Send 1 free SMS every 2 hours to any network in South Africa; and 5 SMSs every 4 hours to Zim - and it works!

Further to my posting "Did you know that you can send 20x free SMSs to Vodacom cell phones?", here is a site that allows you to send 1 free SMS every 2 hours to any network in South Africa: http://www.onlinesms.co.za/

For sending free SMSs to Zim:

Register for free here: http://www.smszim.com/register.asp

Activate your account (an email will be sent to you)

Send SMS here: http://www.smszim.com/sms.asp

Then you can send 5 SMSs every 4 hours.

Here are more South African free SMS sending sites:
Mahala SMS: (no registration required) send 2 FREE SMS's everyday!
BlueWorld: Register first, then send free SMSs (I haven't tried this one yet).

Setting up your PC to connect to the Internet using your cell phones (modem settings for Vodacom, CellC, and MTN)

In my previous blog "In this day and age I'm amazed by the low number of people that use their cell phones to connect to the Internet for email, www access, cheap IM etc" I referred to using my cell phone to connect to the Internet from home.

I dived into the article stating that "I connect my laptop to my phone (using BlueTooth or the cable)" but I neglected to describe the pains that I went through in setting up my PC's DialUp networking to use the phone (Nokia modem) to connect to the Internet!

So, I have decided to share this information here:

{note: for simplicity, I have only described the use of a USB cable to connect the cell phone to the PC (running MS Windows). Using BlueTooth instead of a cable is also possible, but I have found the cable more reliable. See http://handytechtips.blogspot.com/2008/03/forget-about-bluetooth-use-blooming.html for more details.}

Installing the cell phone modem:

1) Install the software that usually comes with your cell phone. For Nokia, it's called "Nokia PC Suite" and can be downloaded from the www.nokia.com web site. Ensure that the Nokia USB modem is also installed.

2) Plug in the USB cable and Windows should recognise that a phone has been plugged into a USB port and will install new drivers.

3) In the control panel: Start->Settings->Control Panel->Phone and Modem Options->Modems and select the cell phone modem, then click "Properties" then "Advanced" and enter the following in the "Extra initialisation string": (see below for your network's initialisation string) 4) In the control panel: Start->Settings->Control Panel->Network connections->Create a new connection->Next->Connect to the Internet->Next->Setup my connection manually->Next->Connect using a dialup modem->Next->Select (and tick) the new modem (untick any others)->Next->enter a name eg. "Nokia N70" ->Next->Enter the phone number: *99***1# -> Enter the username and password (see below for your network's username/password) ->Tick "Add a shortcut to my desktop"->Finish

5) A new dialup connection will now be listed in the "Network connections" list. Right click this new item (Nokia N70) and select "Properties"->Options->Untick the following 2 items: Prompt for name and password; Prompt for phone number; -> then click "OK"

6) Double clicking on the "Nokia N70" shortcut on your desktop should start the dialup process over your phone.

Here are the network dependent settings:

Vodacom:

Extra initialisation string: +CGDCONT=,,"internet"

Username: leave blank

Password: leave blank

CellC:

Extra initialisation string: +CGDCONT=,,"internet"

Username: leave blank

Password: leave blank

MTN:

Extra initialisation string: +CGDCONT=,,"myMTN"

Username: mtnwap

Password: mtnwap

Note: I am aware that the Nokia PC suite's (version 6.85.14.1 download the latest from here: http://europe.nokia.com/A4144905) "Connect to the Internet" can also be used and the setup process allows you to select the network that you're on (Vodacom, MTN or CellC).

Did you know that you can send FREE SMSs to Vodacom cell phones?

If you have a Vodacom SIM card then you can register on www.vodacom4me.co.za and then you can send up to 20 free SMSs per day to other Vodacom subscribers?
If you don't have a Vodacom SIM card, then go and buy one (for R1.99 at some supermarkets), then purchase and load R12 airtime…..and then register on on www.vodacom4me.co.za

{I think MTN has a similar feature called MTN-ice - so buy your MTN SIM card now and let me know}

There's also a cool feature to schedule the sending of SMSs.... eg: for your friend's birthday or Christmas
You can set up a contacts list and then pick from that list when sending SMSs

Also, there's a service called "email-to-SMS" where you can send a (free) SMS to a Vodacom subscriber by sending an email.
If your friend's cell phone number is 0824567890 then write a short email as follows:
To: 0824567890@voda.co.za
Subject: Type your SMS in the subject line [limited to about 145 characters]

Note: this email-to-SMS service is limited to 3 SMSs per day (per email account)

For other countries' free email-to-SMS services go here: (thanks orkut): http://orkuttricks.blogspot.com/2008/01/send-free-sms-from-mail.html
[Currently lists: AUSTRALIA, AUSTRIA, CANADA, GERMANY, ICELAND, INDIA, ITALY, JAPAN, NETHERLANDS, SINGAPORE, SPAIN, SWEDEN, UNITED KINGDOM]

Here are some more tips on saving money re: cell phones:

Did you know that it is cheaper to call cell‑to‑cell than to call cell‑to-Telkom?

Did you know that it’s sometimes cheaper to dial someone’s voice mail directly than it is to send an SMS (contract dependent)

Did you know that it’s cheaper to dial someone’s voice mail directly (sly voicemail)than to let it divert to voice mail?

Did you know that you can dial someone’s voice mail directly by dialling:

Vodacom: 082131+rest of the number;

MTN: 0831483+rest of the number;

CellC: ????? ;

This is useful when:
*) you think of something and don't really want to call someone at that time (early in the morning or late at night)
*) you don't really feel like typing an SMS (costs are more-or-less the same for SMS and direct-voicemail)

Update on 14July2009:

From http://richelectron.blogspot.com/2009/01/free-vodacom-sms.html:

Vodacom4me allows Vodacom subscribers to send 20 free sms's every day from the Vodacom portal website. BUT, this feature is only available from desktop computers and cell phone users are redirected to a mobile version of the Vodacom4me site :(

This means that the site cannot be used to send free sms's from a mobile phone :(

Free082SMS bridges this divide though :) by providing users with an interface to the Vodacom4me website or email to sms from their mobiles to send free messages on the go! The site is built around a simple text based structure for optimal performance on most web enabled phones. Check it out... click here for more (and screen shot)

In this day and age I'm amazed by the low number of people that use their cell phones to connect to the Internet for email, www access, cheap IM etc

I'm amazed by the number of people that don't use their cell phones to connect to the Internet for email, www access, cheap Instant Messaging (eg. MXIT, Skype, NimBuzz), etc.
Here's a quick guide on how to set up your cell phone for data. Either follow it step by step, or call your network provider - they will send you an SMS that will automatically configure your cell phone for data use:
111 for Vodacom, else 808 for MTN: or 140 for CellC {these calls are free if dialled from your cell phone to your network provider}

Thanks to MXIT for this set-up information: http://www.mxit.co.za/web/downloads.htm
I've modified a few things from their site:
"
PHONE SUPPORT
Some phones are not GPRS/3G compatible. Don't stress, yours is most probably supported.

CONNECTIVITY
Setting up GPRS/3G
Get connected via your service provider's service menu; just follow the simple instructions below:
(It helps to know your mobile's manufacturer and model. Oh and remember, you only have 2 minutes to complete these steps, don't know why)
Vodacom:
1. On your mobile, dial *111#
2. Select option 5 (phone settings) from the menu that follows. (Answer -> 5 -> send)
3. Select option 1 to choose your mobile make and model from a list, or options 2 to have Vodacom identify the phone for you.
4. In both cases, simply follow the steps provided to get the WAP settings sent to your phone.
5. Connection settings will be sent to your phone; save these settings.
6. If any of the above mentioned steps fail, simply retry.
7. Still having trouble? Call Vodacom's call centre on 111 from your Vodacom cellphone or 082 111 from another phone. Alternatively visit a Vodacom outlet near you.
(GPRS/3G can only be activated by the person in whose name the contract was taken out, so some of you might have to get mom or dad's help on this one. Good luck!)

Cell C
1. On your mobile, dial *147#
2. Connection settings will be sent to your phone; save these settings. If a password is requested enter 0000
3. If any of the above mentioned steps fail, simply retry.
Still having trouble? Call Cell C's call centre on 140 or visit a Cell C outlet near you.
(GPRS/3G can only be activated by the person in whose name the contract was taken out, so some of you might have to get mom or dad's help on this one. Good luck!)

MTN
1. On your mobile, dial *123#
2. Select option 1 (phone setup) from the menu that follows. (Answer -> 1 -> send)
3. Select option 3 (WAP).
4. Connection settings will be sent to your phone; save these settings.
5. If any of the above mentioned steps fail, simply retry.
Still having trouble? Call MTN's call centre; dial 808 (contract) or 173 (pay as you go) from your mobile phone. Alternatively, visit an MTN outlet near you. (GPRS/3G can only be activated by the person in whose name the contract was taken out, so some of you might have to get mom or dad's help on this one. Good luck!)

Virgin Mobile
1. When you first insert your Virgin Mobile SIM into your mobile you'll receive an SMS asking you if you would like to accept Virgin Settings.
2. If you reply YES, your settings for MMS and WAP can be automatically downloaded and installed on your mobile.
Do the following to manually request MMS and WAP settings:
1. Go to the 'Virgin Mobile' menu which you will find on either the main menu or applications menu of your mobile.
2. Select 'Virgin Settings' and reply YES when asked if you'd like to download them.
Still having trouble? Call Virgin Mobile's call centre on 123 or visit a Virgin Mobile outlet near you. (GPRS/3G can only be activated by the person in whose name the contract was taken out, so some of you might have to get mom or dad's help on this one. Good luck!)
"


Now that your phone is set up, let's look at some examples of how to use data on your cell phone:
*) I use my cell phone to receive and send email - I use Gmail's cell phone app (http://www.google.com/mobile/mail/index.html) to fetch my home and work emails (create a Gmail account and then change the settings to fetch email from other email accounts).
*) I use my cell phone to connect to the Internet: I recommend Opera Mini (http://www.operamini.com/download/)
*) I use my cell phone to connect to the Internet from home: I connect my laptop to my phone (using BlueTooth or the cable (see here for more: http://handytechtips.blogspot.com/2008/03/forget-about-bluetooth-use-blooming.html). 150MB is sufficient for my email and graphics-less web browsing I have purchased a 150MB bundle (R119 incl VAT per month) and so my "per MB" cost is 79c (there's no monthly ISP fee and it's much faster (I connect over 3G) than dialup). I was paying R79 for TelkomInternet and then paid for duration of calls. I did investigate the Telkom Closer plans but it couldn’t beat the wireless MyMeg150 bundle at R119.
*) I use Instant messaging on my cell phone to keep in contact with my Skype® and GoogleTalk® (as well as MSN® Messenger, ICQ, Twitter, Yahoo!™ and AIM) contacts: this beats sending SMSs at 80c (or more) each… each instant message costs less than 1c (yes, that's one cent). I have installed Fring (www.fring.com) on my Nokia N70 and my wife uses NimBuzz (www.nimbuzz.com) (her Nokia 6230 doesn't support Fring). I also use MXIT (www.mxit.co.za)
*) I check the weather for various locations using my cell phone: install "Mobile Weather" from http://www.ubahnstation.net/weather/
*) I use Reporo (http://www.reporo.com/rw/register.jsp) to check news headlines

Now that your phone is set up, let's look at the costs:
Setting up your cell phone for internet access is easy - and it costs from 39c per MB up to R2.00 per MB (out of bundle)
You pay for the data sent and received not for the time that you're connected!

Data connectivity is sometimes referred to by the type of connection e.g. GPRS, Edge, 3G or HSDPA. They are send and receive data but at varying speeds (GPRS is slowest, HSDPA is fastest). If there's no high speed connection available, then your phone will step back and use the next slowest connection.
Note: the faster the connection, the faster your pages update (no more frustrating wasted time waiting for the web page to update or the email to load), but the faster your Rands are spent!


Note: graphics use up your bandwidth fast! If you don't really need to see the images on the pages you visit then turn off loading images on your Web Browser (I recommend FireFox (with ImgLikeOpera addon)
See here for more info: http://handytechtips.blogspot.com/2008/03/moving-from-opera-to-firefox.html) or Opera on your PC and Opera Mini on your cell phone). If you need to see an image then right click on it and select the option to "Show image:. This will save you lots of Rands!



The costs:
First of all - remember that you pay for the data sent and received not for the time that you're connected!
1MB is read "1 MegaByte" and is 1 million bytes
1KB is read "1 KiloByte" and is 1 thousand bytes
To calculate the cost: for 200KB at your out-of-bundle rate of R2 per MB: divide the 200,000 data by 1,000,000 and then multiply by R2
I.e. (200,000/1,000,000)*2=R0.40

Typically, a session to retrieve say 10 emails (no attachments) is around 200 KiloBytes and will cost 40c (that's 4c per email)
{Vodacom costs: http://www.vodacom.co.za/services/mobile_data/vodacom_what_cost.jsp}
{MTN costs: http://www.mtn.co.za/?pid=248769, and note that there's a monthly subscription fee}
{CellC costs: http://www.cellc.co.za/content/services/smartdatagprs.asp and note that there's a monthly subscription fee}

Note too that for these bundles, there's a "use it or lose it" policy ie. If the bundled bandwidth is not used up each month then it's lost :(

Note: all costs quoted are for Vodacom unless otherwise stated
The quoted 39c per MB are for the Vodacom "MyMeg One GB" data bundle
All costs are for cell phones operating in South Africa - using your cell phone while roaming in other countries is much more expensive (eg. Vodacom: R17.50 per MB: http://www.vodacom.co.za/services/travel/data_option1.jsp) - rather purchase a local SIM card at your destination and set it up for data.


Note: While your cell phone has a data connection active then your cell phone uses more power - so your battery's power will drain faster.

Forget about BlueTooth - use the blooming cable!

Forgive me while I moan a bit, while I share my experiences!

I have a Nokia N70 phone and I purchased an MSI BlueTooth USB "dongle" (StarKey) for my PC to connect to the Internet (3G or GPRS)

First of all, I decided (incorrectly) to purchase a "longer range" bluetooth dongle (claimed to work up to 100m). Then I figured out that both BlueTooth [BT for short from now on] devices need to support this "long range" capability - by my results, I figured that the N70 doesn't support this "long range" feature.

Secondly, I am forever fighting with my BT setup to get connected - I either need to stop/start the BTSTAC~1.exe process OR turn BT on then off OR reboot the phone OR reboot the PC.... sometimes all of these need to be done to get BT working again.

Last night was the last straw as none of the above hacks worked and so I decided to dump the BT device and dig out the USB cable.... and what a pleasure!

Connected 1st time, faster speed (USB to phone).... so, forget BT, hello plain old, good old USB cable!

{Note: I have subsequently found that other BT dongle devices behave much better than the MSI device... so, perhaps I'll spend a few bucks on getting another brand's BT device.}