GPRS in the UK

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

Homepage: http://wap.o2.co.uk/
Access point (contract): wap.o2.co.uk
Access point (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: 8080

O2 GPRS settings (Mobile Web / Email):

Homepage: http://pda.o2.co.uk/
Access point: 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.

Vodafone GPRS settings (WAP) / Vodafone Live!:

Homepage: http://live.vodafone.com
Access Point (Contract): wap.vodafone.co.uk
Access Point (PAYG):pp.vodafone.co.uk
Username: wap
Password: wap
Session type: Continuous / permanent
Authentication: Normal
Network type: Ipv4
Security: Off
Gateway (IP) address: 212.183.137.012
Port number: 8799

Vodafone GPRS settings (Email/Web):

Homepage: http://live.vodafone.com
Access Point (Contract): internet
Access Point (PAYG): pp.vodafone.co.uk
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: 62.213.128.092
DNS Server: 212.183.137.012

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

For your phone to connect over GPRS, you'll need to tell the phone which APN (Access Point Name) 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 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).

See below for details of speeding up browsing over GPRS.

If 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.

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.

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.

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 from a Pocket PC
  
  

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. Go "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 Mobile Broadband with their £15 a month service (3GB a month download limit), or 3 Broadband to Go , with prices starting from £10 a month. A pay-as-you-surf option also available - handy for those not interested in a contract.
   
   
3. 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

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)
  
  

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.

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