After 2 months I have given up on this network and its pathetic 3G service and ported back to 3 this morning.
giffgaff offers fantastic value but as always its a case of you get what you pay for.
Unlimited data is only of any use if the network can handle it and o2's network cannot.

A warning to anyone thinking about trying it be warned its very cheap but its also the same old o2 / Slow2 which regularly goes into meltdown.

Well I am off to Giff Gaff later this year as the O2 network gives me the best signal at home and work. When I was on it via Tesco a couple of years ago it was very good and much better than Three which is pathetic round here. Everywhere is differnt of course.

Very true. I'm supposed to be in a very strong area for Orange but where I actually live the reception is so poor I hardly use the mobile phone anymore!
And it's not like GiffGaff try to hide the fact that they're on O2's network, anyway.

Part of the problem is that they have just started charging for internet access. This used to be free.
Whether this is part of the charging system bedding in, or whether it is a permanent feature is to be seen.
There is speculation on the giffgaff forums that the charging system is creating the bottle neck.
Still, it's easy to leave if you don't like it!

It adds a few milliseconds to check to see if you have got a Goodybag or enough credit to start to browse, where as when it's free no checking is required.

It is a a bit more complex than that, as it has to work out how much data you have used and so whether to give you a credit or start to charge you a higher amount.
Sure it should take seconds, but when you roll out something like this nationwide, then there are bound to problems. Also, we can't know how well it copes with capacity.
What happens when user n+1 tries to connect?

http://community.giffgaff.com/t5/Ser...ge/td-p/700435
"Due to some of our users having issues connecting to our data service, we are now planning a short data outage at around 19:00, which will last for about an half an hour."

Yes, saw that, but I can now connect fine. Today was the day I planned on reflashing to a new version of a ROM, then making a few posts on XDA about it. I have just done this and downloaded all 23 of the apps back to my phone (Well, SD card) with no issues.

My 3G slacks sometimes, but it's no different to what I, personally would get with o2. I know this from my own experience of course. I don't understand why people immediately assume that their problems are always everyone's problems.

I'm on giffgaff and my connection is much better than 3 round here...

If I could cope with only 500mb/month I would go back to Vodafone in a flash. Their 3G network is by far the most reliable and fastest.

3 comes a close second but wins hands down on cost and the only downside is not having Vodafone's solid 2G network to fall back onto seamlessly.

3 have from my experience much improved the 2G/3G switchover between it's home network and Orange (for 2G) however it is still the weakness of the network in fringe coverage areas due to some handsets hanging on to a minimal 3G signal to the last breath (for obvious cost reasons on 3's side)
This is however becoming less of an issue now they have invested heavily in the 3 network and improved coverage and the Orange back up is not needed.

If 3 dont provide what I expect I will port my number out again, this is unlikely though as the only reason I left before was because I was lured to giffgaff by the super cheap prices.
I should have known better than to go back on o2

I'm guessing you've gone for the £15 payg option?

Yes, but I've now got a BlackBerry so I have free BBM for 6 months,
Does anyone know if a data allowance is needed aswell as the BBM add on?

The free data is returning to giffgaff next week until they can get a system that works for all.
As a matter of interest I've never found the data slow on there.
we also have vodaphone mobiles in the house and the speed to download is the same...

With blackberry you're supposed to get BIS - Blackberry Internet service for browsing and email.

Brilliant! I'm out of the country for three months from next week, and was baulking at having to shell out £10 for a goodybag for five days' use and a bit of internet boredom-busting at the airport.

Now I'll be able to use data for free before I leave. Thanks, giffgaff, your general incompetence at running a mobile network saves the day once again! Long may you not quite know what you're doing.

They have not published the exact day yet so check the forum first!!

... 10 months later I am returning to giffgaff

While still not the best o2 have improved their 3G/HSDPA signal quite a bit over the last year so I'm giving giffgaff another go as 250mins Unlimited Texts and Unlimited (if you don't take the p***) Data is still the best PAYG deal on the market.

I ditched the Blackberry and went back to Android after only a month due to IMO Blackberry's being awful and unreliable

As for the 3 network ... It's fast when it's not heavily congested but over the last few months I've started suffering terrible
"Cell Breathing" which meant my phone was trapped in that signal abyss where it is desperately trying to hold on to the 3 network so as not to roam onto Orange but leaving it with so little signal it's useless

Hopefully my experience with giffgaff will be better this time as the only issue I had before was the signal.
I always found the CS agents to be very helpful not that I'm the sort of person who is constantly contacting CS anyway

Basically It wasn't, and now I've moved networks again.

giffgaff's signal has improved and they are still very cheap, However my experience was worse than the first time I tried them out as their service has gone downhill big time since they started their BlackBerry service.

*Website Unreliable (for an online company this is not good)
*Top-Ups not being accepted and then taking several days to begrudgingly resolve
*Goodybags not activating after credit has been taken off
*Credit disappearing and re-appearing on account
*Phone Numbers / Accounts being totally lost on the system

Not to mention 'Agents" taking several days to respond to an enquiry only for it to be an obvious automated response.

All this apparently a result of "Gremlins" in their system
So many Gremlins infact that one could assume that Gizmo runs the place.

Couldn't agree more. GiffGaff are - for anyone who actually wants a reliable network - a total waste of time and money.

Customer Service is almost comically bad (I'm aware of the "run by customers" angle) - when a question is asked, it takes several days to get a response, which, as you say is clearly automated, or at least a "cut and paste" job from FAQ's somewhere.

And for an online company, the reliability of their website is dismal.

I'd rather pay more for something that actually works. Avoid GiffGaff at all costs.

Are you telling me and everyone to avoid it? Since many of us are quite happy, I hate it when people detrimentally speak as "a collective". You're one person. Even if it was 70/30, that's what it is... I'm not leaving it because you want me to, or you experience issues that I don't.

I agree Haruhion, GG have had more than their fair share of technical issues though. If you read the tech blogs Giffgaff featured regularly with what they called growing pains, website issues, number porting issues, data outages and more.

However you are quite right, not everybody will have a good experience or bad experience, each individual's own experience doesn't really tell you much, one person has bad experience, another has a good, then a bad, then a good, that doesn't really reveal much.

I apologise - perhaps I should have said "in my experience, GiffGaff are eyewateringly bad, but you, on the other hand, may have an excellent experience".

I have a vodafone phone and a giffgaff phone. The difference is minimal. Neither of them are up to much if you stand in the wrong place

I use GiffGaff as a secondary network and will shortly be buying a more expensive goodybag to get 1 month of unlimited data with a view to using it as a primary network. To date I have had no issues and as there is commitment I would advise anyone to give GiffGaff a go as it is much cheaper than others and provides unlimited Internet on a smartphone for £10 a month along with 250 mins and Unlimited SMS.

Of course bear in mind the unlimited data might end at any point as their CEO said recently that it may be unsustainable. Grab it whilst it's there.