Skypephone S2, 3 Mobile Broadband and Skype
Roger Mills
have already got a 3 Mobile Broadband dongle - which had a bundled year's
worth of internet access (or 12 GB if less) which has now expired.
I'm trying to work out the cheapest way of getting occasional internet
access for my laptop, using the facilities at my disposal. If I ignore the
phone, I can buy a �10 top-up for the dongle, and convert it to an add-on -
which will give me 30 days internet access or 1GB (whichever expires first).
It would appear that I can do the same with the phone, and use that instead
of the dongle. *However* the phone also has an option for 30 days internet
access for �5. Can I only use that if I access the internet with the phone
itself, or can I also use it with the laptop? How much data comes with the
�5 option? [1GB is far more than I would use in 30 days]
Can I mix and match SIMs? For example, if I buy 30 days worth for �5 on the
phone, can I then put it's SIM into the dongle? OR, can I put the dongle's
SIM in the phone, top it up with 30 days worth for �5, and then transfer it
back to the dongle? Etc.
On a separate issue: the phone comes with free Skype to Skype calls for
ever. However, I don't knowingly know any Skype users! I may well actually
know some, but simply not be aware that they *are* Skype users. Is there any
simple way of finding out, other than asking everyone individually - such as
a publicly accessible Skype directory?
TIA
--
Cheers,
Roger
______
Email address maintained for newsgroup use only, and not regularly
monitored..
Messages sent to it may not be read for several weeks. PLEASE REPLY TO
NEWSGROUP!
JonPhred
<snip>
> On a separate issue: the phone comes with free Skype to Skype calls for
> ever.
A supplementary question: how are these Skype calls carried? A fairly
recent posting stated that they're on the voice network so is it the
case that one can make free Skype calls even if outwith 3's own network
coverage and therefore using their UK roaming partner?
--
JonPhred
Graham.
>
> On a separate issue: the phone comes with free Skype to Skype calls for ever. However, I don't knowingly know any Skype users! I
> may well actually know some, but simply not be aware that they *are* Skype users. Is there any simple way of finding out, other
> than asking everyone individually - such as a publicly accessible Skype directory?
>
My son has completed his first University semester without any PAYG credit in his S2.
It didn't stop him from calling normal landlines and mobiles.
I put some notes on the Skype Gateway technique used here:
http://www.skypegateway.webs.com/
--
Graham.
%Profound_observation%
Christof Meerwald
[...]
> It would appear that I can do the same with the phone, and use that instead
> of the dongle. *However* the phone also has an option for 30 days internet
> access for �5. Can I only use that if I access the internet with the phone
> itself, or can I also use it with the laptop? How much data comes with the
> �5 option? [1GB is far more than I would use in 30 days]
BTW, you even get 150 MB data (valid for 90 days) just for topping up the
phone SIM. Technically, you can use the S2 as a modem for you laptop (or put
the phone SIM in your dongle), but it's not allowed by the terms and
conditions.
> Can I mix and match SIMs? For example, if I buy 30 days worth for �5 on the
> phone, can I then put it's SIM into the dongle?
Yes.
> OR, can I put the dongle's
> SIM in the phone, top it up with 30 days worth for �5, and then transfer it
> back to the dongle? Etc.
No, I don't think you will be offered the �5 top up for the data SIM.
Christof
--
http://cmeerw.org sip:cmeerw at cmeerw.org
mailto:cmeerw at cmeerw.org xmpp:cmeerw at cmeerw.org
Steve Terry
news:7pks77...@mid.individual.net...
> Father Christmas has brought me a Skypephone S2, tied to the 3 Network. I
> have already got a 3 Mobile Broadband dongle - which had a bundled year's
> worth of internet access (or 12 GB if less) which has now expired.
>
> I'm trying to work out the cheapest way of getting occasional internet
> access for my laptop, using the facilities at my disposal. If I ignore the
> expires first).
>
> It would appear that I can do the same with the phone, and use that
> instead of the dongle. *However* the phone also has an option for 30 days
>
> Can I mix and match SIMs? For example, if I buy 30 days worth for �ｿｽ5 on
>
>
coverage in weak signal areas
5quid per month (or 2.5 per week or 50p per day) internet had a fair user
limit
of 2gb d/l per month, although i've gone over that
So chuck the dongle, use the S2 with its USB lead, and allocate 5quid p.m.
internet, also set the APN to 3internet in the S2 modem manager.
Also install the S2 PC suite so you can use up those inclusive text from
your pc
and manage the phone contents
If you want to use a 3 dongle, stick a free 3pay Sim in it, do a tenner top
up,
and once you've used up the free 150mb of data, allocate a fiver to internet
p.m.
I can't think of any practical use for keeping a 3 BB payg Sim
If you want a free 3pay Sim please make use of my Sig
Steve Terry
--
Get a free Three 3pay Sim with �ｿｽ2 bonus after �ｿｽ10 top up
http://freeagent.three.co.uk/stand/view/id/5276
Steve Terry
news:hh3l05$vu0$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
>
>
Clever idea, except i think you'll now find:
http://backsla.sh/betamax shows smartvoip.com, or 12voip.com,
are now cheaper than smslisto.com, to uk mobiles
Steve Terry
--
Get a free Three 3pay Sim with �2 bonus after �10 top up
http://freeagent.three.co.uk/stand/view/id/5276
Graham.
"Steve Terry" <gfou...@tesco.net> wrote in message news:hh529k$pof$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
> "Graham." <m...@privacy.net> wrote in message news:hh3l05$vu0$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
>>
>>> On a separate issue: the phone comes with free Skype to Skype calls for ever.
>>> However, I don't knowingly know any Skype users!
>>> I may well actually know some, but simply not be aware that they *are* Skype users.
>>> Is there any simple way of finding out, other than asking everyone individually -
>>> such as a publicly accessible Skype directory?
>>
>> My son has completed his first University semester without any PAYG credit in his S2.
>> It didn't stop him from calling normal landlines and mobiles.
>> I put some notes on the Skype Gateway technique used here:
>> http://www.skypegateway.webs.com/
>> Graham.
>>
>>
> Clever idea, except i think you'll now find:
> http://backsla.sh/betamax shows smartvoip.com, or 12voip.com,
> are now cheaper than smslisto.com, to uk mobiles
A penny-pinching Scrooge like me would not have missed that!
Here's the problem, I pay Betamax by Paypal, and when you change
clone and try and pay via the same route, the payment is rejected with
a message that says you can't have the same Paypal account associated
with more than one Betamax product.
I got around that a couple of times by closing my PP account, opening
a fresh one and registering the same CC to it.
All was well until the last time I tried the above, but in error I tried
to register my CC to the new account before I had closed the existing
one. This had the effect of blocking my CC on PP completely!
After several grovelling emails to PP Customer Support they removed
the block, but told me I would not be able to move that card to a different
account in the future.
I do have a debit card registerd to another PP account that I use for my
own smslisto account, I will probably change that to smartvoip when the credit expires.
--
Graham.
%Profound_observation%
Roger Mills
Graham. <m...@privacy.net> wrote:
>
> My son has completed his first University semester without any PAYG
> credit in his S2. It didn't stop him from calling normal landlines
> and mobiles. I put some notes on the Skype Gateway technique used here:
> http://www.skypegateway.webs.com/
Thanks for the reminder. I can almost understand the updated version. <g>
Can you please tell me:
* Does it work in the other direction - i.e. can people make incoming calls
to the gateway (which presumably has an 01/02/03 number) and have them
automatically redirected to your Skypephone? If so, is the re-direction
free?
* I currently have a VoIP account with voip.co.uk - using ordinary analog
phones plugged into a Linksys PAP2 which is, in turn, plugged into my
broadband router. Could I use your gateway concept with this, or does the
SIP bit have to be handled entirely within the computer?
Graham.
"Roger Mills" <watt....@googlemail.com> wrote in message news:7pq5hl...@mid.individual.net...
> In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
> Graham. <m...@privacy.net> wrote:
>
>>
>> My son has completed his first University semester without any PAYG
>> credit in his S2. It didn't stop him from calling normal landlines
>> and mobiles. I put some notes on the Skype Gateway technique used here:
>> http://www.skypegateway.webs.com/
>
>
> Thanks for the reminder. I can almost understand the updated version. <g>
>
> Can you please tell me:
> * Does it work in the other direction - i.e. can people make incoming calls to the gateway (which presumably has an 01/02/03
> number) and have them automatically redirected to your Skypephone? If so, is the re-direction free?
> * I currently have a VoIP account with voip.co.uk - using ordinary analog phones plugged into a Linksys PAP2 which is, in turn,
> plugged into my broadband router. Could I use your gateway concept with this, or does the SIP bit have to be handled entirely
> within the computer?
> --
> Cheers,
> Roger
Yes indeed, as the account would only need to accept incoming calls I just
used a free Sipgate one.
(IIRC) The account details are registered in siptosys.cfg and the target Skype
account goes in SyptoSkypeAuth.props in the format *,*,*skypeusername.
I tried it when I first commissioned it and it works fine, but I didn't
retain the feature simply because if Andrew was making an outgoing
call when I called him, his call gets terminated.
--
Graham.
%Profound_observation%
andy
This is good, and there are other methods, but they nearly all seem to
rely on having a PC on with Skype and the other client running.
What would make this great is to have such a method available without
having to run one's own server. For some time I'd been about to get
around to trying something out, when Google bought Gizmo and it closed
to new accounts, thus removing one of the components I'd been
wondering about.
CJB
hardly used the phone and now my credit is £3.62 - so some how I've
spent £6.38 on next to nothing. I've only made one mobile to mobile
call for about 5 mins, and sent two texts. I guess this is "welcome to
smart phone rip-off billing." I've logged onto My3 and set up an
account for the SIM card - but there is no itemised billing available.
And I have just been onto 3 CS and they told me that there is no way
customers can monitor call usage or charges online. Apparently a
printed itemised bill can be sent but at a charge of £10.
CS said that charges to landlines and other mobiles are 20p a minute.
What a bl**dy rip-off. Imagine what Three charges for overseas
calls!!!
Next project is to set up a system as mentioned in this thread to use
Skype only. Thanks to
"notes on the Skype Gateway technique used here:http://
www.skypegateway.webs.com/ "
CJB.
Steve Wyles
> CS said that charges to landlines and other mobiles are 20p a minute.
>
> What a bl**dy rip-off. Imagine what Three charges for overseas
> calls!!!
All 3's prices are available on their website
http://www.three.co.uk/_standalone/Link_Document?content_aid=1214305748126
Roger Mills
How long have you had the phone? Have you made any calls to landlines,
besides the call to a mobile?
I've only had mine for about a week, and when I topped up with �10, I got:
* a credit balance of �10.22 [they appear to gave grossed it up for 15% VAT
instead of 17.5%]
* free 3 to 3 calls for 3 months
* 600 free texts - expiring in 3 months
* free Skype to Skype calls for ever
* 150MB of internet usage - expiring in 3 months
I have frequently monitored my balance on My3 to make sure that I'm not
being charged for anything that's supposed to be free. Since I've had it,
I've:
* Called my son on his 3 Mobile. My credit balance is still �10.22
* Made several Skype calls from phone to PC and vice versa
* Sent 2 texts, one to 2 recipients and the other to one. My text balance
has gone down to 596. I expected 597 but the last text (compiled on my PC
with the phone connected to it) was quite long, so I may have been 'charged'
for 2
* Accessed the internet (such as it is!) on the phone handset
* Used the phone as a modem to access the internet on my PC. My internet
usage balance has gone down to about 135MB - so I appear to have used 15,
which is not unreasonable for what I have been doing
My principal intended use is as a modem, so I shall convert �5 of the
balance into a month's worth of internet access when the free 150MB is
nearly used up.
All in all, I seem to be getting the right stuff free - so I'm not quite
sure what happened in your case.
Ian Smith
Yep - this mirrors my experience almost exactly. Cracking value.
Anyone know whether it is possible to put on the 0.50p add-on for
one day of t'Internet? Doesn't seem to work for me (or can't the
initial �10 be used for add-ons?).
regards, Ian
Roger Mills
>
> Anyone know whether it is possible to put on the 0.50p add-on for
> one day of t'Internet? Doesn't seem to work for me (or can't the
> initial �10 be used for add-ons?).
>
> regards, Ian
I don't see why not. I've just logged on to My3 on my PC and selected the
50p add-on option - and it looked like it would sold it to me out of my
initial �10 top-up had I not hit the cancel button.
How have you been trying to do it?
Ian Smith
> In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
> Ian Smith <news0807R...@orrery.e4ward.com> wrote:
>
>> Anyone know whether it is possible to put on the 0.50p add-on for
>> one day of t'Internet? Doesn't seem to work for me (or can't the
>> initial �10 be used for add-ons?).
>>
>> regards, Ian
>
> I don't see why not. I've just logged on to My3 on my PC and selected the
> 50p add-on option - and it looked like it would sold it to me out of my
> initial �10 top-up had I not hit the cancel button.
>
> How have you been trying to do it?
Tried it from the phone and from the PC. I get "This service is
unavailable" (or similar). It never appears to become available.
Maybe I need to do a proper top-up first?
regards, Ian
Roger Mills
Ah, did yours come bundled with a top-up voucher or something? Mine didn't -
and I paid real money for mine. Maybe there's a difference?
CJB
And when I tried to call my brother in the Netherlands the connection
kept dropping out / disconnecting.
I tried Skype to Skype (my S2 to his non-Three mobile running Skype)
-
three disconnects - but at least the re-connections were free.
Then we tried Skype on my S2 to my Skye Out account (with loads of
credit) to his mobile no. - again loads of drop outs, and each re-
connection cost me some Skype credit (actually £3 in all). Luckily
Three doesn't charge for these re-connections - if it did my S2 would
end up in the bin.
He then tried calling my Skype id (as running on my S2) with his non-
Three mobile running Skype - but nothing at all, zero, zilch, sfa.
In view of all the problems with the S2, Three and Skype I am making
a
case - currently 4 pages long - of issues with this network, as
reported on the various 3G and Skype forums and these newsgroups,
including an accusation of blatant false advertising by Three.
Additionally a complaint will be made about their rip-off pricing of
20p per minute to UK landlines etc. This will go to Ofcom, my local
Trading Standards Office, and the Advertising Standards Authority.
CJB.
Steve Terry
news:4312c61f-7f09-443d...@22g2000yqr.googlegroups.com...
>I can't receive incoming calls on Skype.
>In view of all the problems with the S2, Three and Skype I am making
a
>case - currently 4 pages long - of issues with this network, as
>reported on the various 3G and Skype forums and these newsgroups,
>including an accusation of blatant false advertising by Three.
>Additionally a complaint will be made about their rip-off pricing of
>20p per minute to UK landlines etc. This will go to Ofcom, my local
>Trading Standards Office, and the Advertising Standards Authority.
>CJB.
>
>
as faulty as yours, and remember to complain about networks like
Virgin charging 35p per min to call cross networks for the last 10 years.
Graham.
"CJB" <chris...@gmail.com> wrote in message news:4312c61f-7f09-443d...@22g2000yqr.googlegroups.com...
CJB.
>
>
Good luck Chris, I'm just glad that my experience of the S2 has been so different.
In fact, I would rank it as the best 20 notes worth I have spent last year!
--
Graham.
%Profound_observation%
Roger Mills
> On Fri, 25 Dec 2009 22:21:28 -0000, Roger Mills wrote:
>
>> Can I mix and match SIMs? For example, if I buy 30 days worth for �5
>> on the phone, can I then put it's SIM into the dongle?
>
> Yes.
>
The subject of using a 3Pay SIM in a dongle to get mobile BB for �5 per
month rather than �10 (with the mobile BB SIM) has been discussed here
several times. It has generally been assumed that you need access to a PAYG
phone in order to top up the 3Pay SIM.
My recent experience suggests that you *don't*. Assuming that you've got a
dongle but no phone, this is what you do . . .
* Get a free 3Pay SIM via the link in Steve Terry's signature
* When it arrives, create a My3 account for it by using your regular -
landline or whatever - internet connection to go to three.co.uk, select My3
Account/Register Now, and enter the phone number and last 6 digits of the
SIM number
* When you have done that, 3 will send you a text message containing a
password - which you need in order to log on to the My3 account which you
have just created
Now the clever bit - how to retrieve the password? You would nornally put
the SIM in your phone, but you haven't got one! *But* what you *can* do is
to put the SIM in the dongle and connect it to your laptop. This will
connect to the internet and will allow you to access the text message via
the SMS tab in the connection window.
* Armed with this password, log on to the My3 account you have just created
* Select 'Set My Mobile' and tell them you've got a 3 Skyphone S2 - they
won't know the difference even if you haven't - you don't need any IMEI
numbers or anything
* Top up the SIM using a credit card [As soon as you register the card it
seems to grab �10 immediately. Unless anyone knows differently there doesn't
seem to be a way of doing an initial top-up of less than �10, even though
subsequent ones can be for �5?]
* Select 'Buy Add-ons' and convert part of the �10 balance into internet
access - 50p for a day, �2.50 for a week or �5 for a month
Topping up gets you other goodies - such as free 3 to 3 voice calls - which
you won't be able to use if you haven't got a phone, but it still provides
cheaper internet access for your laptop than topping up the dongle's
original SIM at �10 per month - particularly if you are only away from home
for the odd couple of days or a week. It also brings you free texts which
you *may* be able to use via Mobile BB's SMS feature - but I haven't tried
that yet.
Steve Terry
> Roger
>
>
Also make sure you are using the public APN of "3internet" not the fenced
one of "three.co.uk"
As amougst it's fenced limitations may be access to parts of the My3 account
Roger Mills
>>
>>
> Also make sure you are using the public APN of "3internet" not the
> fenced one of "three.co.uk"
> As amougst it's fenced limitations may be access to parts of the My3
> account
> Steve Terry
How do I check that?
Theo Markettos
> "Roger Mills" <watt....@googlemail.com> wrote in message
> news:7qbbc4...@mid.individual.net...
> > month rather than ?10 (with the mobile BB SIM) has been discussed here
> > PAYG phone in order to top up the 3Pay SIM.
> >
> > My recent experience suggests that you *don't*. Assuming that you've got
> > a dongle but no phone, this is what you do . . .
Thanks for that. I think it's also possible to do a topup via
http://mobile.three.co.uk/ - though I'm not sure about the registering a
credit card. Another alternative is to go to a cashpoint and choose phone
topup. I haven't tried this - anyone know if Three support that method of
topup?
> Also make sure you are using the public APN of "3internet" not the fenced
> one of "three.co.uk"
> As amougst it's fenced limitations may be access to parts of the My3 account
Yes, it is different, but in some respects it's better. I just posted some
details in the other thread on uk.telecom.mobile.
Theo
Jeremy Porteous
> Next project is to set up a system as mentioned in this thread to use
> Skype only. Thanks to
>
> "notes on the Skype Gateway technique used here:http://
> www.skypegateway.webs.com/ "
I've just tried to set up a system like this using my VOIP account with
Voipcheap. However, calls when then get forwarded via PBX on the Voipcheap
trunk are not free. They are marked FUP exceeded in the Voipcheap online
account. Is there a workaround, and does this apply to other products from
the Finarea range (like the Smartvoip recommended on this website)?
JP
Graham.
>> Next project is to set up a system as mentioned in this thread to use
>> Skype only. Thanks to
>>
>> "notes on the Skype Gateway technique used here:http://
>> www.skypegateway.webs.com/ "
>
> I've just tried to set up a system like this using my VOIP account with Voipcheap. However, calls when then get forwarded via PBX
> on the Voipcheap trunk are not free. They are marked FUP exceeded in the Voipcheap online account. Is there a workaround, and does
> this apply to other products from the Finarea range (like the Smartvoip recommended on this website)?
>
> JP
Maybe I will put a note about this issue when I next update the page.
The problem is with the Betamax FUP and the key phrase is "and per unique IP address"
(at the foot of http://voipcheap.com/en/index.html in your case)
The purpose is to stop you getting multiple freedays allocations by running
multiple accounts behind a common public IP.
If you think about it, that's exactly what we are doing here, we are sharing
our 300 min per week with everyone else who is using the pbxes IP to originate
the calls.
The problem might not be quite as bad as it seems though, when you sign
up for a pbxes account, depending what country that you say you are in,
you appear to be assigned one of several servers, with URLs starting with
http://www1, http://www2 http://www3 etc.etc.
I strongly suspect each one uses a different IP to place SIP calls.
I do get some landline calls that get charged because of FUP, but
not nearly as many as when I used to use Voxalot and MySIPSwitch,
perhaps it was down to my choice of server ;-)
and in any case, my system is mainly used to make calls to UK mobiles
which are going to be chargeable anyway.
--
Graham.
%Profound_observation%