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UK iPhone users - impressions of speed?


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UK iPhone users - impressions of speed?
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jimdad
Member
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Scotland
 
2007-11-11, 11:09

Some help from anyone in the UK with an iPhone, please. I'm finding it difficult to separate truth from fiction and objective account from wishful thinking. I went into an O2 shop in town today and played about with one. Looked and felt great and I'd have legged it up the street with it if it hadn't been on a ridiculously heavy cable

However, it didn't have the EDGE symbol so i asked an assistant what the EDGe coverage was in the town. She replied that it was good - she got it all the time at home - and i could see this from the speed of the Internet on the phone. I pointed out that the shop had a wireless connection.

I was then put onto the manager whom I asked to phone O2 Technical services. He did so and replied that I was okay as there were ten hotspots in the town ! I pointed out politely that I had asked about EDGE coverage and was a bit concerned if their technical support didn't know the difference between the Cloud hotspots and EDGE coverage - or indeed that these wifi spots wouldn't cover much beyond their immediate location. He then came back with the fact that there is no EDGE coverage in my town and although there are "plans for it" he couldn't be specific about dates which, given the exact nature of these updates to the EDGE network ( useful thread on Macrumors forums on this ), I found unhelpful.

So my question to early purchasers is this. Has anyone tried surfing using only GPRS? If so, is it good enough for email and simple text sites ? Another thread on Macrumors suggests that people are getting decent results even from GPRS ( in one case even better than the maximum speed of GPRS ) but my head tells me this needs confirmation.

As you can see I would love to buy one but I'm trying hard to avoid my tendency to go out and spend money on Apple products without at least pretending to my good lady that I've investigated it.

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer on this.
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chris e boy
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Swansea, Wales
 
2007-11-11, 12:17

I only got mine today and I have pretty good Wi-Fi coverage in my house so I can't test the GPRS surfing. I'll give it a shot for sure tomorrow.
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Taskiss
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: St. Louis, MO
 
2007-11-11, 12:21

Go into the prefs and turn off the wi-fi connection and you'll see exactly what the EDGE or GPRS speed is. I find it totally acceptable, myself.
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chris e boy
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Swansea, Wales
 
2007-11-11, 17:16

It takes about 50 seconds to load the bbc news homepage. Ok for checking something quickly on the net I guess or reading emails but you wouldn't want to use that speed for normal surfing. Some more figures:

- 30 seconds for the O2 iPhone start page to appear

- 16 seconds to load my iPodBeeb site. (Blatant plug!)
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herodian
Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Aldershot, UK
 
2007-11-12, 06:43

Quote:
Originally Posted by chris e boy View Post
thanks for that. i prefer BBC over Sky news but their website is attocious on the Mobile platform.

Now this is the whole site. Cheers
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Niall
Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Glasgow, Scotland
 
2007-11-12, 07:44

@ Jimdad,

Which town are you in, if I may ask?
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Amorya
 
 
2007-11-12, 08:14

Quote:
Originally Posted by jimdad View Post
So my question to early purchasers is this. Has anyone tried surfing using only GPRS? If so, is it good enough for email and simple text sites ? Another thread on Macrumors suggests that people are getting decent results even from GPRS ( in one case even better than the maximum speed of GPRS ) but my head tells me this needs confirmation.

It's not too bad. Noticably slower than 3G, but assuming signal's good then you can browse and check email without being too annoyed.

I'm in Coventry and lack EDGE. It's a bit ridiculous when we're one of the biggest cities in the UK.

Amorya
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chris e boy
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Swansea, Wales
 
2007-11-12, 08:15

I noticed today that around and about my work area I can pick up EDGE. Its surprisingly fast, the beeb site loads in about 7-8 seconds. Easily good enough for general surfing.
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jimdad
Member
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Scotland
 
2007-11-12, 13:50

Thanks for the replies, guys. Niall, I'm in Perth.
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Gargoyle
http://ga.rgoyle.com
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: In your dock hiding behind your finder icon!
 
2007-11-12, 15:33

Im not really sure, I have wi-fi at home, wi-fi in work and there is even an open network to bunk onto at my local boozer!

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cosus
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Join Date: Mar 2007
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2007-11-12, 15:52

Your bars have wi-fi?
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*Joe*
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Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Cambridge, UK
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2007-11-12, 17:43

According to O2 themselves, their EDGE coverage is only 30% of the UK population.
Now given that 90% of Handsets coming to the market are using 3G and that O2 already has over 50% 3G coverage, what do you think the chances of them spending millions to roll out coverage for an outdated technology for one handset are??
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turbulentfurball
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Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Québec
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2007-11-12, 17:52

Quote:
Originally Posted by cosus View Post
Your bars have wi-fi?
Yeah, lots of them do. I know of at least 4 bars less than a mile from me in Dundee city centre with free Wifi. I guess it's aimed at the 'working lunch' crowd than people on your average night out to a bar. I mean; if you're using a laptop when you're in a bar in the evening, you really do need to get a life.
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Niall
Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Glasgow, Scotland
 
2007-11-13, 07:46

Quote:
Originally Posted by jimdad View Post
Thanks for the replies, guys. Niall, I'm in Perth.
Cheers Jim

Now, if anyone in Glasgow could comment on EDGE quality...?
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Gizzer
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Hampshire (the original one)
 
2007-11-13, 14:58

Quote:
Originally Posted by Amorya View Post
I'm in Coventry and lack EDGE. It's a bit ridiculous when we're one of the biggest cities in the UK.

Amorya
Yeah, but dude. You live in Coventry.

**Ducks and runs***



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