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GPRS in the UK

Help and advice on using GPRS in the UK, including common GPRS settings

Web and Walk modem

What is GPRS?

GPRS, stands for General Packet Radio Service, and is a protocol for passing data over a mobile phone network. GPRS offers what has become known as "always on" data connection for GSM mobile phones

Here's what you need to know about GPRS:

  • GPRS replaced dial-up mobile phone access, offering faster browsing of Internet content, and faster access to online services such as WAP, weband email.
  • GPRS on a mobile phone doesn't use a phone number to connect, it uses something called an APN (Access Point Node).
  • With GPRS, you don't pay your online time per-minute, you pay for the amount of data you transfer.
  • To an extent, GPRS is now being superceded by faster data network services known as 3G
T-Mobile Looking for low-price GPRS mobile Internet access?
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UK APN settings

This section contains the GPRS settings for the UK network operators:

o2 GPRS settings:

O2 GPRS settings (WAP):
Note: Different settings for contract and PAYG (Pay as you go)

Homepage: http://wap.o2.co.uk/
APN address (contract): wap.o2.co.uk
APN address (PAYG): payandgo.o2.co.uk
Gateway (IP) address : 193.113.200.195
Username : o2wap (contract) / payandgo (PAYG)
Password: password
Session type: Continuous / permanent
Authentication: Normal
Security: Off
 Port number: 9201

O2 GPRS settings (Email/Web):

Homepage: http://pda.o2.co.uk/
APN address: mobile.o2.co.uk
Username: mobileweb
Password: password
Session type: Continuous / permanent
Authentication: Normal
Security: Off

Email servers (POP): mail.o2.co.uk
Email servers (SMTP): smtp.o2.co.uk
DNS Servers: 193.113.200.200 and 193.113.200.201

Note: The "Mobile Web" service must be enabled for these settings to work.
* We've also been told of an alternative username of 'faster', with a password of 'password'

Contact o2 Customer Services to get this enabled. Not available on PAYG
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For more details on o2, see our o2 info page, or our o2 WAP setup page.

Vodafone GPRS settings:

Vodafone GPRS settings (WAP):

Homepage: http://wap:1999/vodafone.wml
APN address: wap.vodafone.co.uk (Contract)
APN address: pp.vodafone.co.uk (PAYG)
Gateway (IP) address: 212.183.137.12
Username: wap
Password: wap
Session type: Continuous / permanent
Authentication: Normal
Security: Off
 Port number: 8799

Vodafone GPRS settings (Email/Web):

Homepage: http://wap:1999/vodafone.wml
Access Point (APN) address : internet (Contract)
Access Point (APN) address : pp.vodafone.co.uk(PAYG)
Username* : web
Password*: web
Session type: Continuous / permanent
Authentication: Normal
Security: Off

 Email SMTP server: send.vodafone.net
Email SMTP server: smtp.vizzavi.co.uk
Alt email SMTP server: mail.vizzavi.co.uk
Alt email SMTP server: mail.vodafone.net
Alt email SMTP server: 212.183.156.229
 Alt email SMTP server: 62.213.128.92
DNS Server: 212.183.137.12

Note: GPRS subscription must be enabled for "Vodafone Internet Access Service".
Contact Vodafone Customer Services on 191 from your Vodafone handset

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Orange GPRS WAP settings:

Orange GPRS settings (WAP):

Homepage: http://orange.multimedia/
APN add. (Contract): orangewap
APN add. (PAYG): paygwap

Gateway (IP) address : 192.168.71.35
Username: Orange
Password: Multimedia
Session type: Continuous / permanent
Authentication: Normal
 Port number: 9201

Orange GPRS settings (Email/Web):

Homepage: http://orange.multimedia/
APN address: orangeinternet
APN add. (Old PAYG): payginternet
Username: user
Password: pass
Authentication: Normal

Email SMTP server: smtp.orange.net
Prim. DNS Server: 158.43.192.1
Sec. DNS Server: 158.43.128.1
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T-Mobile GPRS WAP settings:

Homepage: http://wap.t-mobile.co.uk/ or http://www.t-zones.co.uk/
GPRS APN address: general.t-mobile.uk
Gateway (IP) address :149.254.1.10 (alt: 149.254.201.132)
Username : user (alt: wapuser)
Password: wap
Session type: Continuous / permanent
Port number: 8080 (alt: 9201)
 Authentication: Normal
SMTP email server: smtp.t-email.co.uk
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Tesco-Mobile GPRS WAP settings:

Homepage: http://wap.tesco-mobile.com/
APN address (contract): prepay.tesco-mobile.com
Gateway (IP) address : 193.113.200.195
Username : tescowap
Password: password
Session type: Continuous / permanent
Port number: 9201
Authentication: Normal
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Many thanks for Nick B and Martin J for supplying this info

Virgin Mobile GPRS WAP settings:

Homepage: http://www.virgin.com/mobile/wap/
APN address (contract): goto.virginmobile.uk
Gateway (IP) address : 193.30.166.3
Port number: 8080
Username : user
Password: (leave blank)
Session type: Continuous / permanent
Authentication: Normal
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BT Mobile GPRS WAP settings:

Homepage: http://wap.btmw.net
APN address : btmobile.bt.com
Gateway (IP) address : 212.183.137.12
Username : bt
Password: bt
Session type: Continuous / permanent
Port number: 8799 or 9201
Authentication: Normal

We also have the following settings:
Homepage: http://wap.btmw.net
APN address : mobile.bt.uk
Gateway (IP) address : 149.254.201.132
Username : user
Password: wap
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GPRS browsing on a 7650
Browsing over GPRS on a Nokia Series 60 phone
GPRS Vodafone
Setting up GPRS

WAP on Smartphones

On the FileSaveAs site, we have a number of pages dedicated to setting up mobile Internet on smartphones and handheld computers. Try one of the following links:

  • Psion PDA - such as the Series 5mx and Revo
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Common questions:

Dialup number? GPRS is a service supplied by your mobile phone network operator. It doesn't use a dial-up number (as GSM data calls do). Instead the APN (Access Point Node) is used to work out where to route your data requests.
Confused about APNs

For your phone to connect over GPRS, you'll need to tell the phone which APN (Access Point Node) to use. We've listed the main UK APNs above. Note that most operators have different access points for different services, and you'll need to pick the right one, or things won't work:

  • WAP Access point - To allow connection to WAP services
  • Internet Access point - For web browsing, email and instant messaging, etc
  • MMS Access point - For multimedia messages, such as picture/photo messaging
GPRS not enabled? GPRS is a service that your mobile phone network operator (e.g. o2, Vodafone, etc) needs to enable before it can be used. You'll also need to ask your Network Operator to enable this service for you (a call to Customer Services should do the trick). In some cases, it may take up to 48 hours for your operator to enable this, so be patient.
GPRS speed GPRS runs faster than standard mobile phone dialup (which is normally 9.6kbps). GPRS speed depends on a number of factors (all to do with how many of the 8 'timeslots' are assigned by the network operator) - the maximum possible speed is 171kbps, but you're unlikely to ever get anywhere near this speed. Our tests show average speeds of around 25 to 40 kbps (still around 3 times faster than dialup).
For the technically-minded, click here for more on GPRS speeds.
See below for details of speeding up browsing over GPRS .

What do I get for a megabyte? GPRS data transfer is billed in amount of data, and not seconds. In mobile terms, one megabyte is equivalent to around one thousand WAP pages, 20 average-sized web pages, or 100 average size emails with no images/attachments.
Faster GPRS? OnSpeed, for faster GPRSIf you're looking to speed up your mobile Internet connection, you might want to take a look at the service from OnSpeed. If you are connecting using a GPRS phone, not only will you get faster Internet access with OnSpeed, there's another added benefit that, due to compression, your phone bill will be substantially lowered because of the reduction in data received. This can result in up to a 90% reduction in costs since mobile phone providers charge per MegaByte downloaded.

Note that you'll only benefit from a speed enhancement if you're using a GPRS connection via a PC, laptop or a Pocket PC- as the OnSpeed software needs to be running on Windows or a Mac to gain the speedup. More details at www.onspeed.com.
Email over GPRS Email over GPRS is supported, but you'll need to use an "Internet" not a "WAP" access point (you may need to ask your network operator to enable this). If your smartphone has an email application and you have a POP email account, then you should be able to access email over GPRS.

If you're looking for a free POP email account that can be accessed on your mobile, consider BT Yahoo. Our BT Yahoo page contains links to setup instructions for using the service on many handsets and PDAs.

Can't send e-mail over GPRS When sending email from a smartphone over GPRS, you'll need to have specified an outgoing email server address (known as an SMTP server). Many Internet Service Providers only allow you to use their SMTP server if you've established a connection to them using their dial-up service (this helps fight spam attacks). If you're trying to send email from your handset over GPRS, you'll probably be connecting using the GPRS service of your network operator, and will need to use their SMTP server, not your ISPs SMTP server. As an example, if you use BT Yahoo as your email provider, and o2 as your network operator, you won't be able to send using mail.btinternet.com, you'd need to use smtp.o2.co.uk

Thanks to site visitor semyon for suggesting smtp.com - a service offering SMTP access regardless of your provider. We've also been contacted by SMTP2Go letting us know about their SMTP service.
Problems web surfing over GPRS This is a common question. If your handset has a web browser, you may find that you can't surf web pages, even though the handset shows that you're connected. On a Pocket PC, this may show up as "page not found". On a Symbian OS smartphone, you may see this as "GPRS: Invalid GPRS access point".

This is almost certainly because you are using the wrong GPRS Access point. Most GPRS handsets are set with access to the network operator's WAP gateway, and this will only allow you to browse dedicated WAP content, and not standard Internet web pages. You'll need to set up your handset for Internet-over-GPRS, using the network operator's Internet APN, not the WAP APN (You'll find the information you need listed above). You'll also need to ask your Network Operator to enable this service for you (a call to Customer Services should do the trick). In some cases, it may take up to 48 hours for your operator to enable this, so be patient.
Looking for GPRS hardware If you're looking for GPRS hardware, such as a PCMCIA GPRS card for your laptop, or a GPRS CF card for your Palm or Pocket PC handheld, we recommend Dabs.com for low prices and prompt delivery.
Mobile Web on o2 PAYG? o2 Mobile Web is not available on the o2 Pay-as-you-go tariff, only for customers on a pay-monthly tariff.
According to various emails we've seen, this is o2's policy as opposed to any kind of technical limitation.
Low cost GPRS in the UK T-Mobile If you're paying too much for mobile Internet access, we're currently recommending T-Mobile Web 'n' Walk They're offering unlimited mobile surfing for only £7.50 a month
Problems with a 6600 Many site visitors have reported difficulty with setting up GPRS on the Nokia 6600. This is because Nokia has moved some of the settings options to an "Advanced" page, and changed a few field names. See our Nokia 6600 WAP setup page for a step-by-step guide on setting up WAP over GPRS on a 6600.
GPRS via a modem

If you're looking to use your GPRS-enabled mobile phone as a modem (to connect to the Internet from a laptop or a PDA over infrared or Bluetooth), here's what you need to know:

  • From the laptop / PDA, you need to create a dial-up connection, and enter a dialup phone number of *99#
  • You need to enter a special modem initialisation string of:
    +CGDCONT =1,"IP","apn.address" - you should substitute apn.address with the name of the GPRS APN that you wish to connect to (see the table above)

For some examples, see the following pages:
GPRS from a laptop

GPRS data card If you're looking to connect to the Internet from a laptop, and you can't plug into a landline, here are some common methods of getting onto the Internet:

  1. Connect your laptop to a GPRS-enabled mobile phone, and use the mobile as a data modem - We offer setup help on this here

  2. Get yourself a dedicated GPRS datacard (pictured) for your laptop's PCMCIA slot. Consider the 3G/GPRS Data card from T-Mobile or the 3G/GPRS datacard from Vodafone (or Amazon)

  3. T-Mobile USB ModemGo "3G" for faster connection. Get yourself a USB dongle that plugs into your laptop's USB socket. These provide you with high-speed Internet access. There are two we recommend: T-Mobile Web 'n' Walk with their £20 a month, for unlimited mobile surfing offer, or 3 Broadband to Go , with prices starting from £10 a month.

  4. If you happen to be in range of a wi-fi hotspot, or have a friendly neighbour that will let you share their wi-fi broadband access, consider Wi-fi as an alternative. More on Wi-fi

You could also consider a PDA or smartphone with GPRS or Wi-fi access, if you're only after occasional use. More on mobile GPRS

Note that if you're using GPRS, you'll probably want to be signed up to your network operator's full-Internet service (as opposed to basic WAP over GPRS). Ask your Network Operator to enable Full Internet on your GPRS account (on o2, this is called "Mobile Web").
Also note that using GPRS for long periods of Internet access can be expensive - check your network operator's site for tariff information

Problems with o2 GPRS On our Nokia Series 60 phone, we used to see experienced a "GPRS: Invalid GPRS access point" error when attempting to connect to, say, BT Yahoo, over o2 via their mobile.o2.co.uk APN. If you get the same, this is likely to be caused by one of two reasons - either you have not entered the correct o2 Mobile Web APN settings, or o2 has not enabled "Mobile Web" on your account (in which case, contact o2).

For general information on o2's data services, see our o2 information and o2 WAP pages.
What does 'Session mode' mean? Session type When connecting to a WAP gateway, you normally have to specify a session mode, this is a WAP setting used by your WAP provider to identify whether it should 'remember' information about your connection. Your WAP service provider will normally tell you which one to use, and you should set up your phone or browser accordingly. The two options are:
  • Connectionless session - Also known as Temporary. Connects to port 9200 on the Wap gateway server (or 9202 with WTLS security)
  • Connection-oriented session - Also known as Permanent or Continuous. Connects to port 9201 on the Wap gateway server (or 9203 with WTLS security)
What does 'authentication type' mean? Authentication If configuring GPRS on a mobile, you may be prompted to specify an authentication type. This defines whether your GPRS logon password is protected when it's sent over-the-air, protecting your login credentials. Options are "Normal" (sending password as plain text, referred to as 'PAP authentication'), or "Secure" (sent using challenge-response, referred to as 'CHAP authentication'). This isn't about protecting your data, or having a secure connection - just about protecting your GPRS logon password. Most operators in the UK support both, but as GPRS logon passwords are often generic, "Normal" should be fine for most users.

For more help on getting connected with GPRS, see our Connected? page

FrequencyCastLike your Tech? Based in the UK?

Take a listen to FrequencyCast, our regular online radio show. We've recently covered: Wi-fi, Sat Nav, Voice-over-Internet, Nintendo Wii, new smartphones, plus lots on digital TV in the UK.

Listen to our show online at www.frequencycast.co.uk

 

Links:

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