Phone

[fearmeforiampink]

Right, I have an iPhone. I have had it for a year. I bought it on a pay as you go contract, as I looked at the costs of it on contract, and noted that I'm going to be spending enough for that to be worthwhile.

I am now reaching the end of the 12 months of free internet I get with the phone. If I stay on the current setup, they'll charge me £10 a month for internet. Therefore, I've started looking at what my options are regarding contracts. Here's the numbers:

Provider	Cost	Talk time	Internet	Texts	Length
Tesco Mobile	£15	500 minutes	500MB	Unlimited	Dunno
T Mobile	£10	100	Flexible Booster (1GB)	100	30 day
	£15	350	Flexible Booster (1GB)	300	30 day
	£15	600	Flexible Booster (1GB)	500	12 months
Three	£15	300+2k 3to3	1GB	3000	1 month
Virgin	£15	400	1GB	Unlimited	12 months
Virgin	£15	200	1GB	Unlimited	30 day
O2	£15	300	500MB	Unlimited	12 months

Flexible Booster – Internet,
Unlimited: texts, T mobile talk, Landline talk,
Reduced various international talks.

Given these numbers, I lean reasonably strongly towards the T Mobile £10 a month option, with the flexible booster turned onto 'internet' most or all of the time. I don't make all that much use of my phone, I'll probably increase my use somewhat when I'm on the contract, but still probably not all that much. Mostly I'm after the usefulness of being able to use maps and apps that need the 'net whenever I want to.

However, there's one more factor. What are these various networks actually like, in terms of coverage, reliability, customer service? As such, I'd appreciate peoples thoughts on the networks. Particularly as regards London, but also just generally. All input appreciated.

Comments

[obsidian-sphinx.livejournal.com]

Do you have one of the ones that doesn't work if you hold it?

Ias

[hawklord2112.livejournal.com]

no - he's got a 3g / 3gs. the 4 wont be available to buy (legitimately) in the uk till christmas at least.

[fearmeforiampink]

3gS

[hawklord2112.livejournal.com]

so its safe to do the iOS4 update then ;)

[hawklord2112.livejournal.com]

1. if you bought it PAYG it would have been on o2 and therefore locked to o2. to use any other network will require jailbreaking which (as a moderately intelligent chap) i'm sure you're capable of, but if you get it wrong you have a paperweight on your hands.

2. tmobile are damn good and when they say unlimited they mean it. the 1Gb is fair useage only and (since you are in london) they have no coverage issues - at least none of the ones they have down here in the SW.

3. 3? no. never. piggyback networks usually arent worth it.

4. tesco? dont make me laugh. in the very fine print they mention that they dont support streamed data on the network (means no Youtube or similar). also see above re: piggyback networks.

5. Virgin - deals are excellent but see above re: piggyback networks.

YMMV but thems my (reasonably) informed opinions.

[fearmeforiampink]

When I was looking into this, I went into a Phones4U store, had an extended chat with one of the people there. He, when checking on the £15 deal, phoned up T mobile and they seemed to be of the opinion that I could just swap the SIM over and it would work.

Given I can stroll into the Regent Street Applestore, I will ask there and/or email folks to check, but I'm hopeful I can make it work, as I'd like the T Mobile deal.

[(Anonymous)]

The sim will work fine in an unlocked phone- every iPhone sold new and legitimately in the uk is locked to either o2, orange or vodafone.
Since you've had your phone longer than orange or voda have been offering them, that leaves o2 as your network, and therefore the phone will only accept an o2 sim.

Easy test is simply put a non o2 sim in it. If it asks to be activated then it's o2 locked.

[hawklord2112.livejournal.com]

that was me btw. damn safari on my iphone losing my login cookie.

[fearmeforiampink]

According to people in both the T Mobile shop, and the O2 shop (Oxford Street versions thereof), once my year of owning it is up, I can go to the O2 website and unlock it, then stick whatever I like in it.

[rachelprince.livejournal.com]

Random question, what do you mean by piggyback networks?

I've been with 3 for years, and never had a problem. Despite knowing people who have had problems. Then again, I know people who've had problems with all the major networks.

[hawklord2112.livejournal.com]

3, tesco, and virgin are VMNOs - virtual mobile network operators. they buy airtime in bulk (from orange, o2 and tmobile respectively) and sell it on. you use their sim, their services, but someone else's masts and technically have a lower priority access to them than the regular customers.

3 is a little different as they have a 3g network for data traffic which their phones use as a priority, and then fallback on to orange when needed.

[fearmeforiampink]

A belated comment, from experience, the signal is good but the 3G awful in my flat, but gets much better once I'm a little way from the building. This is not that much of an issue, as I have Wi Fi.

The general signal/3G is pretty good, as is their customer service once you find the arcane combination of numbers that will get you to a real person.

[hawklord2112.livejournal.com]

oh - you can change your FB with tmobile every 30 days and the change takes effect from your next billing date (the date that they refresh your minutes and messages and work out your bill from the previous month.

[fearmeforiampink]

Aye. Chances are I'd mostly keep it on internets, but I could change it if I was going to do a lot of texting/T-Mobile-ing/Landlining.

[paulatpingu.livejournal.com]

You could take a look at GiffGaff. They have a stupid name, but they're basically O2 and their prices are very good.

http://giffgaff.com/index/offer

If you're stuck with O2 because you've got an O2-locked iPhone, they may be a good (semi)alternative.

Also, they have some community fluff going on - if you want to get involved, you can claim extras for doing so. That might be appealing, I don't know.

[fearmeforiampink]

According to people in both the T Mobile shop, and the O2 shop (Oxford Street versions thereof), once my year of owning it is up, I can go to the O2 website and unlock it, then stick whatever I like in it.

[hawklord2112.livejournal.com]

re: customer service.
all networks use offshore callcentres *except* o2.
tmobile only use offshore for simple issues i.e. bill payments- actual customerservice is up in scotland.
3 *only* use offshore

[wychboy.livejournal.com]

may I suggest looking at orange? I believe they have some of the best 3g coverage round here (I say believe.. I work for a telecommunications company, so asked around there before deciding on my network, that's what I was told). As they own Three, they can also piggy back on to them if necassary.

3 customer service is shit. Orange is much better - I got through to english people last time I called them, so... I think they're ok.

[fearmeforiampink]

Thought I'd replied to this earlier. Internet worms must've eaten it.

Briefly, as it's so late it's early, Orange has various packages that include internet at £20 and £25 a month. I don't want to spend that much money. £10 a month including internet as well as some free calls and texts is much more what I'm after.