Vodaphone Mobile Connect Card

[Jinkster]

I have a Vodaphone Mobile Connect Card and just wondered the charges using it abroad.

The card is billed pay as you use.

Thanks, Jinkster

[BEagle]

I've used a (non-3G) VMC card for some years - but only as a last resort. The software is not terribly stable and even trying to connect can be a real hassle. It often refuses to display any networks and I then have to remove the SIM card, put it into my phone and force it to connect to the local Vodafone network manually to wake the system up. Then back into the VMC card and it's probably OK.

The sensitivity of the little red pop antenna is very poor indeed.

OK - let's say you've managed to persuade it to connect. You never get anything close to the alleged maximum GPRS connectivity rate - and sometimes the whole thing freezes the computer, needing a Big Switch disconnection.

If you remove it without closing the application, you can get the blue screen of death and all sorts of scaremongering MicroSoft geek speak about 'serious errors' etc when you reboot....

The basic idea is good. But it's expensive, not terribly reliable and uses immature technology. The 3G version is enormous!

By far and away the best solution is to use a WiFi hotspot instead! I only ever consider using the card to send e-mails. But due to its slow connectivity, it might be necessary to access a webmail server first, to check that there are no huge documents lurking in your server inbox.

As for surfing the net - very, very expensive and slow if used abroad!

[NWBizJet]

I think the current tariff is ranging from 3 to 8 GBP per MB while using aboard. I have got the card without an antenna, but the reception been on and off even at the airport. Remember to ask for the adult content enable, otherwise you won't be able to use MSN messenger or access similar site. The card is only good if you got reception for 3G other than that the GPRS is too slow. But well it does the job when you are on the move.

[IO540]

Jink

Assuming yours is the older Sierra 750 card and not the later Optima 3G card (both being Voda badged) you have an excellent product, tri-band so works in Europe and USA (I've used it widely).

The Voda charges are about £8/MB (you need Onspeed - www.onspeed.com - in this case, seriously) and anything up to 2x that abroad.

GPRS works widely; 3G is very patchy.

There are two ways to use the card software-wise: the Voda software or the little program off the Sierra website which I think is much nicer. Buth give you a straight network connection which "just works".

You have to go to the Voda website and enable adult content, otherwise their "porn" filtering will get triggered when viewing random binary data like aviation weather and such :O

The best way to use GPRS is obviously to avoid massive transfers, so one runs one's life a bit differently. For emails, use a different email program which enables just header download and perhaps the first 100 lines, otherwise somebody sending you a 5MB playboy centrefold scan will use up your entire credit! Same with websites; many you just don't go to.

If you install Winfax 10.02 you can even send/receive faxes...

[Jinkster]

The card is a Option 3G/GPRS data card. Also says Qualcomm 3G CDMA if this means anything - is it Quadband?

Thanks Chaps!

[BEagle]

I guess Vodafone will have sorted out all the earlier VMC card problems with the 3G version.

But unless you manage to find a reliable 3G connection, it'll default to the much slower GPRS. Not too bad for e-mails (or, at a pinch, webmail to check there are no huge attachments lurking in your e-mail server's inbox!), but very slow and pricey for Internet.

WiFi is much simpler, in my view. Plus you don't have to put up with the appalling Vodafone Customer Service if you have any problems...

[The Nr Fairy]

I've got the older style Option 3G/GPRS combo card, kindly given to me by work.

As BEagle says, 3G coverage outside London or big towns is sketchy, GPRS will probably work if your phone has coverage.

The contract we have allows 450Mb usage per month in the UK, and a per Mb outside the UK. One guy who moved to Dublin and used the 3G for getting email while his broadband was installed ran up a bill in excess of £2k - no other choice, really !

I find if I'm careful about disconnecting, exiting the software and stopping then removing the card my laptop works fine. If I don't do that it's pretty much a guaranteed hang on shutdown.

If I'm abroad (as I am at the moment on Washington) then I tend to use hotel internet access, preferring wireless over wired as there's fewer issues with autonegotiation and the like. Other than that, if I can't reasonably get some sort of connectivity I treat it as an opportunity to not have to read email !

[IO540]

Just a few points:

On PAYG, cost per MB is same for 3G or GPRS (on Voda).

The Optima card doesn't do fax.

Yes wifi is much better and - unless you are after just a few TAFs etc - cheaper, but getting it when you really need it is something else. In the context of flight planning one really needs it in one's hotel, and most motel-priced places don't offer it.

Disable auto update of antivirus/etc software and Windoze itself, otherwise you get big bills.

Voda customer service is quite amazing. Never knew one could assemble so many useless thick stupid unhelpful disorganised people in one place, with so little collective IQ. A tribute to modern-day HR. However, they have a "Directors' complaints" department - basically if you complain to one of the Directors (by name) it goes to this dept and they are in a different class. I had the phone # for it but have lost it.

I'd like to know what the monthly payments are on a GPRS tariff which gives you 450MB free data per month :O And I won't ask what "material" he was downloading for the £2k ;)

[drauk]

IO540, my data tarrif is for 1000Mb a month (3G or GPRS) and it costs about 45 quid a month + VAT I think. I think they do a 500Mb for about 40.

[IO540]

Yes, I have seen those tariffs.

This is stating the obvious, but it makes a lot more sense to use contract (over PAYG) if one can do one's voice calls on it too. Then, especially in a business context, the firm pays for the data usage, and they can't tell if the data was all for the business :O

My usage is for aviation weather, flight planning and such. Using a PCMCIA GPRS card, and given that one can have just one SIM card per phone account (I know Orange offer duplicate SIMs to corporate users with >50 phones) this makes it hard to utilise one's data account for voice, and thus get the data "on the firm".

I have a compactflash GPRS adaptor for a PDA (HP4700) which has a headset socket in it, so could be used as a mobile phone, but few PCMCIA cards can do that. It should be possible (using the PC's sound subsystem, and a Skype-style headset) but I don't know how. Constant SIM card swapping is a pain...

Of course with 3G you can run Skype directly, though I doubt it is cheaper than a mobile phone call once you go outside the free data allowance :O

For these reasons, a lot of people use a bluetooth+GPRS mobile phone, keep their "business" SIM card in it, and then by using the phone as their modem, they can get both data and voice "on the firm", without fiddling with SIM cards.

Personally I am on PAYG. Make too few mobile calls, and have 3 portable devices (1 laptop, 1 tablet, 1 PDA) each of which has GPRS connectivity. 4 SIM cards...:yuk:

[mdc]

I'd be tempted to wait until April 1st when T-Mobile are due to launch their "eat as much as you can" data service for 7.50 a month.

I have both a Vodafone seirra aircard 750 and the option globetrotter mobile connect GPRS cards as well as the latest Vodafone Options 3G mobile connect card (courtesy or work)

As others have already said the Vodafone dashboard isn't fantastic but has improved with each release, I believe the lastest is version 6.1 and seems pretty stable.

But most of the time I just end up using a Bluetooth connection to my handset from the laptop using standard DUN, it's much easier and more stable.

Michael

[IO540]

7.50/m will be good for unlimited data.

By DUN do you mean

1) Making a 9.6k GSM data call direct to your UK ISP

2) Making a 9.6k GSM data call to the ISP in the country you are in

3) Making a GPRS connection (to the local GPRS gateway as normal)

4) Making a GSM dialup call to an ISP but at some higher speed e.g. the Orange HSCSD 15-20k rate

?

I used 1) extensively in 2004 and it works very well. It even works reasonably well airborne (for very compact weather data websites only) while GPRS appears to be useless when airborne.

2) is just a case of opening a dialup account locally

3) should work anywhere

There are other GPRS options which are a lot cheaper than Voda. I think Tesco didn't charge at all for GPRS, for something like a year! Their billing system just wasn't in place. The reason a lot of people go to Voda (despite the highest prices in the business) is for relatively seamless operation abroad. And nobody else offers fax on PAYG. So I wonder how good T-Mobile will be on their European roaming arrangements...

[mdc]

By Dial Up Networking (DUN) I meant using the handset as a wireless modem and making a GPRS or 3G connection. Normally just a case of using *99***X# - where X is the GPRS context ID for the telco's web/internet APN, in the case of vodafone the APN is just "internet"
I agree with the comments about Voda's seemless roaming and good european coverage, but the roaming data charges can be expensive for consumers.
For personal use, I'm waiting to see what T-mobile Unlimited web’n’walk tariff (http://www.t-mobilepressoffice.co.uk/press/uk/2006/23-03-06-webnwalk.htm) looks like when launched on the 1st April.
Michael

[IO540]

I agree, that makes the best sense, and also is the way to go if using a single contract SIM card for both voice and data.

Unfortunately it also (usually) means using a bluetooth connection to the phone, and bluetooth is a wonderful tomorrow's technology :O It has a habit of packing up right when you need it.

[VP959]

I have a (now unused) Vodafone Mobile Connect GPRS card.

The later software works sort of OK, but the sensitivity of the thing isn't that good.

Where I work now the signal levels are too low for it to connect reliably, hence the reason for it sitting in it's box.

If anyone want one, ping me a PM, as it's just gathering dust.

VP

[Jinkster]

Thanks all :ok: