Hi I've been with O2 for years and I'm due an upgrade and Vodafone have offered me a better contract. Is vodafone a good reliable network as I've never used it before?

Thanks Daz

I've been with them for 4 years and never had any problems. Customer service is also very decent, you do read a few horror stories though, but that's the same for every company.

their 3G coverage is just as dire as O2

Utter tosh

I travel all over the UK and find 3G everywhere i need it, yes in some of the more out of town areas are not covered but its hardly dire.

It's not as bad as O2 for 3G, the customer service is good and as long as the coverage is good for you it should be very reliable as Vodafone have a good reputation for reliability.

I think you'll get on just fine with Vodafone, beware trying to leave any phone contract these days no matter which company they will try and keep you and offer you retention deals, O2 will probably do this and try and match or beat Vodafone's price.

I would say Vodafone is probably the better of the two, but it comes down to what works well in your area really.

I've been on Vf since 1998, and have had no major problems.

If I were you, I'd find a friend who's already on Vf and check the coverage at your home, work/school, and anywhere else you go regularly. You might be unlucky and find somewhere that Vf has poor coverage, but generally they are pretty good.

Don't trust coverage maps, they miss micro-holes in coverage. For example, my home is shown as having "high speed" data coverage, and for most of the house that is correct, but in fact I can hardly use my phone in the kitchen and often have missed calls when I'm in that room.

http://www.vodafone.co.uk/vodafone-u...rage/index.htm

I've just switched to Vodafone from T-Mobile I have been with Vodafone many years ago. The first thing I noticed was that I don't have full signal most of the time but it depends on which part you're at. If you go to some areas it gets full 3G. Overall I would highly recommend them over O2 but if you want your phone for Internet go to either T-Mobile, Orange or Three

Agree, their 3g coverage isn't the best. But their 2g is outstanding and I have found their customer service to be excellent (especially when using their EForums).

Very sound advice, exactly what I would suggest. One end of my office is a vodafone blackspot, the rest of it is fine. According to the maps there no problem with coverage


I get that in a few places in my house, but then I think the walls are lined with tinfoil or something as I get no radio reception either. my solution to avoiding missed calls is to leave my mobile where it can receive then and answer via bluetooth on my landline handset

I work for vodafone however im not gonna be biased. I am just a weekend temp so im through a recruiting agency. Forgetting that i have been with vodafone and never ever really had any major problems with them, i have a sure signal which is amazing at my house! Red box is amazing and the store i work in is the 2nd best store in the country, the tech team is what is brilliant about the instore service you will recieve

The only problem i can see with vodafone is small data bundles and Edge is not working as it should otherwise pretty good.

I'm not so sure about that you know. 3G was very sparse when I was on O2, whereas I always have it on Vodafone and if not, their 2G network is very strong.

I think your right. I, on the other hand, am allergic to iOS and feel nauseous when I see someone with an iPhone or iPad. And when I touch those devices I can feel my brain cells popping, something that can only be stopped if I go home and have a good root in a darkened room in front of my PC.

Everyone’s coverage will be different. For me it is VF>O2>EE>3 hence I am with Talk Mobile (a MVN using VF). 3G is fine and when I go to places like Liverpool and Manchester the 3G has proved to be very fast indeed.

Customer Service. – you will here horror stories about all of the networks as people rarely post about good experiences. I have just had to contact TM a few times regarding ending one contract and starting another and also Tesco to port my old TM number and both CS teams were very good and were based in this country. I think some people have trouble with CS teams as they either can’t explain the problem over the phone properly or they have unrealistic expectations of what can be achieved. But mostly it comes down to human error, which is just unfortunate but feels really crap if you are on the receiving end..

OP – I personally would never get a phone direct from a network as it will be locked and branded (although do VF lock their phones?). If you are getting an iPhone then you will be OK for updates but for Android you will be at VF’s, O2’s 3’s or EE’s mercy. Getting from P4U or CPW (or from an online seller) will ensure you get an unlocked, unbranded phone that will get the updates when the manufacturer releases them. For instance I recently sold my SE Arc and had just updated it from Android 4.0.3 to 4.0.4. I got it from E2Save which is part of CPW so the phone was the unbranded version. O2 have just announced that their SE Arc’s will not be updated from Android 2.3.4 which absolutely stinks.

Agree.

Even their new Unlimited tariffs only have 1gb of data. When TMobile, Three and Virgin are offering All you can eat data it seems strange.

Could their network not cope with it?

Why give away all you can eat data when you can make revenue from customers using more data than their allowance.

I'm with Voda, have been for a while and can't fault their customer service. I have major woes with their 3g coverage though. I work in Birmingham near Aston Expressway/Spaghetti Junction and my 3g experience is non-existant. Then I go home and no 3g there either. Their EDGE is pretty dire and pointless.

^That is just my experience. Although, I have broadband access at home and work so have no real need for 3g in these places I mention but considering they are major urban areas I would have expected better 3g coverage from Voda.

I'm not too bothered bout 3G as when I'm in the house I'm connected to wifi and most of the other time I'm driving.

Thanks for all your imput Daz

Which is where?

I can guarantee in the far south west (West Devon + Cornwall) Vodafone and O2 are a complete write off. You only get a hint of 3G when you go near a city centre and even then it's not very good.

Meanwhile 3/T-Mobile/Orange belt it in.

I found it was marginally better when I was temporarily holed up in Berkshire (since I was only 15 miles from Newbury you sort of expect it). Still didn't get a 3G signal when driving right past the Vodafone HQ which I found quite hilarious though.

Having worked in the vf HQ for a few years in my career I very much doubt your last point...especially as I commissioned the sites that service that location.

And had full 3G signal on my last visit to megavissy in Cornwall in June.

I'm going by what I saw. Clear view of the building + the distinctive red VF buses, my Nexus One reported a wonderful 2G signal. No, my phone wasn't locked to 2G.


Newsflash: "tourist town has 3G signal".

As it happens I live in Mid Cornwall, toward the south (i.e. near St Austell/Par/Fowey/Mevagissey/the Eden Project), I can state that Vodafone's 3G coverage is practically non existent. Same for O2. Meanwhile I can be almost in the middle of nowhere and get a 3G signal from EE or 3.

Funny I had perfectly fine 3g on Vodafone in St austal and the day we had at the Eden project

I suggest the Newbury event was a maintenance outage... as I said I commissioned the site that covers the HQ locality

In St Austell, maybe, but you don't have to venture far at all outside the town to lose it (my daily commute used to consist of driving to/from St Austell railway station so I had some experience). EE and 3 pretty much bathe the area in 3G coverage, in comparison (plus the rail mainline, whereas Vodafone and O2 just don't get anywhere near - and not even EE/3 do superbly as there are lots of blackspots)


It wasn't a one off, and it was spread out over a period of time. Don't really know why there was no 3G, doesn't really bother me, I just found it hilarious.

yes i really believe you, because a multi billion pound company with visitors to its HQ from all over the world is going to have a lack coverage there.

I worked in the HQ for 4 years, not once did i go without any coverage in the HQ or anywhere i ventured throughout newbury

My experience of Vodafone (3G dongle, not a phone) is their inability/refusal to fix network problems in any reasonable time if at all. Don't take my word for it, look very closely at their eForum http://forum.vodafone.co.uk/.

Superficially it looks great with rapid and polite replies to complaints from Dave, Wayne, Simon and various other aliases. However, look carefully at a few posts and you will see that serious outages continue for months often with many irate customers reporting the same issue only to be talked around in circles. At one point with my own problem (which just got worse after 2 months waiting) I suggested that Dave, Wayne, Simon and co might just as well be a support bot programmed to soothe irate Vodafone customers. Many a true word ....

Glasgow is one of the BIG problems Vodafone refuse to fix. 3G on phone but no throuput, been like that for a year and a half. I left them. I know many others who have too.