T-mobile payg for CSD when sailing

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Dave Royal - 03 Jul 2006 21:02 GMT

I've been doing some research and I'd like to know if my conclusions are
valid.

I want to use my PDA (a Zaurus SL C860) to access the internet to get
weather forecasts when sailing in the Mediterranean. This is essential
when anchoring away from civilization. I need to use it for no more that
10-15 minutes every day when on the boat - and be sure that I can get a
connection on most networks - and not at all for months on end when I'm
not sailing.

I think I should connect via CSD - this should be more available and
cheaper than GPRS (I'll probably be dialling a UK ISP). But I read that
CSD is being phased out - and it's rarely mentioned on providers'
websites. Is it widely available?

I propose to buy a T-mobile PAYG SIM for my Nokia 6310i. Does anybody know:
- whether T-mobile PAYG supports CSD whan roaming at no extra cost
- whether, when roaming in Europe (in Greece and Turkey particularly)
CSD is generally available

TIA
Dave

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John Henderson - 03 Jul 2006 22:16 GMT

> I've been doing some research and I'd like to know if my
> conclusions are valid.
>
> I want to use my PDA (a Zaurus SL C860) to access the internet
> to get weather forecasts when sailing in the Mediterranean.
> This is essential when anchoring away from civilization.

One point you may have overlooked, or been unaware of, is that
you'll need to be within 35 km of a cell to use standard GSM.
To work at greater distances, you'd need extended range cells
"visible", and I doubt they'd be available to you in the
Mediterranean.

This limit is imposed by the timing advance restriction within
the underlying time-division (TDMA) radio layer which GSM uses.

John

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Dave Royal - 04 Jul 2006 09:01 GMT

>> I've been doing some research and I'd like to know if my
>> conclusions are valid.
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
>
> John

John - thanks. I'm not looking for access offshore - most of the time
I'll be either anchored in some small harbour or bay. This website
http://www.yachtretreat.com/files/comms.html
written by some live-aboard sailors says "In the seven years since we
left the UK we have spent less than half a dozen nights out of range of
a GSM aerial, a clear indication of the extent of the system."

I've rarely had a problem with phone coverage in Greece; Turkey was
patchy when I was last there a few years ago - but if you sailed out a
bit you could pick up a Greek carrier. I expect it's much better now.

But what I don't know, and would value opinion on, is whether carriers
generally provide 9600 CSD - they just don't mention it. Is it only
'old' carriers that provide it for example?

And whether it's provided on T-mobile PAYG - again not mentioned.

Dave

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Paul Day - 04 Jul 2006 10:00 GMT

Dave Royal <dave@dave123royal.com> may have written:

> I think I should connect via CSD - this should be more available and
> cheaper than GPRS (I'll probably be dialling a UK ISP).

What makes you say it'll be cheaper? An international data call to the
UK will be charged by time, and cost you an arm and a leg. GPRS, on the
other hand, is comparatively economical when you're viewing pages
designed for wireless.

I use my Palm PDA and GSM phone extensively when travelling to stay in
touch via email and check weather forecasts. For the same cost of
sending a 160 character SMS, I can download 4 emails (~20kB of data -
only get the first 4kB of each email and get the text, not the html, and
icnlude a little over-head) and send as many emails as I want for near
nothing (just a little tail traffic).

PD

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Paul Day
Web: http://www.enigma.id.au/

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Dave Royal - 04 Jul 2006 10:42 GMT

> What makes you say it'll be cheaper? An international data call to the
> UK will be charged by time, and cost you an arm and a leg. GPRS, on the
> other hand, is comparatively economical when you're viewing pages
> designed for wireless.

Well, the straight answer is - I don't.
From the T-mobile website, roaming, Greece, PAYG:
Standard call £0.55 / minute
WAP (using GPRS) £20.00 per Mb

(I'm assuming that the CSD call is standard and that any GPRS is the
same rate.)

I want to look at ordinary websites - not ones 'designed for wireless' -
such as
http://www.hnms.gr/hnms/english/index_html
http://www.windguru.cz/int/index.php?sc=3608
I might look at 4 or 5 such sites in a session - I'm running Firefox on
the Zaurus and I just download a set bookmarks into tabs.

That HNMS page is 50K - so I could easily clock up 250K in a session
including control data. £5

Against that, it might take 5 minutes to get the pages on CSD - £3

All guesswork really. But at least with the dialup it's under my control.

Dave

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Donald Newcomb - 04 Jul 2006 14:31 GMT

> I think I should connect via CSD - this should be more available and
> cheaper than GPRS

You may wish to consider an Italian Wind SIM with one of their GRPS data
options, such as "Mega No Limit". For details on how this would work check
www.prepaidgsm.net.

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Donald R. Newcomb
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Dave Royal - 04 Jul 2006 16:35 GMT

> You may wish to consider an Italian Wind SIM with one of their GRPS data
> options, such as "Mega No Limit". For details on how this would work check
> www.prepaidgsm.net.

That is /very/ interesting. Thanks for that link. IIUC you can turn the
special data options off outside the sailing season.

Dave

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Donald Newcomb - 05 Jul 2006 04:36 GMT

> That is /very/ interesting. Thanks for that link. IIUC you can turn the
> special data options off outside the sailing season.

Yes, the data packages are paid for in 30 day increments. Every 31st day
your account is debited the amount of the plan. If you deactivate the plan
before then you don't get billed. I had the no-longer-offered unlimited data
plan in 2004 and deactivated it when I returned to the US. I still keep the
Wind SIM alive by topping up every 11 months.

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Donald R. Newcomb
DRNewcomb (at) attglobal (dot) net

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