Data plans
 

I'd like to make a per country list of data plans for your mobile phone. A lot of us would like to have such plans to use the phone as a modem, but it's not so easy to find a good one (at least here in Europe).

So please, if you have a data plan for your phone and you use it as a modem, tell us your country, your provider, the name of the data plan, and the price.

I'll edit this post to add your answers.

Thanks to anyone answering.

Edit: There is now a wiki page to add your data plan: http://wiki.maemo.org/Data_Plans


Austria
Provider: One
Plan: 3GB with full speed and then they slow down UMTS to about 64kb
Price: 20€ / month

Australia
Provider: Three
Plan: 500MB data add-on
Price: 20$ / month

Finland
Provider: DNA
Plan: unlimited GPRS/EDGE/3G/HSDPA
Price: 9.80€ per month

Provider: Saunalahti
Plan: Mobiililaajakaista 384 kbit/s
Price: 9,80 € / month

Provider: Saunalahti
Plan: Mobiililaajakaista 512 kbit/s
Price: 14,80 € / month

Provider: Saunalahti
Plan: Mobiililaajakaista 1 Mbit/s
Price: 19,80 € / month

Provider: Saunalahti
Plan: Mobiililaajakaista 2 Mbit/s
Price: 29,80 € / month

Provider: Saunalahti
Plan: Mobiililaajakaista 5 Mbit/s
Price: 34,90 € / month

Italy
Provider: Three Italy
Plan: Naviga3 50mb a day
Price: 9€ / month

Netherlands
Provider: T-Mobile
Plan: unlimited gprs plan
Price: 25€ for text and call time + 9.50€ unlimited gprs plan

Provider: XS4All
Plan: Start 1GB 768/384
Price: 33,57€ / month VAT not included.

Provider: XS4All
Plan: Lite 2GB 1800/384
Price: 50€ / month VAT not included.

Provider: XS4All
Plan: Basic FUP 3600/1400
Price: 80€ / month VAT not included.

Provider: Vodafone
Plan: Data Nationaal Standaard, 250MB
Price: 19,95€ / month

Provider: Vodafone
Plan: Data Nationaal Plus, 1GB
Price: 39,95€ / month

Provider: Vodafone
Plan: Data Nationaal Super, 2,5GB
Price: 59,95€ / month

Romania
Provider: Vodafone
Plan: 3G 10 Mb traffic
Price: 2,38€ / month, additional 0,0023€/10KB

United Kingdom
Provider: Three
Plan: Pay As You Go, "Internet" add-on, 1gb limit. Works fine for web and email
Price: £5 for 30 days

Provider: Three
Plan: Mobile broadband
Price: 1gb for £10, 3gb for £15

Provider: T-Mobile
Plan: 1 Gig limit a month
Price: £7.50 (data only)

Provider: T-Mobile
Plan: 3 Gig limit a month
Price: £12.50 (data only)

United States
Provider: Verizon Wireless
Plan: data + tethering
Price: $30 + $15 in addition to $40 for voice.

Provider: Cingular/att
Plan: unlimited data (MediaNet service)
Price: 15$ / month

Provider: T-Mobile
Plan: T-Mobile Internet
Price: 20$ / month

Re: Data plans
 

UK, Three, Pay As You Go, "Internet" add-on, £5 for 30 days, 1gb limit. Works fine for web and email

Also available from Three, "Mobile broadband", 1gb for £10, 3gb for £15 (last time I checked)

Re: Data plans
 

You might also try mining this older thread for information. thoughtfix didn't request country information, so most responders didn't include it, but in many cases either looking at the poster's location or Googling on his or her service provider's name will quickly resolve the location question.

Re: Data plans
 

Also worth noting that the current weakness of the dollar will make international comparisons difficult. (for example the dollar used to be worth more than a euro but it's now barely half a euro)

Re: Data plans
 

It's not much about comparing, it's more about being aware of what is available.

For example, in france, I'm not aware of any unlimited (or at least 500mo per month) data plan. Some exist but it's forbidden to use your phone as a modem, so it's useless.

Re: Data plans
 

Thanks! It helps much. Lots of work to check it all though :-)

Re: Data plans
 

Yes of course, I just wanted to pre-empt any discussion of "why is it so cheap there" etc.

Incidentally you can add to Finland that Saunalahti offers exactly the same 9.80 euros a month deal too, totally unlimited, no usage caps (and no restrictions except no P2P), phone or modem use are both fine. There's a speed limit though of 384 kbps, with higher charges for higher speeds:

http://saunalahti.fi/gsm/mobiililaajakaista.php

The highest price, 34.90 euros a month, lets you use your mobile phone internet connection at 5 mbits, and there are other speeds at prices in between.

Re: Data plans
 

Thanks! plans from Saunalahti added.

Re: Data plans
 

On Finland, the DNA prices for different speeds are absolutely the same as the Saunalahti prices, they've matched them exactly, though DNA doesn't offer 5 mbits. The 9.80 DNA deal is only for the 384 speed.

BTW Saunalahti and DNA deals all cover 2G, EDGE, 3G and 3.5G, the only restriction is the speed limit for each price.

http://www.dnaoy.fi/Yksityisille/Mat...4,512ja1M.aspx

Re: Data plans
 

The more the list grows, the more I hate being french.

Re: Data plans
 

The network operators have been ripping people off all over the world for a long time now. I hope the EU starts taking notice of things like phone locking which have made the networks lazy and uncompetitive.

Broadband ISPs are competitive, so why aren't mobile ISPs too?

(BTW, phone locking was illegal in Finland until recently, which is partly why there are such good prices here, because it increased competition.)

Re: Data plans
 

Ah, just wait for the Canadians to find your thread. From what I understand, cellular companies there regularly invade homes during the night to poke their customers with sharpened sticks.

Re: Data plans
 

We ear a bit about this lately in France too, mostly because the IPhone is only available at Orange which piss off a lot of people.
But the law is moving slowly. I also hope EU will do something about it soon.

Anyone has an idea why we have unlimited data plans for like 30€ / month but we can't use the phone as a modem(it's in the contract)?
We can only use web and mail on the phone, not on the PC or the IT... IMHO it's just stupid.

Re: Data plans
 

There is absolutely no technical reason for it, it's just the network operator being greedy.

I have a 10e month plan which lets me use the connection with ANYTHING, the network doesn't care what I'm connected to.

In fact Saunalahti positively encourage people to use their data plans with computers, the adverts show people using their laptops with their phones. If you sign up for 2 years of data, you get an EEE PC and USB 3G modem for 10 euros a month extra:

http://saunalahti.fi/puhelimet/puhel...79&type=bundle

They had a Nokia tablet bundle too last year.

Re: Data plans
 

We have such thing now 30€ / month for data with a 3G usb modem and an EEEPC for 99€.
But:
1) It's expensive for data only.
2) I'm pretty sure it's usable only with the 3G USB modem which makes it unusable on the NIT. And even if I take the sim card out of the key to put it in a bluetooth phone, it means I can't make or recieve phone calls then.

:-(

Re: Data plans
 

Read and cry (for me :) )

Romania, Vodafone 3g:
2,38 euro with 10 Mb traffic included, additional 0,0023/10KB

They also offer a crappy 4,76 EUR/month unlimited internet 500 mb traffic plan. Although all the sales idiots said that it's true internet AND I specifically asked if other ports than 80 work because I use internet on my mobile for much more than web it's basically proxy-ed web&wap.

Oh, they also have 3g usb crap modems for use with laptops with much cheaper rates. I tried the sim card for one of those in a phone and it works, so you could get one of those and convert a 3g phone in a bluetooth modem for your IT.

Re: Data plans
 

XS4All, The Netherlands:

1 year contract, monthly payment.

Start: 33,57 EUR 768/384, 1 GB
Lite: 50 EUR 1800/384, 2 GB
Basic: 80 EUR, 3600/1400, FUP

All prices excluding VAT (add 20% ;))

Current XS4All customers get 25% cut.

Expensive, but they're known for not tampering with connections. You won't get strange **** like 'not allowed to run VPN', 'not allowed to run VoIP', or 'strange RSTs on certain protocols'.

I might opt for this (w/Start), or consider a cheaper solution (Vodafone and T-Mobile are cheaper but pose limits on the connection). I'll have to look up their prices, will add them later.

What I'd like to do is use a GlobeSurfer (the USB one) + Linux on laptop & NIT. I think, with a miniUSB to USB converter (example) I am all set, correct?

Re: Data plans
 

Please include the speed! This is very important.

http://www.t-mobile.nl/persoonlijk/h.../tarieven.aspx

Look here what T-Mobile tries to pull. They give you a capped speed of e.g. 24 kbit/sec. This is outrageous!

It is also very important what the costs are outside the country.

Here are Vodafone NL prices

http://www.vodafone.nl/prive/mobiel_.../wat_kost_het/

Addendum: Both posts above are for laptop (or: "any device"), they are not for mobile phones. For mobile phones the data plans are cheaper, but also more limited. I don't want a phone, I want to use my NIT as phone!

Re: Data plans
 

Cingular/ATT Media Net is $15 unlimited. The old $20 plan included 200 text messages which is now a separate $5 fee.

Re: Data plans
 

Yet another reason against the much hyped iphone.

If i go ahead and sign a contract and take this plan.... can the later on increase the the monthly charge for internet??

Re: Data plans
 

Thanks everyone for making the list grow.

Updated according to your data.

Don't you think it would be worth to have a wiki page for that?

Re: Data plans
 

Yes, it is worth a wiki page, but your information in the first post doesn't contain many details. I suggest a table with the following format:

ISP (and the network provider; the corporation who owns the network) - max down/up speed - data limit or FUP - price - phone only or anything goes - AUP restrictions (e.g. no VoIP allowed) - misc (e.g. caps to 1 kB/sec after 1 GB)

Example: XS4All (KPN) - 768/384 - 1 GB - 30 EUR/month - anything goes/laptop - (empty) - (empty)

On bottom or seperate page, user experiences.

Re: Data plans
 

Verizon is $59.95 in addition to minimum $39.95 voice plan.

Re: Data plans
 

You're totally right, the more info there is, the better it is.
I wanted to keep it simple in the thread to have a clear output, but in a wiki page it would be worth to have all this informations.

I'll look how to create such a wiki page.

Re: Data plans
 

I started a wiki page there: http://www.internettablettalk.com/wi...tle=Data_plans

Feel free to help editing as I don't have much time right now.

Re: Data plans
 

Though, that doesn't include tethering. On some phones, you can get away with it, but you're violating the service terms if you do. (I don't remember right now what the cost is for the tethering add-on, but I seem to recall that it's $60/mo).


Also, on T-Mobile-USA, if you ONLY need the web, it's $6/mo. You only need to pay $20/mo. if you want all IP ports to be open/unfiltered. (and both plans allow tethering)

Re: Data plans
 

Its a good start but here above is already an example of the format. I also think a link to the source is important. It allows people to subscribe easier, it is a source to back up the data, and deals often change or have complex, small letters (AUP).

Before filling the database first need to think this through, at least, I prefer to first figure such out before contributing. And, I don't dare to add the data posted in the first post because I'm not the author, and I do miss several details.

Nevertheless, I've added the one I worked out (XS4All).

Re: Data plans
 

I'm in the US, on Sprint. My plan doesn't exist anymore, but I'm using the Sprint SERO plan,and a hack for tethering. I pay $30/mo, for the unlimited data, 500 minutes, and unlimited texting.

Posted tethering using my n810 :)

Re: Data plans
 

Thanks for your help allnameswereout. It's very much appreciated!

I added some data from Krisse with backup source.

Re: Data plans
 

Boke, thank you too, for starting the thread & starting the page!

I've updated the XS4All information slightly.

I will try to add T-Mobile Netherlands and Vodafone Netherlands (mobile & laptop/tethering options), but they have complex AUP, and I don't want to provide incorrect information. Maybe there has to be a disclaimer added, or using 'unverified' and 'verified' tags (or 2 sections). If e.g. 2 credible persons say something is verified, move it over. But who is 'credible'... since its a Wiki, maybe a disclaimer is the lesser of the evil options.

Also,

We need more contributors!

Maybe you can refer to the Wiki in the starting post?

Re: Data plans
 

Thanks to Lma for contributing for the UK, we need contributors from the US :-)

http://www.internettablettalk.com/wi...tle=Data_plans

Re: Data plans
 

i see those low prices for those with US dats plans (especially with verizon). hwo did you all get such a low price? the plans listed on their website are $40/mo for 50mb and $60/mo for 5gb.

Re: Data plans
 

Maybe the data is out of date. Care to listen your data (with links to source)?

Re: Data plans
 

I added some data from France.

Tethering not allowed but it seems to work so...

Re: Data plans
 

I have a Nokia N95 on Vodafone, contract.

Added an unlimited dataplan. One of two options avaialble, both "unlimited" data

Tied in with existing contract £5/month
Free to opt out £7.50/month.

I went with the opt out just in case I didn't use it enough. First month free too.

:D

Re: Data plans
 

One month free is sweet. If you want to use it permanent opt-out & use with existing contract. If you not want to use it, just opt-out. ;)

Re: Data plans
 

Yes this is an other aspect: either though tethering isn't allowed 1) does it work yes/no 2) how easy is it to set it up?

Also, what protocols are allowed? Just HTTP (port 80) or also more?

Re: Data plans
 

Provider: AT&T
Plan: unlimited GPRS/EDGE/3G/HSDPA
Cost: $20/mo

no contract. tethering not allowed but works.

Re: Data plans
 

Data have been updated here: http://www.internettablettalk.com/wi...tle=Data_plans

Thanks for your help.
Don't forget to mention your country, I can guess thanks to the money sign used but it would be easier.

Re: Data plans
 

I am looking for a faster provider. I currently have T-Mobile

Whats is better service
ATT Family plan 2 lines 1400 minutes with medianet unlimited for 119$ (With rollover)

Verizon Family plan 2 lines 1400 minutes with Vcast unlimited for 119$

Both plans are 89$ with 15$ per phone for medianet or vcast.

I am just looking for some input as to whether one of these are better than the other, or are there any problems with tethering using nokia device and vcast/medianet options. Like will anyone slam me with a large bill for tethering?


I have been using the 5.99 plan from t-mobile, but recently upgraded to the 29.99 plan. Now I might as well switch and get two phones with internet access for 30$