EDGE is similar to 3G?

[Dolby]

I don't quite understand the mobile broadband offerings, so forgive me if this is silly question.

Is MTN EDGE the same as Vodacom 3G?

Would I be right in saying that it is similar to ADSL, albeit with the 100MB cap - for just R100 per month?

[arf9999]

er...no.

see here:
http://www.mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php?t=18033&highlight=EDGE

[Dolby]

Sorry arf9999 ....

I'm not that technical, so it looks Greek to me (EDGE, GPRS, 200mhz ...). Basically, it's not internet on the desktop? I understood it as internet on a home PC via a PCMCIA card, with low rates (the MTN pricing on the home page). They say ....

MTN's new packages include:

* Basic: this is a "pay as you go" solution and includes no bundled megabytes. There is no monthly subscription and data access costs R2/MB.

* 10 MB bundle: this costs R10/month and includes 10 MB of access, which works out to R1/MB. The out-of-bundle rate is R2/MB.

* 100 MB bundle: again, this works out to R1/MB at a monthly charge of R100. The out-of-bundle rate is R1,50.

* MTN 1 GB: this is the top-end offering and costs R499/month for an effective in-bundle rate of 49c/MB. The out-of-bundle tariff is R1,25/MB

If I'm wrong, what would be the the best/CHEAPEST always on Internet to have? Basically, I don't care about speed because I mainly chat and send text emails. I reckon I'd use less than 200meg per month.

[arf9999]

EDGE is a GSM cellphone technology. Currently it is not as fast as ADSL or 3G or IBurst. It does require that you have a EDGE compliant card or phone and are in coverage area (according to MTN about 20% of their total network).

In addition, you obviously need an MTN connection. As I understand it (but I may be incorrect, I haven't checked with MTN) these offerings are available to MTN contract customers, so you will need to buy a SIM card, and pay a monthly contract fee.

If your requirement is for a fixed installation (i.e. Desktop PC at home) I would probably suggest that HomeDSL192 may be a better and overall slightly cheaper solution, especially with a 2GB ISP account.

If you need to have internet access while mobile (e.g with a notebook PC), then EDGE is a good solution for low to medium amounts of data...i.e 100-500MB. While the speeds are not the same as 3G, for lower requirements it should perform adequately.

[stepper]

1. Speedwise see this link ...http://nordicgroup.us/ssub/data.htm
2. Prices, wait for the 11th for MTN to release their official offering.

Also u might wanna read this http://www.mybroadband.co.za/nephp/?m=show&id=224

[TheCynick]

Hi Dolby,

The first thing you need to remember is that you have to have a device that supports one of the data carriers on the network, be it GPRS or EDGE or 3G. This will either be a cellphone (hopefully your existing one), which can be used like a modem, or a dedicated datacard, which would need to be purchased as an extra.

Obviously you also need either a contract or a prepaid SIM. With both MTN and Vodcom you don't get the benefit of the bundles on prepaid - the bundles can only be added on to a contract.

Once you have it all set up correctly, it is basically a dial-up networking connection on your PC.

Also remember that with the bundles, once you hit your limit (say 100 MB) you are not capped/kicked-off - you are charged the out-of-bundle rate. So it is important to keep track of your usage by using one of the monitor programs that has been discussed on many threads around here...

I personally like the look of this as a method for home internet access - I would only use it ever now and then to check mail, book movie tickets and settle arguments with Google :) so my usage would be quite low as well

HTH

[Dolby]

Hi ... Thanks for ther advice.

If this is similar to dial up, then the only benefit would be the speed - right? What speed would one get, roughly?

[ajax]

3G -> up to 384 kbps
EDGE -> with an EDGE data card or phone that supports 4 timeslots for download up to 236 kbps
GPRS -> with a GPRS card or phone that supports 4 timeslots for download up to 80 kbps.

My experience with GPRS is that it usually averages around 40-45 kbps.
Don't know about averages on EDGE or 3G, can anyone comment?

[Dolby]

hmmm ..... so it's actually really good for low internet usage! My main usage would be mIRC. Below are my calculations ... do they seem right?

I was told mIRC uploads/downloads take roughly 2MB a night, as it is only text (roughly 3 hours a night). Therefore it'd take 50 days to use a the full 100MB (150 hours) - at only R100???

I know pricing is only going to be released later, but I'm working on this ...

* 100 MB bundle: again, this works out to R1/MB at a monthly charge of R100. The out-of-bundle rate is R1,50.

[diabolus]

I was told mIRC uploads/downloads take roughly 2MB a night, as it is only text (roughly 3 hours a night). Therefore it'd take 50 days to use a the full 100MB (150 hours) - at only R100???


Depends on what you do on Mirc as you can download -files- as well. Just chatting i'd say yes, you can probably go on 2MB a night depending on how many channels you use and so on. The same applies to messengers [MSN/AOL/ICQ] which is also pretty low on data usage (again chatting only, audio/video chat is a different story).

Also games like WoW/Everquest [mmorpgs] use similar low amounts [i play AO and it's about 1.5MB per hour]. This is not the case for Counterstrike/UT though.

So far browsing is pretty 'expensive' for me compared to chatting, especially since websites are easily 200kb "per page" these days [So one visit to say my Vodacom Data usage page can easily be 1MB+ after i'm done, and that's in 5 minutes]. Can't really turn off all pics since it's usually part of the interface.

But to answer the question, if you're only going to chat [or use purely text based services like messengers] then yes R100 - 100MB should do just fine. I could easily do it playing an mmorpg and mudding [mudding = text based mmorpg].

[Dolby]

Wow :) This is actually pretty decent then!! I'll take this connection the 2nd in comes out! Any idea how much the PCMCIA card costs? I guess it'll be availbable at the end of the omnth only :(

Basically, my IRCing costs me roughly R400 a month (on a prepaid Telkom line with no Infinite Call). I'll easily be able to get by now on a R100pm ... since I don't need speed nor large data downloads/web browsing. I'll get a data monitor just to make sure it is only 2MB a month though.

Why does an MMS cost so much then ... ? I thought it was also charged for amount of data sent, and I bet sending a 100MB file (in theory) would cost more than R100 ...

[ajax]

Vodacom's card is going for around R2000. MTN's one will probably be priced similarly, although I would welcome (downwards) correction in this regard!

Dolby, do you have a GPRS or EDGE phone? Use that in the meantime (if you are really in a hurry buy a Vodacom sim for R10 or something and use it out-of-bundle), it is a great way to test before spending money on a card.

But if you can't use infrared or Bluetooth to connect your phone to your pc, you will need a cable, and they cost a couple of hundred usually.

[Dolby]

Hey ajax ...

You've actually brought up another potential problem, I think. If one does use the cellphone over Bluetooth, surely they'd be limited to that connection ... ? I've heard EDGE is roughly 104kbits (13kb/sec). Bluetooth AFAIK is a little slower, and Infrared is alot slower!

If this is the case, I guess it would be best to wait for a PCMCIA card?

[arf9999]

Bluetooth is usually around 500kbps/800kbps depending on the device and the interference. Maximum is 1Mbps. Should be more than sufficient. But generally i have found that setting up bluetooth with a computer and cellphone is just a pain in the @ss. If you can get a cable, it is simpler and easier (or get a card..).

[diabolus]

Wow This is actually pretty decent then!! I'll take this connection the 2nd in comes out! Any idea how much the PCMCIA card costs? I guess it'll be availbable at the end of the omnth only


Just a few things to think of though. You need a contract to get that R100 - 100MB bundle as far as i know [the same applies at vodacom, you can't buy bundles on prepaid]. I'm assuming you already have a contract at MTN. Either way, you can get the 3G pcmcia card for free [instead of a phone] on most contracts at Vodacom , i assume MTN will have similar options [so if you can upgrade etc etc, probably worth a look].

So if you don't have a contract, or will only use it for internet, you have to add that cost to it as well [probably another R125 ], unless you get the pcmcia card for free with it [then that'll generally cover the contract cost].

[ScrnScrm]

Hi ... Thanks for ther advice.

If this is similar to dial up, then the only benefit would be the speed - right? What speed would one get, roughly?

Hi - I get about 160Kbits/s ROUGHLY on download. Depends on the time of day. Slowest i have seen is about 100Kbits/s, and i have seen it burst upto about 220Kbits/s for short periods (like a minute or so).

in short, its perfectly useable :)

[bHOLDher]

There is a place in Boksburg that sells certain data cables for much cheaper. I believe other cell shops would not like them to sell to the public, they are actually distributors or whatever. Check out their price list at www.activecellular.co.za

[Le^stat]

I use Edge....ave d/l speed is 13-15kb/sec.Dont waist your time...get adsl