vB Easy Archive - GPRS Service (T-Mobile et. al)

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GPRS Service (T-Mobile et. al)
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Posted by: kpo'm

This is a poll of sorts, with a few side questions.

How much GPRS data do you find yourself using with the P800?

I've had a P800 for less than a week now, and have gone through about 1/2 MB already, using the browser to access about 1 site per day. This has probably represented about 10 minutes of actual usage. Even WAP sites seem to use up more data than on my t68i, as the browser seems to load more of the page at a time.

With GPRS data rates what they are, this could get quite costly. Are there any suggestions for reducing the amount of data (i.e. does a large cache help?)? I've already turned off the graphics. Does Opera download more, less, the same amount of data as the built-in browser?

Also, does the P800 browser work with T-Mobile T-Zones, or does it require full-blown T-Mobile Internet. I have the latter, which is quite a bit more expensive for 10MB.

Posted by: vwvwvw

kpo'm, these are excellent questions.

I love to see pix on the P800 (with no filters) soooo.... I used 5.6Mb and I just got my P800 last week! :wowwow:
And yes those Internet II Mbs are more expensive (5Mb for $20) than those WAP Mb (10Mb for $10).

How are others setting their P800 filters to conserve and how is it working out for them?

BTW You can check your Data Usage on line...
Go to T- Mo's site under MY T- Mobile/Unbilled usage/Usage type... in the pull down menu- "Wireless Data Services Charges".

Posted by: Lepton68

Cheez, I used about 5MB in two weeks and I'm trying to keep it down! But I want to see how my new toy handles MMS, websites, and everything else...

I've got basic T-Mobile Type&Text service which gives me 1MB of WAP included. Everything works just fine with this service, including the browser and MMS (I'm using the free service at nowMMS.com for that.)

I'm not too clear how much they are going to charge for overage, that stupid web site of T-Mobile's isn't very clear. One place there mentions $0.40 per extra MB, that's got to be wrong (but I can hope!) Another seems to say $10 per extra MB, I hope to heck that's wrong as well. Got to wait for the bill I guess. O boy...

Posted by: jwyner

I spoke with a representative and recieved the following information. Hope it helps out:

1. The $2.99 for 1MB plan is still full GPRS, but much slower (1 or 2 channels?). You do not get 56kbps on this plan, but can use all the browsers (opera, etc...) on your P800. Also, extra usage costs $10/MB, despite those notes that say $0.40 or whatever (I've seen them too)

2. The $19.95 for 10 MB and $49.95 for 50 MB plans (is there a middle plan -- I don't recall) provide full 56kpbs (I think it's actually 53kbps, based on my knowledge of GPRS, but whatever), and cost $5.00/MB over and $3.00/MB over, respectively.

Finally, from my personal experience with the phone, you do indeed get much faster service with one of these plans on, and the browsers all work in every plan I've tried so far.

Also, I've not noticed much more data usage when changing plans, but I did notice that this phone seems to report more data usage than my v60g did -- I think maybe because it reports both, or because I'm just using it more while messing around?

Alrighty. Take care all!
- Josh

Posted by: tokuro

what is a good way to findout how fast (# of CH) my connection is? I'm on 10M/$10 plan (t-zone pro). I can go to all site (that i need to go to) and seems very good service for the price.

Posted by: jwyner

Quote:

Originally posted by tokuro
what is a good way to findout how fast (# of CH) my connection is? I'm on 10M/$10 plan (t-zone pro). I can go to all site (that i need to go to) and seems very good service for the price.

My understanding is that all of the more expensive plans are full speed.

My method of checking was somewhat low-tech: I logged onto a site that required a decent amount of data transfer and that I knew had all the bandwidth I would need. Then I watched the incoming data and timed it.

Of course, I guess that's all the bandwidth checking sites do, anyway... .

- Josh

Posted by: vwvwvw

Can anyone here verify that they have FULL internet access (large pix load OK) with the T-Zones Pro Plan (10Mb for $10).
I was told that you need the Internet II Plan (which I upgraded to) in order for Opera Browsing to work properly and that the T-Zones Pro was for text based content only.

Here's another problem that I see... If I only had T-Zone Pro it would cost me $1 per Mb to SMS or MMS. But now having changed to the Internet II plan (for the faster Opera Browser connection) I'm now taking everything (for SMS,MMS and Internet Browser) from what T-Mo calls a "Bucket" (I decided to up my plan to the 20Mb for $34.99 for at least this month) that is now costing me $1.75 per Mb, whether it be SMSing or Internet Browsing. Something doesn't seem right here... does it? I feel like I’m getting ripped off for SMS & MMSing at this rate.

Posted by: tokuro

i got t-zone pro and have what i think is full access. If you have some specific item that you want me to try out, pls let me know.

Posted by: gene9

I have T-Zones Pro and believe I have full and fast internet access also. I've used the P800 Browser and Mail apps, Opera, SymIRC, downloaded big pictures (by accident), used alternate ports, etc. Looks like fairly comprehensive internet access to me.

I will test my data rate on a 775kb movie file when I'm somewhere with better signal strength, I'm curious now.

Posted by: noc

gives me 10mb I think. seems pretty fast.

Posted by: gene9

The file (792,808-bytes or 6,342,464-bits)...

http://p800.home.mindspring.com/punchie-p800.mp4

-- Test 1 --
Download time: 206-seconds
Data rate: 30,789-bps

-- Test 2 --
Download time: 206-seconds
Data rate: 30,789-bps

-- Test 3 --
Download time: 211-seconds
Data rate: 30,059-bps

Looks like CS-1 coding scheme to me, unless it's really CS-2 with network congestion.

CS-1 is defined as 9.05kbps per timeslot; up to 4 timeslots for Rx (36.2kbps) and 1 timeslot for Tx (9.05kbps).

CS-2 is defined as 13.4kbps per timeslot; up to 4 timeslots for Rx (53.6kbps) and 1 timeslot for Tx (13.4kbps).

Lots of info on this "CS" stuff can be found in the SE P800 White Paper (pages 100 and 101).

Anyone with access to the internet2 or internet3 APNs have any kind of test numbers?

Anyone see a FTP client for the P800 yet? That would be good for an upload test being restricted to a single timeslot (i.e., 9 or 13 kbps?). Not sure that uploading via a web site would really cut it as a test.

Posted by: kpo'm

Quote:

[i]

Looks like CS-1 coding scheme to me, unless it's really CS-2 with network congestion.

CS-1 is defined as 9.05kbps per timeslot; up to 4 timeslots for Rx (36.2kbps) and 1 timeslot for Tx (9.05kbps).

CS-2 is defined as 13.4kbps per timeslot; up to 4 timeslots for Rx (53.6kbps) and 1 timeslot for Tx (13.4kbps).

[/B]

It looks like I'll be switching from T-Mobile Internet to T-Zones Pro to get 5x the MB for the same price. GRPS isn't exactly fast, regardless of whether it is CS-1 or CS-2. It certainly isn't as fast as 1x RTT. For me, quantity is more valuable than a 50% increase in speed.

Maybe once T-Mobile deploys EDGE in my area I will switch back.

Thanks for the help.