[urfankhaliq]

Anyone have experience of the "three" network? They have some good deals on but I heard they have crappy reception all over?

Anyone here use them and can comment on reception/service etc?

[RCUK]

Depends where you are - check the BBC site- they have just done a project into 3g connectivity.

Put your postcode in and see what reception is round yours.

I had three for 18 months and never had a problem with it at all. Tariff wise they were hard to beat.

[urfankhaliq]

I just got off the phone with O2 (my current provider) and was told by their retentions team that with three, if you lose 3g reception all you can do is make emergency calls due to them not having a 2g network?

Is that just a load of crap?

[jimmylimmy]

I was with Three a couple of years ago, so it may have changed, but I found their coverage to be pretty abysmal. Areas where I get full 3G, I was getting an Edge connection on Three. In areas of poor/low reception for O2/Orange/Voda, Three would get no signal at all etc....

Wouldnt go back to them if they paid me

[225_AB]

Used to be on O2 terrible data speeds moderate reception. Switched to 3 a couple of years ago, can't fault them (except their terrible call centres). Excellent coverage unbeatable tariffs.

[Kerr]

The BBC survey showed that 3 had the best 3G coverage and the lowest load.

Not sure about you guys, but I'm getting tired with Vodafone.

My 3G connection struggles badly in far too many areas, sometimes due to reception and often because the network can't handle the load in busy areas.

3 do "All you can eat data" but Vodafone are getting tighter and tighter on their data restrictions.

[MEGA]

Three now lease network bandwidth from t-mobile who in turn share the orange network

This is as of 18 and 12 months ago respectively.

As such they should offer the best coverage of all. At worst case second best to Voda.

O2 are awful. Stuck with them on work contract. Awful awful coverage..

[dxb335d]

Originally Posted by RCUK

Depends where you are - check the BBC site- they have just done a project into 3g connectivity.
.

Why is this? because they are supposedly crap!?

[jimmylimmy]

I used to have a works mobile which was on Vodafone, constantly dropping calls or not receiving them at all when at home. Poor signal from my main customer site.

I got approval for my own contract with another network which I would expense so went for a deal on Orange with a free Laptop

Signal just as bad at home, slightly better on site, managed to wriggle out of the contract when they made a balls up and lost a shedload of customers

Switched to O2 and have slightly better signal at home (still not 3G) but worse at night for some reason

Now on a Tesco mobile contract which uses the O2 network - may look at Three again then when this contract is up (or get suresignal on Voda and have all my calls FOC again)

[zltm089]

yeah, i'm with them....crap reception...but only in certain areas....


very cheap deals tho....

[briers]

3 are great if you have 3G. I got one of their free sims and only GPRS at home but full 3g in town and fast!

o2 and voda had 3g in both places

T-Mobile sim on the way to test.

I got 3G pretty much everywhere on orange too but it's soooo much slower than o2 which round here runs HSDPA+. My phone when tethered to my latptop downloads at 3Mbit on o2.


I'm hoping T-Mobile works out alright because they have some good deals and want to get my mrs a new iphone next month.

[Tunbridge]

I had a 3 mobile dongle for my netbook and despite their website saying my postcode (in Aberdeen at the time) had excellent coverage it was rubbish! Ended up on Vodafone in the end, just depends where you live I guess.

[urfankhaliq]

but has anyone ever used quidco?

They are currently doing "Exclusive £140 cashback on all 18/24 month pay monthly handset contracts (exc. iPhone)" with Voda

Voda have a contract at £41 for 1200 mins, unlimited sms, 750MB data and free samsung galaxy S 2 and coupled with the cashback seems a good deal...

Does Quidco really work?

[briers]

Originally Posted by urfankhaliq

Does Quidco really work?

Yes it works 9 times out of 10, they pay out and if they don't quidco chase them. Can take a few months to get the cash though.

Just make sure you visit quidco first, click the link and then buy in the same session.


Shame the deal doesn't apply to iphone!

[urfankhaliq]

have you used quidco before? it says it could take 180 days for the cashback?

[chris_s1]

I have recently got an iPad on the 3 network and I'm really impressed.
The 3G data service is miles better than Vodafone (which I have an iphone on).

I will probably move my iphone to 3 when the contract is up.

[chris_s1]

Originally Posted by RCUK

Depends where you are - check the BBC site- they have just done a project into 3g connectivity.

Put your postcode in and see what reception is round yours.

I wouldn't place to much faith in that study!

I had a go on the BBC 3G map earlier, and of the 3 places I spend a lot of time (home, office, Dad's) the map showed pretty much the exact opposite of what I know to be true.

For example, at home - the map showed O2 and Orange as good and 3 and Voda as no 3G, when in actual fact its completely the other way round. My wife's iphone on orange gets no 3G, my previous contract on O2 was unusable at home but my current iphone on Voda and iPad on 3 get top notch 3G data.

The other 2 locations I regularly use all networks at were similarly all wrong on the BBC map

[R80TER]

Originally Posted by urfankhaliq

have you used quidco before? it says it could take 180 days for the cashback?

i have had over £500 in cashback from quidco over the years, prob £100 a year back for shizzle i was buying anyway. dont worry about the time, just shop via it and forget, then get a nice ton dropped in your bank.

re 3 network, it has probably improved of late, they will be sharing the T-Mobile/Orange network named Everything Everywhere, or as my mate that works for vodafone calls it, Nothing Nowhere. O2 and Vodafone are now sharing too, Not as publicly advertised as the others. 02 and voda are exclusive, every other provider will be using the everything everywhere network. to be honest, its still not working brilliantly for me (T-Mob), when i go through an aereal switchover when driving, my phone still drops, not sure if its the phone or the SP, but its still not as good as vodafone for me, it is improving though. soon pretty much all providers will have pretty good 3G coverage.

personally, dont give a monkeys about 3g, i just want to make a call, drive and not be cut off, so gsm would do!!

[Moh]

3 are great,use my iPad with the micro sim. Great deal and great coverage. In comparision,my O2 iPhone will have have no 3G signal whilst I'm browsing away on the iPad. That said,3G signal in general is utter crap. Until 4G or whatever it's likely to be called will be introduced,abysmal service is likely to continue.

[CHG]

Orange all the way for me and same for the company too!

Customer Service is second to none... coverage works at my house where nothing else does!

[gIzzE]

I am with Three on my iPad and have been seriously impressed with them.

I have yet to find somewhere in the UK where I loose signal.


I am on o2 and it is atrocious, not until I got with Three that I realised just how bad.
So much so I have got PAC codes today to move over to Three, going to pay the £300 needed to get out of o2 as I think it is worth it.

[urfankhaliq]

well some mixed feelings here for "three"

Im with O2 and have to admit they are not the best when it comes to reception!