Vodem is it worth it?

Forums › One New Zealand (including Vodafone, WxC, Farmside) › Vodem is it worth it?

stenknz

103 posts

Master Geek

#17782 11-Dec-2007 15:22

Just wanted to know if I should get one.

I have the Asus Eee PC that supports the E220 Vodem, but some people have had lots of issues (on windows systems) with the Vodem and its service.

What do you guys think of the service? I dont want to go on contract so it will cost me a little more if I do go with it.

Look forward to your replys.

Cheers,

Sten.

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#99456 11-Dec-2007 17:18

If you dont go on a contract you wont get usable data pricing, so you kinda have to go onto a contract unless $10 a meg is to your liking

Richard rich.ms

chakkaradeep

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#99464 11-Dec-2007 17:54

I have been using Vodem for the past 4 months...I can say the service is OK. It depends where you are. For example, here in Dunedin, the coverage is not as fast as what you may get in Christchurch, but still its good. I found good speed increase in Christchurch and I think because Christchurch is flat.

If you can go on a contract, then its really good. They have 3 GB plan too and if you exceed the limit, with a $10 you can get another 3 GB added to your account.

And also do not forget to update our firmware as well as the VMC lite. Just keep an eye here

Regards,
Chaks

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VFNZPaulBrislen

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#99478 11-Dec-2007 19:03

richms: If you dont go on a contract you wont get usable data pricing, so you kinda have to go onto a contract unless $10 a meg is to your liking

Not true I'm afraid.

The rates for mobile data are here and are some of the cheapest in the world (only bettered now by Vodafone Australia's new plan).

You don't have to go on contract to get the prices - if you do it costs less of course.

For 1GB with no plan it's $59.95/month. We have an insurance bundle process so if you exceed your 1GB limit you get another GB for $10.

For 3GB with no plan it's $79.95 a month. The insurance bundle $10 gives you another 3GB of data.

Excess data beyond THAT point is charged at 50c/MB.

Cheers

Paul

Paul Brislen
Head of Corporate Communications
Vodafone

http://forum.vodafone.co.nz

chakkaradeep

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#99490 11-Dec-2007 20:16

PaulBrislen:
For 3GB with no plan it's $79.95 a month. The insurance bundle $10 gives you another 3GB of data.

And 3GB with 2 years contract (which am into) is $69.95 and once you cross 3GB for that month, another 3GB will be added for $10

nzbnw

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Spark NZ

#99492 11-Dec-2007 20:20

I think some people here are getting their wires crossed here. What the OP seems to mean is fixed term contract (i.e. 24 months).

The reality is however if you are on a plan with any telco, you have entered into a 'contract', all be it, with no fixed term.

nzbnw

mobygeek

307 posts

Ultimate Geek

#99501 11-Dec-2007 20:53

It's quite a steep price for 1G with no plan, isn't it? And do you have to pay the $10 insurance for the extra G even if you don't use it? What's 1G on 24mth contract? Any plan with any telco is probably a contract because you are promising to pay, right?

monkeysmum

15 posts

Geek

#99504 11-Dec-2007 21:01

I have been using a vodem on my vista machine for about four months without too many problems.

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VFNZPaulBrislen

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#99508 11-Dec-2007 21:10

mobygeek: It's quite a steep price for 1G with no plan, isn't it? And do you have to pay the $10 insurance for the extra G even if you don't use it? What's 1G on 24mth contract? Any plan with any telco is probably a contract because you are promising to pay, right?

I don't think it's steep - I think you'll find for MOBILE data on a 3G network it's about as cheap as you can get. Take the 3GB +3GB on a 24 month contract, that's $79.95 a month plus $10, which really isn't that far off what you'd pay for a land line plus broadband service to about the same level. Plus you get mobility thrown in. The only plan I've found that's better than that (with no limits on what you can do with the data) is Vodafone Australia's latest plan which came out late last month. That's 5GB for A$39/month, although that's only a promotional offer at this stage, as I understand it.

The way the insurance works is that if you're under your limit, you pay the base rate but as soon as you go over it AUTOMATICALLY takes the $10 and doubles your data limit. 3GB becomes 6GB. Don't exceed the limit, don't pay the additional $10. Do exceed it and you don't have to worry that you're now paying the excess charge of 50c/MB until you ring up and ask for the increase because it's applied straight away.

Cheers

Paul

Paul Brislen
Head of Corporate Communications
Vodafone

http://forum.vodafone.co.nz

mobygeek

307 posts

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#99509 11-Dec-2007 21:17

Thanks, Paul. By the way, I was only talking about the 1G plan, not the 3G.

alasta

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#99544 12-Dec-2007 07:24

I bought my Vodem in October last year and it does the job but I'm not very impressed with the reliability. The biggest problem that I have with it is that my connection sometimes spontaneously freezes up, requiring me physically disconnected the USB cable for a minute or so to reset it. This is extremely annoying as it happens when I least expect it but strangely the problem doesn't occur consistently. Sometimes it will work fine for a period of weeks, then the problem will occur multiple times over the course of a single week. This has been the pattern ever since I got it, even though Vodafone claims to have fixed the problem early this year. I have found that it helps somewhat to connect the device to a USB extension cable and move it around the room to identify the best location for it.

Other than that, my only gripe is the reliability of the desktop software. The speed of the connection is perfectly acceptable for the email and web browsing that I use it for.

I would say that if you're thinking about getting a Vodem as a backup for your main connection then it should be okay, but if you are going to rely heavily on it then you would be better off getting one of the Novatel data cards assuming that your machine has a card slot available.

johnr

19282 posts

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#99558 12-Dec-2007 08:35

PaulBrislen:
richms: If you dont go on a contract you wont get usable data pricing, so you kinda have to go onto a contract unless $10 a meg is to your liking

Not true I'm afraid.

The rates for mobile data are here and are some of the cheapest in the world (only bettered now by Vodafone Australia's new plan).

You don't have to go on contract to get the prices - if you do it costs less of course.

For 1GB with no plan it's $59.95/month. We have an insurance bundle process so if you exceed your 1GB limit you get another GB for $10.

For 3GB with no plan it's $79.95 a month. The insurance bundle $10 gives you another 3GB of data.

Excess data beyond THAT point is charged at 50c/MB.

Cheers

Paul

You have to take most information that RICHMS provides here on Geekzone with no value or merit,

richms

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#99579 12-Dec-2007 10:45

What the hell is that supposed to mean?

Prepay - $10 a meg

Contract - $50 a gig

seems straightfoward enough to me that going on contract is the only way to get a good rate. I said nothing about term in the orig post.

Richard rich.ms

freitasm

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#99580 12-Dec-2007 10:48

richms: What the hell is that supposed to mean?

Prepay - $10 a meg

Contract - $50 a gig

seems straightfoward enough to me that going on contract is the only way to get a good rate. I said nothing about term in the orig post.

Calm down please. I think you got mixed things there. One thing is Prepay and On Account, another one is contract and plan.

You can have the $50/GB On Account for a price, but it's just cheaper if you sign a contract. It's a plan, with different prices. This plan is not available on prepay.

drajk

202 posts

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#99731 13-Dec-2007 09:39

This has got a little bit off-topic as the thread was about the Vodem however it would be great if VF would consider making casual 'data packs' available - Telstra does this in Australia and I used a couple of these when I was over there last month. These automatically expire but can be repurchased.

Many users probably don't want to commit to a 24-month contract with an expectation that mobile data should become significantly cheaper over the next couple of years. If the casual add-on data packs were priced at a higher price than the equivalent 'regular contract' plan then there would be an incentive for those using them regularly to switch to data on-account.

I agree with Paul that the current 3GB plan is not bad value but I do think that the 200MB plan is relatively overpriced and at $39.95/month is not likely to get uptake for users who just want to see how convenient mobile email/data is for them. The current 3MB and 15MB plans are really too-risky in terms of even quite moderate use causing overusage with high additional charges and those who do try mobile data out at the very expensive casual non-plan rate of $11.25/MB are likely to be put off and never use it again when they see the cost. A casual 'data pack' which didn't automatically renew and included say 100MB for $20 may encourage many more people into using data and it would probably be a smart move in terms of increasing network data usage - once people can experience the benefits of having mobile data/email readily available they are probably more likely to want it on a regular basis and this may significantly increase ARPU for VF.

mobygeek

307 posts

Ultimate Geek

#99735 13-Dec-2007 10:04

Sounds interesting, my kids might be interested in that, I certainly wouldn't want them on a contract. but how much would the vodem be?

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