Re: N900 UK Networks
 

An Android/N900 phone would be v v expensive in France :eek: (constant data connection)

Re: N900 UK Networks
 

Oh yes, nearly forgot. SFR also offer a 24 hour pass for €8. Which is surely better than €39 for 15 hours right? Wrong. Not in France. The 24hr pass expires at midnight on the day you buy it! So if you buy it at 10 AM you get 14hrs usage before it expires - buy it at 8pm and you get 4 hours usage! So why do they call it a 24 hour pass?

Re: N900 UK Networks
 

That's actually the best value-for-money offer in the UK market, imho. However, you still need to fork out over 400 quid for N900...

Re: N900 UK Networks
 

What voice/text contract does one have to be on to get these deals?

With 3, AKAICT, the cheapest overall is a £10pm SIM for 100 any network an unlimited 3-3 minutes and unlimited texts, with the Internet Max add on at £5pm for 1GB.

This, of course, assumes the SIM will work in the N900; hoefully the bug relating to 3 SIMs is near fixing...

EDIT: Looking at T-Mo's SIM only deals is looks like their cheapest is also a tenner a month with 150 x-net minutes and 300 texts. If you're happy with a gig a month's data, 3's cheaper, particularly if you're an inveterate texter or have loads of friends on 3. Of course, if you use GSM voice a lot, your mileage may vary. And we still need the 3 bug fixed...

Re: N900 UK Networks
 

Sticking with 3, I've just noticed a SIM-only broadband-only deal, £15pm for up to 5GB. Page 6 (looking at Acrobat's page numbering) or 11 (looking at the bottom corner of the page) of this document.

Re: N900 UK Networks
 

True but then you have the flexibility to upgrade when you want (ie before 2 years) and get a great price back for it on ebay :D

Re: N900 UK Networks
 

Exactly. Actually, I am on Solo20 myself right now and if I wasn't low on budget I'd go for SIM-free N900 and keep current tariff! But well, that's life...

Re: N900 UK Networks
 

Indeed its such great value for money!

600 Any Network Mins, Unlimited Texts, 1GB/mo Data (No overcharging) = £20! http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/shop/mobil...20/allowances/

Re: N900 UK Networks
 

Isn't the free phone upgrades option only available on the 12/18/24 month contracts, and not the 30-day ones?

I'm probably just mixing up "upgrade" with "buying a new sim-free phone", and ebaying my current one. :confused:

Re: N900 UK Networks
 

Yeah thats my point ae0n. See my post above about the T Mobile deal makes sim free a very attractive option.

Re: N900 UK Networks
 

Yeah, no it certainly does! And now I'm kinda torn between that, and O2's similar simplicity deal, with (apparently) the 2gb limit, as opposed to T-Mobile's 1gb.

Not too fussed about the texts'.

Re: N900 UK Networks
 

If it's any help, o2 in their terms and conditions is 1Gb/mo and will charge you extra if you go over the limit, where t-mobile will not. Although I can't say if o2 are strict on this.

As far as im aware T-Mobile 3G coverage is superior the o2's aswell.

Although if you have been with o2 awhile thats fair enough.

Re: N900 UK Networks
 

The O2 terms and conditions say they will contact you first, and I haven't found where it says 1GB (although it is probably 1 not 2GB)

http://www.o2.co.uk/termsandconditions/broadband

T-mobile don't have 3G coverage where I live, but 3 and O2 do. If the 3 sim card issue isn't fixed I'll probably go with O2 simplicity until it is. 3 is very attractive if the 3 skype client becomes available for the n900, as you will then be able to use skype completly free and unlimited.

Re: N900 UK Networks
 

Think about it - are you *really* going to use that much of allowance each month?

Re: N900 UK Networks
 

The Nokia Shop says if the price is lower between the time you pre-order and when it is shipped, they will charge you the lower price.

On the other hand, the terms and conditions also allow them to change their mind about an order placed through the site, in case they accidentally gave the wrong price. They seem to have applied that when correcting some pre-orders that were made with multiple discount codes (in fact making it a better deal for the customer), and dishonoured cashback referral agreements in the process (not so good).

Re: N900 UK Networks
 

Oh of course. You can hardly fit a couple of movies into 1GB, let alone follow a weekly hour-long TV show, keep on top of those Debian updates, and upload every photo and video you take to the net :-)

Seriously, I've only gone over my 1GB/mo allowance on a regular phone once, when I was downloading an Ubuntu CD over it to a laptop, over night.

But that was in the days where phones didn't have 32GB storage themselves, and didn't have (semi) HD video, and you didn't send texts as casually as you do with IMs (due to price), and IMs didn't include video.

Even just the keepalive messages (pings) for each online connection in the IM client may add up to >100MB per month, if you have several accounts with different providers.

Re: N900 UK Networks
 

Still, the £35 (+£53 for N900) and £40 (+£20~) pm 12 month contracts on MPD worked out at a better deal. The first got you everything for £450. Unless you were lucky enough to get the N900 for £300 thanks to Nokia's loopwhole, sim free deals can't match this for value/service.

Regarding using so much data, I find myself using anywhere between 500MB and 2GB a month using just my G1. You could easily use 100MB in 10/20 minutes of browsing Newgrounds, Youtube, or if it works the IPlayer. With Tethering this obviously can get even higher!

Re: N900 UK Networks
 

^^.. Ditto.

Granted, that may not be the case for the average 3G user, but it's certainly the case for me, and others.

Re: N900 UK Networks
 

Sure you save some in the financial sense going that route but I was talking about complete flexibility. Which subjectively has differing amounts of value assigned to it from person to person, which can be more or less than the money saved.

Re: N900 UK Networks
 

I think one of the big factors is how much you can use other connections. I confidently expect to shift several GB/month in and out of the N900, but at home it'll be on WiFi, at work it'll be on WiFi, and an awful lot of cafes and even some of the buses round here have WiFi.

I think that the amount of time that I'm reliant on 3G and still needing to move a serious amount of data will be minimal, but I can certainly see the high usage contracts being helpful for people that spend more time away from fixed locations with usable networks.

Re: N900 UK Networks
 

Fair enough.

Around here in Oxford very few places have free Wifi, and I don't spend much time at home or in the office, so I use 3G about as much as Wifi.

Or, I would, if 3's service was more reliable! :-) It goes up and down like a yo yo; when it's up at full strength that doesn't mean any data will actually flow through it; they have weird packet MTU issues depending on which port's being used (and don't report it properly through DHCP), and then there's the deep signal shadows that seem to be in every interesting cafe, especially in the comfy spots! (Not to mention a complete lack of 3 signal in my girlfriend's basement flat, in a supposedly "very good" signal area).

Over in North Wales at my mum's house, the 3 signal varies from 0% in her house, to high strength exceptionally fast data, by walking a couple of metres down the road. Walk a few more metres and it's back to 0% again, not even calls and texts. You can map out the local ripples with a short walk. Unfortunately, they move over a period of minutes, so it's hard to keep a call going :-( Methinks it's a symptom of insufficient frequency diversity.

I've been told recently in a 3 shop that they are merging infrastructure with T-Mobile over the next year, which should improve coverage for both sets of customers. It is the reason 3 have a map claiming their coverage will greatly improve over the coming year. I've seen it written often that T-Mobile's coverage is among the best, so I'm looking forward to that.

Advice on coverage maps from 3, Orange, and probably everyone else:

(a) Don't believe them; they don't show the variability. Oxford is classed as "very good" yet I have signal problems all over the place with 3, and did have to a lesser extent with Orange. It is highly variable. (I dropped Orange due to terribly poor data support 2 years ago). 3's map of the area in North Wales where my mum and grandmother lives shows a great signal, which it is - provided you're standing in the right spot on the right side of the hill. You really do get the 2.8Mbps there. Yet, indoors when visiting people in outlying villages, I found even sending and receiving texts would not be available for hours, and voice calls were out of the question. Despite the maps showing good coverage there.

(b) They are measured in terms of "percentage population covered". *Not* percentage of the places you will visit. In other words, good coverage in high population areas only is what "99% population coverage" means.

Re: N900 UK Networks
 

I am using T-Mobile for nearly 3 years now, and I am not always that impressed. Yes, there is very good coverage both at home (base station just 200 meters away) and work, but where I use mobile web most - on the Tube, that is - isn't that perfect. However, I am also quite convinced it's also a matter of rather crappy radio hardware that Nokia E71 has (!), hence I am looking forward to see how things will get with N900. Anyway, I once created this: http://adl.pl/tmobile_coverage.phtml - and submitted to T-Mobile directly, however no feedback, whatsoever...

Speaking of merging Three and T-Mobile infrastructure - personally, I can't see that happening. I know a spot close to my house where both T-M and Three have two separate base stations (lamp-post masts), about 50 meters apart from each other. Once they announced merger (two years ago that was?), I thought that particular and obvious spot will get merged as one of the first, yet nothing has happened so far...

Btw, DO NOT ever believe in coverage maps on network websites! These never take many aspects under consideration, and nobody will actually be able to tell whether you'll get good/bad coverage until you check this yourself. Would you ever imagine that T-Mobile has barely any coverage within Nokia Flagship Store at Regent Street (deep inside, next to checkouts), in the middle of London??? I couldn't believe that either...

Re: N900 UK Networks
 

Does anyone have an solid sources comparing the 3G networks of the main providers they can share?

Re: N900 UK Networks
 

Ofcom, has a PDF on this webpage,

http://www.ofcom.org.uk/radiocomms/i...g/maps/3gmaps/

Rich

Re: N900 UK Networks
 

Has anyone managed to find any new tmobile deals?
The Orange and O2 ones from buymobilephones have now dissapeared (and they were awful) and the MPD vodaphone are poor when compared to the tmobile ones they were offering.
Strange no one else is offering pre orders.

Re: N900 UK Networks
 

This is because no provider is officially selling the N900 themselves as of yet. The only contract deals currently floating around are from third party companies who are tagging providers normal deals on top of the device.

Oh and I agree the current contract subsidised deals are awful, I for one dont want to be bonded for two years.

Re: N900 UK Networks
 

Hutchison 3G have been combining their network with T-Mobile's in the UK, and O2 with Voda's - it's mainly an exercise in cost reduction.

So far here in Cambridgeshire it's not affected me much if at all, but then T-M didn't have much coverage outside the city. I would guess that in London there'd be a lot more changes to consolidate base station coverage.

Fundamentally, though, 3G at 2.1GHz is "broken" in that it's not really the best frequency for a mobile service - even GSM at 1.8GHz suffered from the problems of getting good RF coverage, and 2.1GHz is worse - signal absorbtion by trees, walls etc. I'm hoping that operators will be allowed to run 3G services over the GSM spectrum at some point, but it probably won't happen to maintain the stitch-up that was the original massive licensing costs of the 3G auctions.

Oops, went off in a tangent. back on track...

so, with 3G, yes, you'll find it unreliable except near windows and outside.

Re: N900 UK Networks
 

Unless, of course, there is a 3G base station (aka NodeB) relatively near to your place...

Re: N900 UK Networks
 

Has anyone preordered the N900 SIM FREE from MPD and got a solid date on shipping? Many thanks :)

Re: N900 UK Networks
 

MPD's expected shipping date is 16/11

Re: N900 UK Networks
 

Looks like 16th is looking very good, CEO announced N900 have started shipping early this morning.

Re: N900 UK Networks
 

I'm kinda hoping that they might get it earlier and ship it off quicker than that...after all, they did claim that they were going to be the first ones in the country to have it...we'll see

Re: N900 UK Networks
 

Here is to hoping! :D

Re: N900 UK Networks
 

If I've had N900 to play with for this weekend, I'd be in heaven! :D

Re: N900 UK Networks
 

http://conversations.nokia.com/2009/...gins-shipping/

Nokia has begun shipping, presumably to retailers..
Any ideas how long it would take to get to MPD then to us? Is Friday too optimistic?

Re: N900 UK Networks
 

MPD chat transcript, just seconds ago:

Re: N900 UK Networks
 

hehe I just had a similar conversation, poor guys they're going to be inundated with chats

Re: N900 UK Networks
 

Do they actually ship from Finland or China?

Re: N900 UK Networks
 

I agree, it's not the best RF. The signal varies so much as you walk a few metres inside and outside, like it's oscillating with position, which implies interference patterns.

Absorption will certainly make that worse, but it's also an issue of band diversity: More diversity (even using the same aggregate bandwidth) would tend smooth out the peaks and troughs in reception. If the operators collaborated better they could have the same slice of the pie each as they do now, but make the reception more consistent for everyone.

Still, none of this explains why 3 sometimes shows great reception but little or no data throughput!

Another problem with 3, at the moment, is they really don't like you using 2G mode, because that uses their partner networks and costs them. So all the 3 phones I've used to date will lock onto a very weak 3G signal rather than a great 2G signal - even just for calls and texts. The result is poor reception in those circumstances.

That's something which might conceivably get better with the T-Mobile infrastructure merge - because T-Mobile have 2G hardware themselves, and 3 clearly don't.

Re: N900 UK Networks
 

Not that any 3 discussion matters while the N900 won't work with 3 USIMs! :(