need your advice/experience with 10mb for $1/day casual rate

Forums › Vodafone New Zealand › need your advice/experience with 10mb for $1/day casual rate

seizure

5 posts

Wannabe Geek

Topic # 25031 10-Aug-2008 00:22

i was wondering if anyone could advise me on the $1/day for 10mb "vodafone live!" deal.

is vodafone live! the same as GPRS? or is it something proprietary (eg, i-mode within GSM)

due to lousy customer and BB service, i've cancelled my $35++ BIS recently and went back to pre-pay.

i finished setting up my overseas (US t-mo) blackberry to work with the www.vodafone.net.nz APN.

my main qn: will i be charged at $1 for 10 megs for using GPRS in this manner?

i've been monitoring the usage on my phone and the amount of money being deducted and it's really peculiar.

15 minutes before midnight i switched the phone off and 15 minutes past midnight i had $0.01 deducted.

also, i'm fairly sure i got charged more than $1 despite not exceeding even 5mb (will trial it for a few more days).

all feedback appreciated; although i hope for positive ones, i welcome negative experiences too.

(the search function is quite difficult to use and i can't figure out how to filter it accordingly by date and forum)

weatherman

99 posts

Master Geek

Reply # 155542 10-Aug-2008 08:47

Hi seizure,

My thoughts on this plan have lead me to reach the following conclusions:

From 0-0.2mb, you're charged at $5/MB. (so if you download 100kb you'd only be charged 50c - this is the $5/mb up to $1 bit)

From 0.2mb-10mb, you're charged $1 for usage within a day.
10mb on, you're charged $1/mb extra.

Then everything resets at midnight again...

Some examples:

0.15mb - 75c (0.15 @ $5/mb)
5mb - $1 (inside the 10mb limit)
10mb - $1 (hitting the 10mb limit)
12mb -$3. (10mb for $1 + 2mb @ $1/mb)

So if you're consistently using (say) 8MB per day, maybe using your phone as a modem for your laptop, this is a good plan, giving you 300MB a month for $30 (0.10c per MB). If your usage per month exceeds 300MB, you might be better off with a mobile broadband plan. For example, the 1 GIG plan at $50 gives you data at 0.05c per MB.

And yes, the usual portal for connection to the 'net with VFNZ is the www.vodafone.net.nz APN.

Cheers,

George

sbiddle

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Reply # 155545 10-Aug-2008 08:52

Any Vodafone APN you use will incur the same $1 per day charge.

As for the $1 for not exceeding 5MB this is perfectly normal - I'm not sure what your understanding of the $1 per day charge is.

All traffic is initially charged at $5/MB so if you use under 200kb you will be charged accordingly (up to $1) however once you hit that $1 mark you don't pay for any excess traffic until you hit the 10MB mark where you are then charged $1 per MB for all excess traffic.

manhinli

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Reply # 155552 10-Aug-2008 09:50

And just for comparison, checking Gmail costs me around 5-10c per data session.

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seizure

5 posts

Wannabe Geek

Reply # 155578 10-Aug-2008 11:31

thanks for your reply guys, much appreciated!

basically, i was charged more than $1 despite not exceeding 5MB and wasn't sure what was going on or if anyone else was getting ripped off.

after checking my account value 15 mins after midnight and then this morning, i found out i had more money deducted over night (i stopped using it 15mins before midnight).

i might stick with this, as i agree with weatherman that it's kinda worth using it provided i don't blow past the limit and i doubt i will.

again, thank you guys very much! now, if only vodafone would pay the guys here for doing such a good job...

dpresha9

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Reply # 155610 10-Aug-2008 14:26

Had a similar question.. How "real time" is vodafone's reporting of credit used? In this case, if someone used the data 15 mins before midnight, does it deduct the amount straight away or update periodically (every hr or something)?

manhinli

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Reply # 155611 10-Aug-2008 14:34

dpresha9: Had a similar question.. How "real time" is vodafone's reporting of credit used? In this case, if someone used the data 15 mins before midnight, does it deduct the amount straight away or update periodically (every hr or something)?

It's instantaneous.

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chiefie

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Reply # 155613 10-Aug-2008 14:43

To the OP, are you still using Blackberry device even though without BIS/BES? If so, Blackberry uses different APN to the "internet" APN. Which could mean you are not using the $1 casual data rate.

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seizure

5 posts

Wannabe Geek

Reply # 155743 10-Aug-2008 23:10

yup, i'm now using a BB without BIS/BES with an altered TCP service book.

i don't think RIM/service providers allows access to the BB APNs without a valid subscription/SB.

at least, i HOPE so!

today's charges seem to be okay. very happy with the config (wiped my BB and reconfigured it to have it work properly) and now i get my emails and MSN and opera mini and RSS feeds.

since i don't use my BB everyday, it's gonna be cheaper than $35+GST for BIS, and it will be equally unreliable, so no complaints! : )

i just hope there're no billing discrepencies on VFNZ's part... i can't be checking the balance all the time (weekend, so i'm home and that's okay).

again, thanks everyone who kept me informed on the data charges. cheers!