3G on Kindle

Intri · 11-21-2010, 07:10 AM

Hey, guys,

this might be a stupid question, but Ive been looking at Kindle 3 and there is something that isnt clear to me. The 3G connectivity, Amazon always says there is no monthly fee for using the 3G and such, but dont I need a SIM card with 3G contract with my phone operator? Ive never met a device that offers 3G connectivity and doesnt require you to put your SIM in it and have your operator happily charge you for connecting or downloading.

TheKindleWorm · 11-21-2010, 08:12 AM

No you don't pay a monthly charge for the 3G usage on a Kindle device and you don't need a sim card or anything else extra.

The only charges that might apply are if you choose to send personal documents (ie documents perhaps you've written yourself) to your Kindle via the 3G. But even in this instance you can choose to never spend any money on this by adjusting your Personal Documents Limit to 0.00 ! All this can be controlled via the Manage Your Kindle page area which can be accessed via the Kindle Store on the Amazon website.

As far as viewing the web, checking your email and downloading books you've purchased from Amazon - there are no hidden fees or 3G costs involved.

SteveEisenberg · 11-21-2010, 09:12 AM

What TheKindleWorm said.

Also, a SIM card comes installed inside the K3. The device is not meant to be opened by the customer, so you will probably never see it.

The K3's anywhere internet, without a monthly fee, is a tremendous bargain, but there are limitations which hold down bandwidth uses. The browser is best with text-heavy web sites optimized for cell phones.

You cannot make phone calls with the K3. There is a microphone, but no released software to take advantage of it. Could Amazon, from software, add an optional cell phone feature and charge a monthly fee for that? As for as I know, yes. Some of their existing customers would not like it. My guess is that they do NOT plan this because, if they did, the keyboard have included numeric characters.

Intri · 11-21-2010, 04:37 PM

Thats damn incredible... Sounds awesome in the true meaning of this word. But how do the operators come out of this? Do the biggest operators have some kind of a deal with Amazon? Its hard to believe that any operator would establish connections for Kindles for free. And though Im no guru in mobile internet networks, Im pretty sure 3G isnt as easily accessible as wi-fi.

Tiersten · 11-21-2010, 04:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Intri

Thats damn incredible... Sounds awesome in the true meaning of this word. But how do the operators come out of this? Do the biggest operators have some kind of a deal with Amazon? Its hard to believe that any operator would establish connections for Kindles for free. And though Im no guru in mobile internet networks, Im pretty sure 3G isnt as easily accessible as wi-fi.

Amazon have deals with their main carriers and the various carriers around the world. If they don't have a deal with the local carrier then the coverage map will show that area as blank/unsupported.

Amazon uses two different carriers. The "US" version has an AT&T SIM inside. The UK/"international" version has a Vodafone SIM inside. What version you get depends on what local carrier Amazon has a deal with as the Kindle will roam to certain networks.

Just because you've got a local version of Vodafone doesn't mean you'll get the UK/international version with the Vodafone SIM either. Somebody mentioned that they had a AT&T Kindle and it was roaming onto their local Vodafone competitors network.

Amazon will supply the correct version for your country when you order it. Check the US version coverage and the international version coverage. The Czech Republic is an example of where there is a difference between the two models. The AT&T model has limited 3G support in what I assume are the major cities with EDGE/GPRS elsewhere whilst the international Vodafone model doesn't have 3G support at all and you must use EDGE/GPRS everywhere.

duckeedoug · 11-21-2010, 05:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tiersten

Amazon uses two different carriers. The "US" version has an AT&T SIM inside. The UK/"international" version has a Vodafone SIM inside. What version you get depends on what local carrier Amazon has a deal with as the Kindle will roam to certain networks.

Just to be clear, Amazon with previous generations of Kindles actually used the Sprint network as well. In the US they did not change to AT&T(Cingular) until later on in the production cycles

Tiersten · 11-21-2010, 05:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by duckeedoug

Just to be clear, Amazon with previous generations of Kindles actually used the Sprint network as well. In the US they did not change to AT&T(Cingular) until later on in the production cycles

Sprint is only for the CDMA Kindle 1 and Kindle 2. They switched to GSM for the Kindle 2 International and newer as it would actually work outside of the US. All currently sold Kindles are GSM based now and the Kindle 3 has one version with an AT&T SIM and another version with a Vodafone SIM. The rest of the hardware and software is the same.

Intri · 11-21-2010, 06:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tiersten

The Czech Republic is an example of where there is a difference between the two models. The AT&T model has limited 3G support in what I assume are the major cities with EDGE/GPRS elsewhere whilst the international Vodafone model doesn't have 3G support at all and you must use EDGE/GPRS everywhere.

Im not sure whether you read it somewhere, but you hit the nail on its head - Im from Czech Republic.

Major cities are Prague, Brno and Ostrava, those are the three biggest. The 3G support in general is limited quite a bit here (I think Ostrava isnt even covered in full yet) so EDGE wouldnt bother me too much. It would bother me, though, the 3G network is growing.

In some other thread I read that 3G connection doesnt really give you full internet, though. Only access to Amazon site and that wouldnt sit right with me, not for the extra bucks I would put in 3G version, if I were to buy a Kindle. Is there any truth to that limitation and if so, any hopes for removing it any time soon? I wonder what could be the reason behind such a "nerf".

speedlever · 11-21-2010, 06:07 PM

This sounds a lot like the Garmin connected GPSrs... 1690 and 1695 that come with 2 years and 1 year respectively of AT&T connected services. But after that service period expires, they charge $5/month for the service.

Tiersten · 11-21-2010, 06:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Intri

Im not sure whether you read it somewhere, but you hit the nail on its head - Im from Czech Republic.

Major cities are Prague, Brno and Ostrava, those are the three biggest.

Ah. Nope. Just coincidence! I mentioned it because somebody else is from the Czech Republic and has a thread going at the moment about getting a Kindle for use at home.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Intri

In some other thread I read that 3G connection doesnt really give you full internet, though. Only access to Amazon site and that wouldnt sit right with me, not for the extra bucks I would put in 3G version, if I were to buy a Kindle.

Yes. Amazon list it as only allowing you access to Wikipedia and the Kindle store via the cell connection if you've got a Kindle in the Czech Republic.

Amazon may also offer 3G access via the Vodafone SIM Kindle as well in the future. There isn't anything limiting it in the Kindle. It is just the agreements Amazon have with the carriers.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Intri

Is there any truth to that limitation and if so, any hopes for removing it any time soon? I wonder what could be the reason behind such a "nerf".

It all comes down to what agreements that Amazon have with your local carriers. If it costing them a lot for the transferred data then they don't offer the unrestricted web access. If it is very cheap or they've got some sort of flat rate deal then they offer it.

As there isn't unrestricted web access, somebody should check to see whether there is a cell delivery fee for Czech Republic Kindle owners. Some countries have a $2 delivery fee for everything and that includes the "free" books which end up costing you $2.

I believe the web restrictions have disappeared for certain countries before but there aren't any guarantees that this will ever happen for the Czech Republic.

Intri · 11-21-2010, 06:40 PM

Meh, our 3rd world country... Always behind, failing either because of technology or greed. Well, thank you very much for valuable information. Knowing how things work in this country, the 3G situation isnt going to change within a lifetime of a single Kindle unit. The prices for mobile internet here are just way too high.

But thats already kind of off-topic. Thank you again for the answers, they increased my knowledge of Kindle devices by like bazilion %.

miks · 11-24-2010, 03:44 PM

I have kindle 3 with 3g, US version (serial starting with B006). When I arrived in France it didn't have a full 3g access and I got a message: "Due to local restrictions, web browsing is not available for all countries". I registered kindle again from France and then the 3g connection started work for two weeks with no restrictions. Yesterday I noticed that web browsing is again restricted to amazon store and Wikipedia. Do you have any idea why? It seems now that new registration doesn't help as well as changing the country in the settings.

Dallista · 11-24-2010, 05:52 PM

The countries that are covered by the 3G access (and by that mean I no geo restrictions) very greatly. It's useless in my home country of the Netherlands, but I'm currently vacationing in Japan, and after a week I suddenly had the bright idea to give it a try, and it works everywhere here! It's been amazing, especially on the long shinkansen bullet train rides we're making.

dorino · 11-24-2010, 05:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dallista

The countries that are covered by the 3G access (and by that mean I no geo restrictions) very greatly. It's useless in my home country of the Netherlands, but I'm currently vacationing in Japan, and after a week I suddenly had the bright idea to give it a try, and it works everywhere here! It's been amazing, especially on the long shinkansen bullet train rides we're making.

Likewise, the 3G varies greatly inside individual countries. My state, for example, does not have much of any 3G coverage.

terencek · 11-25-2010, 03:01 AM

I'm using my international K3 (shipped from Amazon USA) here in South Africa, and 3G worked right out of the box. I also understand from a recent holiday in China that there's a thriving trade in 'grey' K3s there (mainly brought in from Hong Kong) because of the 3G connectivity which apparently bypasses the government's draconian censorship. So it's obvious that the free 3G really DOES work globally.

And to contradict one impression in this thread: the access is absolutely NOT restricted just to the Amazon site, at least in my experience. There's a South African user who has even been sending me emails from his (web-based) email address from his K3, and I regularly check news sites like the BBC on mine. As said earlier: works best on text-based sites, no downloads or video possible.

11-21-2010, 07:10 AM	#1
Intri Member Posts: 13 Karma: 178 Join Date: Jul 2010 Device: Eken M002 (rebranded by Umax)	3G on Kindle Hey, guys, this might be a stupid question, but Ive been looking at Kindle 3 and there is something that isnt clear to me. The 3G connectivity, Amazon always says there is no monthly fee for using the 3G and such, but dont I need a SIM card with 3G contract with my phone operator? Ive never met a device that offers 3G connectivity and doesnt require you to put your SIM in it and have your operator happily charge you for connecting or downloading.

11-21-2010, 09:12 AM	#3
SteveEisenberg Grand Sorcerer Posts: 7,039 Karma: 39379388 Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: near Philadelphia USA Device: Kindle Kids Edition, Fire HD 10 (11th generation)	What TheKindleWorm said. Also, a SIM card comes installed inside the K3. The device is not meant to be opened by the customer, so you will probably never see it. The K3's anywhere internet, without a monthly fee, is a tremendous bargain, but there are limitations which hold down bandwidth uses. The browser is best with text-heavy web sites optimized for cell phones. You cannot make phone calls with the K3. There is a microphone, but no released software to take advantage of it. Could Amazon, from software, add an optional cell phone feature and charge a monthly fee for that? As for as I know, yes. Some of their existing customers would not like it. My guess is that they do NOT plan this because, if they did, the keyboard have included numeric characters. Last edited by SteveEisenberg; 11-21-2010 at 09:15 AM.

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11-21-2010, 08:12 AM	#2
TheKindleWorm Guru Posts: 860 Karma: 177868 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: East Anglia UK Device: Kindle 3G, iPhone 3G, iPod 4G, PB 360, Sony 600 sold, Kindle 2i sold	No you don't pay a monthly charge for the 3G usage on a Kindle device and you don't need a sim card or anything else extra. The only charges that might apply are if you choose to send personal documents (ie documents perhaps you've written yourself) to your Kindle via the 3G. But even in this instance you can choose to never spend any money on this by adjusting your Personal Documents Limit to 0.00 ! All this can be controlled via the Manage Your Kindle page area which can be accessed via the Kindle Store on the Amazon website. As far as viewing the web, checking your email and downloading books you've purchased from Amazon - there are no hidden fees or 3G costs involved.

11-21-2010, 04:37 PM	#4
Intri Member Posts: 13 Karma: 178 Join Date: Jul 2010 Device: Eken M002 (rebranded by Umax)	Thats damn incredible... Sounds awesome in the true meaning of this word. But how do the operators come out of this? Do the biggest operators have some kind of a deal with Amazon? Its hard to believe that any operator would establish connections for Kindles for free. And though Im no guru in mobile internet networks, Im pretty sure 3G isnt as easily accessible as wi-fi.

11-21-2010, 06:07 PM	#9
speedlever Fanatic Posts: 592 Karma: 138200 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: NC, USA Device: PW2014, PW2012, iPad Pro	This sounds a lot like the Garmin connected GPSrs... 1690 and 1695 that come with 2 years and 1 year respectively of AT&T connected services. But after that service period expires, they charge $5/month for the service.

11-21-2010, 06:40 PM	#11
Intri Member Posts: 13 Karma: 178 Join Date: Jul 2010 Device: Eken M002 (rebranded by Umax)	Meh, our 3rd world country... Always behind, failing either because of technology or greed. Well, thank you very much for valuable information. Knowing how things work in this country, the 3G situation isnt going to change within a lifetime of a single Kindle unit. The prices for mobile internet here are just way too high. But thats already kind of off-topic. Thank you again for the answers, they increased my knowledge of Kindle devices by like bazilion %.

11-24-2010, 03:44 PM	#12
miks Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2010 Device: kindle 3 with 3g, us-version (b006)	I have kindle 3 with 3g, US version (serial starting with B006). When I arrived in France it didn't have a full 3g access and I got a message: "Due to local restrictions, web browsing is not available for all countries". I registered kindle again from France and then the 3g connection started work for two weeks with no restrictions. Yesterday I noticed that web browsing is again restricted to amazon store and Wikipedia. Do you have any idea why? It seems now that new registration doesn't help as well as changing the country in the settings.

11-24-2010, 05:52 PM	#13
Dallista Connoisseur Posts: 51 Karma: 128 Join Date: Oct 2010 Device: K3, PW	The countries that are covered by the 3G access (and by that mean I no geo restrictions) very greatly. It's useless in my home country of the Netherlands, but I'm currently vacationing in Japan, and after a week I suddenly had the bright idea to give it a try, and it works everywhere here! It's been amazing, especially on the long shinkansen bullet train rides we're making.

11-25-2010, 03:01 AM	#15
terencek Groupie Posts: 170 Karma: 1010944 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: The African bush Device: Kindle 3	I'm using my international K3 (shipped from Amazon USA) here in South Africa, and 3G worked right out of the box. I also understand from a recent holiday in China that there's a thriving trade in 'grey' K3s there (mainly brought in from Hong Kong) because of the 3G connectivity which apparently bypasses the government's draconian censorship. So it's obvious that the free 3G really DOES work globally. And to contradict one impression in this thread: the access is absolutely NOT restricted just to the Amazon site, at least in my experience. There's a South African user who has even been sending me emails from his (web-based) email address from his K3, and I regularly check news sites like the BBC on mine. As said earlier: works best on text-based sites, no downloads or video possible.

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