meteor 3g now availiable

metalfest

meteor 3g is now available in dublin, call into a meteor store they will give you a 3g sim card,
it coming to cork soon enough!!!!:D

7.Ronaldo

It will go live towards the end of this month (September 26th I think).

Once it does there will be no need to get a 3G SIM, all current SIM's in a 3G handset within a 3G area will automatically switch over.

metalfest

i rang customer care earlier , that what i wa told, what offers you think they'll release? free video calls till after christmas?

7.Ronaldo

I think you were given a bit of wrong information there.

3G is up and running for a number of customers who signed up to the 3G trial but apart from that everyone else will have to wait until the launch date which should be September 26th.

Getting a 3G SIM isn't going to make a blind bit of difference because your account will also need to be provisioned for 3G services. This will automatically happen on launch date and not beforehand.

Sam Vimes

i've had 3g on my phone in several places around the city the past few days

ablelocks

in limerick - I can see Meteor 3g in my network list, but get a "no access" message when I try to connect to it. could this mean that 3g will be rolled out in limerick sooner than later?

7.Ronaldo

Sam Vimes wrote: »

i've had 3g on my phone in several places around the city the past few days

Did you happen to be on the 3G trial by any chance?

Jonathan

7.Ronaldo wrote: »

Did you happen to be on the 3G trial by any chance?

Do trialists still get 3G access?

7.Ronaldo

Yeah. They are fully provisioned for 3G so will be able to use 3G services but they will now have to pay for their data.

Non-trialists will need to wait until the launch to avail of 3G services.

Ron DMC

jmccrohan wrote: »

Do trialists still get 3G access?

We sure do.

My 3g is still working perfectly. 'Tis expensive though.

Sam Vimes

it's not fully switched on yet. During the trial i had 3g in loads of places including work but since the end of the trial i've only seen 3g on my phone twice

Ron DMC

Sam Vimes wrote: »

it's not fully switched on yet. During the trial i had 3g in loads of places including work but since the end of the trial i've only seen 3g on my phone twice

/looks for phone to verify that he has 3g.
/remembers he lost his phone on Saturday night and has to wait until this evening to get it back.
/curses.

Sam Vimes

forget what i said about no 3g at work. i forgot i'd switched off 3g because there's only a tiny amount of 3g coverage in my house which the phone keeps trying to latch onto with the result that i have no coverage at all. but there was definitely no 3g coverage last week which supports the idea that they're gradually turning it back on

Burago

I was on the trial and for the last few days I've had really good 3G coverage in Kildare where I never had it before.

Jonathan

Ronny Mitchell wrote: »

We sure do.

My 3g is still working perfectly. 'Tis expensive though.

Ah grand.. I havent been in the city since the trial ended...




No wait i have....

I never bothered to check actually

7.Ronaldo

Sam Vimes wrote: »

forget what i said about no 3g at work. i forgot i'd switched off 3g because there's only a tiny amount of 3g coverage in my house which the phone keeps trying to latch onto with the result that i have no coverage at all. but there was definitely no 3g coverage last week which supports the idea that they're gradually turning it back on

Nope. It hasn't changed. The 3G network is as it was for the trial. It is only available for those who were on the trial and those who have had their accounts provisioned for 3G (ie staff members).

Everybody will be provisioned on the launch date but the first phase sites are up and running.

Sam Vimes

7.Ronaldo wrote: »

Nope. It hasn't changed. The 3G network is as it was for the trial. It is only available for those who were on the trial and those who have had their accounts provisioned for 3G (ie staff members).

Everybody will be provisioned on the launch date but the first phase sites are up and running.

hmmm odd because in the days after the trial i couldn't pick up 3g coverage in places i had before and others reported the same

airetam_storm

I have an unlocked 3G phone with a very old meteor sim (2003). Turned on my phone just now and it connected to vodafone instead of meteor. Could this be to do with the transition to 3G?

\edit\ Btw, its still only EDGE (2.5G?) not 3G.

metalfest

went to meteor today in cork, they arent getting them in till tomorrow and i can get one, so yeah........

7.Ronaldo

airetam_storm wrote: »

I have an unlocked 3G phone with a very old meteor sim (2003). Turned on my phone just now and it connected to vodafone instead of meteor. Could this be to do with the transition to 3G?

\edit\ Btw, its still only EDGE (2.5G?) not 3G.

What area are you in? If your on the West coast you will pick up Vodafone due to Meteor's national roaming agreement with Vodafone.

If you are anywhere else in the country then you shouldn't be able to connect to Vodafone with a Meteor SIM.

7.Ronaldo

metalfest wrote: »

went to meteor today in cork, they arent getting them in till tomorrow and i can get one, so yeah........

Like I said. It won't make any difference if you weren't part of the 3G trial. Your account needs to be provisioned for 3G, having a 3G SIM in itself will not allow you to use 3G services.

It is too late to get your account provisioned at this stage. If you were not part of the 3G trial you will have to wait until the service is officially launched, 3G SIM or no 3G SIM.

metalfest

yeah maybe...but at least i'll beat the rush

7.Ronaldo

metalfest wrote: »

yeah maybe...but at least i'll beat the rush

No you won't. When 3G is launched ALL current SIM cards will be able to pick up 3G signal. You won't specifically need a 3G SIM. That was only for the 3G trial.

Sam Vimes

7.Ronaldo wrote: »

No you won't. When 3G is launched ALL current SIM cards will be able to pick up 3G signal. You won't specifically need a 3G SIM. That was only for the 3G trial.

you say that all that's required to activate 3g is for customer care to provision you but then why did everyone who was going on the trial need a new sim? could cc not just have provisioned them?

metalfest

7.Ronaldo wrote: »

No you won't. When 3G is launched ALL current SIM cards will be able to pick up 3G signal. You won't specifically need a 3G SIM. That was only for the 3G trial.

if so then why when i asked in meteor about 3g did the man say they will have them in tomorrow???

metalfest

and if you dont need a "3g" sim card why do they have them???

Sam Vimes

metalfest wrote: »

if so then why when i asked in meteor about 3g did the man say they will have them in tomorrow???

tbh i wouldn't trust what a guy in the store said

metalfest wrote: »

and if you dont need a "3g" sim card why do they have them???

they may not. vodafone don't have specific 3g sims but o2 do

Random

3G SIMs generally provide more memory and support newer features (not really many though I guess). O2 and Vodafone both have 2g and 3g SIMs and 3g (in general, obviously not with billion year old SIMs) will work on both. It would really be surprised if Meteor wanted their whole network to come into shops on the day the 3g launches proper !

metalfest

well i'll be going in tomorrow so i'll let you know

7.Ronaldo

metalfest wrote: »

and if you dont need a "3g" sim card why do they have them???

They had them for the purposes of the 3G trial so only a select few could use 3G services.

Once the 3G network launches ALL current Meteor SIM cards will be able to pick up 3G coverage as long as they are in a 3G phone and in a 3G area.

It wouldn't be practical for Meteor to hand out nearly one million new SIM cards on launch day. Get the 3G SIM if you want but as I said it won't make any difference.

metalfest

do you have one? or are you just guessing??
and when i the launch date? cc told me 29th

Sam Vimes

7.Ronaldo wrote: »

They had them for the purposes of the 3G trial so only a select few could use 3G services.

Once the 3G network launches ALL current Meteor SIM cards will be able to pick up 3G coverage as long as they are in a 3G phone and in a 3G area.

It wouldn't be practical for Meteor to hand out nearly one million new SIM cards on launch day. Get the 3G SIM if you want but as I said it won't make any difference.

that doesn't really clear it up for me. you said that all customer care has to do is provision people to give them 3g, which would in theory have worked just as well on the trial as now, ie the ones who had been provisioned would have 3g and the ones who hadn't wouldn't.

i still don't see why i needed a new sim card and they don't, if 3g can be activated on an account without a new sim

edit:unless having an old sim card could mean you mightn't get full service and they wanted to make sure people on the trial would get the full benefit...?

7.Ronaldo

Sam Vimes wrote: »

that doesn't really clear it up for me. you said that all customer care has to do is provision people to give them 3g, which would in theory have worked just as well on the trial as now, ie the ones who had been provisioned would have 3g and the ones who hadn't wouldn't.

i still don't see why i needed a new sim card and they don't, if 3g can be activated on an account without a new sim

edit:unless having an old sim card could mean you mightn't get full service and they wanted to make sure people on the trial would get the full benefit...?

On each SIM there is an unique number called an IMSI.

3G can be activated on an IMSI range say for example 1 - 100 (These numbers are a lot more complex than this obviously). The SIM cards within this IMSI range can then be set aside as '3G' SIM's - meaning that they can pick up 3G.

Come launch day all IMSI's will be activated meaning that any Meteor SIM in a 3G handset in a 3G area will be able to pick up 3G.

Sam Vimes

7.Ronaldo wrote: »

On each SIM there is an unique number called an IMSI.

3G can be activated on an IMSI range say for example 1 - 100 (These numbers are a lot more complex than this obviously). The SIM cards within this IMSI range can then be set aside as '3G' SIM's - meaning that they can pick up 3G.

Come launch day all IMSI's will be activated meaning that any Meteor SIM in a 3G handset in a 3G area will be able to pick up 3G.

right so it was easier to pre-provision an imsi range with 3g and have people switch than activate it on their accounts individually. but there was no technical reason they couldn't we couldn't have kept our sims, it was just easier this way

long_b

3G connection just outside of Newbridge, Co. Kildare

TheDoc

Theres some of you saying you need a 3g card, some of you saying you dont...

I'm a meteor bill customer, will i need to get a new contract would you think? id like to think theyd give you a gig or something free a month.

Also how would you go about connecting to 3g? ive a n95 8gb, dont see anything to see what connections i can get too

Sam Vimes

[DM]-TheDOC- wrote: »

Theres some of you saying you need a 3g card, some of you saying you dont...

I'm a meteor bill customer, will i need to get a new contract would you think? id like to think theyd give you a gig or something free a month.

Also how would you go about connecting to 3g? ive a n95 8gb, dont see anything to see what connections i can get too

only people who were part of the 3g trial can currently access the 3g network, you'll have to wait until they make it available to everyone else, at which point you should just be able to get 3g coverage without doing anything

you won't have to get a new contract but i can't see them giving away any free data. no irish networks do that

Walkman

7.Ronaldo wrote: »

On each SIM there is an unique number called an IMSI.

An IMSI as the phone number attached to each sim not the unique number. The unique number is called the ICCID. Also there is no way for meteor to activate all customers sims for 3g. In order to pick up their 3g signal you will need a 3g sim. Some posts on this thread are suggesting all you will need is a sim and 3g phone. What if your phone is 3g but your sim is 2yrs old........no access to the 3g network due to the sim. If you have an old sim from meteor you WILL have to get a new 3g sim otherwise known as a usim (a usim is a 3g sim a 2g/2.5g sim is called just that....a sim).

Sam Vimes

Walkman wrote: »

An IMSI as the phone number attached to each sim not the unique number.

no it's not, that's the IMEI. the IMSI is hard coded into the sim, on irish networks the sim number starts with 89353 and then follows with 01 for voda, 02 for o2, 03 for meteor and 05 for 3.

the imei is your ten digit 083, 085, 086 or 087 number and is not hard coded to the sim. that's how number portability can work

while it is true that older sims won't work properly, it's possible that meteor have been giving out usims for ages in preparation for the launch so they wouldn't have to provide millions next month

Rsaeire

MSISDN = Mobile Station International Subscriber Directory Number (Usually 12 digits e.g. +35386xxx-xxxx)

The MSISDN is a unique number stored on a sim that allows a user make/receive calls, amongst other things, on a mobile network.


IMSI = International Mobile Subscriber Identity (Usually 15 digits e.g. 272xx-xxxxx-xxxxx)

The IMSI is a unique number hard coded on a sim card enabling a user to be identified on a mobile network.


ICC-ID = Integrated Circuit Card ID (Usually 19 digits e.g. 89353-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxx)

The ICC-ID or SIM-SN (Subscriber Identity Module Serial Number) is a unique number given to a sim card enabling the sim to be identified on a mobile network.


IMEI = International Mobile Equipment Identity (Usually 15 digits e.g. 354xx-xxxxx-xxxxx)

The IMEI is a unique number stored on a handset enabling the handset to be identified on a mobile network.


In addition, it is possible for Meteor to enable users without 3G USIMS access the Meteor 3G network. For proof, all anyone needs do is wait a few weeks until Meteor's 3G network is officially launched.

Sam Vimes

Rsaeire wrote: »

IMSI = International Mobile Subscriber Identity (Usually 15 digits e.g. 272xx-xxxxx-xxxxx

you're right actually, i had assumed the sim card number was the imsi. i know the first 5 digits identify the network (27201 for voda, 27202 for o2 etc) but do you know what the rest of the digits are for? are they your phone number?

Rsaeire

Sam Vimes wrote: »

you're right actually, i had assumed the sim card number was the imsi. i know the first 5 digits identify the network (27201 for voda, 27202 for o2 etc) but do you know what the rest of the digits are for? are they your phone number?

The rest of the IMSI number is for network identification and does not, intentionally anyway, contain any part of the mobile number/MSISDN.

Sam Vimes

Rsaeire wrote: »

The rest of the IMSI number is for network identification and does not, intentionally anyway, contain any part of the mobile number/MSISDN.

fair enough. what do you mean by network identification? the first 5 digits are enough to identify the country and network. or are the rest to identify the subscriber themselves as opposed to the network?

Rsaeire

Sam Vimes wrote: »

fair enough. what do you mean by network identification? the first 5 digits are enough to identify the country and network. or are the rest to identify the subscriber themselves as opposed to the network?

When I said "network identification" I was referring to the network identifying the part of the IMSI after the first 5 digits. The 10 digits after the initial 5 are collectively known as the MSIN (Mobile Station Identification Number) and is a way in which the network can identify an individual user.

long_b

3G signal al Naas train station.

7.Ronaldo

Walkman wrote: »

An IMSI as the phone number attached to each sim not the unique number. The unique number is called the ICCID. Also there is no way for meteor to activate all customers sims for 3g. In order to pick up their 3g signal you will need a 3g sim. Some posts on this thread are suggesting all you will need is a sim and 3g phone. What if your phone is 3g but your sim is 2yrs old........no access to the 3g network due to the sim. If you have an old sim from meteor you WILL have to get a new 3g sim otherwise known as a usim (a usim is a 3g sim a 2g/2.5g sim is called just that....a sim).

Complete non-sense. Your referring to the SIM number. The IMSI is the unique ID associated with the SIM.

I guess we'll just have to see regarding the 3G SIM cards. I know for a fact that Meteor will not be asking the majority of their 1 million customers to upgrade to a 3G SIM.

andrewh5

I have just spoken to Meteor customer care about this. They are currently upgrading their entire network to 3G. They are having a few issues but have engineers on the case. They told me that the roll out would be completed very soon and that no new SIM cards are needed. All one needs is a 3G compatible phone and the 3G service enabled on it. If people do that they will see their Edge symbol replaced by a 3G one as soon as the changeover is complete.

Sam Vimes

andrewh5 wrote: »

They are currently upgrading their entire network to 3G

i doubt that. vodafone launched 3g more than 4 years ago and still their whole network isn't 3g

7.Ronaldo

Sam Vimes wrote: »

i doubt that. vodafone launched 3g more than 4 years ago and still their whole network isn't 3g

Well in phases.

The first phase will launch towards the end of the month with 33% of the population covered. This will be mainly Dublin, Cork and parts of Waterford.

Rsaeire

Well it will be easier for Meteor to upgrade their network to 3G, compared to how it was for Vodafone, since they only cover East Ireland and parts of the West and they have their Vodafone national roaming agreement for the rest.

metalfest

any idea of when?
or
what opening offer will be available??I expect meteor will outdo themselves and give u free video calls and internet usage till 2011 :P