O2 UK Orbit Users - some good news for once!

[MaskedMarauder]

In preparation for the upcoming release of the I-Phone O2UK are rolling out an upgrade to the network and are adding EDGE. OK, it is not 3G but it is better than what we have right now!

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/09/14/o2_edge/

[Pete.]

What speed is Edge? I see a reference to an unlimited data tariff on that Register article anyone have any further news on that? I am just considering leaving O2 due to their poor data tariff offerings.

[MaskedMarauder]

Edge is about 3 times quicker than GPRS. 3G is mostly about 4 times faster than GPRS.

[carphead]

I've been on the O2 Simplicity Tarrif for a couple of months but I got really feed up when my £15 bill ended up totalling £35 after a couple of weekends away data usage.

I'm off back to T-Mobile and if they (o2) release a unlimited data tarrif then I'll be back but I've a funny feeling that any unlimited data tarrif will be limited to Iphone users.

For four Slots Edge can (in theory) go upto 236

[Pete.]

I'm thinking of going with 3 but I have to research their tarriffs and coverage. I'm told they have the best deal going for data currently (less than a tenner amonth for unlimited 3g connection). Shame the Orbit don't support 3g :(

[MaskedMarauder]

Shame the Orbit don't support 3g :(
Which was the whole point about my first post on this thread.

[wth]

Does the Orbit support edge then?
Would we ever know that we were connected by edge, is there a diferent icon we would see?

[MaskedMarauder]

You know the little square with the 'G' on it when GPRS is available? Well if EDGE is available you get a little square with an 'E' on it.

[Patrick_UK]

I have noticed this over the past week, that I sometimes come upon an Edge enabled area.

[Gajet]

Hmmmm, I'm nearly jealous.
But are O2 actually going to do something with their tariffs, so you can actually afford to use this new speed?

[stead]

out of interest if you use the mms number to browse the net do you get charged? as it doesn't come out of your 1mb free browsing...

i've noticed mms uses 'my work network' which has the '02 active' connection...

[MaskedMarauder]

out of interest if you use the mms number to browse the net do you get charged? as it doesn't come out of your 1mb free browsing...

i've noticed mms uses 'my work network' which has the '02 active' connection...

It is charged by the minute as a dial-up connection (except for MMS which is free for incomings)

[Pete.]

Well since I'm due an upgrade and O2 have sent me a canvassing letter I thought I'd phone them about their upcoming data packages. The lady told me that they were due to roll-out an unlimited data tariff on the 1st of October. I couldn't get any more than that out of her, no pricing info etc. It's only a fortnight away so I told her I'd wait until the 1st then phone back.

I did ask if there were any future plans for 3g or if they were sticking to edge but I don't think she understood the question: "I think they will just stick with what they have got"

[neilhhardy]

In preparation for the upcoming release of the I-Phone O2UK are rolling out an upgrade to the network and are adding EDGE. OK, it is not 3G but it is better than what we have right now!

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/09/14/o2_edge/

Iphone will be available in the UK from the 9th November, at the Moment O2 are building up there Broadcasting towers to try and keep up with the Demand, at this moment there only 30% fully running.
There will be no iPhone with 3G capabilities yet, :)

[MaskedMarauder]

The iPhone is a peice of shit anyway. It does nothing that the majority of HTC devices can already do or be made to do, but without being locked down to what Apple thinks the customer should be allowed to have.

[nicko666]

You know the little square with the 'G' on it when GPRS is available? Well if EDGE is available you get a little square with an 'E' on it.

Yeah I get this at Home in Northampton but as soon as I travel out I do not get this

[chandlercjh]

The new iphone tariff on o2 which matches my current tariff is £45 - compared to the £35 I pay, but offers unlimited (ish) GPRS....

Using my powers of deduction I guess this will probably mean the unlimited browsing option (web'n'walk equivalent) will be £10.

If they charge any more than this there will be uproar!!!

(wonder if they will let me reduce to a lower tariff so I don't have to pay £45 a month?

Does GPRS use an awful lot less battery power than wifi too I guess?

[chandlercjh]

The iPhone is a peice of shit anyway. It does nothing that the majority of HTC devices can already do or be made to do, but without being locked down to what Apple thinks the customer should be allowed to have.

thats funny.......at lasy someone has the balls to say what everyone else is thinking.

" A revolutionary IPOD" - yeah - but its still only 8gb ***RIP OFF****

Keep the artemis - buy an ipod classis instead!!!

[neilhhardy]

thats funny.......at lasy someone has the balls to say what everyone else is thinking.

" A revolutionary IPOD" - yeah - but its still only 8gb ***RIP OFF****

Keep the artemis - buy an ipod classis instead!!!

ok i am laughing here a little, the iPhone will be a 16gb when its released, the 8gb has been scrapped, the Edge is 3 times faster than normal GPRS plus there are some new features available.

you could say i ran a few hundred of em though my hands :)

[chandlercjh]

ok i am laughing here a little, the iPhone will be a 16gb when its released, the 8gb has been scrapped, the Edge is 3 times faster than normal GPRS plus there are some new features available.

you could say i ran a few hundred of em though my hands :)

The iphone is 8gb not 16gb (the ipod touch will be 16GB) according to O2 and CPW.......or is Steve Jobs telling little lies?

[MaskedMarauder]

Yeah I get this at Home in Northampton but as soon as I travel out I do not get this

Lucky devil, where about in Northampton? I only get a G

[markquinton]

I took my Artemis to Turkey recently, had pretty good Edge coverage out there all week. Came home and outside Gatwick airport I still had the little E symbol. Put it down to an issue with my phone needing a restart but once I left London the G symbol appeared so it looks like most of London has pretty good coverage already. Shame I live in Ipswich where we have none!

[xan_asmodi]

see my post at http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=1523357 and contribute to the list!

[MaskedMarauder]

If O2 are doing the upgrade the same way as in the past then London will be first to get coverage, then the motorway corridors. If your in a town or city near a motorway then you may catch the edge of the cell.

After that they will do major A roads and the CBDs and business parks of towns and cities based on poulation density. Hopefully they will roll it out everywhere in the end.

[Lomax01]

I noticed the Edge symbol today and just thought my cooked rom upgrade was cocking it up. For once it is good news!!

[camberwell]

Hi, O2's new GRPS add on in q4 will come in 2 Flavours.

£7.50 for unlimited data for phones (fair use 200MB)

And £30 unlimited data for laptops (fair use 3.5GB)

Launched at start of thier Q4

[MaskedMarauder]

But how will they tell whether you are using your Orbit as a pass-through for a laptop? I don't see how they can.

£7.50 for unlimited data for phones (fair use 200MB)

And £30 unlimited data for laptops (fair use 3.5GB)


I think it is time the ASA/Trading Standards took an ISP or MoCo to task on this. If it is unlimited then it is unlimited. To say unlimited, but upto 200MB means it is not unlimited.

[brins0]

I've noticed that I can now pick up an EDGE signal in the pub I visit quite often. Of all the places for O2 to roll out EDGE, you get it in a sleepy little village called Langho, about 5 miles away from the next main town, Blackburn. I've noticed that the speed of the connection is noticably faster, more so than I expected. I hope I can pick it up in my house shortly.

I don't have my Artemis quite yet, should be rriving in a few days, and i'm running a Samsung i320n atm, which doesn't have WiFi so it will be nice when it's rolled out accross the UK.

But how will they tell whether you are using your Orbit as a pass-through for a laptop? I don't see how they can.

I think it is time the ASA/Trading Standards took an ISP or MoCo to task on this. If it is unlimited then it is unlimited. To say unlimited, but upto 200MB means it is not unlimited.

I think when they say Unlimited, they actually mean:

1: You are not limited by what you can use it for
2: You are not limited by the time of day you can use the service
3: You'll never notice the limit

As we all know, number 3 is a load of rubbish. It does pale in significance compared to T-Mobile's offering, but it's nice that you can use it for instant messaging and voip (which will be depressingly bad over EDGE). This info is based entirly on what the lady on the end of the phone said when I rang for my upgrade. The addition of this "unlimited" package is what's kept me with O2. Since i've been with them so long, i'm on a really cheap package:

For £10 per month (18 month contract) I get 50 anytime minutes, and 100 txt messages. I'm not a heavy voice or txt user, but I use a fair amount of data, so I can add the unlimited package and it will still be less than most contract prices. I also got the O2 Orbit (the nice black one) and the GPS package for a measly £150 (which seems like a nice price considering the monthly price...). What did the you guys pay for it, assuming you got your artemis from O2?

[Pete.]

What did the you guys pay for it, assuming you got your artemis from O2?

The day the orbits landed at O2 I got this: 200 mins, 100 texts, free xda orbit, 12 months contract, £17:50pm (1/2 price).

They just offered me £75 off my next bill to take the same package (without a new handset) for another year, or stay on the same tariff and take a new handset for a new 12mth contract. I'm waiting for the data package to arrive to make up my mind - I might well take another 12 months and a free unlimited data add-on to stick with my handset and tariff if I can swing it perhaps with a new orbit thrown in. I'll let you know how I get on :).

[MaskedMarauder]

I got my current tariff about six years ago when they never envisaged what mobile web would become, simply thinking that it would be a few lines of text on a little B&W LCD screen. I pay £25 a month, get unlimited free off-peak calls to O2 handsets and UK landlines and 45 cross-network anytime minutes. Oh, and genuine unlimited data. Oh yes.

Every year when I upgrade my handset they tell me I have to change my tariff, every year I say "Fine, here is my notice that I am terminating my contract." I am still on O2, same tariff and a Free Orbit. The customer can be king if you know how to get your own way....

[neilhhardy]

I got my current tariff about six years ago when they never envisaged what mobile web would become, simply thinking that it would be a few lines of text on a little B&W LCD screen. I pay £25 a month, get unlimited free off-peak calls to O2 handsets and UK landlines and 45 cross-network anytime minutes. Oh, and genuine unlimited data. Oh yes.

Every year when I upgrade my handset they tell me I have to change my tariff, every year I say "Fine, here is my notice that I am terminating my contract." I am still on O2, same tariff and a Free Orbit. The customer can be king if you know how to get your own way....

LOL Nice one.

[stewis]

Hehe was just on the phone to O2 giving them a grilling about the iPhones unlimited tarriffs but as camberwell said it seems they are rolling out new tarrifs for online usage. The person i was talking to advised me to call back on the 1st of October and cancel my 20mb package and request the new £7.50 package which includes 200mb data transfer :)

BTW apparantly the 3gb bolt on will not be availible on the 1st as i was told it still in the planning stages :|

Hope this info is usful to some one...

i will go back to lurking now (and excuse all the typos) :-)

stewis

[camberwell]

Hi, I can confirm that the 3.5 gb "o2 web max bolt on," will definately be availible the start of Q4the same time as the £7.50 "o2 web bolt on".

[chandlercjh]

Hi, I can confirm that the 3.5 gb "o2 web max bolt on," will definately be availible the start of Q4the same time as the £7.50 "o2 web bolt on".

Its safe to say from all the posts scattered arounf the internet that that is now the case......the only question to be confirmed is the usage policy for the £7.50 bolt on?

[heckevin]

Sorry for asking a question not related to this topic.
I will get an Orbit from O2 UK this week. And I just checked the Wiki and it said that the mobile is not SIM locked by O2. Is this true? Because I want to know this before I power on it so I can unlock it.
Thank you very much!

[Pete.]

I just put an Orange SIM in my O2 orbit and it worked perfectly. Every phone I have ever got direct from O2 has been network-unlocked.

[heckevin]

I just put an Orange SIM in my O2 orbit and it worked perfectly. Every phone I have ever got direct from O2 has been network-unlocked.
Thank you very much, Pete.

[trapdoor]

Just to confirm that these new 'bolt-ons' can be applied now - I have just upgraded from my current 20Mb to the 200Mb and saved £2.50 per month to boot.

[collins199820]

i want someone to confirm if this will now enable full web access to pay and go users!

[MaskedMarauder]

i want someone to confirm if this will now enable full web access to pay and go users!

Is it even available to PAYG users? I would think it is only for Paid Monthly accounts.

[Wiggz]

Guys,


Just managed to finally get through to a half knowledgable guy at O2 (granted it was in cancellations!) and managed to get my tariff upgraded from what I was on, got the 7.50 bolt on for 200MB usage a month browsing, and got the Orbit. (The CS said I couldnt have it..dumbass!).

Anyway...all attempts to talk to somebody about Edge/3G capabilities were met with silence.

Can you guys give me the lowdown. Will I simply be able to "use" it if i am in an Edge/3G enabled city/area? And will it come off my bolt on allowance?

Thanks i advance

[Hiznibz54]

Hi Folks. Yes, you can get better deals if you haggle... I'm on 500 minutes a month, anytime, any network, with 500 texts a month as well. I THINK it's also free to O2 numbers, but with the free minutes I've got, I've never actually run out... That's on a £35 per month contract - reduced to half price, making it £17:50 per month.... Hope this helps...

[stead]

Guys,


Just managed to finally get through to a half knowledgable guy at O2 (granted it was in cancellations!) and managed to get my tariff upgraded from what I was on, got the 7.50 bolt on for 200MB usage a month browsing, and got the Orbit. (The CS said I couldnt have it..dumbass!).

Anyway...all attempts to talk to somebody about Edge/3G capabilities were met with silence.

Can you guys give me the lowdown. Will I simply be able to "use" it if i am in an Edge/3G enabled city/area? And will it come off my bolt on allowance?

Thanks i advance

I've tried connecting when the E icon appears and it works fine!, can't say I notice a great difference in speed, but then I rarely use gprs (lovely 1mb limit n all!)

i'm used to using the internet only with wifi tho, ot, do all airports offer free wifi? i was in bristol airport and I could just connect and it worked...

[bluchrome]

I've been using Edge on o2 for a few days now, tweaked the reg to show the 'E' Icon too.

The speed is highly noticeable. approximately 3 times faster from speed tests I carried out so far.