Dongle from PC World - Non-expiry or 30day?

[smartone]

Hi, I've just purchased some dongles from PC World. They are in the old non-expiry 1GB box but it looks like the sim card has been replaced with a different one (a new barcode with sim number has been stickered to the box). The sim card inside has not been removed from the full-sized 'credit card mount'. Is it possible to tell if it is the non-expiry version or the new 3GB 30day version from the number on the sim card?
The numbers look like this: 89441000.........3076
89441000..............2565

If it is not the non-expiry version then I'd like to return them to PC World.

[Retired-James]

Hi Smartone,

Unfortunately we are unable to tell which plan it is on until it is connected and live on the network.

Do you have a Vodafone store nearby? if you activate the SIM they will be able to identify which plan it is on however from what you have said it would suggest that it is on the new 30 day expiry version rather than the non expiry version.

James
eForum Team

[smartone]

Hi James, thank you for your reply.

I've read some posts in this forum where users seem to have problems when they install the newer dashboard VMC version 9.4 (I assume that they using older K3565 non-expiry)
Is it true that sim cards from older K3565 non-expiry modem will only work with VMC 9.3 and that sim cards from the new K3565 R (30day) will only work with VMC 9.4?

Quote from "How do I tell which pay as you go USB Modem stick I've got?"

the K3565R uses dashboard version 9.4.4 and the K3565 has version 9.3.3

If that's the case then I might be able to work out whether it's the 1GB or 3GB plan that the sim card is on.

On the newer K3565 R (30day) dashboard (VMC 9.4), does it show a "check balance'"? Would it show "£15" when unused and what would it show if a few Kb of data was used? Something like "£14.96"?

[Retired-Lee]

Hey smartone,

Some fab questions there!!!

VMC 9.4 will work with both types of prepay modems, both expiry and non expiry. You may need to tweak a few settings but we'll cross that bridge if we come to it

For the expiry type of prepay modem, the remaining balance would show up in data, and in the non expiry the remaining balance would show in currency.

I trust this helps you, let me know if there's anything else at all.

Cheers,

LeeH
eForum Team

[smartone]

Hi LeeH,
Thanks for your answer. Yes, I think VMC 9.4 should work with either non-expiry modem or the new 30day modem (hardware). But I was thinking more along the lines of it not working with the actual sim cards due to the APN configuration set on the modems at the factory. The APN setting is different for the two Top up & Go plans: APN for non-expiry = pp.vodafone.co.uk
APN for 30day = PPBUNDLE.INTERNET

If my sim card is non-expiry, it wil not connect properly to PPBUNDLE.INTERNET. Likewise, if my sim is on the 30day plan, it will not connect properly to pp.vodafone.co.uk, right?
So, I was thinking I could use this fact to determine whether the sim card I got is non-expiry or 30day. Well, looking at your second answer, I can say with 99.99% certainty that my sim card is on the 1GB non-expiry plan as it says, "#15" (fifteen 'pounds' I guess) when I press the 'check balance' in the VMC 9.3 dashboard.

Thank you both for your help!