Reply With QuoteMy brother was once on 3 (about 18 months ago). It was awful. Calls would just drop completely for no reason.
No idea who buys 3 phones and how they make a profit, because few people I know are on that network.
So - I'm almost certainly going to get a new iphone next month. With O2's disappointing new tariffs I'm tempted by the prospect of Three offering the iPhone (probably at a more reasonable price). However...everyone always says Three is a rubbish network etc. What's the deal - is Three any good? Don't they share masts with other networks for 2g service? I just don't want to switch over to have a phone I can't use anywhere!
Any info appreciated!
My brother was once on 3 (about 18 months ago). It was awful. Calls would just drop completely for no reason.
No idea who buys 3 phones and how they make a profit, because few people I know are on that network.
They have the best 3G data network in the UK by a country mile (see Ofcom maps), but their 2G/voice network is patchy and reliant on roaming agreements with T-Mobile/Orange for in-fill. So, great choice for iPad (their 10GB/month for £15 deal is unbeatable), not so great for iPhone.
One other thing to consider: their customer service could charitably be described as shit. They cheerfully admit this on their website as the reason they're cheap. It took me three attempts with their comically bad Indian call centre to get my iPad microSIM activated.
Wouldn't ever use them again....
Put up with a crappy reception for 12 months because I couldn't be bothered switching...then moved house and couldn't get a reception at all unless I hung out of the back bedroom window.
Phoned some muppet in Calcutta or somewhere to cancel the contract and eventually managed to get it ended.
3 months later I got a baliffs letter for non payment of 3 months phone bills...
Phoned them to see what was going on and they said they had no record of me cancelling the contract and that I had to pay the 3 months outstanding bills and give them 30 days notice....(even though I hadn't used the phone for over 6 months)
At this point I lost my patience and told them to stick their bill up their Ar*e + a few other choice phrases that were entirely appropriate...
I said I would be happy to settle this matter in court, but would bill them £250 per day for my time.
Not heard from them since.......MUPPETS... :evil:
TBH given Apple's commercial restrictions there aren't likely to be vast variances in the prices on the new iPhone. If anyone does manage to get pricing down its most likley to be TescoMobile who run on O2's network, but I'm not sure if they've secured stock.
I'ld wait to see what the operators announce later this month.
Been with 3 for about 2 years now, never had a problem with coverage, everybody is as good as each other really, some will work in one place when others won't and vice versa, 3 seems to work for me.
Unless you want a 3g broadband dongle thing, mines shit and struggles to get a signal, despite my phone also on 3 saying theres a good 3g signal, so i'm paying to end that contract early.
Customer serivce is a joke, on par with bt, i expect it's great if you speak punjabi or similar but i don't.
when it works it's great when it doesnt its crap.
would i buy/use 3 again, yes.
Reception is good in North Norfolk and rural Lincolnshire, which I take as a good sign. I've used a MiFi "dongle" and the speed was acceptable. As SM73 says, the iPad data deal is the best. If I bought an iPhone, Three would be a contender.
3 customer service is utterly dire, I for one will never use them again.
"I looked with pity not untinged with scorn upon these trivial-minded passers-by"
Avoid at all costs! - Awful network coverage and woful customer service, only matched by Orange!!
I personally feel O2 are the bunch!
Well, I finally did it. On the basis of my excellent experience of Three on my iPad, I bade O2 farewell and transferred my iPhone contract. I'm getting my iPad + iPhone service from Three for less than half what I was paying O2 for my iPhone alone. And I'm pleased to report the customer service — though still based in India — seems to have improved beyond all recognition compared to the carry-on I had trying to get my iPad connected back in May. My iPhone, like my iPad, is on one of their 30 day rolling contracts, so there's no tie-in and I'm free to leave if it doesn't work out, but we'll see how it goes.
I had a contract wth them for my daughter a couple of years ago,very poor managed to get out of the contract 6 months early on a technicality.
Had a look at tesco mobile?
Tesco is O2. Some good tariffs, but the same old network, which is the worst of the lot for 3G.Originally Posted by lewie
I think a lot of people had a bad experience of Three in their early days, but they have spent a king's ransom on their network infrastructure to the point where OFCOM now rate them the best for 3G coverage and speed. And the experience travelling round the UK with microSIMs from all the networks in my iPad has borne this out.
Looking for something for my folks too will check plusnet
I use three and have never had a problem :wink:
Perhaps I've been lucky.....
Last week my O2 contract finished and having a sim free iPhone 4 I went on the look out for a new network. In the end I plumped for a sim only deal from T-Mobile. I had to go into the store to ask for a micro sim as they didn't offer one on the website. After 15 minutes I left with a micro sim and a new number with my PAC code off for processing. Two days later my O2 number ported over and I was ready to commit.
That was Tuesday and so far I've found I get far superior 3G coverage on T-Mobile than I did on O2 in the places I'm at most often. I also registered via text for their free roaming to Orange and that works too. Today I noticed I'd switched over to Orange without doing anything myself. It just worked.
T-Mobile doesn't block tethering either so I can now tether my iphone 4 by USB or Bluetooth if required. You also get UK based customer service.
The only thing missing with T-Mobile is visual voicemail. I've registered for Hullomail, which is a free VM replacement with an app to handle messaging. So far that works well too with the iPhone receiving a push notification of any message and I get an email with the recording too. It's very easy to setup from within the app.
All this for only £15 per month on a 30 day rolling contract with 350 minutes of calls, 300 texts and 1GB of data. You can even add bundles such as unlimited landline calls for an extra £5 per month. That's a great deal in my book.
The worst network i ever had, was when i went from 3 network to t mobile after being bainwash into getting a google g1 phone.The phone needing charging ever day and with not getting a siginal 80% of the time, the battery drain even quicker. Now back with 3 with a basic phone ( talk and text one ) and battery lasting 5 days easy. :lol:
Two contracts with 3 for the last five years and never had a problem with the phones, connections or the service.
Three = awful network, just left them and gone with Orange, I'm not recommending Orange, just that they have the best signal in this area
Not surprising....smartphone = high drain. There is a reason the Nokia 3210 had a good battery life, and it wasn't because the battery is superior to an iphone battery.
Where are you? I've found 3 very good in Lincolnshire and North Norfolk, which used to be crap for most networks.
I was with Three - good 3G coverage, bloody rubbish customer service - so bad I cancelled at the end of my contract and went O2.
Fortunately I've a friend works for them and get their 30% off for "family and friends".
I got a windows mobile smartphone and then transferred to SIM only after 18 months. I then moved the SIM into my new Nexus One and haven't looked back. I pay £13.90 a month for 600 mins, 1000 texts and unlimited internet.
Trouble is - I daren't change now as O2 have stopped doing unlimited internet for new contracts so I'll probably keep this SIM until it "wears out".
Cheers,
My PAC port went through first thing this morning — voice, text, data and Apple push services all working as they should. And five bars in my flat, like I used to have with O2 back in the day. Switched on Hullomail for visual voicemail and it's business as usual. One nice perk: apps that fetch data, like Stocks, Weather etc are much faster on Three, which makes sense but wasn't something I'd thought about.
Been on 3 for a couple of years without any problems. Very good value for money and in my experience the customer service hasn't been that bad though the accent barrier can be a bit annoying.
On my third year with 3, not had any issues to be fair, maybe lucky. Reception at home is not 100% but i live in the Black Mountains in Wales socant complain, only dealt with the call centre in Leeds and always have been happy wth them.
I've used Three on and off for the last seven years. My current contact ends in a few weeks and for the most part everything has been fine, but I've noticed recently a number of dropped calls :| . That said, I use two mobile phones, BT Mobile for work (which really is dire) and Three for personal. Wherever I go, I've got coverage, even on Exmoor, Dartmoor ect. I never seem to be without signal, Three especially. The only time I've had major grief with Three, was when one of my earlier contracts expired and we argued over a final bill. Indian call centres seem to have a "way" of doing things and it can take quite a lot of time to get the most basic answer or problem sorted. If you're a patient person, then you won't have a problem :blackeye:
Been with Three for about 4 years.
Never missed a call, never had a call "drop" other than when I chose ;) , never had to ring Bombay for "service" as there's been no problems.
The only time I've dealt with anyone from Three was at renewal. I cancelled the contract as I didn't need a phone for much longer... 2 weeks later they rang and offered me the same deal as the previous year but reduced from £22.00 (contract plus cost of "Add-Ons") to £8.00 a month all in.
I'm still with Three.
My 3G internet/dongle is with Three too. I'm always first to snaffle things on SC so no problems to report on "speed". :wink: :)
Edited for speelinks
I've used Three as my mobile broadband for 3+ years with no major issues.
I had a bizarre renewal with them recently though. Basically I wanted to cancel the existing contract and take out a micro SIM contract to use in my iPad. I then planned on buying a converter to use the micro SIM in my existing modem when required.
They were fairly adamant they would prefer me to renew rather than do this and wanted to change me to the MiFi service, however the SIM with this is standard size and I really wanted to have a micro SIM for the iPad. Anyway, after much toing and froing they agreed to give me a micro SIM, cut the contract price by a fiver a month, up the data allowance to 15Gb a month and send me the MiFi modem anyway! I spent 1.99 on micro SIM to normal SIM converter so I can use the MiFi with our laptops/iPod when my wife and I are out and about or just put the micro SIM in the iPad when I've just got that. All in all very pleased if slightly puzzled by the outcome!
They've thrown the cat among the industry's pigeons today with a genuinely unlimited data deal, including tethering! :shock:
http://blog.three.co.uk/2010/12/15/new- ... -one-plan/
I struggle to get through 1GB a month across both my iPad and iPhone, but I still take my hat off to them for the audacity of this offering when all the other networks are cutting back on their data allowances.
Good for them! I still hat their customer service but i was never disappointed with their connectivity, 3G availability, speed, etc.
The unlimited data is the reason I daren't change my O2 contract as I've still got the old unlimited SIM and a new contract will drop that. Looks like Three could be an option again in future.
Cheers,
My bet is Vodafone. Historically has always had the best overall signal coverage. And a really good deal is if you have broadband at home you can buy a femtocell from Vodafone (£50), plug it in to the hub and bingo you have your own aerial so you are guaranteed a good reception if you live in a patchy area, plus I believe they offer some of the best tariff comparisons. Hey 'opinions are like assholes everbody has got one!!' :blackeye:
Posting Permissions