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Can't connect to 3 internet!! Help!!


Guest Shaftypants

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Guest Shaftypants

Searched and searched but can't find anything about this. Due to living in an area with poor mobile reception (except orange but their data rates are extortionate) I've decided to trial some PAYG sims to see which will be usable. I am getting an excellent reception on the 3 sim but the roaming triangle appears at the top of the screen. I think it is roaming on the orange network. Thing is I've just payed £5 for the internet add on but I cant actually connect to the net!! Any page I try and load it just loads 1 byte and then stops. I've gone through the automatic setting and also tried it manually. Tried switching the phone settings to WCDMA but then I get nothing at all!! Tried a hard reset too bu to no avail.

Can anybody please help before I go INSANE!!!!

Edited by Shaftypants
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Guest Neil5459
Searched and searched but can't find anything about this. Due to living in an area with poor mobile reception (except orange but their data rates are extortionate) I've decided to trial some PAYG sims to see which will be usable. I am getting an excellent reception on the 3 sim but the roaming triangle appears at the top of the screen. I think it is roaming on the orange network. Thing is I've just payed £5 for the internet add on but I cant actually connect to the net!! Any page I try and load it just loads 1 byte and then stops. I've gone through the automatic setting and also tried it manually. Tried switching the phone settings to WCDMA but then I get nothing at all!! Tried a hard reset too bu to no avail.

Can anybody please help before I go INSANE!!!!

We have a long thread about this subject Here on 4WM

In short, the APN is 'three.co.uk' with no username or password. All of us using this setting find it connects OK.

The device needs to be set to Automatic in the band settings; If GSM only, the 3 network will reject you, and if WCDMA only you won't be able to connect to a GSM roaming mast.

While roaming on Orange (or O2 in some places) you may see the Roaming icon in the taskbar.

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Guest dolbe666

if you happen to be in an area that uses o2 for 3's roaming and you cant get an o2 signal with an o2 sim, this will also effect your 3 connection and you wont be able to use the 3 network for browsing

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Guest Shaftypants

Thanks for the link - very useful. As a result I'm beginning to think it may be a dodgy sim card as I too bought one off ebay. Only bugger is that I've now transferred my number to this sim. Do you reckon it'll be a struggle to transfer my number to a new 3 PAYG sim?

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Guest Shaftypants

A further update on this issue. Having read a thread on the 4win forum I decided that it may be a dodgy sim card as i had purchased it off ebay. So today I toddled off to the nearest 3 shop for a new sim card. Whilst in there I decided to show the guy (who had never even seen or heard of the kaiser) the problem I was having. Would you believe it, it worked spot on, presumably because the shop was located in an area recieving a 3 3g signal. Thus it must indicate that you can only get on the internet in 3 service areas and not whilst roaming on other networks. Can anyone confirm if this is actually the case?

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Guest dolbe666

like I said its the fact that the signal is not strong enough on the roaming network. did you ask who was their carrier for their roaming network to see if it was an issue with the roaming network providor?

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Guest Shaftypants
like I said its the fact that the signal is not strong enough on the roaming network. did you ask who was their carrier for their roaming network to see if it was an issue with the roaming network providor?

It must be orange because the O2 signal is too weak in my area. Even if I get the E symbol on the 3 network (still roaming on Orange) it won't load any pages :((

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Guest Paul (MVP)

You should be able to get on the internet when on 2G and 'roaming', and it's very unlikely it's a dodgy SIM. Can you find another '2G area' and try it? Could be your local cell?

P

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Guest Neil5459
It must be orange because the O2 signal is too weak in my area. Even if I get the E symbol on the 3 network (still roaming on Orange) it won't load any pages :((

Are you able to make/receive voice calls when 'roaming' ?

It may be worth going into Settings/Phone/Network and checking that the Network Selection choice box is set for Automatic. Sometimes the configurator for 'Three' sets it to Manual and 'Three' meaning the roaming connections won't always work.

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Guest ashley
We have a long thread about this subject Here on 4WM

In short, the APN is 'three.co.uk' with no username or password. All of us using this setting find it connects OK.

The device needs to be set to Automatic in the band settings; If GSM only, the 3 network will reject you, and if WCDMA only you won't be able to connect to a GSM roaming mast.

While roaming on Orange (or O2 in some places) you may see the Roaming icon in the task bar.

Can't believe you're getting the same issue as me

Ditched my orange contract to go to 3 with my Samsung i600 adding the 1gb bolt on.

HSDPA and 3G work well with the correct APN in town but "in the sticks" normal GPRS gives me 1kb or thereabouts before timing out.

I'd dispute the quote about the signal showing you the level of the 3 network not the 2G network you've roamed onto, as some tiny pages load so there must be a GPRS network but blocked at some point. After all Orange GPRS worked fine in this area previously

Anyway, cut a long story short

Took the 3 phone and sim back and, once the legal team sort a few issues out, will be cancelled and going back onto Orange with a slightly pricier internet BUT it works in GPRS/3G/HSDPA and the customer service (from business side) is SOOO much better and UK based

Edited by ashley
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Guest Shaftypants
Can't believe you're getting the same issue as me

Ditched my orange contract to go to 3 with my Samsung i600 adding the 1gb bolt on.

HSDPA and 3G work well with the correct APN in town but "in the sticks" normal GPRS gives me 1kb or thereabouts before timing out.

I'd dispute the quote about the signal showing you the level of the 3 network not the 2G network you've roamed onto, as some tiny pages load so there must be a GPRS network but blocked at some point. After all Orange GPRS worked fine in this area previously

Anyway, cut a long story short

Took the 3 phone and sim back and, once the legal team sort a few issues out, will be cancelled and going back onto Orange with a slightly pricier internet BUT it works in GPRS/3G/HSDPA and the customer service (from business side) is SOOO much better and UK based

Thank God I'm not the only one!! I don't want to ditch Three as I can (theoretically) have Oranges coverage and Three's data tariffs. Are we saying that the fault here lies with Three or with Orange? How can Three expect people to sign up when they can't even access the simplest pages in an area they claim to cover?

Tried the T-mobile sim today but no coverage at all at work :D

Looks like I'm going to HAVE to go with Orange too *cries like a baby at the sheer thought of it*

Paul, I have no idea about local cells or how far I'd have to travel to find a different cell. I just don't know where to turn with this now :D

If ANYONE has ANY information about his I'd be eternally grateful (as would Ashley probably) :(

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I dont have my kaiser any longer or use 3 either since they changed their roaming agreement to Orange but would advise you to get an orange payg sim to try data with before you do anything, worst case it will cost you a £1 to try it.

I get this a lot with orange, 1kb then nothing and tend to use the wap connection rather than orange Internet connection but i do tend to make most of my data connections out in the sticks not in heavily populated areas and whilst i know some will say im wrong i really feel the orange net is overloaded for data since joining with 3.

Its also a sympton of a faulty cell tower, can be like it for weeks then all of a sudden it works fine. Get the orange payg sim and if it works fine then im wrong but if it dont then may save you a few quid. Plus orange payg data is not so bad with the £1 a day bundle for something like 25mb.

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Guest skanna

I 'm fairly sure you cant access the internet when 'roaming' on 3. If there is poor 3G coverage, the phone switches to 2G and the Orange network. It still works for calls and texts, but not for GPRS. Once back into a decent 3G area, and all will work again, without touching the settings.

Incidently, I wrote an email complaining to 3 CS about apparent blocking of some of the ports available on 3. For example I couldnt access Gmail or MS Messenger via 3G. After the email, I got a reply saying they couldnt help me because I didnt have a '3' branded phone. But for some reason, everything started working. I dont know if CS activated something, but I can now access Gmail, MS Messenger, Windows Live and related push email, and full internet when using internet sharing and a laptop.

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Guest Shaftypants

Emailed 3 customer service last night and spoke with them today. The lady told me that there was no way I would ever be able to access the internet on a none 3 branded phone (so God only knows why they sold me the £5 internet option). I explained that I didn't need a free phone or anything off them just a sim only contract that would enable me to access the internet. Having been told that this was absolutely not possible (believe me I tried) I had no alternative but to request a PAC code. I still refuse to believe, however that 3 would turn a perfectly good potential customer away just because he didn't want one of their phones?! It just doesn't make any sense!!! Barring any further developments (hopefully someone on here knows something I don't) I will have to turn to the dark side and go to Orange :((

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Guest mark4130

I use a 3 Sim in my SPV M3100 and my Nokia N70 - neither of which are 3 handsets (both started as Orange handsets). In fact, I use my M3100 as it works on 3's service far better than my LG Viewty which IS a 3 handset!!!!

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Guest Neil5459
The lady told me that there was no way I would ever be able to access the internet on a none 3 branded phone (so God only knows why they sold me the £5 internet option).

That is total cobblers :( I got the same story in a 3 Shop when I asked for a PAYG SIM card.

The simple fact is that in January 2007, 3 altered their T&C to allow any 3G phone to access its network with a 3 SIM, though some of the specialised 3 services may not be available. One proviso is that the non-3 phone must be switched to 3G or Auto, and not constained to GSM. Genuine 3 phones don't have the option to turn off 3G

I have a 3 SIM working fine in my Ameo, and colleagues are using 3 SIMs in Vodafone 3G Datacards, all using the £5 monhly internet package. I have to admit that roaming performance is poor- the handover often doesn't work, and for some reason the signal on Orange while roaming here at home is non existant, whereas I get 2 bars on my Orange phone/SIM card.

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  • 5 weeks later...
Guest Shaftypants
The plot thickens... when I put in a HTTP proxy, I can get out via it!

P

Hi Paul,

Gave up in the end (those call centres are infuriatingly crap, besides which they tell BIG FAT LIES). I'm using Orange PAYG as the minute but would happily(ish) go back to 3 if I could surf whilst roaming. Let me know if you get anywhere!!

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Guest Paul (MVP)

Basically, it does seem as if they are blocking traffic over port 80! I can hit my proxy on port 3128, but port 80 = nothing.

Shocking really, they don't exactly publicise the fact that your 5 quid internet pass won't work out of 3G coverage do they!

P

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Guest Shaftypants
Basically, it does seem as if they are blocking traffic over port 80! I can hit my proxy on port 3128, but port 80 = nothing.

Shocking really, they don't exactly publicise the fact that your 5 quid internet pass won't work out of 3G coverage do they!

P

Very true. They were supposed to have refunded mine but it never happened. Couldn't bear to ring them up to chase it either!! It's worse than not just publicising it though as customer services can't give you an explanation either. They only seem to be pre programmed with the "it's not a 3 handset so internet won't work" line. When you tell them that you have had internet working on a none 3 handset in a 3g area they just repeat the standard phrase :)

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Guest cpt_andy
Basically, it does seem as if they are blocking traffic over port 80! I can hit my proxy on port 3128, but port 80 = nothing.

Thanks for the proxy tip, I thought it might be something like this - imap email works fine. It still seems to be painfully slow though, even using the proxy.

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Guest bydandie

The issue that I find is that 3 simply don't have the customer services/sales knowledge to make this sevrice work. I now have bought the £10 per month option on a business tarrif and it's far more difficult than it would be if I was a consumer. Technical services are an 0870 number and the data tracking software is pants.

Having said that, the service does work - but methinks it's ripe for a takeover.

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