Internet Browsing, GPRS & HSDPA

[Michael_Mcr]

Originally Posted by div

Does not o2 train their staff - interestingly yesterday I drove to the top of my road - and the G - turned to H - which surprised me as I live in ruralish Devon. When I got home - I can now see that Honiton has HSDPA coverage, where Exeter doesn't - so I guess they are rolling out more cells.

But I still don't know if I have HSDPA enabled on the handset - how can I really tell - it did seem quite quick?

Thanks

DiV

I have always gotten good GPRS where i live as there is a pub 200 yards away with a well populated Telco mast on its roof (its a "Cloud" hotspot amongst other things)

Since getting the Orbit 2 i get "3G" service within the house and speeds seem good, tho i havnt yet measured them.

I havnt ever seen Edge service ("E") in all the time i have had my Orbit 1 tho, in any location....

[appetite4]

Originally Posted by cyclist

To get HSDPA it is now necessary to buy one of their more expensive Web n Walk add ons, but those of us who have had the cheapest version for some time continue to get HSDPA. I still get HSDPA even though I've changed my airtime contract; the bolt on stayed the same.

Cyclist,

That's interesting. Do I understand correctly that your basic £7.50 web'n'walk was allowed to roll over with HSDPA on? I've just been speaking to a mate who has had HSDPA removed from his basic web'n'walk when renewing at the end of his 18 months. Tmob didn't tell him they were going to do this though so he is now in dispute with them.

Paul.

[cyclist]

Originally Posted by appetite4

Cyclist,

That's interesting. Do I understand correctly that your basic £7.50 web'n'walk was allowed to roll over with HSDPA on? I've just been speaking to a mate who has had HSDPA removed from his basic web'n'walk when renewing at the end of his 18 months. Tmob didn't tell him they were going to do this though so he is now in dispute with them.

Paul.

Hi Paul
Yes you understand me correctly, that's exactly what I mean. I was on a tariff that was no longer available, can't remember its exact name, had 50 in it somewhere for 50 minutes. I'm now on Flex 20 for 18 months, with a 15 quid discount, so I only pay £5 per month for it - they were desperate to get me off the old tariff. I was very clear with the person on the phone doing the renewal that the old web'n'walk add on had to stay. I still see H on my device when in range. Just tried the speed tester you suggested. A 400Kb file got 332 kbit/sec 0.358s latency, a 1Mb got 283 kit/sec with 0.367s latency. Subjectively it seems as fast as it ever did, and I can see it is faster when in range of the HSDPA coverage than when not.

[div]

Originally Posted by appetite4

DiV - I use the speed tester at www.dslreports.com/mspeed

As a rule of thumb G should give @40kbps, 3G about 130kbps and H ....well (on T-Mobile) I used to get 1.3Mbps but more recently about 600kbps.
Paul.

OK - I gave it spin and this is roughly what I found

G = 33 kbps / E = 88 kps / 3G = 118 kps / AND H = 110 kps - so I am assuming that HSPDA does not work on my orbit2

Would that be the correct assumption?

DiV

[div]

On contacting o2 I was told that HSPDA - is still being tested (what), so it isn't always at full rate and it depends on the number of people accessing - well that is the best answer I could get - most of their staff had no idea what HSPDA is - well I have been fobbed off - fantastic.

[Michael_Mcr]

Originally Posted by Michael_Mcr

I rang 02 Customer services when i got my Orbit2, connected to the "3G setup help" or whatever its called option and asked about HSDPA.....

"What ?" was the reply "i've never heard of that !"

So i acted a bit stupid and said "well it says in the supplied 02 handbook that i have to ring you to get the service enabled on my phone" (true-ish)

" Oh, OK what was it called again ? ...please hold while i speak to the Data (?) Department - they will know about it"

2 mins later...."OK, they have checked your account and set everything up for you"

Only trouble is, they then advised me that the nearest HSDPA coverage to my postcode is in St Helens - 20+ miles away

Regards

Michael

Further to this, i was in Liverpool last thursday night for the footy and was able to get an "H" on my Orbit 2 !!
I have to say it was very quick - noticably a bit faster than the best 3G i have ever experienced ( and i get full on 3G / GPRS where i live because the pub 200 yards away has a cellular telco mast on its roof )

Michael

PS As i left the area, it changed to an "E",which is a first for me - never has Edge before

[div]

Thanks to some kind sole on here (which I won't mention as I don't have his permission) I now have HSPDA - and I am receiving around 446 kbps, which is nearly a 4x improvement over my best 3g figure. I did ask o2 to set this up but I as they did have a clue what I was talking about they didn', telling lots of different accounts as you can see on this thread.

Div

[windows]

Good news indeed, glad one of teh guys managed to assist.

[appetite4]

Originally Posted by div

Thanks to some kind sole on here (which I won't mention as I don't have his permission) I now have HSPDA - and I am receiving around 446 kbps, which is nearly a 4x improvement over my best 3g figure. I did ask o2 to set this up but I as they did have a clue what I was talking about they didn', telling lots of different accounts as you can see on this thread.

Div

DiV - very interested to know how you managed to get it. In response to my letter above O2 technical customer service have today advised me that all consumer sims are "limited to the lower end of the 3G speed range for data". HSDPA is NOT therefore available to anyone except business customers on O2. They described this as a "hot topic at the moment" and agreed refer it to the marketing department to review the policy. They will also brief the CEO's office so they can reply fully to my letter.

I will post that reply when received but in the meantime I would suggest anyone who has bought an XDA Stellar or XDA Orbit 2 on a consumer tarriff expecting to get full HSDPA functionality, but isn't getting it, makes their views known to O2.

I am disappointed that the pay monthly sim only deal is of no use to me (unless someone can advise a way past O2's current policy? hint hint Div ) but I would be furious if I had paid O2 for one of those devices (which are advertised by O2 as having 1.8mbps capability), was paying the full monthly charge, was tied to a long contract and still wasn't getting full functionality! (Not even full speed 3G it seems!!)

Paul.

[cyclist]

For anyone who hasn't bought yet, look at the business tariffs. I found they were better than the consumer equivalents. If you try to buy on business tariff in a shop take a piece of 'headed notepaper' with you - a 2 minute effort with Word and a printer passed muster.