3G speed on O2 128k or 384k

[frogspit]

This will apply to some people as they may already be set up for the higher speed with O2.

To have the 3G speed increased you will need to contact O2 data support team and ask them to make the amendment to your account the following is information about the 3G service from data support

"3G Speeds - 128k or 384k
By default a 3G sim with data but no voice will have a maximim of 384k data rate. By default a 3G sim with data + voice will have a maximum of 128k data rate.
Therefore a 3G data card for a laptop will come with a 384k sim. And Xda Exec for example, will come with a 128k speed sim"
The speed increase can be completed by changing the connection speed indicator on O2's systems this will need to be done by data support

[numanoids]

Cheers for that - I got my SIm the other day and notice it wasn't significantly faster!

Thanks Again

Darren

[mikeycollins13]

Just spoke to O2 Data support, who barely knew it, and they confirmed:
All Voice 3G cards are defaulted to 128K
You need to call and ask to have that moved up to 384K.
Rather stupid don't you think?

[Southern_Man]

Just spoke to O2 Data support, who barely knew it, and they confirmed:
All Voice 3G cards are defaulted to 128K
You need to call and ask to have that moved up to 384K.
Rather stupid don't you think?

Imagine if every 3G sim ever sent requests 384k service. On a typical 2meg cell, that's about 4 users.

No imagine even 10% of the 3G wap handsets doing this. 384k to download 2kb pages? insane network management.

The actions of the many affect the services of the few.... and it's nuts to give everyone 384 when 99.9% of your customer base won't use it.

I believe other carriers have a similar approach...

[mikeycollins13]

They are are just opening themselves to a major law suit or slap on the wrist. Everywhere they advertise 384k, yet even the video calls pass at 128K,???? So now, nine and my wife's will pass at 384K
Much better,. but dis-honest from o2 for sure,

[stamppot]

They are are just opening themselves to a major law suit or slap on the wrist. Everywhere they advertise 384k, yet even the video calls pass at 128K,???? So now, nine and my wife's will pass at 384K
Much better,. but dis-honest from o2 for sure,
Not to be picky, but video-calling does not use the 384Kb at all. It is using a standard voice-channel for this (it is circuit-switched, instead of packet data). A standard voice-channel is 64Kbit.... :)

[jah]

I called the the O2 Data Team at the weekend I was told that the maximum speed I could expect even on UMTS was 128kbps!

For those that have been told that the data rate has been changed have you seen an improved performance? When I do have a UMTS connection I find the download speed to be adequate for most web sites I visit (e.g. here and my-symbian).

[haardman]

I've just called Data Services, and been told it is not possible to upgrade the speed to 384k if you have a voice enabled sim.
He was willing to send me out a data-only sim (with 384k enabled), but I said that was useless to me.
Can't believe that's as fast as I'm going to get on 3G.

Is it just me, or does browsing feel slower than 36k most of the time?

[mikeycollins13]

The technician was not aware and then he saw it and said he needed a special tech guy to turn it on, but it was doable. My advice try again, you may fall on a more cooperative fellah.
M

[haardman]

Just picking myself up off the floor here.....the same O2 Tech Support guy just phoned me back!! Told me he had done further investigation and was told that it is possible with the Exec (there's a surprise, not like O2 to tell you one thing, and then find out it is blatantly untrue).
Anyway he is making the change, but says that I shouldn't expect speeds much above 256k.

The technical term (as frogspit originally posted) is a 'Speed Indicator', mentioning that should get your uneducated O2 Technician pointed in the right direction.

Top marks to the guy for phoning me back though.

[mikeycollins13]

Mine is noticeably faster now. Test your 3G speed here:
http://www.bandwidthplace.com/speedtest/

Mine was off the charts, so i am now happy.

[xiasma]

I'm in a good (T mobile) GPRS location and borderline UMTS area. My test results are:
































[drum roll]































CARRIER LOST, SIGNAL DROPPED :roll:

Any way to turn off 3g signal detection?

[sub69]

Well, I tried the speed test (text download only) at http://performance.toast.net/ and it took 11 seconds to load, which is apparently 248k. Not too shabby.

(I'm at Canary Wharf, London and using T-Mobile UMTS by the way)

[jah]

Mine is noticeably faster now. Test your 3G speed here:
http://www.bandwidthplace.com/speedtest/

Mine was off the charts, so i am now happy.

I have strange results. My Exec tells me it only has GPRS coverage and the speed result was 227kbps?!!?!!?

I'll try again later from Waterloo (London) as there is very good UMTS coverage there

[applecom]

I use the GPRS monitor program that came with the Exec, and a week or 2 ago i looked at the speed and it was 220k.

even tho this is over the 128k for a 3g sim i rang o2 as well to ask for the full 384k connection.

at first i was told that for mobile web on a device (i.e a phone) the speed id 128k, a video call is 64k and Wap was 125k, If i had a data sim in a data card it would be 384k.

after they gave me a load of bull sh1t, and i gave them plenty back about my data card and when i use my orange sim in the exec, bla bla bla. They said they would lok into it and see what they could do

they did call me back and again said web brousing for a typical device nokia 6680 would use 3g at 128k but i could have the speed upgraded to 384k as a exec is a mobile device but has properties of a laptop.

They then called back to say it seems like it has already been done. for witch i said thanks, they must be correct as i have got 220k befor, i have just tried again with 1-2 of of 4 bars of 3g coverage and got 281k

John

[Webspider]

Slightly off topic (as I'm on Vodafone UK), but I just tested my Exec using http://www.bandwidthplace.com/speedtest/ and I got 422.6kbps (in a 1 bar 3G signal area).
:D Great for watching the FREE Sky TV!

[jah]

Webspider, I have a Voda 3G SIM but not sure how to get the free video. Any guidance would be great!

[Webspider]

jah,
You'll need a copy of pvPlayer to play the mobile stream (available somewhere on this forum - just search).
Also you need to make sure you have the correct settings for Vodafone Live!
APN: wap.vodafone.co.uk
and the proxy: 212.183.137.12:8799 for HTTP

You also need to make sure that this is connection that gets used for Internet.
Now, here's where you can make a choice. For Vodafone Live! WAP page to think you are a 3G mobile, you have to fool it into believing you are an 'approved' handset.
So you can do this by changing the useragent on your browser, either IE or another browser.

For internet explorer, the registry key to change is:
[HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Int ernet Settings\5.0\User Agent\]
and change (Default) to 'Nokia6630' (you can try other handsets, but this one seems to work fine)
all the other values such as compatible, Desc, Platform, UA-language, Version need to be blanked so I'd take a backup.
In fact if you do a .reg for the normal settings, and another for the changed settings you can just run one before you open IE.

Once you've changed these settings, connect to Vodafone Live! (make sure you are in UMTS coverage) and goto: http://live.vodafone.co.uk
There should be a link at the top right for Sky TV (test it with Channel 4 first, sometimes there is an issue with the Sky channels!) and as long as pvPlayer installed correctly, it should automatically load the stream on clicking Play.

Alternatively, I have NetFront setup on mine, and have the useragent settings changed in that, only difference is that pvPlayer won't auto-load from netfront so you'll have to copy and paste the link into pvPlayer!
(make sure you also include the proxy in NetFront or nothing will load)

[jah]

@Webspider, thank you so much. WOW new hobby, will have to learn about regediton the Universal!
;)

[mburgin]

Thanks, Webspider. That was very useful informatin on getting the Vodafone live TV to work. Unfortunately I have hit a snag that perhaps someone can help with.

I have downloaded and installed the latest version of PvPlayer that I could find on this forum (Version 3.3, build 007) but it does not seem to be able to play the streaming video on the Vodafone live site.

When I click on one of the links to play the video I get an error saying "Running a system command on this item might be unsafe. Do you wish to continue". If I say Yes, I get a message saying "The file rtsp://stream...... cannot be opened". It seems to me that the PvPlayer hasn't properly registered itself to handle this file type.

I have tried copying the link into PvPlayer. In this case, it very nearly works! It goes through the buffering process but when it gets to 100% it says "File is corrupt".

Anyone have a suggestion?

Thanks in advance.

Mark

[ericblong]

like mburgin, i also get the same 'clip is corrupt messge when i tried RealOne player.

any suggestions anyone?

[premo]

Hi Just phoned O2 support to findout about 128k or 384k speed with the exec. I was told that O2 non busness accounts are capped to 128k. I told them that nowere on the website dose it state that if you have a non business account that the data speed is capped.
They also stated, that if i put my 3G sim in a data card i would get upto 384k. And that the Exec is capable of 384K.
So to get full speed access I need to lug arround my heavy laptop as well?
Why did i get the Exec? Oh yes I remember its smaller and lighter than my laptop.
The Technician said he would quere the matter and call me back tommorow.

[belfast-biker]

Subscribed - wanna make sure I can get full speed on this thing b4 picking it up on Friday - hate it ehne companies do these small things which just pïss high end customers off.

[coldpenguin]

darn you. I just looked at those sites with my universal without noticing it had automatically copnnected to the umts. itnhad disconnected me from my wifi. that will cost a bit. one thing to note with the bandwidth tests.
there is only 1 uk site, and the speed of your universal might skew the results.
fyi. my universal on umts got 279k (tmobile)
on btinternet I got 1008k with the universal
on my 'outer I got 1800k btinternet

[admisi]

When I click on one of the links to play the video I get an error saying "Running a system command on this item might be unsafe. Do you wish to continue". If I say Yes, I get a message saying "The file rtsp://stream...... cannot be opened". It seems to me that the PvPlayer hasn't properly registered itself to handle this file type.

any feedback re the PVplayer problem here?

[mburgin]

I have gone out of my way to find somewhere with 3G coverage - home and work have only have GPRS coverage :cry: - so that I could do a speed test. I am on an O2 contract (about 8 weeks old) which I purchase with my XDA Exec. I got a speed of 280kbs. It seems that O2 have enabled high speed on some their contract SIMs.

Mark

[stickeresq]

I generally get up to 177kb/s around Aberdeen but a lot faster in Manchester.

[belfast-biker]

Tossers.

Emailed O2 customer support, they said "I am sorry that the 3G service on your O2 XDA Exec is restricted to 128k." and gave me O2 Data Support email.

I emailed them, and they said "What usually happens on our 3G service is that customers on a voice tariff have the 128k speeds, and customers with dedicated 3G data cards
or data tariffs are able to go up to 384k.

To query this I would advise you speak with your customer service team, as we are unable to change accounts, only provide technical assistance."


Yes, the classic runaround.

I rung customer service there now, and they talked to data support and are adamant that I'm capped at 128K, that's it. If I'm not hapy I should bring the device back to the shop apparently. She refused to put me through to data support in person, despite the data support email saying "Please contact our Customer Service team on 08702 410 202 and ask them to transfer your call to our Data Support team. "

She suggested I get another SIM for data, but I told her that changing a SIM every time to make a phone call wasn't all that convenient...



Stupid, stupid, stupid.

I'll ring them tomorrow, hopefully get a human. I was firm but polite today, can anyone give me an indicator of what srt of terms, language to use to get the correct response, I think someone mentioned "speed indicators", but I have to admit I don't know what those are! :)

Not a good start, O2.

[belfast-biker]

Not a good start, O2.




Emailed chap back at O2 data support back who said he'd try to talk to customer services for me to get the speed increased as a gesture of goodwill, (I was clealy pissed off with O2 in my previous email).

Another chap at O2 data support emailed back and said they were in the process of getting the speed increased for me.

Just tested the speed at performance.toast.net and it's now above 128K - rated at 150Kbps now, instead of 128Kbps or below - not full 384K, but better! (not terribly good UMTS here - will be better in future no doubt as 3G expands.)

Both of course are much faster than the 23K I was getting with GPRS.



Good to know that there exists real life humans within customer services departments in this day and age... well done to them.



To be fair to O2, even the likes of T-Mobile seem to ignore people who want fast data with the likes of the O2 Exec and MDA PRO - can only see 3G mentioned there with regards to a business data card, useless to me.

All mobile companies need to stop with this mindset of high speed data=business - it's a horribly outdated notion.

They need to cater for the lesser spotted geek now...

[Lord Buckingham]

All,

If you purchase an Exec on O2 with a new contract then this will be provisioned for 384K data as standard, for exixting 3G subscriptions and 3G subscriptions bought with other devices thenthe default rate is 128K. :)

[belfast-biker]

If you purchase an Exec on O2 with a new contract then this will be provisioned for 384K data as standard



O2:
"What usually happens on our 3G service is that customers on a voice tariff have the 128k speeds, and customers with dedicated 3G data cards or data tariffs are able to go up to 384k."

"We do have two 3G speeds, the lower and the higher, and as I explained below, only dedicated data cards or dedicated data tariffs usually have the higher speed."

"We have contacted your customer services team, and they are in the process of getting the speed increased on your account."





Definitely, mine was 128K when purchased a week ago, as per the speed tests I carried out.

Not too worried though, as all is well now, with the cap removed.

[stickeresq]

Happy New Year....

When checking my rss reader I got the supposed speed as indicated by SPB GPRS Monitor in the picture below...

mental.

[vo1968]

just done a
http://www.bandwidthplace.com/speedtest/ result, 652.8 k/s!!!! are you sure this test is right? the best thing is, i rang o2 this morning to make sure i had the higher speed set-up. this was before i'd done the test.

[uksparx]

Hi im trying to get sky mobile working on my xda , Im a bit confussed in doing this reg edit it wont let me change to blank it renames to default.

Sorry im a newb. any help

" all the other values such as compatible, Desc, Platform, UA-language, Version need to be blanked so I'd take a backup"

[Exec Man]

tested it on the website given 2 posts ago, treid wireless umts and wireless 3g, both cave sumthing very close to eachother, also could sum1 post the registry settings here again, will they work on o2?

thanks

[GavinN]

Hi all,

A little off topic but here is some technical info on 3G RAB (radio access bearers) - the logical connections between your handset and NodeB.

For Voice Calls: you will be given a datarate of between 3.4kb/s and 12.2kb/s depending on the transmitted / received sounds at that time. This is Circuit Switch (CS) and is known as AMR - Adaptive Multi Rate. Circuit Switch is still used for voice because you can give much higher QoS (quality of service).

For Video Calls: you will be given a fixed 64kb/s Circuit Switch RAB again due to QoS.

Packet Switched (PS) Data Calls: This is anything such as WAP, WEB, EMAIL etc... You will be given either 0kb/s, 64kb/s, 128kb/s or 384kb/s. The current RAB given depends on other network taffic, the required QoS of the application (this also indicates the amount of data to send) and subscriber setup and will change loads during a data session. However when making PS calls you can be connecting to different APN's which might have different speed restrictions. In PS there is NO guarenteed QoS. You might ask for a fast reliable service but the operator will only give you 'best effort'. This is why video calls are done over CS.

Some operators like Vodafone UK use technology to compress or reduce the quality of images which enhances the throughput. This does work for some things like WEB and WAP but doesn't help for applications such as MSN video conversations as the video compression / decompression is done at and by the applications and not the phone, in this instance the phone only gets raw binary data which is can only send as fast as it and the network can.

Some mobile devices can use multi RAB which means multiple 64Kb/s or 384kb/s, hence the advertised 2Mb/s (4x384kb/s + siganlling).

Hope this helps some of you here...

Gavin.

[italos]

Mine is noticeably faster now. Test your 3G speed here:
http://www.bandwidthplace.com/speedtest/

Mine was off the charts, so i am now happy.

operator = UMTS (TIM)
location = ROME - center

my results (Kbit/sec):

158,227,191,271,263,227 AVG = 223