9 posts tagged “3”

Five

Numbers galore!

Last night's Gadget Show on Five featured 3's Mobile Broadband and an N95 amongst other gadgets in a Citizen Journalism Vs Old School Journalism (y'know, with professional kit) head-to-head.

The highlight for me was when one of the presenters decided to do a video traffic report on top of a motorway (freeway) bridge.  Why?  The presenter thought it would be a good idea to stream live footage over 3G.  Fair enough, you might say.  Well, he decided to use his laptop's built-in camera - he waved the bloody thing above his head!  Drivers below would've seen what appeared to be someone getting ready to chuck a bloody great big thing towards them!  Sadly, in the UK, plenty of idiotic teenagers - as well as some brain-dead adults - do just that... throw bloody great big things down on to traffic - for fun!

Mobile Broadband USB modem

Back to the tech - the consensus was that the 3's Mobile Broadband was good when reception was good but reception could be patchy and that wasn't so good.  Great insight guys!  Oh, and an N95 isn't as good as a prosumer HD camcorder and laptop for recording and editing videos.

Backstory first:

I had an unused, but still open, account with 3 (my phone company).  The tariff was called 3toGo and was essentially contract, rather than a pay-as-you-go.  Unlike most normal phone contracts there wasn't a monthly line rental charge, but there was a Direct Debit set-up.  Only if I used the phone would I get charged.

Now the rest:

In February, I dusted down this 3toGo SIM chucked it in a newer phone and added Internet Max and gave the phone to my niece and nephews (they were staying at my parents and didn't have internet access!)  That should've cost me £5, last a month and that would be that.  At the end of February I got my bill in for this account and it even said, "Thanks for paying by Direct Debit".  Not a problem, everything seems fine, but...

I got a bill the following month for this account - It was for £13.  I'm thinking that can't be right it should be for the usual £0!   So I delved deeper.  I soon realised that the internet wasn't on a month by month basis (that was my fault, my mistake) but that extra £3 ...what was that for?  "Payment method administration charge" apparently - but I pay by Direct Debit!

Well I rang 3 up and argued my case and got nowhere, they blamed the bank.  Anyway, I cancelled the add-on, set-up a new Direct Debit (I had to do this so as not to face another £3 admin fee!) and gave my notice to cancel the account.  Cancelling was really, really difficult.  They really didn't want me to do it.  They kept telling me that as the account cost me nothing a month it would be pointless to cancel.  Never knowing if I'd be charged this fee again in future - even with a Direct Debit setup - I eventually convinced them I really didn't want the account open anymore.

Fast forward to today and I eventually got around to calling my bank (Halifax).  After a really difficult call (could barely hear the guy!) I was told that the problem wasn't with the bank, it was with 3.  I'm told that as I had money in my account and a Direct Debit setup with 3, 3 should've just taken the money out.

I'm back to square one and can't believe how much time and effort I've been putting in for a measly £3.  Despite the pitiful sum I'm really annoyed at this as as far as I can see I've done nothing wrong and been wrongly charged what amounts to be a penalty and can't get anywhere with either party.

Looks like a lot of activity today over at the ALL NEW 3mobilebuzz.  It's not just the 3Skypephone any more.  So, what are they now focusing on?  Read the title!! Geez...

Yes, they're taking a look at 3's mobile broadband offering and handing out USB "3.5G" dongles left, right and center*!  Where's my one chaps?  Oh wait, I no longer have a laptop!  D'oh!  Having said that my nephew is going into hospital on Monday and he not only has a laptop, he's going to a hospital that has a very sensible policy regarding wireless devices (they allow them to be used!)  So, what do you say guys?  Want to cure a ten-year-old (and his uncle) of boredom?  He's a blogger too!

Failing that we'll be using a Skypephone for tethered access at slightly less than 3.5G

*sorry, couldn't resist, there's more North Americans reading this blog than Brits at the moment!

The above is a web-only clip from British channel Five's 'The Gadget Show'.  It features presenter Jon Bentley testing out and musing over VOIP* application Fring.  The demonstration doesn't go too smoothly, which is a shame as Fring is pretty good IMHO and if I were to criticise it it wouldn't be for anything seen in the clip.

I noticed that the two handsets used were on Three and that one of them was an N73** (X-Series by the looks of it).  Hardly cutting edge, is it Five? ;-)  I'm just about to give mine to an eleven year old (and I imagine they'll be less than impressed!)  As they're using Three I think they needn't worry about the data plan.   VOIP isn't barred in Three's T&Cs (unlike with some other operators) and the price of the plan (presumably they'll be on £5 per month) would ensure a lot of very, very cheap calls and IMs!

Five, Three?  What is it with company branding these days!?! ;-)
*VOIP = Voice Over IP (voice calls routed over the internet)
**the other one being a 6120 classic I do believe...

The following is about as unscientific as you can get.  A quick comparison of mobile phone reception at my parents' home.  Sim-free N95 8GB on 3 (UK) next to a jailbroken (unlocked) iPhone on Vodafone (UK).  My trial phone (the Nokia) vs my sister's iPhone.  Any guesses which phone she's considering next?

N95 8GB vs iPhone

Just noticed 3 UK's Planet 3 portal has had a bit of a spruce up.  Haven't had a chance to really form an opinion on it yet.  One thing I do like and one thing that stands out is their 'Free and easy' page linked from the homepage.  It's prominently signed and clearly worded.  This would seem like a no-brainer but having used T-mobile's portal this week (for the first time ever) it would appear that not all operators are so clear cut.

I like T-mobile's portal in places but for the most part it's a mess.  Bizarrely it kinda like seems some of it wasn't designed with mobile access in mind!

Back to 3's, I hope they've finally gotten rid of the adult content that is the first thing you see when opening the (built-in) browser on 3 phones every night.  There is no opt-out and although it's more suggestive than anything else, it really isn't the first thing you want to see when browsing in public.  I can also imagine many parents not wanting that on a phone they give to their kids.

This is a UK-centric post but may be of relevance to those visiting the UK too.

I'm in the UK (the username probably gives the game away) and use internet on my mobile phone a lot, a real lot!  This time last year it would've been unbelievably expensive to use the 'net so much, so often.  Even this year, right now, this very minute, I would be spending a small fortune if I were on a different network.  This was brought home to me just this past weekend when trying to get a data plan sorted out for my sister who happens to be on Vodafone...

Price comparison of the data plans on the UK networks:

• Vodafone:       £7.50 p/m - for 120MB

• O2:                £7.50 p/m - for 200MB

• T-Mobile:        £7.50 p/m - for 1GB

• 3 (aka Three): £5.00 p/m - for 2GB

• Orange:          £5.00 p/m - Unlimited evening and weekend "fair use"

This is an over-simplification as, with anything mobile or internet, there's way too much small print and, sometimes,  not enough!  Vodafone's appears to be capped at 120MB, you go over you start paying extra.  O2, T-Mobile and 3 all state unlimited but have "fair use" limits.  I'm on 3 (not any of the other networks) so, personally, can only comment on their "fair use" limit:  I regularly go over and have never been charged extra.  Recently I've been getting SMS messages telling me I've gone over, but nothing else.  Orange class their's as unlimited - but only in the evening and weekends.  The odd thing is they seem to have no plan that covers the daytime as well!?!

I should also point out that some operators exclude some kinds of usage in their data plans.  All the above are for use on the handset only (no using the phone as a modem for a laptop etc.)  Some don't allow media streaming and/or VOIP services (such as Skype).

On 3 I can do pretty much what I like - making the most of internet radio, YouTube, Google Maps.  I don't worry about the cost as, after nearly a year with the service, have yet to be billed anything more than the monthly rate. On Vodafone I could easily use up my monthly allowance in just hours!  Unfortunately Vodafone is the network my sister is on and unfortunately her phone is only 2G (that's unlocked IPhones for you!) so she has had to settle for the miserly 120MB for £7.50.  YouTube will be out for her unless she's in range of a working (and free) WiFi hotspot.

Read a more in depth piece about UK data plans over at Pocket Picks

Hmm, first proper post!  Next one could do with less text more pictures....