Useful WAP/MMS tips on Glo plus everything you need to know

This is my very first thread so far and I was motivated to write this lengthy post because of my old school friend I met 3 days ago.

The following dialogue ensued between us on April 22nd 2004 at exactly 9:30am

Mamba- Ol'boy! Wetin dey happen now? Long time no see.

Oldschoolfriend- Omo I dey o! How things now?

Mamba-Not bad o! Menn you're looking fresh O! BTW, what's that you're holding?

Oldschoolfriend-It's my phone, I bought it last month for 100k, it’s a Nokia 9500 communicator, probably the best phone in town now.

Mamba-Yeah! The phone's good, I know a guy that just bought it recently and has even written a review about it (the guy knows himself, I’m sure he's going to be laughing now, his name's a 3 letter word that starts with A and ends with A) and says it's good. Have you seen my new phone? It’s a sonyericsson p910i, I’m sure it's going to kick your Nokia 9500's butts function wise.

Oldschoolfriend-Haba! How can you be comparing Sonyericsson with Nokia, my phone's better than yours.

All of a sudden, the Nokia ring tone starts blaring, he picks up the call and was like Hello, yeah, ehn ehn!, ok, ok, yea and he hangs up and conversation continues.

Mamba-What was that call all about?

Oldschoolfriend-I just got an info that an important e-mail has just been sent to my inbox, I gotta go check it ASAP, Lets look for the nearest Cyber cafe.

Meanwhile the nearest Cyber is like 25km away.
 
Mamba-Omo! The nearest Cyber is like 25km away O! But you got your communicator, why can’t you check your e-mail via your celli?

Oldschoolfriend-WHAT??? Check your e-mail via your Celli, never heard of that.

Mamba-What line are you using?

Oldschoolfriend-MTN

Mamba-Ok then, you can check it on my p910i, I use glomobile.

Mamba brings out his p910i, unhooks the stylus, opens the QWERTY keyboard flip and starts browsing to yahoo mail, Oldschoolfriends jaw drops, eye popping out of socket with mouth ajar. Within 30secs, Oldschoolfriend's yahoo inbox was showing the newly received e-mail

Conversation continues

Oldschoolfriend-I never knew you could do that on a Celli?

Mamba-Well, it's possible as you've seen but just that many Nigerians are ignorant, they buy the most expensive high end phones, aka smart phones, just like my Oldschoolfriend and never put it to real work, a cell phone is much more useful than for making & receiving calls alone

END OF STORY

So therefore, if you are like my Oldschoolfriend and need to know more about Wap and mms/gprs, read on or visit  HERE

What is Wap?
wap simply means wireless application protocol which is a service offered by GSM operators that enables you to browse wap/web sites on your mobile phone. Wap can be offered via CSD or GPRS.

What is MMS?
MMS simply means multimedia message which is an enhanced messaging service that operates via GPRS which allows you to send multimedia contents such as long/extended text, pictures, ring tones, greeting cards, voice recordings, short videos, scribbles, word documents and any other attachments of any form below 100kb from one phone to another or from a phone to an e-mail address.

How do I activate/use wap in Nigeria?
Wap is offered by virtually all the GSM operators in Nigeria.
Globacom is the only network offering GPRS Wap & MMS in Nigeria while MTN and Vmobile offers CSD which is a very expensive alternative without MMS.
For the purpose of interested users, I’ll advise you use glo which is more pocket friendly with free MMS inclusive till September, glo gprs will be our basis of discussion and will urge you to check HERE for more information about MTN and Vmobile CSD.

glomobile Wap/MMS activation
This service operates via GPRS and new users whom wants to subscribe have to call glo customer service on 121 to request for activation, your mobile number & handset make/model will be requested in order for your SIM to be provisioned for the service which may take between 2 to 6 days after which an MMS online password number is sent to you which confirms your successful activation.
After activation, you will need to input the glo Wap settings on your handset via OTA configuration by sending an SMS written in the format

1-Activate wap (handset make) (handset model) then send to 927 for wap settings
2-Activate wap (handset make) (handset model) then send to 667 for mms settings

E.g. I use a sonyericsson p910i handset, therefore I’ll write a message as follows

     Activate wap sonyericsson p910i and send to 927

     Activate mms sonyericsson p910i and send to 667

A confirmation SMS will be sent to you followed by an Autoconfig message which should be saved on your handset. Most common wap/mms enabled handset brands such as Nokia, Sonyericsson & Samsung settings are available via OTA config, in a case whereby your handset settings is not available via glo OTA you will have to enter the settings manually yourself, it's quite easy to do, please check here for required info Gosmartmobile

Getting started after activation
A bookmark with Wap address http://wap.gloworld.com is usually sent inclusive in the OTA config by glo to your phone, this is globacom wap homepage & there are links to some useful sites such as Yahoo!, MSN & esato on this site.
Globacom currently charges 70kobo/kb of data sent or received via wap for prepaid and 35kobo/kb peak or 20kobo/kb offpeak for postpaid subscribers; this means that accessing a wap page which is of 2kb size will cost you as follows

     Prepaid  70kobo/kb x 2kb= =N=1:40

     Peak Postpaid  35kobo/kb x 2kb= 70kobo

     Off-peak Postpaid  20kobo/kb x 2kb= 40kobo

Most regular wap pages are below 4kb.

Useful tips that can save you money when using wap

Turn off images- it is advisable to turn off images from your handset internet settings so as to save on your gprs bills; some images on some wapsites are even larger in size than the main contents of the site itself.

Use bookmarks- bookmark sites you visit regularly to avoid viewing unnecessary multiple pages. Give these bookmarks names you can remember always.

Enable cookies- I guess we all know what this means, check internet settings.

Avoid WWW sites- these are internet sites that are very large in size and can put holes in your pocket, these sites can be as large as 50kb at times so watch out.

View wapsites on your PC before accessing it on your phone- Most wapsites can be viewed on your PC with Opera web/wap browser and there are websites that offer wap emulators online, an example of such site is http://www.wapsilon.com after viewing and testing the site online and it's worthy of your regular usage, bookmark on your handset.

NAIRALAND VIA WAP
Of course, nairaland can be viewed with your wap enabled phone and you can do majority of what you can do on the website via your PC on your mobile, though some functions might be limited.
To view nairaland on your phone, bookmark the wapsite  http://wap2.nairaland.com/ enjoy...

Useful wapsites with info about them.

wap.my-symbian.com
 This site is filled with useful information about most symbian phones plus loads of free softwares for your phone

wap.esato.com
 sonyericsson forum, there’s a Nigerian forum in there called Proudly Nigerian Forum

wap.getjar.com
 free java applications and others

uk.mm.yahoo.com
 yahoo messenger via wap

tagtag.com/site/wapdir/wmldir.php?seshid=ad0537143a73fe7c3ca8a004deebdbf8
full list of wap directories in tagtag, loads of free stuffs.

wap.e-messenger.net  
MSN/Hotmail chat via wap

wap.google.com 
google search engine

wap.google.com/wml?hl=en&wmlmode=wml
mobile web search engine

wap.pocketdoctor.co.uk
 information about diseases and treatment.

wap.gemal.dk
Browserspy - gives you a lot of information about your current device (IP etc). Great for developers [WAP1 | HTML]

quotesheaven.com/wap
Quotes Heaven - Historical quotes from a range of categories (famous, inspirational etc.) [WAP1]

yeswap.com
Wap Portal - 240+ tested and catergorized sites [WAP1 | HTML]

dictionary.reference.com/wireless/index.wml
look up any (english) word and get a detailed explanation [WAP1]

wapall.com
WAP search engine [WAP1]


mopilot.com/wml/search.wml
WAP Search Engine [WAP1]

wap.ithaki.net
Ithaki WAP Meta Search - WAP search engine [WAP1]

wap.dhl.com
Track your DHL packages. [WAP1 | HTML]

polyphonicringtonez.com/wap
Many free polyphonic MIDIs [WAP1]

Feel free to add to this thread or send me a PM for more information about wap while I keep updating you with info about more sites
CHEERS!!

Welldone Mamba! Can you try http://mob.e-messenger.net/mobile/  for MSN/Hotmail Messenger and find out the difference with the one given above.

Mamba, I am quite impressed by this thread. Thumbs up! You have so beautifully explained this whole stuff. Glo should do something for you o! cos this is such a good ad, in educating or enlightening people of the whole lot of possibilities that comes your way with a glo line. If you ask me, glo has got something of so much importance and worth but their ad is not just enuf or rather the good word has not been properly/effectively spread. Trust MTN if it were them!

:lol: :lol: :lol:

@mamba: That your friend is a dinosaur!

I feel you axeprince.  I equally use Vmobile and keep wondering if we will ever enjoy all these.  Hope I (we) don't turn into wonderers ...

Eolutosin, are you being paid by Glo Mobile Nigeria based on the number of times you mention 'Glo' in the forum?   Why don't you share your wealth? 

I know a proud MTEL user. He cannot browse, he cannot reliably send and recieve SMS.  But he doesn't know what he's missing apart from wap2.nairaland.com and wap.nairaland.com!  And he knows that his phone can last for a month when he buys a 1,000 naira card.

You Glo Mobile WAP or Glo Direct users need to convince the rest of us that we are missing something.  You need to tell us stories about how you are using your 2.5 G network to solve real problems. Spare us the talk about rongtones, logos, and picture MMS.  Let's talk about serious things that can make the average phone user bear the additional expense.  Maybe in a new discussion.

Does MTN provide internet services to its subscribers?

I've been trying to post via wap but it seems to be impossible on Nairaland, anybody tried it?

Ok, I guess it's working cos my previous post plus this too were via wap. Been outa town for sometime now and glad to be back.

If you read my first post in this thread you'll see where I talked about MTN and Vmobile CSD with a link to AYA's site where you can get the CSD settings if you're interested. I must warn you that it's quite expensive sha
The major problem with glo is the lack of CSD which could have supplemented GPRS.

Hey! Welcome Mario! At least you got one person to welcome you.
Enjoy!

oh ow!

Was it really off or I got disconnected due to my credit getting exhausted??

I loaded credit, restarted my phone and the service is back up.

@angel: I have called customer care every other day for 4 weeks now. No explanations. Watery apologies. You work with an ISP, I believe. How does the thought of 4 weeks' downtime strike you? Simply unacceptable in this day and age.

There is no doubt that Glo is not living up  to expectations in the delivery of GPRS services. I have been around Lagos trying out their service and the results are plain disastrous.

Where GPRS works, it works well, but at other places whre it doesn't - or does epileptically - you don't want to hang around.

I have picked up my Glo line back after being persuaded that their engineers are at work on my case. But the million dollar question is, "How about the scores of locations in and outside of Lagos that the thing also  leaves a sour taste in the mouth?"

But let no-one think that by using my Glo line again this "war" is over. I have only changed tactics. I intend to see to it that they keep their word or simply stop making those fraudulent claims of "always-on internet access anywhere, anytime".  I will draw upon every resource at my disposal - the media, NCC, my networks - to see to it.

The way it is, I already have nothing to lose. Our operators must be made to realise that we simply won't stand for somethings. Nothing personal.

It may be a long drawn war, but the subscribers will come out shining.

@mamba: Exactly.

I have been calling for CSD as backup on GloMobile for a long time. Don't know whether they listen, and really don't care. Its their loss at the end of the day.

If MTN comes out with GPRS or EDGE right now (and it performs better), I ditch Glo GPRS - no shaking, since I already have an MTN line.

What an informative thread. Seems like most of the people on this forum have been reading my mind about having a CSD option for Glo Mobile Internet.

Vmobile has both CSD and currently, GPRS option (did you know that?). I have a friend who works in Vmobile and he confirmed that they do have GPRS connectivity now. I don't know if it's gone public though.

I don't know if you guys have noticed this. After impressing my friends with the wonderful Glo Mobile Internet service, one of them decided to go get a line and as I'm speaking, there's nothing he hasn't tried to get his line provisioned. He's even been to the Glo World Friendship Center (or whatever they call it). It seems like it's only those of us who got in early are still enjoying the service. Same with my uncle! He's not been able to provision his line. I really do think these Glo guys need to sit up!!!! Why all the promises and then you cannot deliver? I term this incompetence!