Posted by lukeross
Has anyone had any success with this combination? I've got an Orange-branded w910i but it doesn't see HSDPA even in central London. Sony's website suggests it should support HSDPA, but Orange say they believe the handset's hardware doesn't. Have Orange hobbled their w910s, or are they just confused? (I get a slightly different answer every time I call!)
Posted by carkitter
Not every HSDPA firmware displays a H symbol when HSDPA speed is available. My V640i doesn't yet I have speed tested it at over 1.1 Mbps which is obviously HSDPA speed. Try connecting it to your PC and visting www.speedtest.net. - there is a speedtest thread here
Posted by lukeross
I'll try the speed test, but browsing in central London was pretty slow when I gave it a try on Sunday. Some people at Orange suggested that the Orange firmware on other SE handsets uses a "3G+" icon instead of an "H" icon, but I haven't seen either - just the "3G" one.
Posted by gudgin
Orange's HSDPA network is shockingly small. The only place I've been able to get a signal is at the MoD in Bristol.
Oh, I've also had it for 30 seconds in Birmingham New Street and some random field on the train near Stevenage.
Never had a signal in the centre of Manchester, Bradford, Leeds or London, all of which I seem to remember being listed as in their coverage.
Oh, I used a k850 though
Posted by carkitter
I only see a 3G symbol too.
UK K850i owners often see the H symbol.
Posted by darrengf
Im on O2 and I get a H on my K850i, On occasions it does go to 3g, but very rarely.
However it does depend on the firmware you have on the phone.
If its the early version then it probaly wont show H on 3g or 3g+
The latest firmware will show both 3g and h as mine does.
Hope this helps,
Posted by lukeross
I think the firmware is OK - it's revision R1EC001. Interesting about Orange's HSDPA being so lame. I asked in the Orange shop on Oxford Street about whether the area was 3G+ enabled and they believed it was, although this information is of questionable validity. It's a shame they don't publish coverage maps.
Posted by gaming_guy
On 2008-04-15 13:21:53, gudgin wrote:
Some random field on the train near Stevenage.
do you know what field it was?
if my k810 supported hspda, i would try and see if i could get signal on it
Posted by gudgin
Oh, and just to clarify, the icon does say 3G+ on orange k850i. A little plus appears in the gap above the letter G
Posted by lukeross
I shall go for a walk round with a speed tester this evening and see if I can get anything useful.
There are mumblings every so often that you need an HSDPA SIM card, although this often seems to be disputed. I'm assuming you all had HSDPA on your existing 3G SIM and didn't need a replacement?
Also, SonyE have suggested that the whole icon thing is a product of the network and firmware and only loosely related to the actual speed available (http://www.a site/2007/11/se-k850i-and-w910i-hsdpa-problem.html) so I'll see what speedtest thinks and go from there
Posted by lukeross
No joy so far. The best I got was about 400kbps outside Bank station, although of course I've no idea where the fabled HSDPA base stations in London are so don't know if it's the phone or the network.
Posted by carkitter
On 2008-04-15 16:36:30, gaming_guy wrote:
On 2008-04-15 13:21:53, gudgin wrote:
Some random field on the train near Stevenage.
do you know what field it was?
if my k810 supported hspda, i would try and see if i could get signal on it
Sounds like Orange are outstanding in thier field...
Send them an email asking them to get thier act together or at least give you details of were the good reception is. Even directions to that field might help.
_________________
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"Innovation in styling comes from innovation in packaging" - Gordon Murray
[ This Message was edited by: carkitter on 2008-04-20 00:28 ]
Posted by lukeross
Send them an email asking them to get thier act together or at least give you details of were the good reception is. Even directions to that field might help.
Hmm, I tried an email but was told to call 156. I emailed saying that 156 hadn't been able to help; the reply asked me to call 156 again. I'm considering a (written) letter...
Posted by lukeross
I wrote that letter to Orange, and after a while have received a few callbacks. In summary, I've been assured there's nothing wrong with the handset and everything wrong with the network. Apparently because of network congestion in the London area it's highly unlikely I'll get any HSDPA coverage. The suggestion was that the masts only offer it when the network traffic falls below a certain level.
Posted by Wuz
If its a help, on my Orange n95 8gb, it (v.occassionally) displays 3.5g, rather than 3g...which I believe indiactes HSPDA.
On a connected subject, according to the Orange website, you are charged per minute when using HSPDA, rather than it coming out of your data bundle. This is ridiculuous - I was not made aware of this when I took out my data plan. Can anyone else confirm this is true?