Trick iPhone onto Vodafone’s data network
One downside I listed against iPhone was that it’s only available connected to O2. Given the choice, I would have connected with Vodafone for one, simple reason – data. As such, I came up with a solution for geting the best of both worlds, using my iPhone on O2 and Vodafone.
If you’d like to know more about the networks, read on. To cut to the “how-to”, skip to “Upton Mobile Hotspot”.
Why Vodafone?
iPhone works great on O2; it would just work better on Vodafone. iPhone, more than any other handset currently on the market, is about the network. It’s half way to being a cloud computing handset. So many applications expect the data network to be there – Shazam uploads samples of music, the Maps application downloads the latest maps rather than storing them locally, even the positioning is performed primarily from a combination of cell tower locations and an online database rather than GPS.
With data being so important to the handset, a good cellular data network is essential. From my experience, that means Vodafone.
Not all data networks are equal. There are many factors that determine how good a cellular data network is, but some of the main factors are:
1) Number of base stations
Quite obvious – the more cell sites there are, the more likely you will have a strong signal.
2) Basestation hardware
Cell sites can have 2G hardware, giving you painfully slow GPRS/EDGE (<100 kbit/s), or 3G hardware giving you a faster 400 kbit/s wireless link.
3) Basestation software
A 3G site can be upgraded to HSDPA (3.5G), boosting wireless speeds from 400 kbit/s to 7 Mbit/s.
4) Backhaul connection
Your fast wireless link is only to the base station. Each station needs to be hooked up to the data network via wires or microwave link, and this is called the “backhaul”. It’s also expensive. You are sharing this connection with everyone in your cell, so if your network economises on the backhaul, your speed suffers.
From my experience, Vodafone have far more sites supporting full 3.5G, and equip those sites with sufficent backhaul speed to make their data network very noticeably superior. O2′s data network, while better than most, is certainly a long way behind Vodafone.
How about SIM-free?
Another option is to buy an imported, unlocked iPhone and use a Vodafone SIM. This is not without pitfalls however. Firstly, services such as Visual Voicemail require the network to support it. Also, PUSH notifications are becoming far more important since the release of OS 3.0. Apple’s PUSH technology requires support from the network operator and so it’s likely an iPhone on UK Vodafone may not work with PUSH features such as Email, Instant Messenger, and Find My Phone.
Upton Mobile Hotspot
So – iPhone on O2 and Vodafone. Here’s the trick.
JoikuSpot
My previous Nokia N95 is a fantastic, versatile device sporting both 3.5G and WiFi connectivity. An excellent piece of Symbian software (JoikuSpot) can provide a bridge between these two, turning the N95 into a virtual router – a Mobile Wifi Hotspot hooked up to the Internet over it’s 3.5G broadband connection. I have a Vodafone Datacard for use with my laptop, so I removed the data-only SIM to use in the N95. Voila – a pocket-sized Vodafone WiFi Hotspot.
When I enable the software, iPhone thinks it’s in range of a Wifi hotspot and silently uses it for its data connection instead of O2. This is particularly useful at Hursley, which has strong Vodafone 3G coverage but only 2G O2 coverage. Presto – iPhone using Vodafone’s data network. As an added bonus it’s still connected to O2, so PUSH notifications still come through, Visual Voicemail still works, etc.
There’s another bonus. Some iPhone Apps are deliberately crippled to use WiFi networks only. For example, Slingplayer detects if you are on 3G and refuses to stream (this was imposed by Apple because networks were worried about the load placed on their 3G networks if everyone started Slinging). However, my iPhone thinks it’s connected to a WiFi hotspot and so happily streams my Sky+ Slingbox from anywhere. 
And still there’s more. This isn’t a Bluetooth (1 to 1) connection; this is a wifi hotspot. So my laptop can hook up at the same time as my iPhone – as can my girlfriend’s laptop. And your’s too if we’re in Starbucks and I give you the WEP key.
The solution isn’t perfect though. Firstly, it’s another device to carry. However I’m used to carrying the N95 and it’s pocket sized after all unlike some alternative solutions. Besides, it often just sits in my laptop bag rather than my pocket. Secondly, powering Wifi and 3G at the same time sure DRINKS battery – a full charge on the N95 lasts around 4 hours!However I have a tiny Nokia USB charger that can symbiotically sap power from my thinkpad’s battery in order to provide it with connectivity. Besides if I get fed up of carrying it, or the battery dies, it falls back to O2′s 3G network. Thirdly, there’s the extra cost of a data contract. I had one anyway for my laptop so I have no complaints here, but even so it’s only comparable to the absurd £15/mo O2 charge for “tethering” – Apple’s re-invention of using the phone’s data connection with your laptop.
Finally, I’m hoping this doesn’t affect my chances of having kids later – that N95 in my pocket sure gets hot!
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Very interesting artical.
High all there is a even more interest future prospect that is hitting the USA and the rest of the work very soon LTE.
Great to see that people really see the benefit of the UK Vodafone Network. Hopefully they might be able to have IPhones soon.
Great hack! Shame about the battery issue though. Have you thought about buying a couple of spare batteries for N95? I carry a couple of spares with me for those occasions when the charge doesn’t last the whole day.
I wonder how the US/Canada networks would rate on these measurements? Not good I’m guessing.
Nice shiny new blog – look forward to reading more!
Alex
Interesting question about the US/Canada. They have an added complication – competing technologies. Some networks are using GSM(2G) and UMTS/HSUPA(3G) while others are using the completely incompatible CDMA(2G) and EVDO(3G).
EVDO has a slight edge (excuse the pun) over HSUPA in terms of performance. However, both technologies are evolving fast, and compatibility between networks and countries is becoming a more important issue. I predict that EVDO will die out eventually, but in the meantime it could well be slowing the availability of high speed cellular data by reducing the possibilities of site-sharing – two rival networks agreeing to share a base-station to increase their coverage at significantly reduced cost.
The USA also has another issue – size. The UK is almost fully covered, quite literally 4 times over. The USA tends to have operators that specialise in particular areas, and provide domestic roaming when in other territories.
As for backhaul – AT&T have been VERY heavily criticised for their lack of investment in data infrastructure. For the first time I cam remember, an Apple Keynote speech generated mocking laughter from its selected apple fanboy audience when it was announced AT&T would introduce *MMS* on iPhone at some point later this year (!). MMS – available in the rest of the world for over 5 years.
Improvements to backhaul will *have* to take place though. Next year, Data traffic will surpass Voice traffic for the first time, and new devices such as the N97 and Palm Pre won’t have the ability to be crippled at the network’s request like the iPhone. Data performance will increasingly become a key differentiator like “fewer dropped voice calls” was 5 years ago.