a certain limit. Your bill whould tell you what package you are on.

JNive

the 'Vodafone 3G Broadband' Package is 5GB limit and 12c per MB over that.

memeandmark

finally got billed...looks like its bimonthly...limit of 5 gigs...that was the only option to sign up for did it online...are there lower options cos not really using 5 gig!!

memeandmark

hello again...my vodafone 3g modem was working fine up until the last few times i accessed the internet...it will work for a few minutes but then disconnect...i am in a 3g area and the modem light remains the blue colour but the internet keeps disconnecting...if anyone knows whats goin on please post a reply thanks

woodyhoo

I have the same problem.i signed up last year for unlimited with carphone warehouse.i called vodafone after and it was confirmed unlimited data.
Last week i got a letter from them quoting their "fair use policy"
i looked back at my original paperwork and cant see any mention of such a policy. Anyway they say im constantly over 5 gigs a month and i should desist.
im not in a 3g broadband area and only get gprs,my monthly downloads only sometimes barely execeed 5 gigs.
i think that having got more customers voda are now trying to limit usage.i guess that if you dont comply they will curtail your service until you just go away!!!

niallb

Well, if they've changed your policy on you, at least you can use VOIP now.
The contract with the 5G limit on it - as far as I know - does not forbid it.

godskitchen

Yep mine too has been on and off the last few days, I have tried GPRS which comes off different mast and that keeps disconnecting too!

memeandmark Are you in a HSDPA or just normal 3G area? Mine is normal 3G, but vodafone are upgrading the rest of their network to HSDPA before the end of April..................could be something to do with that???? Also where in the country are you.......and mine seems fine today.

woodyhoo I also go over 5Gb a month, but by a fair margin, i must be over 20Gb a month, I have received no letter telling me to stop, I signed up for Unlimited, and I intend to use it. It could also be to do with the area you are in, if a lot of people in your area also use the service or vodafone get complaints about service, they might see you as the cause of the problem. Saying that if you are only on GPRS i dont thinik thats the case.

smadger

godskitchen wrote:

I also go over 5Gb a month, but by a fair margin, i must be over 20Gb a month, I have received no letter telling me to stop, I signed up for Unlimited, and I intend to use it.

Wish I'd done the same. I've got 3's 3Gb package and went over it in my first month, only to be greeted by a direct debit of €481, without even an invoice to back it up. Not happy :mad:

godskitchen

smadger wrote:

Wish I'd done the same. I've got 3's 3Gb package and went over it in my first month, only to be greeted by a direct debit of €481, without even an invoice to back it up. Not happy :mad:

:eek: :eek: :eek: Thats some bill! Did you not know you were going over the 3000Mb? Get a program called BitMeter2.

smadger

godskitchen wrote:

:eek: :eek: :eek: Thats some bill! Did you not know you were going over the 3000Mb? Get a program called BitMeter2.

I'd an idea I was approaching it, but a power cut (we get a few) caused me to lose the count that was clocking up on the software they give you. Will have a look at bitmeter2 - thanks. Will also uninstall any p2p software - just ain't worth the risk!

At 14c+tax per Meg, it really starts to clock up if you're not careful.

godskitchen

You can also call them to find out how much you have used, do it as often as you like, they like reading things from screens............but under no circumstances ask them to think for them selfs, they will explode.

memeandmark

Godskitchen- I am just in roscommon what are they doing with the network...is this affecting us so...where about are you...i get the blue light 3G on the modem at something like 3.6mbs but the last few days have to constantly restart or change ports for it to detect the network or get a signal...could it b my laptop..didnt try it yet til i get home from work...am very dissappointed

godskitchen

memeandmark The 3.6Mbps you connect at is just what windows see the card connecting at, its not the speed you will be getting, the max voda has at the moment is 1.8mbps IIRC. I dont think it will be your laptop, i am having the same sort of problems and i know its not a fault my end.

If its any comfort their network does seem to do this now and agin, well at least where i am, im just hoping its due to upgrading, I should have a answer soon.

Oh and im in Mayo

oleras

smadger wrote:

Wish I'd done the same. I've got 3's 3Gb package and went over it in my first month, only to be greeted by a direct debit of €481, without even an invoice to back it up. Not happy :mad:

€481 ????????? how much over is that, less than 3 gigs off the top of my head...... someone who know might answer.... if it is thats robbery.

memeandmark

Godskitchen- thanks for letting me know about the mbps as i thought it would be really fast if it was to be that speed,but it is good to know..i have more bars this eve..getting the 3g with 3bars (good for roscommon!)...and its a bit faster but wont speak too soon...i really hope its only the network and not my laptop...hope they are upgrading...how good are u getting the network in mayo..probably same as here... hope they will get faster speeds here in the near future..

godskitchen

memeandmark It doesnt matter if you have 1 Bar or 6Bars of signal for 3G. It doesnt work like that, you are either getting the data or your not.........thats not saying signal doesnt have an effect on your connection, clearly it does but its like a Digital TV signal, you sither see a picture or you dont depending on the signal.

Do you know where the mast is that your connecting to? My connection speeds up at night, its in a small village 7 miles away (im using an external antenna to pick up signal) and of course at night less people are in that "Cell". I wont bore you with how 3G works, if you really want to know there is lots of info on wikipedia.

What Kbps are you getting when downloading files? also i am guessing you have a E630 data card, as the E620 would only be connectiong at 1.8Mbps (well according to windows) i didnt think voda were doing the E630. The model number will be on the bottom of the card.

Where abouts in Roscommon are you?

memeandmark

Godskitchen- i dont have a vodafone data card i have the vodafone white 3g modem that connects via usb...dont really understand much about 3g and speeds..it was a little faster last night but disconnected again on me...it just stops connecting and brings up an error the next time i try to connect...i am less thn a mile outside roscommon town..not sure where the signal connection is tho..

godskitchen

Give the data support a call and tell them, If your only a mile away its not going to be signal. Roscommon Town is HSDPA which means you should be getting a connection at a max of 1.8Mbps, go to www.speedtest.net and post your results back here.

But as i say give vodafone a call and let them know, there may be a problem in your cell that they dont know about.

smcelhinney

godskitchen wrote:

I also go over 5Gb a month, but by a fair margin, i must be over 20Gb a month, I have received no letter telling me to stop, I signed up for Unlimited, and I intend to use it

In fairness, thats a bit naive. Most, if not all, operators have some sort of fair usage policy in place for these kind of products. By your reckoning, you could have 100+ people sitting beside a HSDPA node downloading 20+ gig of data per month at 1.8Mbps, and expect the operator to support that. Honestly.. :rolls-eyes and tuts:

Also, Im sure even if you did NOT get notified of the fair usage policy when you signed up, that you DID sign a set of terms and conditions (or ticked a box), which more than likely states that they can change the terms and conditions at any time.

godskitchen

smcelhinney wrote:

In fairness, thats a bit naive. Most, if not all, operators have some sort of fair usage policy in place for these kind of products. By your reckoning, you could have 100+ people sitting beside a HSDPA node downloading 20+ gig of data per month at 1.8Mbps, and expect the operator to support that. Honestly.. :rolls-eyes and tuts:

Also, Im sure even if you did NOT get notified of the fair usage policy when you signed up, that you DID sign a set of terms and conditions (or ticked a box), which more than likely states that they can change the terms and conditions at any time.

I understand why ISP's have a fair use policy, I download about 20Gb a month, which i dont think is a lot,it COULD be a lot more if i really wanted to push it.

If they dont want me to do it then all they have to do is tell me................but for the moment my understanding of the word Unlimited is from the Oxford Dictionary which says :adjective not limited or restricted; infinite. Again, if Vodafone wish to change their T&C's i have no problem with that.


But hey if yourself or Vodafone have some new dictionary i have not seen yet then I stand corrected.

godskitchen

Connection running a lot better today, I have it from a good source that Vodafone were running a "audit of the 3G/HSDPA network" over the past few days, which would go some way to explaining why we were experiencing problems.

JNive

good source lol :-) handy arent they lol

TT&TO

godskitchen,
as you seem to know alot about this....

i also live in mayo - westport town and am only receiving Gprs speeds. this has only recently happened - i was getting very good speeds until now.

are there two masts?

went into dealer and they said they didnt know what was going on :rolleyes:

godskitchen

TT&TO wrote:

godskitchen,
as you seem to know alot about this....

i also live in mayo - westport town and am only receiving Gprs speeds. this has only recently happened - i was getting very good speeds until now.

are there two masts?

went into dealer and they said they didnt know what was going on :rolleyes:

There are a number of reasons for you not getting 3G anymore.

3G cells "Breath" meaning the more people that connect to them, the shorter the distance the signal will travel. GPRS as far as i know does not work like this to the same extent.

The 3G cell could be down.

If you are in the town it shouldnt be because the signal is not strong enough.

The first thing you need to do is set your Data Card/Router/3G Modem to "3G only" at the moment its probably set up as "3G preferred" with this option, even if you can get 3G signal it might still connect to GPRS if it thinks the 3G signal is not good enough. Dont give it that option and see what happens.

You say your receiving GPRS speeds........what colour is the light on your modem/data card?

As for your two masts question im not quite sure i understand what you mean.

The best thing to do if none of this helps is to call the Data Support team and tell them whats going on, there may be a problem that they are not aware of.

TT&TO

apologies - i think what i mean is cell rather than mast. i really don't know what i am talking about.
anyway, rang data support about problem and they told me to change network connection to gprs preferred. this is getting me speeds less than dial up according to speedtest.ie
data support said it was a problem with network(?) and that they would get someone to look at it.
when the network connection is changed to 3g preferred, the light does change to blue - but the browser wont load anything for me.

thanks for help,
Ttto

watty

Sounds like they have a 3G problem and konw it if THEY are saying set it to GPRS

godskitchen

watty wrote:

Sounds like they have a 3G problem and konw it if THEY are saying set it to GPRS

Agreed.

At least it looks like they are going to do something about it. I have found vodafone 1000000000000000000 times more helpful in cases like this compared to Three.

Give it a few days and see what happens.

Ward21

I have a problem with My Vodafone Modem. I get a signal when its connected to the computer but when i try connect it to the Internet it says "Cannot connect to the remote computer you may have to change the network settings" Ive tried everything. Ive uninstalled my virus software. Ive done everything i was told to do by the Helpdesk. But still no good.It's driving me crazy! Can someone help me Please!!?

ISOT

memeandmark wrote: »

hi i have a vodafone 3g modem and still have not being billed is it a bi monthly thing or monthly nothing has come out of my account i have the modem since end of feb..wondering is anyone else wondering when we willl get billed...also if anyone is encountering any problems eg..slowing down computer system or just slow connection..any response thanks

I have a (work) vodafone 3g modem for over a year now and never got charged at all. :)It must not have been registered with their accounts or something like that. Anyone else in the same boat ?

DILLIGAF

i live in westport aswell. I'm in the area where the first 3G cell in the county was put up around 2 years(used to work for c+c cellular a vodafone retailer and was told it was the first one) but I grabbed a modem a few months ago and I wouldn't call it broadband. You have to wait for videos to stream like it was dial up. I get the whole "connected at 7.2mbps" ****e in the taskbar, but the light is always going to green when its being asked to do something. Its blue when it's not "connected" and as soon as I hit "connect" it will go green. Its really pissing me off. I've paid for a connection that might peak to broadband every now and then but it's not worth it by a long shot. I get 5 bars of 3G yet it still goes green and flicks the HSDPA or whatever.

spoof

DILLIGAF wrote: »

i live in westport aswell. I'm in the area where the first 3G cell in the county was put up around 2 years(used to work for c+c cellular a vodafone retailer and was told it was the first one) but I grabbed a modem a few months ago and I wouldn't call it broadband. You have to wait for videos to stream like it was dial up. I get the whole "connected at 7.2mbps" ****e in the taskbar, but the light is always going to green when its being asked to do something. Its blue when it's not "connected" and as soon as I hit "connect" it will go green. Its really pissing me off. I've paid for a connection that might peak to broadband every now and then but it's not worth it by a long shot. I get 5 bars of 3G yet it still goes green and flicks the HSDPA or whatever.

I have two relations who asked me to check their laptops when they got 3g wireless connections one is an old unit the other a dell duell core insprion. I failed to get a speed improvement from either of them, both read connected @ 3mbps but my 1mbps connection doing what ever online is without a dout miles faster if it was the old laptop on xp badly updated ect ok but the spanking new near top of the range laptop on vista premium no, slower then my xp home on 1mbps got to to be 3g I am open for correction and will be first in line to say sorry 3g.

DILLIGAF

yeah man like I had a 1mb connection from BT last year, and it was WAAAAYYY faster then this! I could watch videos,play games.I mean, isnt that what broadband IS? surely they cant get away with calling it broadband for much longer??? There's just no way it's up to the same speed as a wired,BT or eircom connection! Their 12mb lines are a million times faster! its really frustrating

watty

It's mobile Internet. The ECTA or OECD don't count it in Broadband figures. The basic 1Mbps DSL can typically be 5 to 10 times faster than real life EDGE/3G/HSDPA as the quoted speed is only if only one person connects to a sector with a good signal. With 10 people on a mast sector you may get 1/30th of the full speed.

It's a good alternative to dialup. But Fixed Wireless, Cable or DSL is better alternative. If you can afford it, even 512k two way satellite, is on average, 2 to 5 times better than Mobile 3G/HSDPA.

The speed in the Task Bar is just the speed the modem can do maximum. Like 100Mbps ethernet port claiming 100MBps connection in Taskbar. the 100Mbps ethernet can be only 10Mbps ...

roadruner

Guys what kind of speeds are you getting?




I done these tests within a few minutes of each other DL speeds go up and down like a yo yo, highest DL I've got was 1456kbps but of course its not constant.

If your living rural there isn't much choice, BB is as bad, but I guess mobile internet is better then dial up :mad:

DILLIGAF

bah! that site confused me!haha! my connection is generally around, ****! What's weird, and this is something i've literally just figured out, I can stream youtube videos on my phone, just by selecting and then it streams! Why cant I do this with the mobile modem??? It's probably the same file size too! I'm so ****ed off with this thing, I want my 1MB bt connection back!

roadruner

Just click on the yellow triangle and the test will start

I can usually watch you tube and stuff without buffering
But as you said it works perfect on the mobile and thats vodafone 3G too and i tried it while next to my computer with the vodafone modem within two feet!
can't see why a mobile phone with 3G is faster than the 3G modem
I dunno it boggles the mind