Wondered what people thought of the price plans? Are they the cheapest line rental? Best deals??
I've heard a lot of negativity,but want to buy one.

Very cheap but unreliable. If you dont want to suffer missed or dropped calls, then it may be the wrong network for you. If you want something simply for cheap calls then this may be the network for you.

yep, unreliable is correct, i'd avoid this network

i know what they're like as i used to be on them....

crap/pooh/rubbish

read my thred and you will find out wat they are like
http://forum.digitalspy.co.uk/board/...64#post3200664

Thanks for the replies.
Hmm they don't sound reliable but sooo cheap!
I don't know...

Its cheap. The handset prices are excellent value.

On the train this morning watching lovely girls prance around in bikinis (Eric Prydz in music section) I realised that if you can tolerate the occasional dropped call, then Three do indeed have alot to offer

I've had my phone for 2 weeks now and apart from 1 day when call dropping was happening on every call, I havent suffered a dropped call since.

I'm not ready to leave orange and port my number over yet, I use my phone for business and Three needs to improve reliability just a little bit more and then I might consider it.

But overall, for the money I have spent, I am pleased with what I've got

I've been on 3 for just over a month now. I was apprehensive because I'd heard all the stories about the crap service. My O2 bills were averaging £75 a month and I couldn't get them any cheaper. I was lucky to get a free LG 8120 video phone (bit bulky, but quite cool) and 500 cross-network anytime minutes and 100 texts a month for £10 line rental!! I had no problem porting my number and adding additional services. I travelled a lot around the UK and drove through France and Switzerland over Christmas and didn't experience a single dropped call or any bad quality (of course, I was roaming when abroad and didn't have 3G but I didn't experience any problems). I think it depends on where you live and intend to use the phone... maybe I'm just very lucky and have good coverage.

I understand with 3 that if you are not in thier coverage then calls are routed via O2. Say I have 3 coverage and then half way through a call I leave 3's coverage is the call dropped or is it a seemles transfer to O2's network?

Like most roaming networks, no. Your call will be disconnected.

Newer handsets are tho, on 3G, trying to make the switch between 3G -> 2.5G (Three to o2) seamless, so that your call is not disconnected, and only a short period of silence while your call is transferred to the neighbouring network can be achieved (and vice versa when reaching a 3G signal from a 2.5G network, or in this case, o2 to Three).

So, at the moment, your calls are disconnected, but with the new LG u8130 and above, they are trying to make the above possible.

Seamless roaming between 3 and 02 is not possible with any current or future handset as it's a network issue. It takes some seconds to register onto a roaming network hence the drop. 3's handsets are increasingly more focussed on maintaining connection with their own 3G network as a priority (to save roaming charges) and if anything this is making the issue about 'calls dropping' worse as a barely useable 3G signal often disconnects. Orange Vodafone etc have integrated UMTS/GSM networks and when one is registered on one the handset can switch and use the other, without roaming.

Overall I have found 3 to be cheap but lacking in terms of reliability. Even in city areas where there is a good 3 signal I regularly have calls disconnect for no good reason. Happy to put up with that though but like many it's a secondary device to provide cheap cross-network calling. My GSM looks like remaining my primary communications device for some time to come.

Thats a great, and VERY balanced post from someone who currently has access to 3 via a fairly good handset AND has a lot of experience of their, well, rather piss-poor past.

Get a Motorola A1000/E1000 or one of the New LG's for best service. Ignore NEC and the now rather old Nokia.

Steve, I'm glad things are going well for you as yes, I agree, if three got 'just a little bit more' reliability then they'd clear up.

ive posted on other threads concerning three
ive got an nec616v before that i had an nec313 ok that was a bit of a brick
were else would you get a phone with a built in mp3 player for a 64quid and that was including a fifteen pound top up
im able to have video calls with my bruv in scotland and when were out of 3g we will send video messages the video clips ans other services they offer are brill.
ive never experienced a dropped call but judging by this thread i must be one of the lucky ones
check on the 3 website to see if you are in a 3g area
it says i am but i can only get 2g in my house this may be the phones reception
once you get your head round the top up system which i found a bit weird at first then it is a good network to be with

Thanks

What handset have you got?

I'm quite pleased with the LG I bought for myself. I bought my ex (since I pay her BT bill anyway!) a Motorola C975 and hopefully with all the free minutes it will result in a lower landline bill. But anyway, I'm very pleased with that as well. For £45 with £15 credit, its an amazing buy and it feels quite chunky and well made too considering the cost.

Yes I agree the A1000/E1000 are very nice phones, I might find one on ebay and upgrade at some point, but I'm planning to change to Orange 3g sometime this month, so will see how they perform first.

Having said that, even satellite phones drop calls!

My 3 phone has been great ,drops less calls than my t-mobile phone (thats going at the end of the month thank god) .I use my 3 phone for buisness and it seems to work well enough around the east midlands.

What phone have you got?

I'd be interested to see what phones people are using, it seems Motorola seems the best for hanging onto calls etc.

You would probably be better off keeping in touch with your friends and business contacts using two tin cans and a bit of string!!

I've got a Motorola A1000 - very happy with it; very VERY rarely drops calls.

(oh, and Lemmings is Fab too)

Have you come over to the dark side now?

To quote the amusing characters that Three have on their adverts, "Welcome to our network"

i was on vodafone before and was paying £60 -£80 a month i have moved to three about 3 weeks ago and have been more then happy with the service provided, i am getting 750 minutes anytime any network and 150 texts a month for £20 a month for 12 months so basically with insurance my total bill a month will be £30 (i will use more then 150 texts)

I have the motorola e1000 which i found is a good phone i got it from www.onestopphoneshop,co,uk abd it came with a free bluetooth head set which is a must nowadays i feel.

Try it for 14 days see how you get on in your area if you aint 100 % happy return it, what have you got to lose ?

hehe thanks.... I'll admit I am more pleased than I thought I'd be!

The Big Brother and Music video's are excellent

Thats another thing......what on earth happened to Anna Friel. I really liked those adverts

Off topic, but anyone know where I could download them?

Thanks for all the info once again!
I'm now contemplating what to do,although, i think due to the price i will go with 3!!!
Yes,so what if the call drops now and again at that price, eh?!!!

Motorola A925 , on the big side but does everything I want it to though plus some more.
Will upgrade to an A1000 though as soon as my first 11 months are up as that has more features and is smaller.

I upgraded to one when my 12 months finished, it's not bad, a couple of things I am hoping Motorola will change with a software update, but we shall see.

There was some loon on another site trying to find people with the A1000 to swap for his A925, he didn't find anyone though

3 are really good, iv been with them for about 4 months now, and everything is fine, iv also found that im spending less on my fone, as it is only 5p per minute!