Free Texts: Includes virtually free texts from mobiles Discussion

mauranddot@hotmail.com

Try buying a Irish Vodaphone pay as you go sim card register your card log in to https://www.vodaphone.ie & get 300 free pc texts every month limited to 140 letters per txt maurice wood:T

counterclockwise

Thanks maurand :-)
To be honest, I can't be bothered with the faff of swapping sim cards in and out, giving people two numbers, topping up a sim, etc. This seems like a really good way of getting texts at a vaguely reasonable price, without too much additional work on my end.
Josh

counterclockwise

Oh, and welcome to the MSE forums! I note you joined a while back, but that being your first post, I thought I'd say hi!

datimms

Hey

I've successfully got Vyke Pro working on my T-mobile contract phone. However, when i tried to test it on my o2 PAYG phone, it has the same problem as everyone else... says "online" but cant send, check balance and there is no number listed on the about page. However vyke lite works fine.

Can we find out whether o2 PAYG has blocked Vyke?

I have also noticed, when I use vyke pro, my balance does not go down.. regardless of who i send it to! Bonus!


EDIT:
The number that comes up in the "about" page relates to the PIN number which is attached to your account when you top up. I found this out because my girlfriend (who lives in america) used my PIN to install VYKE onto her phone, and when she sends me messages it comes up with my number, as though I am sending them to myself. To change your PIN, go to "settings" and then "more". This still does not solve the problem that my o2 PAYG sim doesnt connect however.

datimms

counterclockwise wrote: »

No number for me either: this is most likely because Vyke gets the number by connecting to the server, and where its use is blocked, it cannot find this number. Just guessing, but pretty sure I'm right.

Actually, I think the phone number that is shown in the "about" section is related to the 15 digit PIN which is shown on your account information page on the main Vyke website. I think this because I gave my girlfriend my pin, and when she sends me messages it comes up with my number in my inbox.

To change your PIN, go to "Settings" and then click "More" (which is not a menu option but a button option on your phone).

However, I tried this on my o2 payg sim, and it still does not connect to the service, but its worth a try for those of you who are having problems.

datimms

scatz wrote: »

Anyhow, I then go to make a call and am also unable to utilise my mobiles phonebook through Vyke:mad:

To use your phone's phone book, your handset needs to support PIM. You can find out whether your handset does by checking your manufacturer's web site.

peterbaker

I have been exploring Vyke, Tex2, and SMSBug for 6 months now on various handsets.

The best of them currently for me is most definitely Vyke Pro because there is absolutely no charge by Vyke for texts if you can use their Pro version. I have a WiFi enabled Nokia 9500 which means when I am in range of a friendly WiFi network (like at work or home) then I can use Vyke Pro without even incurring data charges.

My son used it successfully with an Orange SIM on a refurbished 6230i direct from O2 but he now has his Orange SIM in a hand-me-down Vodafone contract handset, it's a Sony Ericsson W800i which is "unlocked" for normal use on any network, and does allow simple WAP access to Orange but refuses to allow Vyke Pro to connect.

I have spent hours trying to set it up - all in vain. In conclusion I am 90% sure that Vodafone handsets are crippled to prevent the type of internet connection that Vyke Pro needs. To reinforce my view, the four default internet profiles set originally in the handset by Vodafone are strangely not removeable even though new ones like Orange can be added and will successfully provide some internet connection.

I have read in several places on the internet that this type of anti-competitive crippling is rife in the industry. I believe Vyke themselves have alluded to it on their website and are working flat out to effectively "hack" around it. The problem is that Vyke are also a VoIP provider and the mobile companies are scared stiff that Vyke is effectively enabling mobile handsets, especially WiFi enabled handsets to bypass normal mobile phone tariffs completely.

The fact is that the different types of internet connection possible from a single mobile handset are so numerous and so complex for most users to understand that mobile phone companies have "bought time" by fooling us into thinking they've given us fully functional handsets when actually they have crippled them in ways we don't yet understand. This sounds like paranoia but I think I have seen enough to know better.

This is very much like the beginnings of SMS when it was easily possible to set your handset to use an independent SMS Centre number to send texts for free, instead of the chargeable one the mobile company gave you . The entire industry worldwide jumped on it and acted as a cartel to cripple those SMS gateways.

They acted as a cartel again (in UK at least) about 4/5 years ago when they all started charging premium rates for texts from UK to overseas numbers when previously there had been no difference. They have been acting as a cartel ever since with the basic price of a UK>UK texts hovering around 10p and just muddied the water a little bit with bundles. Some European networks have been charging as little as 2p or 3p for a Europe>UK text on a PAYG basis continuously over the same period.

So how do UK mobile companies get away with illegal cartel activity? I don't know. I do know that OFCOM/OFTEL or whatever they are thesedays are way behind the curve. Look how long it has taken them to hammer voice roaming down without even investigating text charges from abroad - and even roamed voice still hasn't reduced this summer in the way we were led to believe it would. So in Summer 2007 we get a kind of halfway house situation where you needed to "ask" to get the new rates on most networks, and we get 'promised' implementation dates in September for the real reductions after most holidays will be over. Even with "new" rates there are still awful con tricks in the new roaming packages e.g. 75p "connection charges" which are a disgrace.

I wish Martin luck in any compaign seeking to tear down the illegalities of this industry but if I am sure that there are some extremely big guns with other ideas.

The number of people here on MSE who report being unable to download or can download but can't use Vyke is a clue that the anticompetitive behaviour is rife. Vyke appear to be making a brave fight of it, but I would say the best moneysaving suggestion arising out of this thread might be to buy some Vyke shares (they are on AIM I believe) and use the profit obtained when they get bought-out/bought-off by the big guys to offset the outrageous cartel fixed charges suffered to date.

datimms

Also, I found out that Vyke Pro DOES NOT have to stay connected NOR does it have to be running in order for you to receive messages. If a Vyke user sends you a message, your phone will receive an SMS which will then switch on Vyke and allow you to read the message sent. The sender will pay to send the first message, but if you then stay connected while you can have the rest of your "txt conversation" for free. To disconnect, choose "disconnect" from the Vyke Pro menu.

You can also change your "ping" settings from the settings menu to a longer time. What this does is reduce the number of times Vyke checks the server, thus reducing the data usage. The Ping does not seem to affect whether or not you receive text messages, and in my experience I receive texts instantaneously regardless of the ping. Just a thing to note that your network may close the GPRS signal if you set the ping to too long. But I dont really think this is a bad thing unless you actually want to stay connected constantly.

datimms

peterbaker wrote: »

So how do UK mobile companies get away with illegal cartel activity? I don't know. I do know that OFCOM/OFTEL or whatever they are thesedays are way behind the curve.

Actually, in my opinion the problem is that the networks in Europe/UK are OVER regulated. My girlfriend is American and I was shocked to hear that over there not only do you pay to send, you pay to RECEIVE everything.. texts, calls, picture messages. The US networks are also allowed to claim thier governmental corportate resposibilities back from their customers! In my opinion, America is not the best place to own a mobile phone!

Over there, however, they generally might pay 5-10c (2.5-5 p) to send and 5c to receive SMS. Also, calling a mobile is no different to calling a landline.

So to me this shows two things, firstly, that when it comes to terms and conditions, we actually have it quite good. I'd rather not pay to receive anything reagrdless. But on the flip side, we seem to get charged a lot more to recover the costs in a different way, and when regulatory changes do come in, they take a while to be implemented like you say.

peterbaker

Hi datimms
In case readers get the wrong idea, it is worth saying that (if your handset allows the connection) you can use Vyke Pro for free to send texts to anyone. They have no idea you are using Vyke Pro AFAIK - your texts arrive at the other end with your CLID same as they would via normal channels.

It is also worth mentioning that you can send very long texts from Vyke Pro (I don't know if this is network or handset dependent in any way, but it certainly works fine on my O2 Contract Nokia 9500 via GPRS or WiFi)

It might also be worth noting that if you dig in the settings, the main (there are three alternatives I think) SMS Centre number associated with the Vyke Pro service is in Denmark, which is also one of the countries who have had extremely cheap texts for years!