TMobile UK - Instant Messaging blocked?

[Guest xspyda]

Can anyone confirm if TMob are actively now blocking Instant Messaging over 3G?

I used to be able to use such apps as IM+ and Agile with no problem. Although I can make a connection through WiFi, making one through 3g is a complete no go it seems.

I also think VoiP is blocked. I tried using Truphone the other day and while it made the receiving phone ring, there was no voice throughput either way.

I know TMob frowned upon the use of IM / VoiP in the past, but it would now seem they are actively preventing it.

As I say, can anyone confirm?

Thanks.

[Guest mattie01]

Can anyone confirm if TMob are actively now blocking Instant Messaging over 3G?

I used to be able to use such apps as IM+ and Agile with no problem. Although I can make a connection through WiFi, making one through 3g is a complete no go it seems.

I also think VoiP is blocked. I tried using Truphone the other day and while it made the receiving phone ring, there was no voice throughput either way.

I know TMob frowned upon the use of IM / VoiP in the past, but it would now seem they are actively preventing it.

As I say, can anyone confirm?

Thanks.

i can still use messenger live. on t-mob web'n'walk

[Guest penguin]

yup live messenger works fine for me on web & walk

[Guest xspyda]

yup live messenger works fine for me on web & walk

Thanks for the replies.

I too have found that I can connect to Live Messenger through Web & Walk, but am still unable to connect to either MSN / AIM or ICQ through Agile Messenger or IM+.

Is anyone able to try connecting through either of these apps? Live Messenger is a vi;able alternative but it's less than ideal for me.

Thanks again.

[Guest RickDawson]

I think it's blocked, due to the fact it just stays on the 4 color loading square/circle, if I try it when connected to t-mob w'n'w payg.

[Guest Happy Dave]

I think it's blocked, due to the fact it just stays on the 4 color loading square/circle, if I try it when connected to t-mob w'n'w payg.

anyone any updates, whilst I never reallu used it Fring used to work fine but is now stuck at loggig in and Resco FTP Add In now also refuses to connect over GPRS/3G

Both apps work fine over WiFi

[Guest welshmikie]

hiya ye instant messaging is blocked and you need web and walk plus to unlock... also web and walk max will give you voip access.

[Guest finisterre]

I'm on the original W&W Pro. It used to work for me, but now it doesn't. MSN Live Messenger still does (but I hate that) and interestingly the Java midlet version of Agile still works for AIM and MSN.

[Guest Happy Dave]

I'm on the original W&W Pro. It used to work for me, but now it doesn't. MSN Live Messenger still does (but I hate that) and interestingly the Java midlet version of Agile still works for AIM and MSN.

looks like its blocked then. They all used to work (Skype, Fring, etc) now its just Lve Messenger that works over 3G

[Guest Christopher Woods]

Just an update - on WnW £7.50 here, have been for 18 months now - WLM works fine, Skype works fine, EQO works fine, only thing that's blocked is FTP (which is easily workaroundable).

[Guest Confucious]

Just an update - on WnW £7.50 here, have been for 18 months now - WLM works fine, Skype works fine, EQO works fine, only thing that's blocked is FTP (which is easily workaroundable).

So you don't mind stealing? Using things that are specifically prohibited in your T&C just because you can doesn't make it right.

[Guest Christopher Woods]

So you don't mind stealing? Using things that are specifically prohibited in your T&C just because you can doesn't make it right.

The fact that I can doesn't mean that I do all the time. And stealing is a very emotive word - it implies physical loss, theft of an item which cannot easily be reproduced. I'd hardly say using a couple of hundred kilobytes of data over an hour with WLM could be sensibly classed as stealing.

When I signed up to T-Mobile I also purchased the Web & Walk addon because it was marketed differently - it wasn't advertised as a tiered service in the fashion it is now. In a nutshell, I was sold Web & Walk as Internet access on the go, regardless of what I want to use through it protocol-wise. If my Pocket PC can technically do something like send/receive IMs (MSN was supplied with the bloody phone!) or Skype, then I'd reasonably expect to be able to do this over the network.

I've always taken an agnostic approach to Internet connectivity, and it really annoys me when unreasonable or unnecessary limits are placed on the abilities of users to utilise the networks for no particular reason, other than making a quick profit... Or because there's an underlying lack of investment which results in chronic shortage of resources, necessitating the artificial limits. I'm fairly confident that with TM, it was a marketing and financial decision more than a technically-influenced one, because from what I can gather, TM has one of the best 3G networks in the UK speed-wise, it's just the coverage that needs improving (which it is).

Of course, with regards to services and protocols over mobile data, I'm talking technically - as I'm sure you've also found, in reality, the saturation, contention and latency involved in the current mobile data networks means that a lot of the things that are 'technically' possible really just aren't viable at the moment. I hardly ever use Skype (the only times I've ever fired it up were to make an 0870 call, which I can now do over the GSM network thanks to EQO, and send a few skype IMs to someone who I wanted to quickly speak to). I don't use PPC torrent clients and saturate the local cell's uplink, that's just antisocial (and pitifully slow anyway :)).

Let me give you a scenario... About nine months ago, my phone line was taken out of action for a WEEK by BT because an Openreach engineer made an incorrect adjustment to my line at the exchange. I had my phone, and I tethered it to my laptop to use the Internet, to stay in touch, to do essential emailing and read the news, surf the (plaintext) web, things like that... I used probably about 800Mb in 8 days, and for the rest of that month I probably used about 100Mb - if that. All the heavier usage was done between 10pm and 1am each day, when I had my laptop running in the house.

Would you call my (technically prohibited) tethering stealing? I didn't leech ISOs or movies over the connection, I just used it pretty much how I'd use the web on my phone (I also email from my phone anyway and have push email configured, so there's really little difference aside from the end-user UI) - if you were looking at my case, and my account, would you put me on the 'naughty pipe' or bar my flatrate access? Would you class what I did as theft? I have no reason to pay £12.50 for 18 months just in case I need to tether for 8 days, I hardly use the network resources as it is, probably doing 10/15Mb in a day and often not using any data at all. I'm pretty sure they're making money off me most of the time, so why should I feel bad about the occasional technical infringement?

If I went to a T-Mobile store and nicked one of their 3G USIMs to use in my phone, that would be stealing and I would indeed feel very bad about it (and it'd also be futile because after 10 minutes, the SIM would be barred anyway). Because I'm being forced to comply with an otherwise artificial set of restrictions, why should that also be classed as stealing? The functionality was there before, it was then taken away from me after I'd been paying for a particular service for many months, and I think if you thought about it this way you'd see that it's not so unreasonable to expect certain, fairly simple, non-intensive services such as instant messengers to work over a network which really should be amply capable of handling hundreds of users doing so in the same cell at once. I think they've only applied these limits because they're worried about scalability, but they're worrying too much.

Sorry about the long reply, you got me going a bit. :D

[Guest Confucious]

Hehe - I was probably a bit harsh wasn't I? I think I was tired and mis-read your post as encouraging people to abuse their contracts.

With 3G using Skype/modem/messaging doesn't, I believe, make that much difference, but, from what i understand, it does on GPRS as GPRS uses timeslots whicjh get 'blocked' - hence the differnt plans.

I used to be onm standard W'n'W but found I wanted HSDPA which wasn't available on std and I also wanted to use messenger more than just occasionally so upgraded to plus.

Occasional misuse probably makes no difference but if peoplke are using features on a regular basis the T do provide plans that cater to them.

Hope I didn't offend too much....

[Guest Christopher Woods]

Hehe - I was probably a bit harsh wasn't I? I think I was tired and mis-read your post as encouraging people to abuse their contracts.

With 3G using Skype/modem/messaging doesn't, I believe, make that much difference, but, from what i understand, it does on GPRS as GPRS uses timeslots whicjh get 'blocked' - hence the differnt plans.

I used to be onm standard W'n'W but found I wanted HSDPA which wasn't available on std and I also wanted to use messenger more than just occasionally so upgraded to plus.

Occasional misuse probably makes no difference but if peoplke are using features on a regular basis the T do provide plans that cater to them.

Hope I didn't offend too much....

Not at all mate, I've seen your participation in discussions on here before and you've always come across as quite reasoned. I kind of assumed you'd misinterpreted what I said, but I felt I had to stick up for myself anyway :D

When did you sign up for WnW? The week I got my tariff activated, I rang TM up because I had some technical queries, and I asked if I could have the HSDPA flag set on my account - the lady kindly put me through to technical support and the guy provisioned me instantly. Apparently they got more uptight about doing that for everyone later on (probably in preparation for the subsequent rollout of their plus and super-mega-ultra-epic tariffs), but I had it done instantly, no problems.

It's one of the reasons I don't want to cancel with TM :( The amusing thing is, HSDPA doesn't make *that* much of a difference most of the time but it does make a noticeable difference over the standard 3G speeds... And when it does make a big difference, it's a truly wonderful thing.

I can't wait for the eventual rollout of HSPA though, but that's a looooong way off yet :( HSUPA first!

Edited February 28, 2008 by Christopher Woods

[Guest Confucious]

I signed up almost as soon as the 'unlimited W'n'W came out but had a Universal so didn't need HSDPA - it wasn't until a lot later I asked and was told it wasn't available. As I got 25% off and they've since given me another £15 off a month I'm now paying just over £20 / month for Flext35 and W'n'W Plus so can't really complain!