Airtel + Android = which Internet plan

JT_daniel said:
Guys I had the 200 bucks 3G plan last month and I got 250 MB data limit. Its pretty good, very very fast. I'm going to take the 100 (125 mb) rs plan this month 'cos my usage isn't a lot (maps and IMAP mail and twitter)

What is the difference between GPRS and 3G other than the obvious speed difference? In 3G, I keep it always on for 24x7 mail, twitter synchronisation. Is that possible in GPRS? Can I keep it 'always on'?

And what would you guys recommend? 98 bucks GPRS plan or the 3G plans?
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Sorry guys, I'm a new member and that post had to be approved by the mods before it was posted, so y'all missed it. A gentle bump please! lol
 
JT_daniel said:
Sorry guys, I'm a new member and that post had to be approved by the mods before it was posted, so y'all missed it. A gentle bump please! lol
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You made it look as if gprs came after 3G. Did you directly jump to 3g and never used gprs?

Sent from my ZTE Blade using Tapatalk
 
raksrules said:
^^Just put the Name as something like "Airtel Mobile office" or whatever you like.

Under APN, put airtelgprs.com and save the settings and select it. (tap the radio button corresponding to the new APN).

Ignore all other fields.

You GPRS is now ready to use.
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Thanks Buddy after some initial glitches gprs worked :D
 
Aladdin said:
You made it look as if gprs came after 3G. Did you directly jump to 3g and never used gprs?

Sent from my ZTE Blade using Tapatalk
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I did use GPRS in my older phones (nokia 6300, Motorola ZN400) but only when I needed it. It used to connect every time I used opera mini and disconnect after I was through browsing.

When I switched over to the Blade, I enabled 3G and have been keeping it always turned on. I just want to know if you can do the same with GPRS.
 
JT_daniel said:
I did use GPRS in my older phones (nokia 6300, Motorola ZN400) but only when I needed it. It used to connect every time I used opera mini and disconnect after I was through browsing.

When I switched over to the Blade, I enabled 3G and have been keeping it always turned on. I just want to know if you can do the same with GPRS.
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See as you already know GPRS is slower and 3G is faster and yes you can keep it constantly ON (always connected) so your twitter is sycned, you get push emails and all that. It is same like 3G. But remember that 3G drains battery like hell even if data is switched off, so brace your self for a bad battery life. Also since it is android phone, it has apps that constantly try to connect to net and if you data all time ON then you would be unnecessarily wasting your already small size bandwidth.

In gist what you did with GPRS and be done with 3G.

Edit: Read your post properly again. It seems you have a 3G plan but want to keep GPRS on ???

See once you take the 3G plan, it does not matter you use it in 3G mode, EDGE Mode or GPRS mode (vice versa not possible if you have GPRS plan).

If under your current plan you want to use ONLY GPRS(EDGE inclusive) and no 3G then in your android phone, go to settings -> wireless and networks -> mobile networks -> network mode -> select GSM only and you wont be able to use net at 3G speeds but GPRS / EDGE speeds and battery drain wont be much.
 
Thanks for the reply, raksrules, but I didn't imply that at all. I'm actually on prepaid, so the 3G plan has to be renewed every month by recharging either 101 or 201 Rs. My 3G plan for last month expired yesterday, so was wondering if I should put on GPRS unlimited or the 101 bucks 3G plan for this month.

I do have 3G on all the time, with twitter synchronisation at a 1 hour interval, Gmail on IMAP, Beautiful Widgets on a 1 hour refreshing. I get pretty good battery life from my Blade, I'm currently on 43 hours, 33 min and 13 seconds since unplugged and it's on 27%. My usage is average, around 10 minutes of calls everyday, 20-25 Sms's, 15-20 min of Mail checking, 5 min of Twitter/facebook..

I'll probably get more, as you said, with 3G off, but isn't 2 days pretty decent with a smartphone? As you said, the apps that constantly keep trying to access the net are the key to battery drain, but once you keep them all under control (I've set syncing off in all the other apps), the battery life improves. Its the same with the Iphone 4, it gave my friend less than 20 hours with 3G on with all apps syncing, but after I turned auto syncing off on most of the apps it gives him almost 30 hours straight.

Thanks for the answer, I'll probably try out the 98 bucks plan next month since I've already subscribed for the 101 pack yesterday.
 
^^See in case your usage is controlled then i suggest you go for some 3G plan of Rs 100 range. But if you think you need more volume then get the 98 rupees 2GB EDGE plan of airtel (i am assuming you are using airtel since you mentioned 98 plan). For the tasks you do, you actually dont need 3G speeds IMO and EDGE would work great. I am myself a 98 rs plan user but my usage of net is on demand and not ON full time.

Btw your battery life is indeed excellent and no problems whatsoever with that.
 
raksrules said:
For the tasks you do, you actually dont need 3G speeds IMO and EDGE would work great. I am myself a 98 rs plan user but my usage of net is on demand and not ON full time.
Btw your battery life is indeed excellent and no problems whatsoever with that.
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Aha, that was exactly what I needed to know. Thanks a ton!

And battery's purely down to the recalibration tip on Modaco. Before that I was getting only 20-22 hours. Highly recommended. :)
 
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