I'm still very pleased with the Orange San Francisco Android phone but I'm a little less pleased with the Orange data charges and I'm considering getting a foreign SIM for when I go to France on holiday so I was interested in getting the phone unlocked.
There were various cheap unlocks on ebay but I came accross a link to a free unlock code generator site.
http://www.nextgenserver.com/calculator/
I put in the IMEI code and it generated an 8 digit number.
I put a Vodafone SIM in the Orange San Francisco and it asked for an unlock code. I entered the 8 digit number and the phone was unlocked and registered with Vodafone.
I've yet to get the data connection working on Vodafone as it was just an experiment and that SIM doesn't have cheap data on it.
The lack of APN settings (I guess) prevented the phone from signing in with Google for the mail and it complained about that.
When I have a SIM with data that I actually want to use I'll experiment with APN settings. There were none in the list with the Vodafone SIM in so I guess the Orange APN settings come with the SIM.
When I put the Orange SIM back in everything worked but I had to enter my Google password again.
I've seen no signs as yet of any malware on the PC as a result of my visit to http://www.nextgenserver.com/calculator/ if there prove to be any issues I'll update.
Saturday 27 November 2010
Saturday 13 November 2010
UK PAYG mobile data cost as at November 2010
I've not found a good "data centric" comparison of the UK mobile networks. I make very few personal mobile calls but I use a fair bit of data. I've also bought an Android phone so I'm very interested in mobile data costs.
Vodafone
Vodafone have recently introduced "Freebee" on pay as you go.
If you top up by £10 you get £10 in credit plus 300 texts and 500MB of web access "free".
The "free" standard UK texts and UK web access expire after 30 days.
I can't find a data bundle to buy from Vodafone.
Orange
Orange have a PAY deal called Dolphin which gives "free" internet and texts.
If you top up by £10 you get 300 "free" texts plus 100MB of "free" internet.
An additional 250MB can be bought for £5 which also lasts a month.
T Mobile
T Mobile don't seem to have any "free" data but their bundles seem quite reasonable
5 day Internet on your phone £2.50 Unlimited internet for 5 days
1 month Internet on you phone £5.00 Unlimited internet for 1 month
6 month Internet on you phone £20.00 Unlimited internet for 6 months
It seems that "Unlimited" has a fair use policy of 1GB each month.
O2
O2 have a similar deal to Vodafone, this is called "Text and Web" and can be activated by calling 2202 FREE or Text TEXTANDWEB to 21300.
Top-up £10 - £14 Get 300 UK texts and 500MB UK data. This seems to last a month.
3
Historically "3" have had the edge on mobile data. The now withdrawn 3Pay tariff had the attractive feature of 150MB of internet which lasted for 3 months with a £5 top up. The current tariff is "Pay As You Go on Three" which also gives you 150MB of internet with a £5 topup but it only lasts a month.
"3" now have a slightly different approach to bundles. A £10 bundle gets you calls texts and 500MB of Internet but once the month has gone, so has the £10 of credit. Alternatively there is the £5 500MB for a month deal.
Conclusion
Sadly Orange seem to have the worst deal for my Android San Francisco so it's down to the unlockers for me shortly.
I have a Vodafone SIM in an old phone so I may change that to have "Freebee" but the credit would build up if I used it regularly.
I'm very interested in the T Mobile 6 month £20 deal. Perhaps I will get that once my initial Orange £10 top up has been used up.
Vodafone
Vodafone have recently introduced "Freebee" on pay as you go.
If you top up by £10 you get £10 in credit plus 300 texts and 500MB of web access "free".
The "free" standard UK texts and UK web access expire after 30 days.
I can't find a data bundle to buy from Vodafone.
Orange
Orange have a PAY deal called Dolphin which gives "free" internet and texts.
If you top up by £10 you get 300 "free" texts plus 100MB of "free" internet.
An additional 250MB can be bought for £5 which also lasts a month.
T Mobile
T Mobile don't seem to have any "free" data but their bundles seem quite reasonable
5 day Internet on your phone £2.50 Unlimited internet for 5 days
1 month Internet on you phone £5.00 Unlimited internet for 1 month
6 month Internet on you phone £20.00 Unlimited internet for 6 months
It seems that "Unlimited" has a fair use policy of 1GB each month.
O2
O2 have a similar deal to Vodafone, this is called "Text and Web" and can be activated by calling 2202 FREE or Text TEXTANDWEB to 21300.
Top-up £10 - £14 Get 300 UK texts and 500MB UK data. This seems to last a month.
3
Historically "3" have had the edge on mobile data. The now withdrawn 3Pay tariff had the attractive feature of 150MB of internet which lasted for 3 months with a £5 top up. The current tariff is "Pay As You Go on Three" which also gives you 150MB of internet with a £5 topup but it only lasts a month.
"3" now have a slightly different approach to bundles. A £10 bundle gets you calls texts and 500MB of Internet but once the month has gone, so has the £10 of credit. Alternatively there is the £5 500MB for a month deal.
Conclusion
Sadly Orange seem to have the worst deal for my Android San Francisco so it's down to the unlockers for me shortly.
I have a Vodafone SIM in an old phone so I may change that to have "Freebee" but the credit would build up if I used it regularly.
I'm very interested in the T Mobile 6 month £20 deal. Perhaps I will get that once my initial Orange £10 top up has been used up.
Orange San Francisco
I have had a hankering for a smart (or at least smarter than my Sony Ericsson k530) phone for a while.
I had been looking at the Nokia 5800 but that was persistantly sticking around the £200 mark on PAYG or unlocked.
I liked the iPhone but the cost was too high for something I might well loose.
Recently the cheap Android phone from ZTE (the blade) as sold as an own brand by Orange has been getting good recommendations so I went to have a look in a shop.
It isn't the swishest piece of consumer electronics I have ever held but it looked fine as a phone switched off.
When turned on the screen resolution and display quality is very good.
The touch screen operation is well up to the standard of my iPod Touch and it works well.
On WiFi (the fairest test) it is at least the equal of the iPod Touch in terms of browsing the internet.
Out and about on the mobile metwork performance is more variable.
I've experienced various strange "hangs" in appplications but I think this is lack of connection.
I'm considering getting the unit unlocked from Orange and trying a "3" SIM in it as from the experience of other phones "3" seem to be a bit better round my way.
The other factor is the cost of PAYG data on the network.
"3" used to be the best for this but others now seem as good or better. See another post for more details.
I had been looking at the Nokia 5800 but that was persistantly sticking around the £200 mark on PAYG or unlocked.
I liked the iPhone but the cost was too high for something I might well loose.
Recently the cheap Android phone from ZTE (the blade) as sold as an own brand by Orange has been getting good recommendations so I went to have a look in a shop.
It isn't the swishest piece of consumer electronics I have ever held but it looked fine as a phone switched off.
When turned on the screen resolution and display quality is very good.
The touch screen operation is well up to the standard of my iPod Touch and it works well.
On WiFi (the fairest test) it is at least the equal of the iPod Touch in terms of browsing the internet.
Out and about on the mobile metwork performance is more variable.
I've experienced various strange "hangs" in appplications but I think this is lack of connection.
I'm considering getting the unit unlocked from Orange and trying a "3" SIM in it as from the experience of other phones "3" seem to be a bit better round my way.
The other factor is the cost of PAYG data on the network.
"3" used to be the best for this but others now seem as good or better. See another post for more details.
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