Vodafone Mobile- Torrents working...

pyromoore

So I got the Vodafone broadband with the basic Huawei modem today, and so far, it's been great. Speeds >1mb, and managing to share the connection on an ad hoc wireless network keeps the rest of the house online too.

The host computer is running Ubuntu, and as such, can't use Vodafone's proprietary connection suite, but it gets online given the information I gave it. The thing is, with this connection, torrents aren't supposed to work. It's meant to be a 20 euro addon to have P2P and Voip work with this connection and I didn't opt for it when I signed up.

Just for kicks, I turned on the torrents earlier, and there they were, seeding away, downloading perfectly happily.

What do you suppose is going on? Is it vodafone's suite for Windows that blocks the torrents or have I mucked something up inputting my plan to Ubuntu, and now going to get charged out the ass for it? There was a warning when I entered the details that getting it wrong could result in charges, but I'd say that's for limited accounts- Mine's unlimited, but with restrictions (LOL).

What should I do? Am I lucky and able to torrent without forking out the extra 20 quid a month, or am I screwed and need to change the settings ASAP? I guess what I'm asking is, how much is happening on my end, and how much is happening on their end billing and restriction wise?

jamesjoyce

My opinion is check your online billing info. I don't think any of the services are blocked, such as p2p. They'll check what you've been using and charge you accordingly. Best bet is to keep up to date with online bills see if this is true.

downwithpeace

The unlimited version doesn't say it blocks p2p just that it's not supported,it could be possible that it works fine but they will charge you more for using it. Similar to going over your data transfer limits.

pyromoore

It'd be lovely if I could actually check, but Vodafone's website is an absolute turd, throwing errors all over the place. I can't check current charges for bills. I still have a day to return it. I'm tossing up whether or not to do so.

watty

If you use a lot of data it probabily won't be "unlimited" either.

ttm

watty wrote: »

If you use a lot of data it probabily won't be "unlimited" either.

Not read anything about it yet but when I read "unlimited" in reference to a network with a very finite bandwidth like mobile broadband or satellite I just assume when you hit whatever they have decided is the max then they throtle you back to dialup speeds, the connection is still "always on" (note the ironic use of quotes) and you still have "unlimited usage" but you don't have enough bandwidth to do anything.

ttm

Thinking about it this really is ground breaking stuff if vodafone are charging on a per protocol basis?

Just think about it If they really are going to hit you for an extra bill for using p2p how long will it be before email (SMTP) is charged extra? They could even charge extra for you to check your bank statment or logon to ebay using HTTPS.

Doesn't make any sence to me I know people that download p2p with common p2p apps yet wouldn't know what I ment if I asked them do they use p2p software - would be war and a lot of bad publicity if they signed up and got a massive bill. Perhaps if you tried some of the well know older p2p apps you'll find they don't work?

While I don't think you will get charged extra I wouldn't want to be the first one to try it

pyromoore

Whatever their internal rules may be, calling it unlimited and not defining an upper limit in their fair use rules (which I did read), then restricting or nerfing it would be false advertising and misselling. They do claim they can throttle anyone who disrupts their network, but I always make sure to do my downloading overnight anyway.

ttm

pyromoore wrote: »

Whatever their internal rules may be, calling it unlimited and not defining an upper limit in their fair use rules (which I did read), then restricting or nerfing it would be false advertising and misselling. They do claim they can throttle anyone who disrupts their network, but I always make sure to do my downloading overnight anyway.

I really don't mean to be rude but you are being naive if you think a telco will never use false misleading advertising to sell a product.

pyromoore

Of course I know they'd try, but the moment I'd catch them doing so, I'd use it as a platform for ending the contract. I realize there's a risk they'll just fob me off, but I've gotten out of worse deals with worse telecoms.

slowlydownwards

Any updates on this pyro? How is it working out? Have you noticed any throttling, or is really unlimited? Did you try skype? Thanks, sorry that's whole lotta questions.

watty

ttm wrote: »

I really don't mean to be rude but you are being naive if you think a telco will never use false misleading advertising to sell a product.

Indeed
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055957006

smithcity

I got the vodafone unlimited broadband deal the other day and got straight into downloading torrents. Was getting fantastic speeds and had no problems. I hadn't purchased the add on for P2P.

I'd just like to hear if anyone has been stung with extra charges after doing this?

Found some relevant info...
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055942162&highlight=unlimited+broadband

Vodafone (Darren) wrote: »

mcw92
"Vodafone continuously monitors network performance to ensure that the service received by customers is not impacted through a minority of users placing high demand on network resources (e.g. large bandwidths over long periods). Any such high-demand users can expect to experience reduced speeds at peak times .Peak times are subject to ongoing change based on actual network demands. This service does not support ‘calls over the internet' or data sharing for any new customers or customers upgrading their tariff or Equipment from [10 March 2010] onwards. If you want to use data services like making calls over the internet or sharing data files over the internet you should choose a tailored data tariff or add-on."

In essence, while these services may function, there's no guarantee they will, or whether they will continue to do so. Speeds for browsing etc will be unaffected.

Also here,
http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055928789&page=2

Schorpio wrote: »

Thank you for clearing that up!

But can you look into the VOIP and P2P thing for me? Please correct me if I'm wrong - if my Skype or P2P client works, I won't be charged extra for using them. However, it might/probably won't work because Vodafone will probably not be allowing me access to the services. If I want to use them, I have to buy an "add-on" to the unlimited tariff, presumably at extra cost per month.

If that's all true - what are the add-ons and how much extra are they?

Answer...->

Vodafone (Darren) wrote: »

Hiya,
Spot on.
It may work, but isn't guaranteed to.
The add on is 19.99 per month, but you can switch it on or off from month to month, and it doesn't affect contract length etc.

pyromoore

slowlydownwards wrote: »

Any updates on this pyro? How is it working out? Have you noticed any throttling, or is really unlimited? Did you try skype? Thanks, sorry that's whole lotta questions.

It's quite dreadful most of the time. During daylight hours, all anyone can get on is Facebook. There's blatant traffic shaping going on. All other HTTP web requests seem to time out. After midnight the rest of the web is perfect, adequate for streaming, but from about 1pm-10pm, you'd be lucky if ordinary HTTP requests didn't completely fail.

I wish there was something I could do (especially since I've found better providers in my area since [imagine?]).