Whispernet Question

IxiaAurea · 04-22-2010, 10:43 AM

Hi all,
Just became an owner of a kindle 2 today

I am a bit confused about whispernet after reading in Amazon and the kindle 2 guide. It says on the kindle order page that whispernet is free. Does this mean for international owners that wikipedia and the amazon store are absolutely free with no hidden costs?
However, I read somewhere that they charge 2$ for sending documents to your kindle or something

Can anyone explain what this is about?

Thanks in advance!

BarryTX · 04-22-2010, 11:08 AM

In the US, where I am at, Whispernet itself is "free" - which means to me that I paid for the access in the K2 cost itself. So browsing to Wikipedia or Amazon, or any other web page, has no inherent cost. However, Amazon does charge for the service of converting and sending a document (which can be an ebook that you got outside of Amazon)through Whispernet. To me the charge is minimal - it is based on the file size. Finally, you can avoid that charge by sending it to yourusernamehere@free.kindle.com rather than yourusernamehere@kindle.com. The free.kindle.com address has them convert it and then queue it for download to your K2 through your PC via Internet/USB rather than Whispernet.

One more thing - Calibre is a free e-book library management program and it does a great job of converting formats and uploading files to the Kindle. It also has the ability to pull newsfeeds and create 'newspapers' for you to read on your K2. I highly recommend you take a look at this one.

I hope this helps, welcome to the Kindle world.

Mike L · 04-22-2010, 02:48 PM

IxiaAurea,

As BarryTX says, Whispernet is free in the US.

That's true elsewhere as well. There is no charge for accessing Wikipedia or the Amazon Store. But there is an extra cost involved in actually buying books. Here in Europe it's US$1.99, which covers the extra cost of international wireless delivery, and also VAT.

You'll see that extra cost built into the book's cover price when you visit the Kindle Store.

Mike L · 04-22-2010, 02:52 PM

On second thought, I'm not completely sure that figure of US$1.99 is completely correct. I've noticed a few titles where the surcharge is slightly more, and some where it's a little less. But my basic point remains valid.

Chris Crouch · 04-22-2010, 10:01 PM

As Mike said, for buying books the cost is built in price of the book. We pay an extra $2 for all books, even if you don't use Whispernet to get them on your Kindle (my pet peeve).

Using Whispernet to

Get samples
Download books you've bought
Re-download books you've bought
Browse the Amazon store
Browse Wikipedia

are all free, aka paid for by the extra $2 you pay for the books.

Anything else may cost you $1/Mb. This is mainly browsing other web sites, and receiving converted items that you send to your.name@kindle.com.

To avoid accidentally costing myself, I

Leave wireless off, and
Don't have any approved emails (set in Manage My Kindle)

Sischa · 04-23-2010, 04:23 AM

It's really simple for you if you have the int. kindle and don't live in the USA. If you buy kindle books from amazon.com the fixed end price is shown. No extra fee for sending your book viy whispernet will be charged. You can remove and redownload your kindle books as often as you want and it doen't matter if you for example live in germany and you redownload/order your book in italy for example.

You have to keep in mind that sending yourself personal documents via email (like PDF's, mobibooks etc.) to the kindle email adress they will charge you 0.99 $ / 1 MB.

Good news is that you are now able to limit this fee in the user settings to avoid to accidential send you a 50MB PDF or so ...

04-22-2010, 10:43 AM	#1
IxiaAurea Connoisseur Posts: 82 Karma: 3170 Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Australia Device: Amazon Kindle 2, Kobo Glo	Whispernet Question Hi all, Just became an owner of a kindle 2 today I am a bit confused about whispernet after reading in Amazon and the kindle 2 guide. It says on the kindle order page that whispernet is free. Does this mean for international owners that wikipedia and the amazon store are absolutely free with no hidden costs? However, I read somewhere that they charge 2$ for sending documents to your kindle or something Can anyone explain what this is about? Thanks in advance!

04-22-2010, 10:01 PM	#5
Chris Crouch Enthusiast Posts: 40 Karma: 26 Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Adelaide, Australia Device: Kindle 2, Kindle 3 & iPad	As Mike said, for buying books the cost is built in price of the book. We pay an extra $2 for all books, even if you don't use Whispernet to get them on your Kindle (my pet peeve). Using Whispernet to Get samples Download books you've bought Re-download books you've bought Browse the Amazon store Browse Wikipedia are all free, aka paid for by the extra $2 you pay for the books. Anything else may cost you $1/Mb. This is mainly browsing other web sites, and receiving converted items that you send to your.name@kindle.com. To avoid accidentally costing myself, I Leave wireless off, and Don't have any approved emails (set in Manage My Kindle)

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04-22-2010, 11:08 AM	#2
BarryTX Connoisseur Posts: 88 Karma: 39328 Join Date: Apr 2009 Device: Kindle 2	In the US, where I am at, Whispernet itself is "free" - which means to me that I paid for the access in the K2 cost itself. So browsing to Wikipedia or Amazon, or any other web page, has no inherent cost. However, Amazon does charge for the service of converting and sending a document (which can be an ebook that you got outside of Amazon)through Whispernet. To me the charge is minimal - it is based on the file size. Finally, you can avoid that charge by sending it to yourusernamehere@free.kindle.com rather than yourusernamehere@kindle.com. The free.kindle.com address has them convert it and then queue it for download to your K2 through your PC via Internet/USB rather than Whispernet. One more thing - Calibre is a free e-book library management program and it does a great job of converting formats and uploading files to the Kindle. It also has the ability to pull newsfeeds and create 'newspapers' for you to read on your K2. I highly recommend you take a look at this one. I hope this helps, welcome to the Kindle world.

04-22-2010, 02:48 PM	#3
Mike L Wizard Posts: 1,479 Karma: 3846231 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Edinburgh, Scotland Device: Kindle 3, Samsung Galaxy	IxiaAurea, As BarryTX says, Whispernet is free in the US. That's true elsewhere as well. There is no charge for accessing Wikipedia or the Amazon Store. But there is an extra cost involved in actually buying books. Here in Europe it's US$1.99, which covers the extra cost of international wireless delivery, and also VAT. You'll see that extra cost built into the book's cover price when you visit the Kindle Store.

04-22-2010, 02:52 PM	#4
Mike L Wizard Posts: 1,479 Karma: 3846231 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Edinburgh, Scotland Device: Kindle 3, Samsung Galaxy	On second thought, I'm not completely sure that figure of US$1.99 is completely correct. I've noticed a few titles where the surcharge is slightly more, and some where it's a little less. But my basic point remains valid.

04-23-2010, 04:23 AM	#6
Sischa Evangelist Posts: 428 Karma: 2370 Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Germany Device: Nokia 770, Ilead, Cybook G3, Kindle DX, Kindle 2, iPad, Kindle 3, PW	It's really simple for you if you have the int. kindle and don't live in the USA. If you buy kindle books from amazon.com the fixed end price is shown. No extra fee for sending your book viy whispernet will be charged. You can remove and redownload your kindle books as often as you want and it doen't matter if you for example live in germany and you redownload/order your book in italy for example. You have to keep in mind that sending yourself personal documents via email (like PDF's, mobibooks etc.) to the kindle email adress they will charge you 0.99 $ / 1 MB. Good news is that you are now able to limit this fee in the user settings to avoid to accidential send you a 50MB PDF or so ...

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