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Three Mobile Network. Are they any better?
Ben_Copeland - 23/9/12 at 05:04 PM

Looking at getting a new iphone. 99% it'll be the new iphone 5 (have old iphone atm)

Three network has the best deal by far, unlimited internet and only £79 for phone

O2 i'm with currently want £199 and only 1Gb data which i'd use with 2 weeks....

Orange or Tmobile (Everyone Everywhere) have similar deals to o2...

If i wasnt worried about all the bad press Three used to get i'd already have signed up to a contract online.

BUT i'm nervous about them from the bad press they got a few years ago.

I travel all over the country and need my phone to work and o2 seem to have got it right most of the time.

I have 3 dongle for my laptop for when i go away and its been perfect!

So what do people think??

JoelP - 23/9/12 at 05:15 PM

ican only agree with your comment on the 3 dongle, as thats all i have on 3. They must have improved over the last year as it now works in my usual holiday destination, when it didnt the year before.

jossey - 23/9/12 at 05:20 PM

I had used orange for home phone and O2 for work for any years and same as you I noticed 3 was great priced. I got a 3 phone and no different from the O2 so that's good. But I've now gone to t mobile who use the tmobile and orange network as they had a deal for matching any price plan.

Unlimited Internet on the tmobile phone was really unlimited as the 3 one wasn't.


Dave

Ben_Copeland - 23/9/12 at 05:28 PM

quote:
Originally posted by jossey

Unlimited Internet on the tmobile phone was really unlimited as the 3 one wasn't.


Dave



It appears that 3 unlimited is now complete unlimited, no fair usage policy etc

ashg - 23/9/12 at 06:19 PM

watch out for three. they give you unlimited internet but block tethering and torrent downloading unless you take out the one plan or pay an extra fiver a month for 1gig of tethering.

Ben_Copeland - 23/9/12 at 06:22 PM

Hi Ash.

I was looking at the One Plan, and spotted the tethering thing. So all good. Wouldnt be torrent downloading on it anyway.

jossey - 23/9/12 at 06:45 PM

Well researched then Ben :-)

jabs - 23/9/12 at 06:56 PM

3 transmitter appears to be down in Knaresborough at the moment as haven't had a signal at home all day so having to use the land line - annoying when my mobile calles are free. Reported it via their web site earlier today and it said they will reply within 5 days, what use is that.

sky12042 - 23/9/12 at 06:57 PM

I have a iPhone 4s on 3 network with the one plan and it's been ace.

Unlimited data watch sky go all the time on it. Good reception in my area.

Use it tethered to the iPad when on holiday etc and it's been good.

Andy

tomgregory2000 - 23/9/12 at 06:58 PM

quote:
Originally posted by ashg
watch out for three. they give you unlimited internet but block tethering and torrent downloading unless you take out the one plan or pay an extra fiver a month for 1gig of tethering.


Prob sound sutped but what is tethering and torrent downloading?

MRLuke - 23/9/12 at 06:59 PM

Im with 3 and whenever I can get a phone signal I can get online pretty good coverage tbh

beaver34 - 23/9/12 at 07:05 PM

quote:
Originally posted by tomgregory2000
quote:
Originally posted by ashg
watch out for three. they give you unlimited internet but block tethering and torrent downloading unless you take out the one plan or pay an extra fiver a month for 1gig of tethering.


Prob sound sutped but what is tethering and torrent downloading?


tethering is using the phone as a wifi network for a non 3g device,

this means if you have a wifi ipad you can use your phones 3g to surf the net anywhere on the go

saving you the extra for the 3g ipad and the contract for surfing on it

splitrivet - 23/9/12 at 07:07 PM

Use it for work and got 4 other Phones on the network, never had a problem, as for torrenting wouldnt use it on a mobile anyways.
Cheers,
Bob

austin man - 23/9/12 at 07:26 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Ben_Copeland
Looking at getting a new iphone. 99% it'll be the new iphone 5 (have old iphone atm)

Three network has the best deal by far, unlimited internet and only £79 for phone

O2 i'm with currently want £199 and only 1Gb data which i'd use with 2 weeks....

Orange or Tmobile (Everyone Everywhere) have similar deals to o2...

If i wasnt worried about all the bad press Three used to get i'd already have signed up to a contract online.

BUT i'm nervous about them from the bad press they got a few years ago.

I travel all over the country and need my phone to work and o2 seem to have got it right most of the time.

I have 3 dongle for my laptop for when i go away and its been perfect!

So what do people think??


Why bother with a 3g Dongle use your phone as a WIFI access point and if you have unlimited internet you could be saving money therefore letting the I phone pay for itself

Ben_Copeland - 23/9/12 at 07:26 PM

All looking pretty good so far!

Downed transmitters can happen to any company so can't really mark them down for that. Hope they sort it quickly for you jabs

Ben_Copeland - 23/9/12 at 07:29 PM

quote:
Originally posted by austin man


Why bother with a 3g Dongle use your phone as a WIFI access point and if you have unlimited internet you could be saving money therefore letting the I phone pay for itself


My current O2 iPhone 3GS I can't tether and I don't need tethering on o2s month fee.

But will certainly ditch the dongle if I get iPhone 5 with 3.

ashg - 23/9/12 at 08:01 PM

they are ok the only down side is the indian call centre. the internet on my phone used to be really fast at work but got slower and slower as more people started to get iphones etc. i called them to report it and on the fourth phone call it had been escalated up the chain and they accepted that the issue wasn't with my phone they committed to getting it sorted by upping the connection speed to the mast. 4 days later it was sorted and is silly fast again.

ashg - 23/9/12 at 08:03 PM

just make sure you get the exact plan you want and read everything as they are complete shits and wont let you change the plan after the first few days, even if you want to go on a more expensive one.

mookaloid - 23/9/12 at 08:04 PM

Slight aside - How do they block tethering?

Is it something they lock off on the phone or can they tell by the traffic?

Ben_Copeland - 23/9/12 at 08:09 PM

quote:
Originally posted by mookaloid
Slight aside - How do they block tethering?

Is it something they lock off on the phone or can they tell by the traffic?


O2 lock the option on the phone. It transfers me to their website to add an additional bolt on.

JoelP - 23/9/12 at 08:33 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Ben_Copeland
quote:
Originally posted by mookaloid
Slight aside - How do they block tethering?

Is it something they lock off on the phone or can they tell by the traffic?


O2 lock the option on the phone. It transfers me to their website to add an additional bolt on.


So if you bought the phone yourself and got a sim only plan, they wouldnt be able to stop you? That might be one option.

Depending on the monthly cost from 3, you might instead consider giff gaff at £10 a month, and just buy the phone yourself. This would probably cost £640 over 2 years, which would be the same cost as 3 if the contract was £25 a month.

Ben_Copeland - 23/9/12 at 09:03 PM

Not sure on that, don't know how they block it.

I'd considered buying an iPhone from apple but they are expensive and I don't have to funds to spend on one.

mookaloid - 23/9/12 at 09:36 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Ben_Copeland
quote:
Originally posted by mookaloid
Slight aside - How do they block tethering?

Is it something they lock off on the phone or can they tell by the traffic?


O2 lock the option on the phone. It transfers me to their website to add an additional bolt on.


In that instance it must be the phone that does it - so it might well be worth trying Joel's idea

ashg - 23/9/12 at 10:05 PM

they monitor the ports you are using, its pretty crude really if you use anything anything other than port 80 or a few others it thinks you are tethering and they block the net. the only way to get the net working again is to restart the phone. have tried rooting mine with different builds to get round it. the only way i can get on the net with the laptop through the phone is to pair it with bluetooth rather than wireless then use a firewall to stop the pc communicating on spurious ports.

craig1410 - 23/9/12 at 11:51 PM

Our family of 5 are all on 3 in one way or another. My wife, elder daughter and myself are on the One Plan and my younger daughter is on the Ultimate Internet 500 plan. This is the same as the One Plan except you don't get tethering which she doesn't need. It is £4 a month cheaper as a result. My son is on a PayG tariff. All are using iPhones with my iPhone 5, wife and daughters on iPhone 4S's and my son on a 3GS but about to get my old iPhone 4.

Indian call centres can be a challenge but no worse than any other company and better than they used to be. The retail store staff are generally very good and they can do most things for you anyway so you very rarely need to call the support line. The cost of the iPhone 5 is certainly very hard to beat which is why I went with them again. I got the 32GB model which is £89 up front plus £39pm. I would urge you to consider getting the 32GB model as the 16GB one will quickly fill up if you use it for lots of video, photos or music/podcasts. An extra £10 up front and £3 is the difference between 16GB and 32GB so worth considering I think.

The iPhone 5 is a significant improvement over the iPhone 4 and even the 4S. I'm sure you'll like it!

MikeFellows - 24/9/12 at 12:08 AM

I recently moved to 3 after being on O2 for the last 5 years and its much better 3g coverage

and ive saved a small fortune

Ben_Copeland - 24/9/12 at 05:52 AM

Thanks guys, that's the final nail in the coffin for O2 me thinks. I'll sign a new contract next week with 3

splitrivet - 24/9/12 at 11:34 PM

Gotta say though the only downside is calling a 3 phone from a landline is the caller pays the highest tariff than any other mobie network .
The upside is I dont call myself and any calls to another 3 phone are free
Plus cross network calls are included in your call allowance
Ive allways found there call centre helpfull, polite and point out thier better deals even though they are hard to understand.
Cheers,
Bob

[Edited on 24/9/12 by splitrivet]

craig1410 - 24/9/12 at 11:42 PM

quote:
Originally posted by splitrivet
Gotta say though the only downside is calling a 3 phone from a landline is the caller pays the highest tariff than any other mobie network .
[Edited on 24/9/12 by splitrivet]


I'd be very interested to see this written somewhere. As far as I can tell from a cursory glance at my BT price list, calls to my old O2 number (07801) is the same as to my son's 3 number (07446)

I'm pretty sure this is a myth but would be happy to learn otherwise.

Cheers,
Craig.

[Edited on 24/9/2012 by craig1410]

splitrivet - 25/9/12 at 08:58 AM

quote:
Originally posted by craig1410
quote:
Originally posted by splitrivet
Gotta say though the only downside is calling a 3 phone from a landline is the caller pays the highest tariff than any other mobie network .
[Edited on 24/9/12 by splitrivet]


I'd be very interested to see this written somewhere. As far as I can tell from a cursory glance at my BT price list, calls to my old O2 number (07801) is the same as to my son's 3 number (07446)

I'm pretty sure this is a myth but would be happy to learn otherwise.

Cheers,
Craig.

[Edited on 24/9/2012 by craig1410]


Aint no myth Im afraid google it. The landline supplier we connect with charges 8.5 p per minute to Voda etc and 16 p to 3, this cost isnt driven by 3 and is all to do with termination charges, as the 3 network increases in popularity this should come down. 3 is still the cheapest network.
The thing is to get into the habit of using the 3 phone at home instead of your landline and you will save money.
Cheers,
Bob

[Edited on 25/9/12 by splitrivet]

craig1410 - 25/9/12 at 09:39 AM

quote:
Originally posted by splitrivet
quote:
Originally posted by craig1410
quote:
Originally posted by splitrivet
Gotta say though the only downside is calling a 3 phone from a landline is the caller pays the highest tariff than any other mobie network .
[Edited on 24/9/12 by splitrivet]


I'd be very interested to see this written somewhere. As far as I can tell from a cursory glance at my BT price list, calls to my old O2 number (07801) is the same as to my son's 3 number (07446)

I'm pretty sure this is a myth but would be happy to learn otherwise.

Cheers,
Craig.

[Edited on 24/9/2012 by craig1410]


Aint no myth Im afraid google it. The landline supplier we connect with charges 8.5 p per minute to Voda etc and 16 p to 3, this cost isnt driven by 3 and is all to do with termination charges, as the 3 network increases in popularity this should come down. 3 is still the cheapest network.
The thing is to get into the habit of using the 3 phone at home instead of your landline and you will save money.
Cheers,
Bob

[Edited on 25/9/12 by splitrivet]

Hi Bob,

I did google it at length before I posted because I remembered something about this from years gone by. However, despite going through BT's pricing information at length I can only find a single price which covers all mobile calls except for those to the special 070 numbers. My landline supplier is Zen Internet and they also show a single price.

I'm going to stick my neck out and say that, when people became able to port their numbers to other suppliers a number of years ago, this sort of pricing became impossible to maintain because a number which was originally issued by O2 might have been ported to 3 or Vodafone or whoever and it would not be fair to charge people different rates when they have no way to know in advance what they will be charged. My number starts with 07801 as it was originally an O2 number but is now with 3 so how would that be priced? How can people calling me know in advance what the call will cost?

So, unless you can come up with some current documentation to prove that different termination fees still exist then I'm going to have to stick with my "myth" rating for this one...

Cheers,
Craig.

splitrivet - 25/9/12 at 11:28 AM

Im not saying all providers charge more, virgin certainly do here as I deal with 100% business at work virtually all BT wholesale providers certainly do as most dont charge for call set up which is what you do usually pay with residential services.
With BT calling plans your having to pay a charge up front for the pleasure of a discount and although the rate is usually capped your still paying a call set up of about 13p even if the call lasts seconds which averages out the costs across the networks, as most calls to mobiles are brief the setup is the money maker.
Cheers,
Bob

craig1410 - 25/9/12 at 11:50 AM

I'd love to know how they can get away with this and how they decide which mobile operator a number is associated with. If it is the original operator who issued the number then it would be possible for the caller to know what charge to expect but if it is the actual mobile operator (possibly having been transferred from the original operator) then how can the caller know? It's rare for me to applaud BT for anything but I applaud them for having a single mobile call rate. Virgin? Not so much...

Having said that, I moved from BT to Zen Internet for my landline but they also have a flat rate mobile charge. Not that it matters though as we always just use our mobile phones when at home for outbound calls. No point in paying for calls when you don't have to... In fact if mobile data speeds get just a little bit higher here at my house then I shall seriously consider dumping my landline entirely.

britishtrident - 26/9/12 at 06:39 PM

quote:
Originally posted by craig1410
I'd love to know how they can get away with this and how they decide which mobile operator a number is associated with. If it is the original operator who issued the number then it would be possible for the caller to know what charge to expect but if it is the actual mobile operator (possibly having been transferred from the original operator) then how can the caller know? It's rare for me to applaud BT for anything but I applaud them for having a single mobile call rate. Virgin? Not so much...

Having said that, I moved from BT to Zen Internet for my landline but they also have a flat rate mobile charge. Not that it matters though as we always just use our mobile phones when at home for outbound calls. No point in paying for calls when you don't have to... In fact if mobile data speeds get just a little bit higher here at my house then I shall seriously consider dumping my landline entirely.



I used to use Zen because they had a terrific reputation ---- they were fine until I had a broadband fault getting them to call BT engineers in was a nightmare.
after weeks of complaining about the fault including a letter to Zen's MD my broadband speed progressively dropped to crawl they did nothing, it was only when the voice line went totally down that I could call in BT to fix what turned out to be a card fault at the exchange. To make matters worse they had an employee in the accounts department who sold thousands of customers credit card details. Needless to say I promptly left Zen although I still have an email account with them although Zen accounts department can't get the billing right.


I now with Plus Net and have been for about 7 years. 2 years ago I had a very similar broadband problem the difference, I cannot praise Plusnet enough for the effort they put into fixing it, a house call from a BT engineer soon diagnosed another card fault at the exchange job done.

[Edited on 26/9/12 by britishtrident]

Ben_Copeland - 26/9/12 at 06:43 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Ben_Copeland
Thanks guys, that's the final nail in the coffin for O2 me thinks. I'll sign a new contract next week with 3


Just ordered my new phone and contact, should be coming early next month

Cant get through to O2, they either leave me on hold and say the lines are too busy and cut me off.

craig1410 - 26/9/12 at 07:04 PM

quote:
Originally posted by britishtrident
quote:
Originally posted by craig1410
I'd love to know how they can get away with this and how they decide which mobile operator a number is associated with. If it is the original operator who issued the number then it would be possible for the caller to know what charge to expect but if it is the actual mobile operator (possibly having been transferred from the original operator) then how can the caller know? It's rare for me to applaud BT for anything but I applaud them for having a single mobile call rate. Virgin? Not so much...

Having said that, I moved from BT to Zen Internet for my landline but they also have a flat rate mobile charge. Not that it matters though as we always just use our mobile phones when at home for outbound calls. No point in paying for calls when you don't have to... In fact if mobile data speeds get just a little bit higher here at my house then I shall seriously consider dumping my landline entirely.



I used to use Zen because they had a terrific reputation ---- they were fine until I had a broadband fault getting them to call BT engineers in was a nightmare.
after weeks of complaining about the fault including a letter to Zen's MD my broadband speed progressively dropped to crawl they did nothing, it was only when the voice line went totally down that I could call in BT to fix what turned out to be a card fault at the exchange. To make matters worse they had an employee in the accounts department who sold thousands of customers credit card details. Needless to say I promptly left Zen although I still have an email account with them although Zen accounts department can't get the billing right.


I now with Plus Net and have been for about 7 years. 2 years ago I had a very similar broadband problem the difference, I cannot praise Plusnet enough for the effort they put into fixing it, a house call from a BT engineer soon diagnosed another card fault at the exchange job done.

[Edited on 26/9/12 by britishtrident]


Very strange as I've been with Zen for 8 years and have had nothing but excellent service, PARTICULARLY, when progressing technical issues with BT. I've had 4 line problems, including 2 line card faults, in that time and they have been escalated very quickly indeed. It probably helps that I'm an IT consultant myself and am able to give them router logs and stats and very quickly get through the essential initial diagnosis which BT require before escalation can take place. Zen are not cheap but I work from home a lot and require the best performance, reliability and customer service I can get and thats why I stick with Zen. Plusnet aren't bad but the reviews on thinkbroadband.com still place Zen at the top of the pile. I'm even getting a recurring discount just now where I get 200GB a month for the price of 100GB.

C.

Nickp - 26/9/12 at 07:22 PM

I can't comment on 3's pricing (but I think it's been pretty well covered that they're cheapest) but I can tell you that their 3G network is effectively one and the same as T-mobile. If you've got a T-mob signal then you'll have a 3 signal and vice versa. Orange have a different Radio Access Network to these two (at the moment) but have joined T-mob in sharing a core network and customers in the Everthing Everywhere venture, soon to be 'EE'. It all takes a bit of getting your head round even if you work on these networks on a daily basis!! It used to be simple- 5 companies, 5 networks, 5 lots of customers, end of.