Mobile networks

Jonah

Jonah

Spouting nonsense since the day I learned to talk
I'm with o2 and have been for about 13 years. Service has been pretty good until the last two to three years when I've had issues with lack of 3G coverage, straight-to-voicemail-without-ringing even though I have a full signal, dropped calls etc etc. Pretty much your standard shoddy service by the mobile networks.

My contract is up in 6 weeks and I still cannot decide whether to jump out of the o2 frying pan into the EE/Orange/TMobile/Vodafone fire so I would like your honest opinions of each network please.

Before anyone shouts "3" - it is just impossible for me to use 3 as there is absolutely ZERO call signal when I'm sitting at my desk at home which completely defeats the object of using my mobile as my work phone. There is no point moving to Tesco as they are o2 in disguise, same with Virgin as they are EE by any other name.

The real issue is signal strength and coverage and 3G availability. Tariff prices do not matter as such as I will be paying through the nose for an iPhone 5s - and no I will not be changing to any other phone.
 
db

db

#chaplife
this is one of those subjects where everyone will differ greatly - i personally am with EE, and could not be happier, consistently getting ~25mb/s download and 6mb/s upload no matter where i am in town - but i bet the next person will say EE are the worst network they have every come across!

but yeah, i have had an iphone 5 on EE since April 2013, and i can honestly say it is the best mobile phone experience i have ever had, by a very long chalk.. prior to this i was on o2, and was lucky if i could get a 3G connection at all, let alone a decent transfer speed.. now i have my phone set to automatically upload every photo i take to my dropbox, and it does so instantly and effortlessly thanks to the aforementioned solid connection..
 
tek-monkey

tek-monkey

wanna see my snake?
My EE connection has gone absolute gash ever since the merger with t-mobile, I can no longer get a reception properly in my bedroom. I complained and got told nothing had changed so tough basically, which was nice.
 
My Name is URL

My Name is URL

Well-Known Forumite
I'm with Orange and have no issues. One huge bonus for me is with (some?) Orange plans you get "Swappables" which includes Deezer - basically Spotify or the like, but for FREE, so you can stream / download as many free albums as you like. If you subscribe to a music service then that alone can save you £10 a month.
 
staffordjas

staffordjas

Well-Known Forumite
I had no problems with T-mobile for years and years until they became EE. Now I quite often can't get a signal at home (Wildwood) and many other places , although sons smart phone with EE has no problems. I have to keep using his phone to make important calls when he's at home as mine keeps dropping out mid-conversation.

Was going to change networks myself in November when my contract is up but as we apparently don't have Vodaphone reception and Virgin say they use EE I'm not sure what to do myself.

I always found the lads in the T-mobile shop very helpful but since they've moved into the Orange/EE shop I've not had much joy from the assistants I've ended up dealing with .(One actually said "This is an Orange shop so you will have to ring customer services as I can't help you!" )
 
John Marwood

John Marwood

I ♥ cryptic crosswords
I would suggest going to a friendlier shopping town like Walsall or Dudley for clearer guidance

Stafford seems to have the same low level of service in all its cellphone outlets
 
staffordjas

staffordjas

Well-Known Forumite
EE was featured on BBC1 Watchdog last night as lots of customers have lately been having trouble getting a signal and calls dropping out etc. Said something like........

Calls on 4G phones automatically go to the 3G signal for calls.
When 4G came out they had to narrow all the other band widths, causing overcrowding on the 3G band .
When Orange and T-mobile merged to become EE ,half of the masts were deemed unneccessary and got rid of.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006mg74/features/ee-poor-phone-call-reception-4g
 
tek-monkey

tek-monkey

wanna see my snake?
Sounds about right, all I know is I shan't be using them again when my contract expires. Even Three were better than this!
 
db

db

#chaplife
John Marwood said:
Gawd..

If a small town like Stafford is so patchy what hope for commercial travellers...
Click to expand...

all i can say is, i was on t-mobile for years and i genuinely thanked my lucky stars if i got any kind of internet connectivity whilst on the move..

since migrating to EE, i have nothing but praise for them.. consistently get LTE/4G, even if my house (which is hardly an urban hotspot).. tethered my ipad to it on a train journey to london a couple of times, and it honestly was faster than my home wifi connection..

if you go in the the stafford EE shop, ask for Pardip - he's a tall indian geezer, and he is the most helpful and knowledge mobile phone geek i have ever had the pleasure of meeting..
 
staffordjas

staffordjas

Well-Known Forumite
db said:
if you go in the the stafford EE shop, ask for Pardip - he's a tall indian geezer, and he is the most helpful and knowledge mobile phone geek i have ever had the pleasure of meeting..
Click to expand...


I think he is the helpful bloke who mostly served me for years in the T-mobile shop , but is always with a customer lately when I go in the EE shop since they have merged. I always end up with the one everyone else seems to have avoided being served by :(
 
Jonah

Jonah

Spouting nonsense since the day I learned to talk
I've taken a chance and moved to EE. I will soon find out if this was a wise move or not.

My iPhone 5s is just luvverly!

:bananafunk:
 
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