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Vodafone or O2 |
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#1 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 2,585
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Vodafone or O2
Currently with Vodafone but they are releasing me from my contract early due to problems with my handset so am looking at the best deals for an iPhone 5 (currently have iPhone 4 for a work's phone and HTC for my 'own' phone).
The best Vodafone offer is unlimited minutes and text plus 1GB of data for £37 a month and £99 initial outlay for the phone. O2's deal is exactly the same but £36 a month. Unsure whether to stay with Vodafone or switch. I have had issues with signal on occasion with Vodafone but don't know much about O2. Any advice appreciated. Thanks |
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#2 |
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Join Date: Jul 2005
Posts: 4,412
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Quote:
Currently with Vodafone but they are releasing me from my contract early due to problems with my handset so am looking at the best deals for an iPhone 5 (currently have iPhone 4 for a work's phone and HTC for my 'own' phone).
The best Vodafone offer is unlimited minutes and text plus 1GB of data for £37 a month and £99 initial outlay for the phone. O2's deal is exactly the same but £36 a month. Unsure whether to stay with Vodafone or switch. I have had issues with signal on occasion with Vodafone but don't know much about O2. Any advice appreciated. Thanks |
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#3 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Swansea
Posts: 871
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Neither o2 nor Vodafone.
Go with one of the EE companies (T-Mobile or Orange) as its only with them that you'll be able to use the iphone 5's capabilities to their full extent, i.e. 4G fast data transfer. Arguably also the best network nowadays in terms of legacy 2g and 3g coverage. |
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#4 |
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Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Wales
Posts: 4,554
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Since the Orange/T-Mobile 'merger' if you want to call it that, the 3G service I get now is excellent. I occasionally travel from Cardiff to London on the train and I can stream an internet radio station (or BBC iPlayer/Sky Go) for almost the entire journey (they haven't put 3G in the Severn Tunnel yet
).Why not go with one of T-M's Full Monty plans and get unlimited data to go with your calls and texts? If you go for the Orange side of EE, then OK, the customer service is ropey at times, I'll grant you that. However, I very, very rarely have to ring them. I only do so if I want to alter my plan/upgrade my phone or something. It's never to do with signal issues. |
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#5 |
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Join Date: Dec 2007
Posts: 2,070
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Quote:
Neither o2 nor Vodafone.
Go with one of the EE companies (T-Mobile or Orange) as its only with them that you'll be able to use the iphone 5's capabilities to their full extent, i.e. 4G fast data transfer. Arguably also the best network nowadays in terms of legacy 2g and 3g coverage. could understand if it was a android phone as you could argue you'd use it for torrents but not on an ios device |
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#6 |
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Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Potterspury
Posts: 930
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Quote:
you do understand that there is nothing you will do on your phone that would come anywhere near requiring 4G right?
could understand if it was a android phone as you could argue you'd use it for torrents but not on an ios device |
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#7 |
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Join Date: Dec 2007
Posts: 2,070
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Quote:
Smaller items download quicker - you don't need to be shifting gigabytes of data to benefit from increased speeds.
i.e. BBC iPlayers streams at a maximum rate that slower than 3G, iTunes is also limited to 3mb i believe was claimed on another thread. so 4G will not make anything any faster for you |
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#8 |
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Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Potterspury
Posts: 930
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Quote:
you will be limited to the speed of the service you are downloading from.
i.e. BBC iPlayers streams at a maximum rate that slower than 3G, iTunes is also limited to 3mb i believe was claimed on another thread. so 4G will not make anything any faster for you |
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#9 |
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Join Date: Dec 2007
Posts: 2,070
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Quote:
Didn't realise the iPhone could only connect to iTunes and BBC iPlayer, my mistake.
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#10 |
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Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Potterspury
Posts: 930
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Quote:
if those two don't allow high bandwidth downloads then i very much don't any other mainstream services offer anything more.
Anyway, even if you aren't, you're still stuck on shifting gigabytes of data. Everything downloads quicker when you have a faster connection - your entire web experience is faster. That's why landline web access is sold by data limits rather than speed limits - even if you have a very low limit, what you do download (even if it very little) downloads quicker. Why wait two seconds for a web page to load when you can wait one? |
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#11 |
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Join Date: Dec 2007
Posts: 2,070
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Quote:
You have to be joking me?
Anyway, even if you aren't, you're still stuck on shifting gigabytes of data. Everything downloads quicker when you have a faster connection - your entire web experience is faster. That's why landline web access is sold by data limits rather than speed limits - even if you have a very low limit, what you do download (even if it very little) downloads quicker. Why wait two seconds for a web page to load when you can wait one? That could be your Processor, your network connection, the hosts network connection, the hosts processor. the speed of a bit of BT infrastructure your connection has to go through...etc |
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#12 |
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Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Potterspury
Posts: 930
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Quote:
You can only download at the speed of the slowest part of the data link.
That could be your Processor, your network connection, the hosts network connection, the hosts processor. the speed of a bit of BT infrastructure your connection has to go through...etc I think most of us can notice when we're surfing the net on 3G vs. surfing on wifi. This is (hopefully) what 4G will bring - or at least somewhat closer to it. |
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#13 |
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Join Date: Dec 2007
Posts: 2,070
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Actually a great example, my companies VPN runs at 5MB throughput per user.
So by your argument will i be getting 20mb download on LTE or 5MB? is a pretty simple concept. I could be driving a Ferrari with a top speed of 150mph, but if the road is only just wide enough to pass i'll be driving at no more than 10mph |
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#14 |
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Join Date: Dec 2007
Posts: 2,070
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Quote:
Then surely removing the possibility of 3G being the bottleneck is only a good thing?
I think most of us can notice when we're surfing the net on 3G vs. surfing on wifi. This is (hopefully) what 4G will bring - or at least somewhat closer to it. |
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#15 |
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Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Potterspury
Posts: 930
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Quote:
Actually a great example, my companies VPN runs at 5MB throughput per user.
So by your argument will i be getting 20mb download on LTE or 5MB? is a pretty simple concept. I could be driving a Ferrari with a top speed of 150mph, but if the road is only just wide enough to pass i'll be driving at no more than 10mph Quote:
3G is not the bottle neck though, both iPlayer and iTunes limit you slower than 3G, just checked and so does sky player. 3G is faster than much of the countries fixed line capability.
3G isn't faster than my fixed line capability, and there is a noticeable difference when browsing via wifi vs. browsing via 3G. |
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#16 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jul 2005
Posts: 4,412
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Quote:
You have to be joking me?
Anyway, even if you aren't, you're still stuck on shifting gigabytes of data. Everything downloads quicker when you have a faster connection - your entire web experience is faster. That's why landline web access is sold by data limits rather than speed limits - even if you have a very low limit, what you do download (even if it very little) downloads quicker... Quote:
Why wait two seconds for a web page to load when you can wait one?
Notwithstanding the fact that I very much doubt the real world experience is going to be twice as fast in general, the answer to that question is that only one operator will be providing a 4G service for a while. Consequently there might be very good reasons to choose a different operator with a nominally slower service. What I think legends wear is getting at is that it's misguided to consider the 4G service as an important reason to choose that network over others at this moment in time - especially if there are good reasons for an individual to consider an alternative network. |
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#17 |
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Join Date: Dec 2007
Posts: 2,070
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Quote:
Pretty poor example - the entire countries internet infrastructure isn't limited to 5mbps. We aren't rationing web access here, most websites will be able to serve you at somewhat near your connection limit.
Not used internet radio in a while but i seem to remember that was normally streamed at no more than 120kb/s your LTE connection will be no faster than my 3G. There is nothing, absolutley nothing that requires you to have 4G over 3G today. in 2-3 years then i can see it being the case you'd want 4G, but i would not base any of my buying decisions now on it. |
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#18 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Potterspury
Posts: 930
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Quote:
Landline web access is a red herring. You don't download mobile data using the same infrastructure.
Quote:
Notwithstanding the fact that I very much doubt the real world experience is going to be twice as fast in general, the answer to that question is that only one operator will be providing a 4G service for a while. Consequently there might be very good reasons to choose a different operator with a nominally slower service.
What I think legends wear is getting at is that it's misguided to consider the 4G service as an important reason to choose that network over others at this moment in time - especially if there are good reasons for an individual to consider an alternative network. Quote:
Originally Posted by legends wear 7
well that 5MB i get from our VPN is considerably faster than the user through put provided by iplayer and sky player.
Not used internet radio in a while but i seem to remember that was normally streamed at no more than 120kb/s your LTE connection will be no faster than my 3G. There is nothing, absolutley nothing that requires you to have 4G over 3G today. in 2-3 years then i can see it being the case you'd want 4G, but i would not base any of my buying decisions now on it. |
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#19 |
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Join Date: Oct 2002
Posts: 10,517
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I would recommend staying with Vodafone or moving to an EE network or 3 but wouldn't touch O2 with a barge pole!
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#20 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 3,646
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Even if the site you are looking at allows you to download at full speed there is not going to be much difference (Web pages might download in quarter of a second instead of 2 seconds and it's not like you are changing Web pages every min or less).
It's only really useful for downloading movies and laptops with Dongles. I prefer O2 to Vodafone in my area (would have gone O2 but got too good a deal on Vodafone). It's fine having other than Vodafone and O2 if you are always in built up areas, but not much use if rural areas where you don't get any reception at all. |
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#21 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 2,585
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Quote:
I would recommend staying with Vodafone or moving to an EE network or 3 but wouldn't touch O2 with a barge pole!
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#22 |
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Join Date: Oct 2002
Posts: 10,517
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Quote:
How come?
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#23 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Darlington
Posts: 681
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My observations are as below:-
3 - very good 3G+ data speeds, sometimes 8-10mbps, poor CS - possible 4G availability in 2013 Voda - 1.5-2mbps due to number of users, good general coverage but poor CS EE Networks (Orange / T-Mobile) good 3G+ data speeds, 3-4mbps & excellent upload speeds of ~ 2 meg, 4G availability a big plus if your thinking about the iPhone 5 O2 - Good 2G for general voice, but poor 3G coverage which again suffers from number of users during peak times (like voda) - spent too much developing EDGE technology rather than focusing on 3G. @ legends wear 7 - I have up to 100mbps Cable BB available in my area via Virgin Media or ~ 4mbps via ADSL (similar to the speeds available via my mobile). I always use Wi-Fi via my cable connection in the house, as it allows browsing / app downloads so much quicker. 4G provides better latency as well as better speeds, your analogy is flawed. |
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#24 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Nov 2009
Posts: 3,921
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When both Voda and O2 roll out 800mhz 4G it will be superior to the 1800mhz half baked 4G that EE are rolling out.
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#25 |
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Join Date: May 2002
Location: Warrington
Posts: 2,458
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Quote:
When both Voda and O2 roll out 800mhz 4G it will be superior to the 1800mhz half baked 4G that EE are rolling out.
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