MTN GPRS : Getting started

Dolby

Dolby

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I want to get MTN GPRS working on my phone tonight, and was just wondering if you think I'd run into any hassles?

I have an old Ericsson T68i (Bluetooth and GPRS) and a Bluetooth dongle to my PC.

Tonight I will be buying a prepaid MTN Sim card, a R100 voucher, and getting GPRS settings from MTN. Will this work tonight? Something I have forgot?
 
as far as i know, it should work. Just dial *123# on ur handset and follow the prompts to get the GPRS settings sent to you. Then once you've successfully got the phone connecting to the laptop via bluetooth (the phone should show up as a modem, or the Ericsson software shuld provide something simelar) Create a new dialup connection. Select the cellphone as the modem, use *99# as the number to dial, and leave the username & password both blank. this should get you connected successfully, and be able to download R100 worth of data... +-50MB i think...

Hope it helps...
 
Niiiice! Can't wait ;)

This will definetley work on a prepaid car, right? GPRS is slightly quicker than a 56k modem, right? I say this because the modems only get 40kpbs due to line quality etc - right?

Finally, what year did EDGE phones start coming out? I think the T681 (2002) may be a little old ...
 
This w/e I "showed off" internet access via my laptop (HP, internal Bluetooth) and cellphone (SE P800) while sitting on the couch at home, with the cell on the other side of the room. (Sad, isn't it?) :)

I did the Telkom speed test and I got 57kbps...which it seems is about right for GPRS.

It all worked like a charm.
 
Dolby said:
Niiiice! Can't wait ;)

This will definetley work on a prepaid car, right? GPRS is slightly quicker than a 56k modem, right? I say this because the modems only get 40kpbs due to line quality etc - right?

Finally, what year did EDGE phones start coming out? I think the T681 (2002) may be a little old ...
Click to expand...

I use MTN prepaid, so it should work, yes!

Your speed depends on your phone, the tower, distance or signal strength and how many users are busy on the tower. If your phone supports 4 timeslots for download and your are using an EDGE tower over short distance/strong signal and the tower isn't busy, you can get up to 80 kbps on GPRS. If your phone can only do 3 timeslots for download and you are using a non-EDGE tower, you won't get more than 35 maybe 40 kbps on GPRS even if your signal is strong and the tower isn't busy. Further if your signal is weak too, you will probably end up with about 27-30 kbps.

Do the local speed test as late as possible, 3am if you can ;)
http://www.telkom.co.za/portal/page...aramURL=/pls/portal/docs/page/dsl/speed.shtml
 
Dolby said:
I want to get MTN GPRS working on my phone tonight, and was just wondering if you think I'd run into any hassles?

I have an old Ericsson T68i (Bluetooth and GPRS) and a Bluetooth dongle to my PC.

Tonight I will be buying a prepaid MTN Sim card, a R100 voucher, and getting GPRS settings from MTN. Will this work tonight? Something I have forgot?
Click to expand...

My own experience is that the first frustration cab be getting bluetooth to talk to the handset. It is worth checking the website for the bluetooth dongle vendor to ensure that you have the latest version of the drivers.

Before you make the first connection makes sure your account is activated for GPRS by sending the USSD string as I mentioned earlier. It is best to get wap working as it is much easier to get the kinks sorted out on the handset first. Check out my earlier instructions on this forum.

All the best tonight.
 
Dolby said:
Niiiice! Can't wait ;)

This will definetley work on a prepaid car, right? GPRS is slightly quicker than a 56k modem, right? I say this because the modems only get 40kpbs due to line quality etc - right?

Finally, what year did EDGE phones start coming out? I think the T681 (2002) may be a little old ...
Click to expand...

The first Edge-enabled handsets we saw were the Nokia 3220 and 6220 in 2003. They did not support the full speeds.

The SonyEricsson T68i does not support EDGE.

I highly recommend you ensure you have the latest software upgrade on the T68i if you want to use GPRS regularly because I understand the data throughput improves.
 
I think I'll quit trying GPRS ;)

I can connect via GPRS on the phone itself, but it gives me an error on the PC. The computer IS using the GPRS because one can hear the phone on speakers and see the G on the screen, but it gives me an error just after 'registering on network' ... something like PPP link protocol blah blah.

I think I'll stick to dial up ;)
 
Dolby said:
I think I'll quit trying GPRS ;)

I can connect via GPRS on the phone itself, but it gives me an error on the PC. The computer IS using the GPRS because one can hear the phone on speakers and see the G on the screen, but it gives me an error just after 'registering on network' ... something like PPP link protocol blah blah.

I think I'll stick to dial up ;)
Click to expand...

Dolby, I get exactly that error too, about a quarter of the time. Usually I just have to redial and then it works. Otherwise, reboot your phone and pc and try again.
Don't give up so easily, dude!

MTNbb, what are the possible causes of this error? I have not been able to figure this one out. I sometimes get it on your competitor's network too ;)
 
ajax ... you're da man ;) I didn't give up, rebooted phone and PC and got on :P Also got 50kbps line speed (tested on this site) :P

Just couldn't get onto IRC ... but I'm still trying :P
 
EDGE is cool, got it working finally. Not lightning fast by any means, but useful when out and about. Plus the price is no longer horrendous. Come on MTN...bring those per MB charges down even more!!!
 
I agree MTN gprs is running sweetly, enough to browse and not worry bout browsing to fast and using to much meeegaaabytes ;-)

On a sidenote, I only set my mtn contract phone to gprs and connect, i didnt need any settings. Also on edge tower I have gotten speeds on gprs of around 13-15k/s averaging normally around 8-9k/s

very nice :D
 
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