O2 and vodafone mobile bb, better that 3 or the same?

pred racer

Does anyone have any experience with O2 mobile broadband? I would have jumped on the 3 banwagon (glad now I didnt) but there is no 3 coverage where I live. there is good O2 coverage (2G and 3G) and I was wondering whether to give it a go or not.
BTW i have no other broadband options available to me so if its faster than dial up (in my case 20k on sh1te copper and a mux) then it would be good for me.

Rozie

O2 is better. There's no real reason for them to be the same, though obviously they share some of the same problems. But the specific configuration issues we're having with 3 should not be there with O2, and I've heard they're not.

pred racer

Thanks Rozie, i think ill give it a go!

kaizersoze1980

O2 is much better. I was getting download speeds of 200+k/s last night, downloaded a 700mb file in 2 hours. Its not always that good, but never as bad as 3 in my opinion.

juror

Does anyone have any experience of Vodafone's mobile broadband? I was going to sign up the 3 but after seeing the reviews its been getting on this site and an interview I heard on Matt Coopers last Word show I'm not going to go near it.
I'm trying to decide between O2 and Vodafone
Thanks

zugvogel

I had a Vodafone USB modem from work for about three weeks in late 2006. Wasn't very good -. worse than Three if you can believe that in terms of up and download speeds - very inconsistent. I tried it in Dublin and rural Kildare. At home in Kildare it was supposed to work at GPRS speeds but often I was only getting 0-10 kbits/sec -> worse than my dialup connection. In the city it wasn't great either. I'm starting to form the view that calling this type of technology "broadband" from any provider be it Three, O2 or Vodafone is false advertising. My advise is to think very carefully before signing up for a 12 month contract with Vodafone or Three – can’t comment directly on O2.

Cill Chainnigh

I have O2 Broadband in Waterford for a few days now. The highest download speed that I achieved was 2 MB/s. this was recorded on the O2 Interface. I ran some speed checks using the Blackspeed Check on www.irishisptest.com and the best speed that I recorded was 1 MB/s. It seems to vary with time of the day. After 11pm last night it was quick. At about 7pm it was slow.

So far, the average speed that I am getting is about 0.5MB/s. It is slow enough but it is the only broadband option available to me at the moment!

Rozie

Browsing's still slow as heck but that could be the rain.

I'm pushing 3 to reset my download capacity because of how much of it was loading Streams that never finished, downloading files that got half way, etc., got to be at least 3 gig of stuff like that.

Breogao

Cill Chainnigh wrote:

I have O2 Broadband in Waterford for a few days now ...
So far, the average speed that I am getting is about 0.5MB/s. It is slow enough but it is the only broadband option available to me at the moment!

But is everything else working? I mean, speed is one thing, but apparently "3" customers are having issues with basic things such as FTP, smtp, accessing gmail, ebay, etc. Is all that working with O2 (or Vodafone)?

jor el

I have O2, no problem with anything working on it in either HSDPA or GPRS. Speeds can vary but there's always been a connection, even in the middle of nowhere in Co. Galway where the nearest mast was about 8 miles away. Used it in Limerick, Waterford, Galway and Wexford so far.

Breogao

Thanks! Good to know!
(if only o2 were a bit cheaper... 40 a month is a bit too much...)

pred racer

Only one problem left now, I emailed O2 last night regarding their terms and conditions, which state I can get a refund within a 7 day period if the modem is still in original package and hasnt been used. I asked them if it doesnt work where I live can I get a refund or will I be left with a product and in a contract which I cant use. They haven't replied yet.

watty

If you have a 3G phone on O2 maybe you can check?

pred racer

Im on meteor. Asking around I havent found anyone with an O2 3G phone! That 3G thing didnt really take off, did it?

A question for anyone out there with an O2 3G phone, is O2's online coverage map fairly right, or is it way optimistic like meteors?

watty

I changed from meteor to O2 (I'm near Limerick) on a 3G phone and I get all bars here in 3G mode. Of course sometimes on Meteor I'd have nearly full signal and not receive calls or make them

O2 coverage used to be Dodgy, but they have been improved a lot. I guess if you are carefull with the package, they might take it back if it doesn't go.

Or upgrade yourself to an O2 3G phone (works on GSM too) and then you will know how good the 3G is.

Data calls are NOT included in your "minutes" in a bill pay package, however the O2 datamodem sim will give you data on your phone (which in many cases will work as Modem for Laptop via Infrared, Bluetooth or USB cable, but possibly only up to 115k). Most 3G phones only do the 384k 3G, not the 1.8M/3.6M/7.2M HSDPA. O2 also has EDGE on the GSM network, which will give the O2 modem 220k and work on many 3G phones too.

Phone calls on the Data SIM are 35c a minute (when you stick it in the phone), same as Roaming calls or calls above your "included minutes" on your voice/phone sim. O2 don't appear to block VOIP or disable it on the O2 branded handsets.

Sponge Bob

I have seen on this board that you get a 7 day trial period with o2 but 14 days with voda and three. Better clear that up in the shop before you part with shekels.

If there are to be problems with o2 who only launched a month back these problems may not show for another month or two.

3 were OK service wise in month one , acquired about 10k customers during that time and all HELL broke loose then as we know around here .

O2 now have about 10k customers .

pred racer

From O2 customer care
If after purchasing the modem, you find the coverage to be unacceptable you can return the modem to the place of purchase

As long as this is returned within 7 days, the contract will be terminated.



You will able to test the service in confidence, knowing if coverage is unavailable, you will not be held to a contract.



Kind Regards



It still doesnt say if Ill get refunded for the modem, but I think ill give it a go!

pred racer

watty wrote:

I changed from meteor to O2 (I'm near Limerick) on a 3G phone and I get all bars here in 3G mode. Of course sometimes on Meteor I'd have nearly full signal and not receive calls or make them

O2 coverage used to be Dodgy, but they have been improved a lot. I guess if you are carefull with the package, they might take it back if it doesn't go.

Or upgrade yourself to an O2 3G phone (works on GSM too) and then you will know how good the 3G is.

Data calls are NOT included in your "minutes" in a bill pay package, however the O2 datamodem sim will give you data on your phone (which in many cases will work as Modem for Laptop via Infrared, Bluetooth or USB cable, but possibly only up to 115k). Most 3G phones only do the 384k 3G, not the 1.8M/3.6M/7.2M HSDPA. O2 also has EDGE on the GSM network, which will give the O2 modem 220k and work on many 3G phones too.

Phone calls on the Data SIM are 35c a minute (when you stick it in the phone), same as Roaming calls or calls above your "included minutes" on your voice/phone sim. O2 don't appear to block VOIP or disable it on the O2 branded handsets.

Thanks for that, but im locked into a meteor contract right now.
Which side of limerick are you on?

AlmightyCushion

pred racer wrote:

It still doesnt say if Ill get refunded for the modem, but I think ill give it a go!

I'd say they would refund you the cst of the modem.

watty

Near the Cork rd / Tralee road fork.

jimmy2shoes

o2 will refund you for the modem. took one back in our store today from a customer who couldn't get a signal for most of the time, due to being too far from the nearest mast(north of mallow). cancelled his contract and refunded the cost of his modem. standard practice in all o2 stores, haven't heard anything different and wouldn't imagine that it would be.

any issues with it inside the 7 day guarantee pm and i'll sort.

pred racer

I went and got this today. an absolute pig to get up and running, but we got there in the end. Im not on 20k dial-up anymore.......woot:D
obviously not getting 3.6M but seem to be getting around 1M which i'll be happy enough with if it stays around there. Ill be able to cancel my eircom line now, so it really isnt going to cost me anything.

Only problem was I owed O2 over a hundred euro from a previous contract (in 2002 ffs) and I had to pay up......oh well:rolleyes:

zugvogel

> "3 were OK service wise in month one , acquired about 10k customers during that time and all HELL broke loose then as we know around here"

Sponge Bob I don't agree with you on this one. I had the Three data card for 2 weeks last February and it wasn't good then – that’s why I gave it back. It worked Ok for about 2 or 3 days and for the rest of time was just crap. Way to inconsistent to be anyway useful apart form casual web browsing on the rare occasion that it was actually working. At the time I thought it was more to do with my location/signal level than anything else but obviously not!

Three have really shot themselves the foot on this one.

Zug

long_b

Zug, I had the same experience with 3 as Sponge Bob, I think you'll find a lot of people did.

zugvogel

Fair enough Long_b.
I wanted it for tele-working using a secure citrix connection. I found the latency to be liveable with, but it just the sheer unreliability of the service that got me. Sometimes I couldn’t connect at all and sometimes I could – error 613 if I recall correctly. I remember getting in the car with my laptop and driving up to the nearest three mast - getting a 5 bar signal and still no go. Three tech support told me to re-install the software. I must have done this 2 or 3 times in the two weeks. In the end I just didn’t want to waste anymore time on it.

I accept that other people may have found it OK. In fact my advice to people enquiring about it in the past was to try it for the two weeks and give it back if unhappy. Personally I found the most off putting thing was that Three wanted to me to sign up to a 12 month contract for a service that was somewhat suspect even back then in February.

Zug

podd37

Has anyone used O2/Vodafone in or around Ballycotton in Co. Cork? Does it even stretch that far? Or am I doomed to return to dial up?

pred racer

If my experience of O2 is anything to go by, you can believe their online 3g map. it says im right on the edge of their 3g coverage, which is about right. (im getting about 2 bars of signal) will probably improve when I get the usb extension, thats 1M on peak and 1.5 to 1.7M off peak!

wazzoraybelle

podd37 wrote:

Has anyone used O2/Vodafone in or around Ballycotton in Co. Cork? Does it even stretch that far? Or am I doomed to return to dial up?

Airwave have wireless in Ballycotton I think O2 have coverage there check O2 coverage map

hamsterboy

Probably a silly question but is there any way to connect one of these data cards to a wireless router?

watty

There is ONE usb Router than can take one or two models of Modem. YOu are better with a PCMCIA card and a Netgear 3G (available from operators) or Linksys WRT54G3G (www.dabs.ie) router.

You can use a suitable PC as a Router.

dnClar

Trying to decide what mobile broadband to get, the price of O2 seems so hign, but service for the two others are terrible. I know I have excellent 3 coverage in my area, but but reading this seems that doesnt matter.

VR

I'm in the same position, O2 are on the pricey side, however voda require you to be a bill pay costomer- and their limit is at 5gb/month! So it between O2 and 3!!! If 3 are not improving their service- think I'm gonna have to fork out the extra cash on O2! I'm surpised O2 only giving 7 days "trial" when the others are allowing 14 days!