3's £15/month SIM Only deal offers 300 mins, 3000 SMS and All You Can Eat data. No loyalty required!
Might be worth a try with a free SIM.
i get 300 mins, unlimited txt and unlimited data for £15pm on O2 (after discount it's around £12pm).
plus O2 wifi.
i assume some loyality is required unless it's a 30 day rolling contract?
the snag i've always seen with 3 is that they have no 2G data network, so you either have 3G or nothing. i'd rather have the ability to drop to EDGE or (god forbid) GPRS to get at least a smidge of data.
i get 300 mins, unlimited txt and unlimited data for £15pm on O2 (after discount it's around £12pm).
plus O2 wifi.
i assume some loyality is required unless it's a 30 day rolling contract?
the snag i've always seen with 3 is that they have no 2G data network, so you either have 3G or nothing. i'd rather have the ability to drop to EDGE or (god forbid) GPRS to get at least a smidge of data.
I've said this before. I know people talk about the lack of 2G fall back, but so far, I've only found one place that has no coverage, and my previous 2 providers (T-Mobile and O2) had no coverage there either. I do travel around the UK quite a bit and I go to race tracks and campsites in the deepest countryside. In each case, Three have had 3G coverage where only GPRS was available with the other two. I understand that 2G backup used to be a big deal because Three's 3G coverage was patchy in places, but in my personal experience that's improved greatly in the last year or so.
I've said this before. I know people talk about the lack of 2G fall back, but so far, I've only found one place that has no coverage, and my previous 2 providers (T-Mobile and O2) had no coverage there either. I do travel around the UK quite a bit and I go to race tracks and campsites in the deepest countryside. In each case, Three have had 3G coverage where only GPRS was available with the other two. I understand that 2G backup used to be a big deal because Three's 3G coverage was patchy in places, but in my personal experience that's improved greatly in the last year or so.
which parts of the UK?
i'm in scotland (west central) and to say the 3g coverage up here is patchy would be an understatement.
in the cities you are fine, but start heading out of the big smoke and it aint so great.
three's coverage map - can it be trusted as being reasonable accurate ?
Allow me to clarify, I am currently on Giff Gaff (O2) and I can switch to Three at any time. However, if Three turn out to not have good reception in the areas that I frequent then I would need to go back to Giff Gaff. Hence my comment that trying to get a PAC from Three is like draining blood from stone.
which parts of the UK?
i'm in scotland (west central) and to say the 3g coverage up here is patchy would be an understatement.
in the cities you are fine, but start heading out of the big smoke and it aint so great.
three's coverage map - can it be trusted as being reasonable accurate ?
All over the place - Norfolk, Cheshire, Staffordshire, Hampshire, Devon, North East, across the Midlands. I've not been to Scotland recently though. If I get up to Knockhill, I'll try it there as well. Norfolk is notoriously bad for signal, and yet I had solid coverage all weekend.
All over the place - Norfolk, Cheshire, Staffordshire, Hampshire, Devon, North East, across the Midlands. I've not been to Scotland recently though. If I get up to Knockhill, I'll try it there as well. Norfolk is notoriously bad for signal, and yet I had solid coverage all weekend.
had a look at the coverage map for scotland (central belt west to east) and it's pretty sparse according to their map.
all the major places are good but start to verage away from the main roads and it doesn't look great.
i get 300 mins, unlimited txt and unlimited data for £15pm on O2 (after discount it's around £12pm).
plus O2 wifi.
i assume some loyality is required unless it's a 30 day rolling contract?
the snag i've always seen with 3 is that they have no 2G data network, so you either have 3G or nothing. i'd rather have the ability to drop to EDGE or (god forbid) GPRS to get at least a smidge of data.
How much data do you actually use every month? Unless it's a staff account i remember reading that O2 were contacting customers as soon as they went over 2/3GB and throttling speeds for the rest of the month saying they were excessively using the unlimited data.
How much data do you actually use every month? Unless it's a staff account i remember reading that O2 were contacting customers as soon as they went over 2/3GB and throttling speeds for the rest of the month saying they were excessively using the unlimited data.
i'm still on the old unlimited bolt-on.
i've used stupid amounts without a peep from them.
not on a regular basis though.
had a look at the coverage map for scotland (central belt west to east) and it's pretty sparse according to their map.
all the major places are good but start to verage away from the main roads and it doesn't look great.
It's possible that Scotland is their weak point. As I say, I can only report what I've found, which is that Three's coverage is generally very good and isn't just restricted to larger towns and cities.
I live five miles outside of Birmingham City Centre, and for me o2 3G coverage is not available. My iphone 4s refuses to lock on to a 3g signal at all. All I ever seem to get is 2.5G. I thought it may have been my phone, and ive tried others, its exactly the same, yet my Mom and Brother who are with Voda and EE both get full 3G signals in my house.
When I called o2 about this they just said work was being done on my local mast and everything should be back to normal soon.... however ive never had a 3g signal at home for the past two years!
I just find it amusing how O2 claimed that their 3G at 900MHz will give far better coverage yet I am often finding that places with a few bars for Three means definite 2G for O2.
Well personally the coverage of both Vodaphone and O2 is pants in this area, in fact 3G from both of these service providers is virtually non existent. We aren't talking North Wales or the Mountains of Scotland either, this is along a flat busy haulage & commuter route linking Cheshire with Staffordshire, with a town and various camping and caravan sites along the way, packed with holiday makers. In other words, a constant 365 day demand for 3G services along a several mile route.
Three, T-mobile and Orange subscribers are all well catered for, and Three even have a DC-HSDPA enabled mast covering most of the route. Fast too. I'll believe O2 3G coverage, when its here, as there has been no sign of it for the last few years.
Not that O2 have exactly the most generous data packages around anyway, so i'm not surprised it often gets overlooked
See, I'm going on a roadtrip from Cambridge to Yorkshire Dales then to Edinburgh. I'd like to get at least some 3G coverage if I take the main roads and it sounds like Three have that covered. Bye bye crappy O2/Giff Gaff!
Allow me to clarify, I am currently on Giff Gaff (O2) and I can switch to Three at any time. However, if Three turn out to not have good reception in the areas that I frequent then I would need to go back to Giff Gaff. Hence my comment that trying to get a PAC from Three is like draining blood from stone.
I was on GG and my speeds suddenly just dropped to barely 1meg moved to three and I very rarely get below 7.5meg and have only been to two place really out in the middle of nowhere that I didn't get any signal, it is worth the move to 3, can you get a PAYG 3 sim and just go to places that you get little signal and try it out before commiting completely to swapping numbers if you're unsure.
considering they both use the same masts, then it's most likely placebo affect kicking in.
giff gaff gets lower priority than even o2 PAYG customers, so they are third in the priority list i believe.
if the particular mast you are connected to is close to capacity then giff gaff customers will get dropped to cater for real O2 customers.
Well in my mates shop you couldn't get O2 3g (for a number of years not just a one off) but on GiffGaff they can so its a pretty convincing placebo effect, even though they are an MVNO for some reason like i said everyone i know says it is better than the host.
I know this sounds like a stupid question but it's 2013 now and I'm still finding that O2 has pretty poor 3G coverage; or where they do have coverage the data speed is vastly inferior to Three and/or EE (T-mobile).
I've been with Giff Gaff for 6 months nearly and I kind of want to switch to Three for a trial but I know it'll be a hassle getting my PAC from Three (from personal experience).
Seeing as O2 is very secretive about network upgrades, what is the deal? Now that 4G spectrums are pretty much secured will they push quickly to upgrade their equipment and boost their networks or continue to have a second rate network?
Well in my mates shop you couldn't get O2 3g (for a number of years not just a one off) but on GiffGaff they can so its a pretty convincing placebo effect, even though they are an MVNO for some reason like i said everyone i know says it is better than the host.
Seeing as o2 and Giffgaff use exactly the same masts then if you can on Giffgaff then you will be able to on o2 as well.
That's a really good deal but sadly T-Mobile blocks voip (I couldn't do Skype calls which I make on daily basis) and have no intention of lifting that unless you pay for the mobile broadband packet.
I just find it amusing how O2 claimed that their 3G at 900MHz will give far better coverage yet I am often finding that places with a few bars for Three means definite 2G for O2.
More masts in an area but on a higher freq in general will always win over a lower freq and much less masts.
I imagine this may change but i've not seen anything to suggest that Cornerstone is converting ALL masts to 2G/3G (4G)
Comments
Really?
They could not get near the deal I got on T-Mobile for an S4 recently.
They were £5 a month extra with less data allowance and an upfront charge for the handset!
Maybe the O2 shop had made it's target for the week when I was in! :rolleyes:
because when i do travel about the place (which i tend to do), i know that i won't ever have any data limits to worry about.
almost every other carrier offers something idiotic like 500MB for £15pm
what was the price then, and list what you get with the package.
3's £15/month SIM Only deal offers 300 mins, 3000 SMS and All You Can Eat data. No loyalty required!
Might be worth a try with a free SIM.
i get 300 mins, unlimited txt and unlimited data for £15pm on O2 (after discount it's around £12pm).
plus O2 wifi.
i assume some loyality is required unless it's a 30 day rolling contract?
the snag i've always seen with 3 is that they have no 2G data network, so you either have 3G or nothing. i'd rather have the ability to drop to EDGE or (god forbid) GPRS to get at least a smidge of data.
I've said this before. I know people talk about the lack of 2G fall back, but so far, I've only found one place that has no coverage, and my previous 2 providers (T-Mobile and O2) had no coverage there either. I do travel around the UK quite a bit and I go to race tracks and campsites in the deepest countryside. In each case, Three have had 3G coverage where only GPRS was available with the other two. I understand that 2G backup used to be a big deal because Three's 3G coverage was patchy in places, but in my personal experience that's improved greatly in the last year or so.
which parts of the UK?
i'm in scotland (west central) and to say the 3g coverage up here is patchy would be an understatement.
in the cities you are fine, but start heading out of the big smoke and it aint so great.
three's coverage map - can it be trusted as being reasonable accurate ?
All over the place - Norfolk, Cheshire, Staffordshire, Hampshire, Devon, North East, across the Midlands. I've not been to Scotland recently though. If I get up to Knockhill, I'll try it there as well. Norfolk is notoriously bad for signal, and yet I had solid coverage all weekend.
had a look at the coverage map for scotland (central belt west to east) and it's pretty sparse according to their map.
all the major places are good but start to verage away from the main roads and it doesn't look great.
How much data do you actually use every month? Unless it's a staff account i remember reading that O2 were contacting customers as soon as they went over 2/3GB and throttling speeds for the rest of the month saying they were excessively using the unlimited data.
i'm still on the old unlimited bolt-on.
i've used stupid amounts without a peep from them.
not on a regular basis though.
It's possible that Scotland is their weak point. As I say, I can only report what I've found, which is that Three's coverage is generally very good and isn't just restricted to larger towns and cities.
When I called o2 about this they just said work was being done on my local mast and everything should be back to normal soon.... however ive never had a 3g signal at home for the past two years!
Three, T-mobile and Orange subscribers are all well catered for, and Three even have a DC-HSDPA enabled mast covering most of the route. Fast too. I'll believe O2 3G coverage, when its here, as there has been no sign of it for the last few years.
Not that O2 have exactly the most generous data packages around anyway, so i'm not surprised it often gets overlooked
I was on GG and my speeds suddenly just dropped to barely 1meg moved to three and I very rarely get below 7.5meg and have only been to two place really out in the middle of nowhere that I didn't get any signal, it is worth the move to 3, can you get a PAYG 3 sim and just go to places that you get little signal and try it out before commiting completely to swapping numbers if you're unsure.
Well in my mates shop you couldn't get O2 3g (for a number of years not just a one off) but on GiffGaff they can so its a pretty convincing placebo effect, even though they are an MVNO for some reason like i said everyone i know says it is better than the host.
T-Mobile just offered me:
500 minutes
1GB data
Unlimited texts
for £7 a month (12 months SIM only plan)
Seeing as o2 and Giffgaff use exactly the same masts then if you can on Giffgaff then you will be able to on o2 as well.
More masts in an area but on a higher freq in general will always win over a lower freq and much less masts.
I imagine this may change but i've not seen anything to suggest that Cornerstone is converting ALL masts to 2G/3G (4G)