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Ireland (Republic of)
Contents |
Vodafone
Edit
Default data rateEdit
You pay daily as you use the service, and you only pay for the days you use. Standard rate is €0.99 for a 50MB daily usage allowance, and €1 per MB thereafter (0.1c per KB). If you use less than 0.5MB, you only pay for the pages you use. (See link )
Data feature packsEdit
- 1Gb per month for €9.99. With this add on:
- Price per MB after you have used your bundle is €1
- Unused MBs cannot be carried forward to the next month
SIM sizesEdit
Regular and micro SIM available.
TetheringEdit
Allowed. Package recommended at 5GB for €20, lasts 30 days. You will be able to switch this function on without buying a package; however, Vodafone warns you on its website that "if you do use tethering without an add on, it can be expensive. For example, ... pay monthly customers will pay 2c per kb for the first 512kb and 2c per MB thereafter – so the first 1MB costs €10.25 and the first 1GB costs €30.71."
Other notesEdit
Long TCP connections have a tendency of being dropped and ssh port seems to be blocked.
ThreeEdit
Three also have a pay-as-you-go service called 3Pay. If you buy a €20 topup credit in any month, you get unlimited data for 30 days without a contract by purchasing a EUR10 mobile data bundle with part of that credit. If you top up by EUR10 in any month, you can use some of your credit to buy a EUR5 data bundle which gives you 500MB of mobile data.
Default pricingEdit
The default pricing for data transfers is 99c/Mb charged by the kilobyte.
Data feature packsEdit
You can get an add-on with 250mb allowance per month for €5. For anything more than that you need to get 3pay broadband that has the following options
- 1 day (500Mb) €5
- 1 week (2Gb) €10
- 30 days (1Gb) €15
- 30 days (7.5Gb) €20
- 30 days (20Gb) €35
Out of bundle is charged according to the default 99c/Mb
AvailabilityEdit
SIMs can be purchased online or at their own stores or at the Carphone Warehouse
SIM sizesEdit
Standard SIMs and Micro-SIMs.
TetheringEdit
Works at least with 3pay broadband. Worked using a 3 SIM in a US Nexus One Android phone, with the €20 topup/unlimited data/no contract plan.
Other notesEdit
Skype may be filtered in some cases. Currently, it is free with the 3 mobile skype app on a compatible phone.
They also have inexpensive Android phones - I paid €69, total, for a Samsung Europa with unlimited data for 30 days.
CoverageEdit
NOTE THAT 3 DO NOT HAVE A GSM OR EDGE NETWORK AND THEY DEPEND ON A ROAMING AGREEMENT WITH VODAFONE FOR COVERAGE IN BUILDINGS AND OUTSIDE THEIR LIMITED 3G COVERAGE AREA. THE ROAMING AGREEMENT DOES NOT INCLUDE DATA.
MeteorEdit
Default pricing Minimum top-up is €5. Meteor offers free Internet for the first 30 days on PAYG, up to 1GByte. This probably makes it the most attractive option for Tourists visiting Ireland for <30 days. After 30 days there is a €4.99 charge for a 500MB quota or €9.99 for 1GB per month. In order to opt into these rates you need to send a text to Freetext 50104. Sub Internet 500MB or Sub Internet 1GB for each of these add-ons. If you don't opt for an add-on, the default pricing for data transfers is 69c/day for PAYG, which gives you 50MB/day. Pricing is 2c/MB afterwards.
AvailabilityEdit
Free SIMs can be ordered on their Website or picked in their stores, or at the Carphone Warehouseor other agents. The SIMs are free, but you must add a top-up to make calls or use data. Micro SIMs are also available.
SIM sizesEdit
Standard SIM and micro SIMs.
TetheringEdit
Supported and no additional charges.
Other notesEdit
Skype and Viber work on Meteor.
The required APS settings are: data.mymeteor.ie and username /password left empty.
An interesting bonus with Meteor (and eMobile), is that they give free access to the nationwide network of WiFi hotspots operated by their parent company Eircom. These hotspots are located in many public locations such as Dublin Airport, cafe's, hotels etc. You can browse an interactive map of the hotspots on their website. There is no limit on the amount of data downloaded when on Eircom Wi-Fi, so it is a good way of saving your mobile data allowance when you need to do the odd large download.
Meteor have 2G, EDGE, and 3G HSPA+ networks.
TescoEdit
Default pricing The default pricing for data transfers is 77c/MB, though this is specified as WAP over GPRS. For 79c, you get 24 hours' browsing up to 50 MB - send a blank text to 174209. For €6.99, you get 30 days' browsing up to 1GB - send a blank text to 174209.
AvailabilityEdit
SIMs can be purchased at Tesco stores, for €2.50, and topups can be bought at the same time.
SIM sizesEdit
Standard SIM.
Other notesEdit
Uses the O2 network. APN is tescomobile.liffeytelecom.com, username and password are blank.
NOTE: ALTHOUGH TESCO USE THE O2 NETWORK, SOME SERVICES ARE RESTRICTED COMPARED TO THE EQUIVALENT SERVICES ON O2. IN PARTICULAR, DATA SPEEDS ARE THROTTLED, SO TESCO IS NOT RECOMMENDED FOR DATA.
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