Voda 3G problems?

[Confucious]

Quoted from Jon Honeyball in this months PCPro (page 224):
the signal is incredibly "puddling" - in other words, you might have a great signal in one spot, but move your laptop a foot or so in any direction and the 3G signal disappears quicker than you can say "wireless broadband". At this point the default behaviour is for the system to auto-reconnect you using a slower but more reliable GPRS connection. In theory this is a good thing because everything keeps working, after a slight hiccup, but it just wasn't so in practicewhen using online applications that are sensitive to being bounced arround in that fashion. Even the trusty mIRC Internet Relay Chat program objected and dropped the connection when being abused in such a 3G/GPRS ping-pong tournament.

Doesn't sound to good does it?

[3gtrooper]

Well I read a review in one of the trade mags that the Orange data card performs best out of the voda, orange and t mobile cards (the orange and t mobile being the same cards).

In that test Orange came first for data trans, T mobile 2nd and Voda 3rd...

Seems to me the card voda chose was the wrong one with so many problems with laptops ect...

[Guest]

t-mobile have a 3g datacard?

[Gunner]

Yes, T-Mobile have a 3G card which also incorporates WI-FI.

[3gtrooper]

Indeed there is only one network left with no 3G offering at all.

[Confucious]

Originally posted by 3gtrooper
Indeed there is only one network left with no 3G offering at all.

You mean apart from 3? ;)

[jlgmax]

Many of our VPN users use the Voda 3g datacards. We've been using them, mainly from our Leeds office, for the past few months. During this time I have never seen a card lock onto a 3g connection ! Having said that, they work fine on GPRS (apart from a few compatability problems with Cisco's VPN client).

[Gunner]

Hmm. I really want one of the Voda Christmas handsets, but everything constantly reminds me that their coverage really isn't great yet, and will probably be a "slowly but surely" process. Orange on the other hand are better... less handsets though... grr!

[jlgmax]

Which is another reason why I doubt very much that Vodafone's 3G tariffs will be anywhere near as cheap as 3's !!

Effectively, the majority of new subscribers will be using the existing 2/2.5g infrastructure due to the comparative lack of 3g covergae at present.

I cant see Vodafone discounting the use of its network to £12.50 for 500 inclusive minutes.

I realise that this is "dealer subsidisation" rather than a direct subsidy from the network, but at the end of the day there is an element of dealer subsidy on ALL connections to ALL networks !

The dealer receives commission for signing you up to a tariff. Clearly 3 must be offering them some seriously hefty wedge for sign-ups to VT500/750 if they can afford to give such large sums of cashback !

[99900]

Yes

You are correct but some of the cash back is from the network and some is from the dealer

[jlgmax]

So you think the dealer loses money on the deal out of the goodness of their own heart ?

Like I said in my post - the subsidy to £12.50 a month comprises of a dealer subsidy and a network subsidy...at the moment, 3 offer 1/2 price line rental on the 1st 3 months. They also give the dealer a lot of money in commission to sign punters up in the first place. So to say that some of the cash is from the dealer is a bit misleading. ALL of the "cashback" which you receive is FUNDED by the network (note - FUNDED by, not RECEIVED FROM !).

Dealers do just that - deal. They look at what they get for signing you up to VideoTalk 500 - lets say the commission is £200 for the sake of this example (and for simplicity ignoring the costs of handsets etc). The dealer has £200 to "play with" to make you sign up to the deal...its all down to how they present this discount to you to make it seem more attractive for you to sign up.

So they might "spend" £112.50 and present the deal as giving you 12 months 1/2 price line rental. And maybe throw in a bluetooth headset.......another £25 at cost price........the total that they've "spent" out of their commission is £137.50 - leaving them with £62.50 for signing you up to the deal.

The fact that mobile dealers have good deals on connections to 3 is because 3 offer more commission per signup, and therefore the dealers have more to "spend" on enticing you into the deal whilst still retaining a profit for themselves.

So you see, ALL of the subsidy ultimately comes from 3 - remember that dealers are there to make money from selling mobile phone contracts - they dont (and wont) subsidise a deal beyond the overall level of commission which they receive as they would fail to make a profit and go out of business !!! Simple mathematics really !

[99900]

Look mate

I used to own part of a mobile phone dealership so I now how the system works.

However dealers do take big gambles because of non payers and people lowering the price plan to soon. However that has now been stopped through minium stay on price plans.

[jlgmax]

Er....yeah - so the actual "money" still comes from the network doesnt it........

[99900]

OK

current deal with 3

first 3 months gets charged back onto the bill from the network

Any other money gets sent in the form of a cheque after a quailfying period

ENd of story

[sheeldz]

I work for the Link, as i understand it, The Link get maybe (not sure exactly) as said above £200 from a connection. Our deal is £9.99 line rental for 6 months on the Talk and Text 600, normally £30. Im not here to sell it but...

It's via chequeback, where you get £75.06 back. This is only avaible becasue The Link/ Carphone / Phones4u get Money from 3 For selling the connection.

And that IS how it works, so don't bother arguing any other way.

Kapow!

[jlgmax]

Exactly - thanks Sheeldz !

The money ALL comes from the network - depends which dealer you order through as to how much discount off the tariff / whether you get a "free" headset / "free" ps2 etc etc. Its their choice how they "spend" the commission - as detailed in my previous post....

[99900]

sheeldz/jlgmax

I never said that the dealer does not get any commision from the network. Why would they sell the phones other wise.

What I was saying is that the 3 offer is 3 months back from the netwrok and the rest comes back from the dealer

Try doubling the the money that the dealer gets back from the network or even 4 times.


sheeldz

Which store do you work in then. I too work for DSG and know your MD personally. Just to prove it one word "cool intranet".

Elizabeth Fagan is the name of you company MD

Have a look at work when u are next in and find a John that is on the Board of Directors

Promote the GOLD and earn a few extra pence

[Confucious]

Originally posted by Jon3G

Just to prove it one word "cool intranet".


ONE word? ;)

[99900]

Sheeldz will know what I mean

[Confucious]

By "on the Board of Directors" does that mean Chairman, Chief Executive or Non-Executive Director ?

[sheeldz]

By saying the Names of Directors and such doesn't really prove anything they have interviews and , and you could have worked for The Link at anytime to gain the Info on the Intranet.

But why try and prove you work for the company too? I was only stating what i understood - if you can prove that its wrong I'll listen. :)

Oh, and by the way, your right about the Extra Pence - the new Pay scheme is baws! ;)

[jlgmax]

Originally posted by Jon3G
sheeldz/jlgmax

I never said that the dealer does not get any commision from the network. Why would they sell the phones other wise.

What I was saying is that the 3 offer is 3 months back from the netwrok and the rest comes back from the dealer



And what we have all been saying is that the M-O-N-E-Y comes from the network, whether its via the dealer, via chequeback, cash upfront, or after 12 months the actual M-O-N-E-Y comes from the network......yes or no ?

[3g-newbie]

Having problems with vpn client to connecto to pix over 3g vodafone card

Do you know which version of cisco vpn client works best with vodafone 3g card?
I am using windows XP and the vpn terminates on a cisco pix. Do you know what needs to be done on the pix to get this to work?

Thanks in advance

[Finos]

Many of our VPN users use the Voda 3g datacards. We've been using them, mainly from our Leeds office, for the past few months. During this time I have never seen a card lock onto a 3g connection ! Having said that, they work fine on GPRS (apart from a few compatability problems with Cisco's VPN client).

I'm currently working with a 3g via vpn and i don't see any problems

[Jethro]

Cisco equipment is totalled supported with 3G datacards.

Your PIX needs NAT Traversal, TCP/UDP encapuslation and some other bits. Email me for config info.

[newhorizon]

I connected my new N73 to the vodafone network yesterday and have had enormous problems keeping any signal? let alone 3G! after spending most of yesterday on the phone to Vodafones customer service which in my personal case I found useless. They informed my my area does have good 3G and signal is poor and patchy coverage, so I'd be on 2G. This was told to me after 5-6 hours of vodafone staff asking m to do hard resets, manual roaming (which the N73 didn't seem to allow me to change from 'automatic'). After an entire of no progress I've decided to leave vodafone -as if the network coverage is poor in my area no point! Even disconnections seem to have a 24 hours plus waiting list (they are that busy on disconnections! -probably the 6 months half-price line rental plus other freebies on offer lured a lot of customers (me included) but the network doesn't seem to be able to cope or cover. Ah, I wish I'd never left Orange now (never had any problems )

I've just joined 02 (N73) -well waiting for phone -hope thats better?!

[Jethro]

but the network doesn't seem to be able to cope or cover.

This I’m afraid is a very naive view of the largest mobile provider in the UK and in fact the world.

The level of complexity in the radio network is incredible and of course any network provider endeavour's to provide the best level of signal and coverage possible however it defies the laws of physic's that you’ll get 100% service all the time.

There may be prolonged period’s where you experience a degradation of service and unless you shout very loud of your service provider and give them detailed evidence there will be little they can do as they will not notice any problem’s.

It is only when big business complains, a network alarm is raised or you reach the rare customer service’s rep who knows there **** that anything will be done on the radio network.

For information on business continuity (keeping the network online) talk to CS as they should have a document available.

[MRGS1]

This I’m afraid is a very naive view of the largest mobile provider in the UK and in fact the world.

The level of complexity in the radio network is incredible and of course any network provider endeavour's to provide the best level of signal and coverage possible however it defies the laws of physic's that you’ll get 100% service all the time.

There may be prolonged period’s where you experience a degradation of service and unless you shout very loud of your service provider and give them detailed evidence there will be little they can do as they will not notice any problem’s.

It is only when big business complains, a network alarm is raised or you reach the rare customer service’s rep who knows there **** that anything will be done on the radio network.

For information on business continuity (keeping the network online) talk to CS as they should have a document available.Surley jethro you should know any big company is only intrested in money and shareholders profit is king! providing a service is second best take any big company gas,water electric its a pain to provide a service if the networks could charge you for no service they would.Quality and service have gone out of style look around you.

[Jethro]

Of course money is number one. However there are dedicated technicians and engineer's who believe in what they do. Of course making sure the network bill’s correctly is always going to land near the top of priorities.

However giving customer’s a good level and quality of service is part of the SLA technicians must attain to also. Not to mention that the majority of telephone number’s are sold with a business continuity plan involving Vodafone’s SLA agreements.

So quality and service have not gone out of style, and in fact with the high saturation of mobile use in the UK many provider’s are finding that customer service and quality of service must be improved to keep subscription numbers up.

[Ukeye]

Cisco equipment is totalled supported with 3G datacards.

Your PIX needs NAT Traversal, TCP/UDP encapuslation and some other bits. Email me for config info.

Can you send me the config info?

[Jethro]

Please see the following: http://www.3g.co.uk/3GForum/showthread.php?t=47356