Internet radio using Vodafone unlimited internet on N95? — Nokia N95 and N95 8GB

rjamesd 30 May 2008, 14:28

Anyone tried this? I know there is software and I know the phone is capable - I've already searched this forum for those answers.

I'm more interested on how people feel about using it, if they are scared of running up a big bill, or if these fears are unfounded.

Is usage of streaming internet radio included in the unlimited plan?

I'm guessing if port 80 or 8080 (HTTP) - the same as for web browsing - is used for the streaming then the answer is yes.

Sure, I'm aware that there is a fair use policy and not to be excessive.

With HE-AAC v2 (eAAC+) for example, the stream bandwidth is low and for say the odd half an hour listening a day would not be too excessive. Even MP3 or WMA at higher rates isn't going to max out a fair use surely.

I'm just tired of the limited radio choice in the provinces outside London. All we have mainly is the BBC and cheesy local tin pot FM. So I'd like more choice while on the move, commuting to work and elsewhere.

Thoughts?

mattg64 30 May 2008, 15:31

Don't know if it would be included but don't forget it's unlimited internet as in 500MB(fair usage policy applies) and I'm guessing that wouldn't go that far when streaming music on your phone

rjamesd 31 May 2008, 16:06

mattg64 wrote:Don't know if it would be included but don't forget it's unlimited internet as in 500MB(fair usage policy applies)

Tell me something I don't know. 🙄

I said I knew about this.

mattg64 wrote:
I'm guessing that wouldn't go that far when streaming music on your phone

OK let's do the maths.

Let's assume a 192kbps MP3 stream. 192 kilobits per second.

Many streams are well under this but I've chosen this rate to account for the protocol overhead, e.g. containers that hold the stream data and packet headers.

This is 192 / 8 = 24 kilobytes per second, which is 24000 bytes per second.

500MB is 500 Megabytes which is 500 * 1000 * 1000 bytes
= 500,000,000 bytes

So,
500,000,000 divided by 24000 = 20833 seconds per month of 500MB usage within the fair use allowance

Lets call this 20000, so that we can use the remainder of the fair use allowance for actually initially browsing to the site and connecting, handshaking etc. before the 500MB limit is exceeded.

Now, 20000 / 60 = 333 minutes of listening per month of 500MB usage within the fair use allowance.
333 minutes divided by 60 = 5.55 hours of listening per month of 500MB usage within the fair use allowance.

So with fairly conservative figures and overheads taken into account, you have at least 5 hours of listening per month of 500MB usage within the fair use allowance.

This could be over 10 hours per month of 500MB usage within the fair use allowance if a more efficient lower bitrate codec is used - e.g. HE-AAC v2 (eAAC+) at 32 kbit/s

Verdict?

mattg64 wrote:
I'm guessing that wouldn't go that far when streaming music on your phone

Well, not too bad actually at from at least 5 hours up to over 10 hours depending on stream bitrate, per month of 500MB usage within the fair use allowance.

With for example say a 30 minute commute each day this is actually worthwhile for entertainment a 2 or 3 days each week.

What we need now is an application that says how much of the 500MB fair-use allowance has been used for that month.

I would be tempted to say that streaming is included within the 500MB offering, given that Vodafone themselves issued a guide about usage stating how much would be used for a typical video clip download.

But I'd still like a definitive answer.

RogerPodacter 01 Jun 2008, 00:17

i feel bad for you guys cause over this side of the atlantic we still have truly unlimited data plans. I can eat up 5gb on my phone some months with no problems. 😊

tkboxer 01 Jun 2008, 02:16

Nokia's Internet Radio app has bit rate choices in 3G and GPRS/EDGE. The 3G setting choices are: Standard Quality = <48kbps High Quality = 48 to 128kbps and Best Quality = >128 kbps.
That should give you the necessary info to do the math.
Or you could just reset your data packet counters, run the program for a half hour and see what you ring up in data. Simple.