Why would anyone pay extra for 4G? I'm amazed any operator can get away with that anymore.
Virgin Mobile: Should they be forced to either close down or offer 4G?
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Originally Posted by Sirocco758:
“I'm very much inclined to agree with the OP on this, after being with Virgin Mobile (VM) for only 3 months I agree with him they are by far the WORST network in the UK. It is a disgrace only offering 4G to business users, I mean surely personal users would pay an extra £5-£10 a month for 4G I know I would had I not moved to Vodafone.
While his 99.9% of the UK population having access to 4G maybe a bit far off it is still pretty close to who can access it if they wanted (major network and MVNO included), not having a 4G phone isn't really an excuse, if people are so cheap and stuck in the 2000's with shitty crap phones stuck with lame 3G signal then that's their problem.
VM should be banned from selling flagship devices such as the iPhone 6s, Sony Xperia Z5, Samsung Galaxy S6 etc. as without 4G these are pretty worthless devices aren't they not??? Anyone that says they are happy with 3G signal on these devices are either numpty's or clearly need to wake up from 2006 and come into 2016.
Ok VM are a MVNO but so are Tesco Mobile and GiffGaff who both run off o2 and still offer 4G to ALL their customers.”
“I'm very much inclined to agree with the OP on this, after being with Virgin Mobile (VM) for only 3 months I agree with him they are by far the WORST network in the UK. It is a disgrace only offering 4G to business users, I mean surely personal users would pay an extra £5-£10 a month for 4G I know I would had I not moved to Vodafone.
While his 99.9% of the UK population having access to 4G maybe a bit far off it is still pretty close to who can access it if they wanted (major network and MVNO included), not having a 4G phone isn't really an excuse, if people are so cheap and stuck in the 2000's with shitty crap phones stuck with lame 3G signal then that's their problem.
VM should be banned from selling flagship devices such as the iPhone 6s, Sony Xperia Z5, Samsung Galaxy S6 etc. as without 4G these are pretty worthless devices aren't they not??? Anyone that says they are happy with 3G signal on these devices are either numpty's or clearly need to wake up from 2006 and come into 2016.
Ok VM are a MVNO but so are Tesco Mobile and GiffGaff who both run off o2 and still offer 4G to ALL their customers.”
I wouldn't pay any more than I do now - I'm quite happy with the 3G or wifi service thank you very much
Originally Posted by Mark C:
“Although, my lad is on PAYG (he pays 15 quid every month, to get the 3GB/3k texts), he's just returned from a weekend in Germany, he received a 54 sec call while there, it's showing on his call usage as zero charge. If you look at the call charges on the website for PAYG it does indeed state free of charge to receive calls in the EU while roaming, which strikes me as odd ?”
“Although, my lad is on PAYG (he pays 15 quid every month, to get the 3GB/3k texts), he's just returned from a weekend in Germany, he received a 54 sec call while there, it's showing on his call usage as zero charge. If you look at the call charges on the website for PAYG it does indeed state free of charge to receive calls in the EU while roaming, which strikes me as odd ?”
I spotted that back in May of last year, and posted about it on here at the time:
Virgin Mobile - free incoming calls when roaming in Europe and Turkey
Great for VM customers, and potentially quite useful for anyone who wants to receive calls whilst in Europe and can persuade callers from the UK to use a different number temporarily - i.e. get a VM PAYG SIM for free online or a pound in a shop, then use a second handset or a dual-SIM handset.
I'd think such an arrangement would work particularly well for say a couple or family members.
Originally Posted by Thine Wonk:
“I lot of effort messing with sims to save 15p a minute or a Skype or VOIP call though.”
“I lot of effort messing with sims to save 15p a minute or a Skype or VOIP call though.”
Not really, not for the usage I was suggesting. I was thinking in particular of people abroad in Europe for a while, say working somewhere for a stint or those visiting a holiday home. True Skype and WhatsApp voice calls and the like can be a solution too, but they do need a decent enough internet connection - public or indeed domestic wifi isn't always up to scratch for VOIP. Plus the person at the other end (in the UK) needs a smartphone... increasingly people do of course, but by no means all.
I wasn't trying to suggest that someone would seek to persuade all their potential phone callers to temporarily use a different number for a couple of weeks!
After the replies on this thread I called EE yesterday to get a 4GEE SIM Only deal which was confirmed today, I have downgraded my package with Virgin from their £15 tariff to the basic £5 tariff and am paying EE £17 a month, so for an extra £2 a month I still get my iPhone 6s and access to 4G.
I have no intentions of changing my iPhone 6s in September so I will only have the £17 to pay once my phone is paid off by then.
I have no intentions of changing my iPhone 6s in September so I will only have the £17 to pay once my phone is paid off by then.
Originally Posted by ringleaderlon:
“...
I have been with Virgin Mobile for many years and apart from the odd difficulty sometimes with the call centre they have been great, I like my deal £10 for unlimited texts, 150 minutes, unlimited internet.”
“...
I have been with Virgin Mobile for many years and apart from the odd difficulty sometimes with the call centre they have been great, I like my deal £10 for unlimited texts, 150 minutes, unlimited internet.”
For reasons unrelated to their lack of 4g my experience has been the exact opposite over the years. It's not so bad now I've learnt my lesson and avoid taking out a handset contract with them as that means I have little contact with CS anymore.
IMO anyone thinking of taking out an android handset contract with them either needs their head tested or sufficient powers of clairvoyance to know their handset will last the full two years. I assume iphone users have recourse to apple if there's a problem, but if I'm wrong and they have to deal with Virgin too then avoid at all costs.
I'm not surprised you're happy if you mistakenly believe you have unlimited internet. Virgin infamously scrapped truly unlimited data for ALL customers with immediate effect, mere months after they enticed people to join with their heavily promoted "Unlimitacular" event, in which they made great play of the fact they were offering truly unlimited everything and tethering. They also removed tethering in the end.
What you really have is 3.5 gb of data, after which you'll be throttled back to 512k or something ridiculous like that.
I would be grateful just to get a basic 2G/3G signal in my area! Lost count how many 'No Service/Emergency Calls Only' I get on EE whereas Vodafone, Three and O2 have much better coverage and 4G reception.
Originally Posted by Skylover4life:
“I would be grateful just to get a basic 2G/3G signal in my area! Lost count how many 'No Service/Emergency Calls Only' I get on EE whereas Vodafone, Three and O2 have much better coverage and 4G reception.”
“I would be grateful just to get a basic 2G/3G signal in my area! Lost count how many 'No Service/Emergency Calls Only' I get on EE whereas Vodafone, Three and O2 have much better coverage and 4G reception.”
Unlikely you have 3 or 4G on Three but not on EE considering the 3G networks are shares and most of the mast infrastructure is shared, unless you get 4G over 800 from further afield.
Anyone who thinks a business should be closed for not offering a certain service as above or banned from selling a phone - when clearly competitors sell them is clearly well...
Agreed, Giga, lmao...
Agreed, Giga, lmao...
I get speeds of about 20mb on Virgins 3G in my town. Surely there's no need for any faster on a mobile handset?!
Originally Posted by lee18xx:
“I get speeds of about 20mb on Virgins 3G in my town. Surely there's no need for any faster on a mobile handset?!”
“I get speeds of about 20mb on Virgins 3G in my town. Surely there's no need for any faster on a mobile handset?!”
There's a lot more to it than just download speed, lots of info in the network threads.
Originally Posted by lee18xx:
“I get speeds of about 20mb on Virgins 3G in my town. Surely there's no need for any faster on a mobile handset?!”
“I get speeds of about 20mb on Virgins 3G in my town. Surely there's no need for any faster on a mobile handset?!”
The thing i find is being on virgin media and virgin mobile if i want to watch TV anywhere on my VM app 3G is not fast enough for a tv picture on my i phone,with 4G streaming TV on demand would be possible.
On the plus side there are quite a few VM mobile WI-FI hotspots dotted around now.
Originally Posted by Richard1960:
“The thing i find is being on virgin media and virgin mobile if i want to watch TV anywhere on my VM app 3G is not fast enough for a tv picture on my i phone,with 4G streaming TV on demand would be possible...”
“The thing i find is being on virgin media and virgin mobile if i want to watch TV anywhere on my VM app 3G is not fast enough for a tv picture on my i phone,with 4G streaming TV on demand would be possible...”
???
You're not supposed to be able to access TV anywhere with mobile broadband - it's wi-fi only. Why that's the case is a mystery to me. Sky Go manages to do it .Just another annoyance of this cr*ppy operator - it's a common complaint on VM's forums.
BTW, you should consider that your 3G service will be worse and slower on VM than on EE. EE give priority to their own customers.
Originally Posted by carnivalist:
“For reasons unrelated to their lack of 4g my experience has been the exact opposite over the years. It's not so bad now I've learnt my lesson and avoid taking out a handset contract with them as that means I have little contact with CS anymore.
IMO anyone thinking of taking out an android handset contract with them either needs their head tested or sufficient powers of clairvoyance to know their handset will last the full two years. I assume iphone users have recourse to apple if there's a problem, but if I'm wrong and they have to deal with Virgin too then avoid at all costs.
I'm not surprised you're happy if you mistakenly believe you have unlimited internet. Virgin infamously scrapped truly unlimited data for ALL customers with immediate effect, mere months after they enticed people to join with their heavily promoted "Unlimitacular" event, in which they made great play of the fact they were offering truly unlimited everything and tethering. They also removed tethering in the end.
What you really have is 3.5 gb of data, after which you'll be throttled back to 512k or something ridiculous like that.”
“For reasons unrelated to their lack of 4g my experience has been the exact opposite over the years. It's not so bad now I've learnt my lesson and avoid taking out a handset contract with them as that means I have little contact with CS anymore.
IMO anyone thinking of taking out an android handset contract with them either needs their head tested or sufficient powers of clairvoyance to know their handset will last the full two years. I assume iphone users have recourse to apple if there's a problem, but if I'm wrong and they have to deal with Virgin too then avoid at all costs.
I'm not surprised you're happy if you mistakenly believe you have unlimited internet. Virgin infamously scrapped truly unlimited data for ALL customers with immediate effect, mere months after they enticed people to join with their heavily promoted "Unlimitacular" event, in which they made great play of the fact they were offering truly unlimited everything and tethering. They also removed tethering in the end.
What you really have is 3.5 gb of data, after which you'll be throttled back to 512k or something ridiculous like that.”
I'm on that plan, it's 3.5GB of 3G data, after which you're capped at bare UMTS speeds. That's 384kbps down - certainly not good enough.
In the past I have used a basic phone for VM, just so that I could make and receive calls on my VM number (what most people can contact me on), and then using an EE promo SIM (or some other SIM) in my S4. It worked very well as I had access to 4G on my S4 as well as not having to worry about being speed capped.
On a related note, I think Virgin may be throttling my service - yesterday, I got about 2Mbps at Market Harborough and 11Mbps at home (on Virgin). On EE, I get anything up to 13Mbps at Market Harborough (now their mast by the train station is upgraded) and 3G at my home address is anywhere from 15-20Mbps.
Well, with EE giving 2GB a month at £17, their theoretical max lets you download that in less than a minute.
Now to cover the other 30 days, 23 hours and 59 minutes ..............
Now to cover the other 30 days, 23 hours and 59 minutes ..............
Originally Posted by alanwarwic:
“Well, with EE giving 2GB a month at £17, their theoretical max lets you download that in less than a minute.
Now to cover the other 30 days, 23 hours and 59 minutes ..............”
“Well, with EE giving 2GB a month at £17, their theoretical max lets you download that in less than a minute.
Now to cover the other 30 days, 23 hours and 59 minutes ..............”
Are you ever going to give up on this stupid old chestnut?
No one says you must download the full 2GB in a minute, it's such an inane comment. If the allowance was 20GB you could be dribbling about using the whole allowance in 20 minutes, if it was 200GB you could be prattling on about 200 minutes.
You'd still have 30 days to cover.
You really should stop the trolling...
You just made that up.
2GB reminds me of the old days on dialup.
I said before 4G is more useful for unlimited.
My posts are pertinent, very, considering the OP was asking if Virgin should be forced to close because they only offer 3G !
2GB reminds me of the old days on dialup.
I said before 4G is more useful for unlimited.
My posts are pertinent, very, considering the OP was asking if Virgin should be forced to close because they only offer 3G !
Originally Posted by alanwarwic:
“I am switching to 4G once a 1TB plan is base standard.
”
“I am switching to 4G once a 1TB plan is base standard.
”
Ha, uh, yeah. What are you doing while you wait?
Originally Posted by alanwarwic:
“Well, with EE giving 2GB a month at £17, their theoretical max lets you download that in less than a minute.
Now to cover the other 30 days, 23 hours and 59 minutes ..............”
“Well, with EE giving 2GB a month at £17, their theoretical max lets you download that in less than a minute.
Now to cover the other 30 days, 23 hours and 59 minutes ..............”
Hold on a minute, your network doesn't offer unlimited data either.
Originally Posted by d123:
“Are you ever going to give up on this stupid old chestnut?
No one says you must download the full 2GB in a minute, it's such an inane comment. If the allowance was 20GB you could be dribbling about using the whole allowance in 20 minutes, if it was 200GB you could be prattling on about 200 minutes.
You'd still have 30 days to cover.
You really should stop the trolling...”
“Are you ever going to give up on this stupid old chestnut?
No one says you must download the full 2GB in a minute, it's such an inane comment. If the allowance was 20GB you could be dribbling about using the whole allowance in 20 minutes, if it was 200GB you could be prattling on about 200 minutes.
You'd still have 30 days to cover.
You really should stop the trolling...”
Then you wouldn't need those speeds if you were going to use the 2GB over the month, rather than the minute.
Originally Posted by beans0ntoast:
“I'm on that plan, it's 3.5GB of 3G data, after which you're capped at bare UMTS speeds. That's 384kbps down - certainly not good enough”
“I'm on that plan, it's 3.5GB of 3G data, after which you're capped at bare UMTS speeds. That's 384kbps down - certainly not good enough”
I've been on virgin's unlimited data plan for about 3 months now and i regularly exceed 5gb a month and i've yet to be capped down to that level.
Originally Posted by Thine Wonk:
“Then you wouldn't need those speeds if you were going to use the 2GB over the month, rather than the minute.”
“Then you wouldn't need those speeds if you were going to use the 2GB over the month, rather than the minute.”
Why not? Don't you understand the benefits of faster data speeds? For example with regard to battery life?
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