Mobile Broadband costs less than you think.

Forums › One NZ (including Farmside) › Mobile Broadband costs less than you think.

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chiefie

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#33540 21-Apr-2006 07:40

If you have followed another topic, you would have seen that I opted for single bill solution.

*Shame, yesterday when i confirming my migration of account authority from Vodafone NZ to Telstraclear, i was told that because the two postpaid accounts we have are on You Choose and TCL hasn't/isn't offering that plan, so cannot migrate us over. Oh well.

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chiefie

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#33547 21-Apr-2006 08:41

alasta: Can anyone clarify whether it's necessary to sign up for a 24 month contract in order to take up this offer? I understand that the deal on the hardware only applies to 24 month contracts, but it's not clear whether the $50+GST pricing plan can be taken up on an open term basis.

You can take up this offer if you're an existing customer, and would like to use your own hardware. Then you can go on open term $49+gst. VNZ reserved the rights to move any open term customers to another plan anytime they wish (probably when the promotion deem unprofitable or when new plan superceeding it.

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#33567 21-Apr-2006 11:13

I think vodafone should offer $50 for 10GB monthly cap and then reduce speed to 64kbps.
This way it'll be a major competitor to telecom's fixed line broadband service.
Also because it's over vodafone's cellular network they won't have to worry about content ratios right because they won't need telephone exchanges right? If demand increase they can just make more cellphone towers.And the added advantage of wireless would be u can take it anywhere. The should have 3G wireless DESKTOP modems from PC's so normal pc users can use the 3g broadband service. I think vf said they'll have at least 1Mbps by the end of the year. Sure it's won't be as fast as fixed line offerings, but maybe they could have something different like instead of $50 for a 10GB cap, they could have a 50GB cap. I mean if vodafone won't have to build new exchanges they'd be saving alot of money so maybe they could do this. I heard if vodafone upgrades their 3G network it could reach speeds much higher than 1Mbps. HSDPA which vf is going to deploy will have max download speeds of 14.4MBps but users will probably get 2-3Mbps.So i think vodafone will wait until it has HSDPA then start selling HSDPA DESKTOP modem for pc users. Can't wait to see the new HSDPA phones too. There is already a HSDPA phone put in USA and more coming soon. And HSDPA phones are backward compatible with WCDMA which is great.

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#33580 21-Apr-2006 13:24

kelly2626: If demand increase they can just make more cellphone towers.And the added advantage of wireless would be u can take it anywhere.

It is not that easy. cell sites are pretty much like small exchanges or cabinets: they still cost money and still need resource consent. And the land owner's consent if the best location is on a private property.

A lot of people complain about mobile coverage. If it was easy to solve the problem by simply deploying more cell sites then we wouldn't be waiting for HSDPA deployment to have our current problem solved, right?

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chiefie

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#33807 24-Apr-2006 22:59

Yay! I got my VMC Novatel Merlin U630, red colour (from TCL) today... all up and running but shame my residential area only seems to be able to get GPRS and not UMTS yet.

Tried installing using the VMC cd (5.01.002) but the drive can't read the CD, so tried downloading the newest driver from Vodafone NZ, version 7.00.0015.0, and also updated the firmware to 14.5.

All seems good. Shame there is no driver for PocketPC. oh well.

BTW, what's the AT string for turning off the VMC network optimiser?

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#33808 24-Apr-2006 23:06

No init string for that - you have to use a different APN. direct.vodafone.net.nz should be the one you want without the optimiser.

Shame really you don't have 3G coverage. That was the whole reason behind getting the card, right?

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#33813 24-Apr-2006 23:20

ANOTHER APN!

How many do they have in service?

I know of

www.vodafone.net.nz
web.vodafone.net.nz
internet
live.vodafone.com (wap traffic only)
and now this direct one!

chiefie

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#33815 24-Apr-2006 23:30

paradoxsm: ANOTHER APN!

How many do they have in service?

I know of

www.vodafone.net.nz
web.vodafone.net.nz
internet
live.vodafone.com (wap traffic only)
and now this direct one!

What are each one for?

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chiefie

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#33816 24-Apr-2006 23:31

freitasm: Shame really you don't have 3G coverage. That was the whole reason behind getting the card, right?

Yeah, that's the whole point, but the other reason also is, i can take my laptop to work/city and use it without depending on any connection. and there is UMTS signal in city central.

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#33817 24-Apr-2006 23:32

www.vodafone.net.nz is NAT, web.vodafone.net.nz is non-NAT, internet is for testing, direct.vodafone.net.nz is NAT/non-optimiser, live.vodafone.com is for WAP traffic.

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chiefie

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#33818 24-Apr-2006 23:35

hmm how to change the APN on VMC? i can't seem to find the setting.

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#33819 24-Apr-2006 23:37

It is there, somewhere. Otherwise you have to uninstall, reboot, install again with custom settings. This will add a menu option to add new APNs, etc...

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chiefie

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#33821 24-Apr-2006 23:39

Ooopsey, spoke too soon. i found it. just need to edit/configure new profile (with VMC plugged in)

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chiefie

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#33822 24-Apr-2006 23:55

*Interesting*

does anyone know how to check 029 (TelstraClear)'s Calls/Data Usage? I know you can view the account usage for 021 from Vodafone NZ site. But Vodafone's site cannot be used with 029.

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chiefie

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#33826 25-Apr-2006 00:39

I've become a compulsive poster!!! Yikes!

Anyway, when I attached the included antenna wand, I can get UMTS signal (nice blue led on the card)

Speed is good, i can get a good 330Kbps download and 55Kbps upload even with the slightest UMTS signal (1 block). The GPRS speed is quite "torturing" for me as I'm very used to highspeed cable internet. However GPRS speed is still usable, comparative to dial up, but with much more freedom.

My final say to this? Well I think VMC has/will provide me the great freedom of roaming within city, intercity and even perhaps roaming to overseas, for internet connection when there is no physically connection available. Sure the speed is not the greatest, and no where near CDMA EVDO, however what I lose in speed, I gain in bettter cross-country roaming when the time calls for it.

I give VMC (Novatel Merlin U630) 4 stars out of 5, with one star missing for it is not HSDPA compatible, but this is also because there is no HSDPA publically available in NZ yet.

And KUDOS to Vodafone NZ for brining out a very competitive data plan (1GB for $49+GST). And Kudos to TelstraClear for speedy and efficient handling for my VMC order (via phone) and speedy delivery.

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