mobile broadband?

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  1. #1

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    Question mobile broadband?

    So, my phone contract is up for renewal and work has crippled my blackberry. I've been looking into this "mobile broadband" gig being offered presently.

    Basically am looking for a service that I can check emails and msn (probably using IMAP and third party apps) and some web surfing while on the mtr.

    csl's offering will get me around 150 mb a month, while vodafone's offering is around 600 mb a month. However csl have got the htc diamond (good phone) for free on offer. Both are also offering some free minutes in the throw.

    I guess the first question is, is 150mb a month enough. I'm not going to be doing any heavy downloading, or streaming, just simple browsing and msn.

    The other thing, is for both csl and vodafone, will the allowance cover third party apps, or is it strictly web browsing only. The websites are not clear on this point.

    Also, any other words of wisdom about this "mobile broadband"?

    Thanks!


  2. #2

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    My husband has peoples unlimited data - it's not exactly broadband as it's GPRS, but it's unlimited gb and jolly cheap. We use it quite a bit for checking websites, google maps to find places, checking email on the go etc etc. If you are not sure that you are a power user it might be worth checking out. I think I pay 98 per month (plus some extra small fees) for him.


  3. #3

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    Quote Originally Posted by MovingIn07:
    My husband has peoples unlimited data - it's not exactly broadband as it's GPRS, but it's unlimited gb and jolly cheap. We use it quite a bit for checking websites, google maps to find places, checking email on the go etc etc. If you are not sure that you are a power user it might be worth checking out. I think I pay 98 per month (plus some extra small fees) for him.
    Thanks.

    Will have a look at it. Does it also include voice calling, or do you have to get that separately?

  4. #4

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    yes - there were also some voice minutes but I cannot remember the exact details


  5. #5

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  6. #6

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    thanks again moving.

    have you been ok with peoples? i've heard not such good things about them, but have only had limited first hand experience.

    also, with the data plan were you able to use third party apps (if you have tried).

    finally, it says its GPRS. Is that just GPRS or EDGE?


  7. #7

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    When I used to use Peoples' unlimited data plan for mobile phones it was EDGE. Can't be certain this is the case for mobile broadband but is highly likely.


  8. #8

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    I've been using the Peoples data stuff for quite a while now... It's EDGE in some places, but falls back to GPRS in others. It is truly unlimited - I actually get a fully-routable IP address, and I'm doing well over 100MB a month on it now, with my G1, which is quite a lot on GPRS/EDGE.

    The signal probably isn't as strong as other networks - I regularly lose my signal in lifts - but it's definitely on the cheap'n'cheerful side rather than the cheap'n'nasty. There's no issue at all about third-party applications - I've used the same SIM card in 4 phones with 3 OSs and (at least) 10s of different applications. To their credit, they just do the right thing, providing an Internet connection without getting involved in what you do with it.


  9. #9

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    As it's my husband rather than me using it (I just pay!) I cant really comment - he doesn't complain about it and it seems to work fine whenever I have used it; certainly uses 3rd party apps; roaming also works fine (expensive, obviously). Customer service is patchy and they seem to send alot of advertising SMS's to him, but then so do Vodafone to me so that could just be generic!

    It's certainly slower than broadband - no question - but for just browsing / email this is not a huge problem. I would not want to try video streaming or such like!


  10. #10

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    thanks again for all the info. i'll without a doubt have a look at peoples.

    now, which phone to get with it?

    i've presently got a SE K800i. I guess if i were to utilise these data plans to their advantage, I would probably want a smartphone kind of phone.

    I have been looking at the HTC Diamond as an option, however am open for suggestions.


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