Free GPRS ?

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blinkchyld

4 posts

Wannabe Geek

#4901 7-Sep-2005 14:23

Hi guys, I'm new here.

I'm using a Siemens S65 on Vodafone.

A few years ago when GPRS was brand new a couple of my mates (Sony Ericsson T300 and Nokia 3530) were using GPRS and downloading as much as they wanted without paying for it.

Can anyone offer any clarification on this?

They didn't get their connection details from Vodafone but forgot where they had, by the time that I bought my Sony Ericsson T68i.

Is it possible that such a way to use GPRS without costing still exists? Or is there a cheaper connection than through 'Vodafone GPRS'?

Cheers for any input

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#19806 7-Sep-2005 14:44

as a customer, i've observed that voda's billing appears to glitch from time to time. As far as i can tell it's always glitched in the under-billing direction.
but free??? as in beer? no such thing as a free lunch :-)

johnr

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#19807 7-Sep-2005 15:45

I thought Vodafone was a business not a charity~~

taniwha

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#19808 7-Sep-2005 15:53

:-P to be fair - she did also asking if there's a certain connection where data become cheap.

tonyhughes

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#19809 7-Sep-2005 16:38

Contact Vodafone or check their website for current rates. Unless you are a special (read: large) customer who can negotiate a deal on your data, then you will be paying website prices (which I suspect their Corporates do anyway).

Anything else, especially any connection settings / codes etc from a third party would likely be fraudulent use of a loophole, which I would advise against (especially seeing data is so cheap these days, and getting cheaper every year).

cokemaster

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#19812 7-Sep-2005 17:57

If you are a prepay customer... you used to be able to get your balance to something low (<$0.20) and still be able to go on GPRS. Since they didn't calculate the charges for it.... you could download en mass then just wait for them to deduct the remaining prepay credit.

Then you could top up after 2 days.

I can vouch that it worked last year... but I wouldn't recommend doing that now - they may have changed the system to bite you in the ass.

Just some clarification - I didn't do it personally, my flatmate at the time did (I helped him set up the bluetooth link etc but didn't actually burn it all).

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taniwha

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#19813 7-Sep-2005 19:34

I was doing something like this, unintentionally
I used GPRS on a prepay account, simply because i didn't want to be hit with a huge bill each month. When the balance ran out I wanted it to stop the data instead of racking up a bill. i'm sure there were many MB of data that wasn't biled at times.

but voda's billing appears to be *very* delayed at times- then there was one incident where the data billing was 8 weeks delayed over christmas - i'd just topped up something like $100, only to have a large chunk taken away 2 days later for data i did months ago.. BLEH!

blinkchyld

4 posts

Wannabe Geek

#19820 7-Sep-2005 23:14

So basically what you are all saying is that what was going on before is unlikely to still be happening now because vodafone has a tighter grasp on their earnings. And that even if this was still carrying on, it would be highly illegal.

In that case, I'd like to ask what the cheapest way of getting things (the odd ringtone and maybe a theme or two) on to my phone is? I have an Ir-DA adaptor from Dick Smith but have lost the disk that came with it and my pc doesn't notice when I plug it in.

Sorry for my incompetence.

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tonyhughes

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#19822 7-Sep-2005 23:44

blinkchyld: So basically what you are all saying is that what was going on before is unlikely to still be happening now because vodafone has a tighter grasp on their earnings. And that even if this was still carrying on, it would be highly illegal.

Vodafone not billing you is not an illegal act on your part. But as Taniwha found out, they can bill you months later (which is kind of like Vodafone giving you an interest free loan... how nice of them

)

In that case, I'd like to ask what the cheapest way of getting things (the odd ringtone and maybe a theme or two) on to my phone is? I have an Ir-DA adaptor from Dick Smith but have lost the disk that came with it and my pc doesn't notice when I plug it in.

I answered your thread about the driver. Yes - IRDA or Bluetooth or cable connection is usually the cheapest way to download them, but its a hassle for some people especially if they have no patience.

I would rather spend $4 on a ringtone and get it instantly OTA, than tear my hair out spending hours on end to make something work to get out of paying four bucks.

Its all about cost vs convenience really.

taniwha

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#19835 8-Sep-2005 10:04

Disenchanted:kind of like Vodafone giving you an interest free loan...

and prepay is like voda giving me a free bank account? :-)

If you have IR or bluetooth on your phone - (Gsm is good like that) then you need IR on your PC (yeah, you know that but i'm repeating for clarity)...

To get your DSE IR working, you can try dicksmith's website dse.co.nz - they often have the drivers for the stuff they sell there.
If you can't get the IR port working, the good news is a new IR port is very cheap. something like $30-$40 - that's the same price as 3MB of data on voda prepay.

zalameh1

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#19842 8-Sep-2005 12:07

before vodafone launched their vodafone live service, browsing and downloading using GPRS was totally free. i was using it on my 6100 from FEB 2003 up until around AUG 2003 and it was free even when i had credit on my phone.

then vodafone had a glitch in their system and were not able to charge people for the MMS messages they were sending so they announced their "free MMS till the end of April" deal, but it was still free for a while after april until they got it sorted.

Now they have everything sorted, but sometimes you can still send free MMS when you dont have credit. It never works for me but ive heard of quite a few people doin it.

vk3xem

15 posts

Geek

#19869 9-Sep-2005 01:51

Up until early this year I used a Vodafone Australia pre-paid SIM with no credit just to hammer GPRS, I was using it on and off for well over 12 months and only had to recharge once to keep the SIM active, the credit dropped back down to zero when using GPRS and then continued to work without problems.

As stated once Vodafone live was launched earlier this year the GPRS service has been locked down tight, but there still is a loophole a friend found. He tunnels all traffic through the DNS port to his home ADSL account.

Ambrose_1

252 posts

Ultimate Geek

#19956 11-Sep-2005 18:02

When i was using GPRS sometimes last year i used to get messages from vodafone saying they've overcharged me and will refund me plus $20 extra which was a massive sweet deal considering I got overcharged about 40c, this happened 3 times so I was well chuffed.

paradoxsm

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#20028 14-Sep-2005 00:07

If you get it, you are very lucky. it's very random and very rare but you can be anything like the billing is not setup for GPRS but the switch is so it ignores it.

This is FRAUD however and while the networks have always just ignored chasing up lost revenue when they fix the loophole/account error they have every right to trace and backcharge for those services and more.

I know people who have (had) funny accounts and stuff.. interesting netherless the things that can happen ;-)

most have recently be closed off as they are finally getting systems up to date and running reports on switch errors etc.., I once had a free landline!

denodan

4 posts

Wannabe Geek

#20349 21-Sep-2005 21:57

I have found Web browsing and downloads are free when you reach $0 on your prepaid account and often browse when I have no money left on my phone.

Also on my Erriccson V800 I can text free in the weekends even with no money on my prepay.

Ambrose_1

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Ultimate Geek

#20352 21-Sep-2005 22:00

denodan: I have found Web browsing and downloads are free when you reach $0 on your prepaid account and often browse when I have no money left on my phone.

Also on my Erriccson V800 I can text free in the weekends even with no money on my prepay.

Thats because you pay it back once you top up again and txting is free on all vodafone to vodafones on the weekend.

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