Have 3G on iPhone 40 plan, what's cheapest way to upgrade to a 3GS?

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accidental

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Wannabe Geek

#42314 2-Oct-2009 10:08

Hey guys, Ahmad pointed me here for your expert advice :)

I have an iPhone 3G on Vodafone's iPhone 40 plan. I've had it 3 months, and bought the phone subsidised with the plan.

I am finding the 3G to be too slow so want to upgrade to a 3GS.
I'm thinking my only option is to sell my 3G on Trademe and buy a 3GS either new at retail or used on Trademe. The price difference is around $300-$400 for this option.

I'm sure some of you have been in the same boat as me, so would like your advice as to the cheapest solution to acquire a 3GS in my situation? Is there any way to get a subsidised 3GS on my current plan? A partial subsidy? Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks.

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Uber Geek

#260712 2-Oct-2009 22:47

accidental: Hey guys, Ahmad pointed me here for your expert advice :)

I have an iPhone 3G on Vodafone's iPhone 40 plan. I've had it 3 months, and bought the phone subsidised with the plan.

I am finding the 3G to be too slow so want to upgrade to a 3GS.
I'm thinking my only option is to sell my 3G on Trademe and buy a 3GS either new at retail or used on Trademe. The price difference is around $300-$400 for this option.

I'm sure some of you have been in the same boat as me, so would like your advice as to the cheapest solution to acquire a 3GS in my situation? Is there any way to get a subsidised 3GS on my current plan? A partial subsidy? Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks.

personally, the wya I would do it if I could is:

Maximise what I could out of the 3G sale (so sell a few accessories with it) and buy a 3GS retail. I was going to suggest a resign of your contract, however, since you are only 3-4 months into your contract, thats not going to be possible.

If you could avoid it, I wouldn't buy off TradeMe unless it's new and just unwanted.

MightyApe

You will find anything you want at MightyApe (affiliate link).

Geektastic

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#260900 4-Oct-2009 00:04

You're lucky to have 3G!

Here in Martinborough we don't get it on VF - but Telecom do! Grrrrrr!

sbiddle

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#260914 4-Oct-2009 08:48

Geektastic: You're lucky to have 3G!

Here in Martinborough we don't get it on VF - but Telecom do! Grrrrrr!

Martinborough has 3G coverage and also has expanded 3G coverage around Lake Ferry where there was no coverage before. It's all on Vodafone's 900 3G network though so isn't usable on an iPhone since this only supports 850 3G and not 900 3G.

Geektastic

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#260916 4-Oct-2009 09:04

I'm sure someone will know why they have phones on the network that are not fully supported by the network.

Seems a bit dumb to me, although a fairly typical NZ business model!

sbiddle

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#260921 4-Oct-2009 09:15

Geektastic: I'm sure someone will know why they have phones on the network that are not fully supported by the network.

Seems a bit dumb to me, although a fairly typical NZ business model!

With the exception of AT&T, Telstra Next G and Telecom XT every other telco in the world offering iPhones is limited to 2100 3G in the major cities and GSM elsewhere. NZ is also rather unique in that it's the only country in the world that has 2 3G networks offering 97% population 3G coverage.

Geektastic

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#260926 4-Oct-2009 09:20

And yet not in Martinborough....

VFNZPaulBrislen

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#260929 4-Oct-2009 09:43

As Steve says there's plenty of 3G coverage around the country.. for the Vodafone coverage maps have a look here.

You'll see you can toggle on the 3G Extend network (operates on 900MHz).

Yes, the iPhone operates on a different frequency (850) but since our 2100 network covers around 70% of the population I think we're doing OK.

900 is the more popular upgrade path worldwide than 850. Most European countries are now recycling their 900GSM spectrum for 3G use so expect to see a lot more devices (eg the HTC Magic) that operate on 900/2100 rather than 850/2100 in the years ahead.

Can't link the maps for some reason. www.vodafone.co.nz/coverage is what you're looking for.

Steve's also right - New Zealand is the only OECD country to have two networks built out to cover 97% of the population. Most don't get one out to that level. But hey, what do I know about competition in the marketplace, eh?

Paul Brislen
Head of Corporate Communications
Vodafone

http://forum.vodafone.co.nz

Geektastic

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#260930 4-Oct-2009 09:52

I still don't really see why one of the premier handsets in NZ doesn't work on a 3G network that apparantly operates where I live.

Consumers generally just want their phones to work: investigating network freq's and so on seems a bit of a lengthy way to go in order to decide which handset you need. If it is sold here, it should work here properly, IMHO - or have any limitations clearly and explicitly notified at the time of sale. That seems logical and fair to me.

I am also mildly annoyed as the shop staff told me it would get 3 G here "soon" when I bought it a year ago.

It does not even get 3G in Masterton when I go there.

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#260931 4-Oct-2009 09:54

Oh - and Apple is not a listed manufacturer on the "see mobile coverage for your device" on the coverage map for VF!

Neither the iPhone FAQ's nor the product details on the VF site have any mention of the fact that the phone won't get 3G in many areas (where it is actually available technically) due to this frequency issue.

Surely a customer needs such information as part of the purchasing decision?

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#260934 4-Oct-2009 10:24

Geektastic: And yet not in Martinborough....

did you not read steves post above......... i don't get you steve writes a very clear post and then you post this....

Aaroona

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#260935 4-Oct-2009 10:27

Not to mention its way off topic, and if they have a problem a new thread should be started.

Back on topic please!

Geektastic

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#260937 4-Oct-2009 10:50

I read it - it just did not really help me understand the issue I now have with being sold a phone that apparently - unbenknown to me (or many others no doubt) won't work to best effect - I was surprised to hear it but as Aroona said a bit OT now.

Why sell a phone built for a network you don't intend to build?!

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#261076 5-Oct-2009 09:46

If you want relaible 3G speeds around the country and want to use an iphone then I think going with Telecom is a no brainer really.

I myself use a Nokia 5800 on VF and the 3G coverage in little old Gore is very good, I get 4-5 bars 99% of the time and speeds seem pretty god to. I'm not sure if it is a population thing but maybe the network is not as congested down this way.

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#261206 5-Oct-2009 13:49

Extended 3g was never on the feature list for the iPhone, so whats the problem?

Yeah it sucks that vodafone only offer crappy GPRS as the fallback, but that it their company position. Edge is alive and works well on 2 degrees when you are not roaming onto vodafone.

If you are in love with the iPhone and want 3g there, then the only option at this stage is telecom. Perhaps there will be a hardware refresh of the iPhone soon to give it 900MHz, in which case you should upgrade at that time.

900MHz isnt a big deal to most people since over the world its generally regarded that 3g is very limited. NZ is virtually unique with telecoms network that has no GSM/edge fallback so has to be super-awesome coverage, and vodafone have built the same. contrast with the states where 3g coverage is a rare thing to have.

Richard rich.ms

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#261242 5-Oct-2009 14:35

richms: Perhaps there will be a hardware refresh of the iPhone soon to give it 900MHz, in which case you should upgrade at that time.

I believe that the upcoming iPhone for China Unicom supports WCDMA 900. Of course, it remains to be seen whether this model will be sold outside China.

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