Bagel Belly Blog

Consistent interaction

When I went to Cyprus, I had three assumptions:

• I'd be able to keep in touch via email, using GPRS
• If I couldn't keep in touch, I'd be able to moblog
• Vodafone would screw it up

Obviously the sheer weight of spam and virii knocked me offline, but what was more surprising was that I couldn't immediately get online in the first place. My laptop's connection details for GPRS access are apparently UK-specific. Although I could establish a GPRS connection in Cyprus, I could transfer no data over the link. After an SMS conversation with Paul, he provided me with the Greek GPRS connection details via Ross Barkman's GPRS info page. Note that SMS worked fine.

While I was wondering what to do with myself with no internet / GPRS access, I started trying to send moblog post emails via my mobile phone. As you can probably guess, these did not work either. My mobile phone's GPRS settings also needed country-specific details.

Throughout the trip, SMS and MMS messages continued to be delivered.

This seems crazy. How can the mobile networks set up peering arrangements but fail to negotiate location-independent connection settings? Do they really expect the average punter to know that when abroad they need to reconfigure their internet connections with new access point names, usernames, passwords, DNS and SMTP servers?

So take note: if you're vacationing and want to use data services, make a note of the GPRS connection settings required at your destination country. (You should also be aware that your tariff's inclusive data allowance rarely applies oversees, and that overseas data charges may vary from local data charges.)

It's funny that in 2005 we still seem to be a long way away from consumer-friendly mobile phone connectivity. With the artificial barriers to usage - whether it's configurations, charges, or opaque tariffs - I wonder if there's not a hidden agenda by the telcos to artificially limit the usage of 2nd-generation infrastructure to force customers to try out the next big thing with their 3g networks. Somehow though, I suspect the awful user experience will only be duplicated on the next-gen services. I can't wait for universal wifi...