I agree with the first post. I've had T-Mobile HSPDA since it launched. I originally had the T-Mobile Pro Card for my laptop on a separate tariff, but last year integrated it all into my phone price plan with WnW Plus bolted on.

Nothing has changed with my setup, still have a Vario III which I use heavily as a MODEM on my laptop. Same place I mainly use it, but over the last 3 or 4 months the service is so bad I'm often left with download speeds closer to GPRS than HSPDA. It's not the connection to the network from what I can tell. I'm lucky to download at 20k at the moment. I used to get 250k-300k. Often get "Remote host disconnected". Images are re-purposed, so even downloading those little <1k gif images to navigate around Forum sites take 5-20 seconds to download them. I use FTP alot. The Ping time to get access to many sites is so slow, the FTP times out. We're talking 10-20 seconds just to make the connection every time I do an upload or download.

Hostnames often don't resolve all the time. It seems random. Sometimes I can't acces "Yahoo" Mail as I can't resolve the domain, sometimes it's the BBC News site, sometimes it won't resolve ftp sites I use. All random annoyances that I waste 5 or 10 minutes having to try reconnections to the network. Constantly having to CTRL-F5, and refresh to force a name server resolution. This is even on major sites like BBC and Yahoo.

Something has definately happened to the network, it is so sluggish it is a waste of £12.50 at the moment. It's almost to the point it is unuseable. I'll probably be off to Vodaphone next month (when my T-Mobile contract runs out). They've won awards for their mobile broadband. I think T-Mobile have let the grass grow under their feet i'm sorry to say. Not updated their infrastructure to accomodate all their customer. Slowing the download process by re-purposing images, even GIfs that are tiny anyway - is just loading down the response time. The big tell-tale sign is when you do pings! It's got awful response times through their network at the moment.

Awful! Have I made my point, d-ya think!

True to an extent. In order of carriage costs there's quite a difference between 0800>0870>0871 in that order. The client gets 2p a Minute for 0870 and 6p a Minute for 0871. Skype manage to do FREE for 0800, 10p for 0870 and 35p for 0871.

T-Mobile charging a flat 20p for ALL, means certain people are subsidising other people's calls. In my case of 0870 numbers, I'm not aware the wholesale market has increased it's prices by 100% on these calls to prompt T-Mobile to raise its costs from 10p to 20p.

Indeed. Been 2 days now since I sent a "Complain" response form. T-Mobile usually respond within 8 hours. I should know, I'm used to complaining!

I wouldn't mind so much, but I have lots of unused minutes left on my Flext plan each month. Why can't they charge you Double Minutes or Triple Minutes, instead of charging you separately?

I've uncovered quite a controversey over the 0870 numbers. OFCOM had recommended the Telco's dropping the commission charge on these numbers and making them the same price as a Geographic Number, and also making them part of standard price plans. The Competition Commission intervened at the last minute (May '08) and stopped the consultation.

So, the Telco's are dragging their feet, and I get the impression they have "conspired" to raise prices to annoy OFCOM's efforts to regulate the 08 number market to protect us consumers. It's very involved if you look at the FORUM site at www.saynoto0870.co.uk

To confuse matters further the Mobile operators are in dispute with BT over the whoesale prices being charged. It is a real quagmire at the moment, and we seem to be the Piggies in the Middle.

Yes, thanks for verifying. Their online Tariff charges are out of date then as it only mentions 0871 as being outside the price plan! So a bit ambiguous really.

http://shop.o2.co.uk/tariffs/18_months/

Can someone verify. Having been stung by the T-Mobile price increases on 0870/71/44/45 numbers from 10p to 20p, I was checking the o2 website, and under it's online tariffs they only charge 35p/min for 0871, nothing else is mentioned.

So I assume 0870 are included in your price plan? Is this correct? I'm thinking of moving to o2, especially as they also now have comparable Data Tariffs as well.

Well, this is a doubling from 10p to 20p on Flext. This is not really good enough, especially for 0870, and even more so 0845 (Lo-Call). Seems to me we are all being made to suffer to fund the 0871 (European) - this would normally cost over 8p at all times (from a landline) as opposed to 0.85p for 0870 off-peak! The end client gets 6p a call to 0871 (0870 was only 2p).

Anyway, I have complaned to T-Mobile. I notice o2 still include all these in their Price Plans. They only charge extra for 0871 - which are more expensive anyway.

I also phoned OFCOM, as the T-Mobile site www.t-mobile-co.uk/08 says "following the latest Ofcom guidelines". Apparently, OFCOM already have complaints registered and they said T-Mobile is being "misleading", as they have not issued any such guidlines regarding these 08 numbers - so there are two separate complaints lodged, one about the misleading information, and one about the 08 rates doubling.

OFCOM said, you would have a case for termination of the contract without any penalties, if you can show that this change will increase your bills.

Not heard back from t-mobile yet.