O2 mobile BB, after the 30 days satisfaction trial...

biologikal

I'm nearing the end of my second week trialing with the O2 Mobile BB package, and so far the speeds have been good, and connection has been reliable, even during peak periods.

So what I'm wondering is if I can expect this to continue. Has anyone using this BB package noticed any decrease in speed or trouble making a connection after the 30 day trail period had expired?

I haven't been instilled with confidence since they only charged €15 for the first month, when it should have been €20, since the contract that was signed was for €40/month (first 3 months half price). I've been in contact with them, and they're to get back to me after they figure out why only €15 was charged.

MickLimk

Using O2 3G for a few months now and didn't notice any change in connection after the 30 days were up. Still reliable as it was on Day 1.

Originally the pricing was €40/month for new O2 customers or €30/month for existing mobile customers. The introductory rate for 3 months was half of that. They've since changed their pricing to €30/month regardless of whether you're a new or existing O2 customer. I wouldn't complain if they're giving you the new pricing!

jor el

I've been using it since they first brought it out about 6 months ago and I find it better now than it was in the beginning. I have had no problems during the day, speeds are always very good. Evenings and weekends can depend on location, but are generally quite good. the advertised 3.6M does tend to drop for me at peek times, though I've been able to get download speeds of about 1-2M with reasonable consistency.

Certainly a lot of people claim Clearwire give good connection for the trial period and then hammer you down as soon as your contract kicks in, but I'm not sure if it's possible to do this to a particular users connection with the 3G products. It's not been like this in my experience of O2 anyway, and I've not heard of anyone else having such an issue.

Speeds and connection quality, in general, on the 3G networks will depend on the signal strength and the number of users in your particular cell (this includes phone users as well as broadband).

biologikal

MickLimk wrote: »

Using O2 3G for a few months now and didn't notice any change in connection after the 30 days were up. Still reliable as it was on Day 1.

Originally the pricing was €40/month for new O2 customers or €30/month for existing mobile customers. The introductory rate for 3 months was half of that. They've since changed their pricing to €30/month regardless of whether you're a new or existing O2 customer. I wouldn't complain if they're giving you the new pricing!

I know I shouldn't be complaining, but the contract that was signed was for 40/month, and the guy on the phone acknowledged that it should be 40/month, so I can see them charging 30/month for a few months, and then realising their mistake, and then demanding what was signed for on the contract. I'm very cynical when it comes to people/companies who are extracting money from me. I think you have to be on a plan better than the Active Life 40 to get it for 30/month.

Anyway, it will be interesting to see what the guy says when he rings back in a day or two. I also paid €109 for the modem, but anywhere I look it seems to be €89, and I thought I heard an ad over the weekend where they said it was €40 or €50 for the modem (though maybe that was a different provider, I wasn't really listening until it was over).

biologikal

Also, thanks for both of you for the replies, it sounds promising. Like I said, the speeds I'm getting at the moment are good and consistant, and perfectly fine for my needs.

I haven't done a speedtest on it yet, but notice anytime I connect, that the notification in the task tray says it's connected at 7.2Mbps; is this normal? I thought it was supposed to be 3.6Mbps. I also have it set up to use "3G only" and usually shows UMTS with 2 bars (or sometimes HSDPA) otherwise it will always connect to EDGE if set to "3G preferred", which is much slower.

watty

That's just the top speed of the Modem or the Interface. My WiFi insists it is at 108Mbps and my Mobile Broadband card always reports 10Mbps in task tray. The real speed is only known if you upload or download a known size of file with a very fast site. Speed tests are also an option.

zonEEE

Whats 02 bb like for gaming?

watty

150ms to 1000ms ping time.

I get about 170ms in Limerick

Red Hand

Hi, I was thinking of getting some sort of 3g card for a laptop. Just one or two questions-with O2 Mobile, is it a flat rate of 30 euros a month? They don't charge you extra no matter how much you use it, right?

MickLimk

As far as I know, O2 only do a USB modem and not a laptop card.

Limit is 10Gigs/month for €30. As yet they haven't published a per MB excess charge rate but they specifically say that they can do this in the future.

From what I've read on here, they don't seem to punish those who go over the 10Gig limit on the odd occasion but would probably let you know if you were abusing the service... All I'll say is don't screw it for the rest of us!

watty

You can buy your own Sierra Wireless card. They used to do them.

Some phones can work as HSDPA modem (but not as phone at same time). You can now get the data package put on your phone SIM.

Xcellor

strongr wrote: »

Whats 02 bb like for gaming?

I was playing team Fortress 2 the other day. Smooth enough, but you will always have a higher ping / less advantage than others. I was around 100-150 they were mostly on 50ms.

watty

Depend where you are. I get 170ms+ in Limerick and 1000ms+ in Dublin. Depends on type of game too.

Zimmerframe

I signed up last month on the 40 euro deal, and I rang them just now, and the dude said, no problem he would change me to the new 30 euro deal.
I also asked him if I were to get another contract (for work) would it be possible to get an express card instead of a usb modem, and he said they will be launching an express card next month, so I'm all happy on all counts.
All I will need then is a express card to pcmcia card adapter to work on my Linksys 3g router, assuming the new express card will be compatable with the linksys.