The Internet on a Vodafone

ucd_guy

I'm going to move to Vodafone from O2, I think, for two reasons:

(A) The Nokia N95 8GB. I want this phone, and O2 have had it on 'testing' since November. Boo to O2.

(B) Internet. I'm an internet-aholic and use it constantly on my phone, and the data charges I've been getting from O2 are staggering. From what I can gather, it's a lot cheaper on O2.

So, two quick questions:

I - Is Vodafone as cheap as I think, data wise? Or are there horror stories out there that I haven't read.

II - The internet on the mobile. I've been reading here about different settings and whatnot and Vodafone Live, etc, and it's all very confusing. So, can I access pretty much any site on my mobile? Or is it all selected stuff.

Cheers forum goers!

thund3rbird_

I got this phone a few weeks ago - fantastic phone & i'm still discovering uses
loadsa apps out there

don't use the data on 3G so can't answer your first Q

I have wireless at home plus there are plenty of wireless networks out there
no probs with any site I've tried so far, either with the built in browser or opera

phone was not sim locked when I got it either

it was in a nokia box with the spiderman3 graphics (movie is pre-loaded on the phone)
the only voda logo was on the panel regarding the 12mth voice satnav subscription

phone is not voda branded at all - not even the voda software on it

failsafe

I - If you're switching to bill pay, it's €9.99 per month for 500mb of phone browsing. If you're prepay, it's 99c per day (on the days you use it) http://www.vodafone.ie/vlive/costs/

II - It doesn't restrict any websites/pages, but it does adapt them to look better on a mobile screen. It also doesn't restrict any http based apps (I use gmail and google maps fine).

I'm not sure if that answers your questions, i.e. if you think it's fair pricing or if that's enough access that you'll need from your mobile, but hopefully it'll help you decide!

foggy_lad

do vodafone restrict their pre-pay internet like three network do?? even age verified on three they block most sites with downloads so is vodafone any better?

flodis79

foggy_lad wrote: »

do vodafone restrict their pre-pay internet like three network do?? even age verified on three they block most sites with downloads so is vodafone any better?

Just out of curiosity, could you please give me some examples of these downloads web sites which 3 block on 3pay. Are they not even accessible via Opera Mini?

GUIGuy

Yes watch data charges VERY carefully. The 50Mb/500Mb bundle only applies to the live APN. Many of the applications installed on the N95 have isp.vodafone.ie as their default apn which is either a huge blunder on Vodafone's behalf or a cynical attempt to cream money off their customers who sign up in good faith. I'd advise you that when you connect with either web, maps, google maps, flicker, emTube or any other internet enabled app to check the settings FIRST.

I've heard some agressive comments from some people on this forum, suggesting that people who complain about large bills when they use the wrong APN are only moaning and they should know better. But the phone should not be set up by default to use the highest charged APN without telling you if you've signed up for a data bundle!

rcs

GUIGuy wrote: »

Many of the applications installed on the N95 have isp.vodafone.ie as their default apn which is either a huge blunder on Vodafone's behalf or a cynical attempt to cream money off their customers who sign up in good faith.

Which apn should be used then?

Still a bit confused about the 500MB Mobile Internet package. Are there any hidden charges here, or do you actually get 500MB for €9.99 & no more?

foggy_lad

flodis79 wrote: »

Just out of curiosity, could you please give me some examples of these downloads web sites which 3 block on 3pay. Are they not even accessible via Opera Mini?

ownskin.com and twilightwap and many others all fully available on bill-pay three phones but not accessible on pre-pay! "internet powered by yahoo, this webpage is unavailable to view" even age verification wont unlock their restrictive screening so if vodafone don't do this i would be interested

hosi

I'm using N95 8GB with vodafone's 500MB add-on and I have to admit I'm very happy with it. Everything what I need works fine. Direct upload to flickr works perfectly. Just tried ownskin.com via vodafone live! - no probs. Pages open really fast. Of course I had to set all apps to connect via vodafone live!

The only issue would be the fact that fring doesn't work via vodafone live! APN, but there are plenty of free hotspots

GekkePrutser

I'm also using the live! deal with Vodafone (I pay 1 euro/day on RTG). Make sure you understand that it only works with services that use the HTTP(S) protocol, such as web browsing. This includes gmail, opera mini, google maps etc which all work fine, however it doesn't allow you to retrieve your email through POP3 or IMAP.

There is a workaround however, by getting an exchange account somewhere (at mail2web.com you can get one for free) and using Nokia's Mail For Exchange software, it retrieves mail from an exchange server using HTTPS.

But other applications such as instant messaging, IRC, Fring etc are not possible via this access point.

Edit: There doesn't seem to be any content filtering in place such as 3 are doing. I never had any problems opening sites. The formatting-for-web can also be slightly circumvented by changing the proxy port # from 80 to 8080. However it will always recompress JPG images to much lower quality.

xanthor

Something to note: The 500MB data bundle only applies to the Vodafone Live APN. If you use the Vodafone ISP APN you'll be charged for each unit of data.

failsafe wrote: »

II - It doesn't restrict any websites/pages, but it does adapt them to look better on a mobile screen. It also doesn't restrict any http based apps (I use gmail and google maps fine).

A couple of forum based websites are blocked when i use the Vodafone LIVE apn, but IIRC, NOT when i used Vodafone ISP.