Mobile operator with the best reputation

holotik

Hi,
I'm planning to live in Ireland for some time. I don't know which operator to choose (GSM). I can browse the web and find the prices... but I won't know opinions of Irish people. What are your experiences with phone operators? Which one do you think offers the best services? In my country there are also operators, that I don't trust, that are not well known and that are fooling people. Please help me, which one should I choose.
Many thanks for any reply.

mikemac

If you are going to be in Ireland only a short time then go with pre-pay option and not a billphone.

Go with Meteor pre-pay, it's very good.
Oh you'll hear horror stories about poor coverage but that was solved years ago in my opinion

DAWNRISER

Also depends on if you will use your phone for calls within Ireland to other mobile users or land lines or if you want to call other countries

holotik

DAWNRISER wrote: »

Also depends on if you will use your phone for calls within Ireland to other mobile users or land lines or if you want to call other countries

I think I won't call to another countries as I have Skype. I'm going to use it mainly to call to the same net. Sometimes to call land lines.

JTMan

As a genal rule Metoer Pay as You Go - Anytime Plus - is the best value package. They will not sell this one to you by default in the store so be sure to ask for it. This package charges 20c for any network any time calls and fee texts to meteor numbers after you top up by 20 EUR per month.

Walkman

If most of you calls will be to the same network then as a rule its cheaper to go with that network. If its customer case reputation you asking about in my experience o2 would be there at the top, although I have never had a problem with 3 customer care but lets not all go there. ;-)

Our man in Havana

Tesco Mobile are great. Not around long but never had a problem with them.

Ah-Watch

vodafone ireland kinda has a reputation for being dear HOWEVER they ARE the best network both on prepay and bill pay. with free calls and texts to all other vodafone numbers (largest network in ireland) when u top up by €20 in one go/(looks like the offers being extended even longer!!!;);) thank u vf!)... the network cannot in my opinion be beaten on coverage, customer care, offers and promotion. From working selling all the networks Vodafone certainly is the biggest seller in my area and then meteor.... If you dont choose vodafone my next options would be in order:

1)Vodafone
2)Meteor
3)02
4)Three
5)Tesco


hopefully this might help in some way! best of luck and enjoy ur stay here!;)

Forgot to say that you can work are vodafones dear texts(11c) by buying a text bundle like most other networks

jimmycrackcorm

If you are into skype then 3 is a very good option.

Sam Vimes

Ah-Watch wrote: »

vodafone ireland kinda has a reputation for being dear HOWEVER they ARE the best network both on prepay and bill pay. with free calls and texts to all other vodafone numbers (largest network in ireland) when u top up by 20 in one go/(looks like the offers being extended even longer!!!;);) thank u vf!)... the network cannot in my opinion be beaten on coverage, customer care, offers and promotion. From working selling all the networks Vodafone certainly is the biggest seller in my area and then meteor.... If you dont choose vodafone my next options would be in order:

1)Vodafone
2)Meteor
3)02
4)Three
5)Tesco


hopefully this might help in some way! best of luck and enjoy ur stay here!;)

Forgot to say that you can work are vodafones dear texts(11c) by buying a text bundle like most other networks

i worked in a place that sold vodafone for over a year and i did maybe ten vodafone first time connections in that time. I did a good few upgrades for older people but when people saw the tariffs it was very rare for them to choose vodafone. Usually they did if they wanted a specific phone or something like that

holotik

Thank you all.
Is 3 GSM network?

Walkman

No. 3 are a 3g network, but you can use skype o their handsets. When you are not in 3g coverage you will roam onto vodafones 2g network. As I said above if most of you balls are to one network it is probably best value to go with that network. Your best option would be to go onto each operators site and have a look at their charges.

The Real B-man

holotik wrote: »

Thank you all.
Is 3 GSM network?

Vodafone, 2&3G
02, 2&3G
Meteor, 2G
3, 3G Only
Tesco ?

Sully

Iv dealt with most networks in Ireland and id rate them differently. These are all based on pre-pay.

- Metor have always been very compeditive but not the best coverage and with absolutely horrendous support.

- Vodafone are very expensive and dont seem to compete as much as other networks do. They would probably be the second largest network in Ireland. Support is usually very efficent and network coverage is usually very good. They offer excellent internet packages.

- o2 used to be pretty expensive but they offer a very compeditive package and have started to hit back at Meteor. They offer free texts messages to ALL networks unlike Vodafone who hit back with a package which was laughable. They also have the right to sell the iPhone in Ireland. To call other networks can be pricy and using the internet is also very pricy. They dont seem to offer as good as packages to Bill Pay customers as they do to their Pre Pay customers (very mixed packages spread around). If you text a lot, stick with o2.

-3 seem to have a poor reputation, so I have avoided them until they clean up their act.

-Tesco is new, and uses the o2 network so coverage should be good. They have been relatively unheard of since they began and dont seem to offer much competition wise. I think they are relatively cheap and cheerful tho.

Its hard to rate them as they offer different packages to different parts of the market. I personally have always liked o2 - support is good, phone repair service is the best, offer some very good packages over the years and now their free text plan is excellent. I dont make much calls, and when I do they are short so it doesnt bother me to much that its expensive to call. Disapointed that bill pay have good internet rates and prepay dont. Vodafone are to expensive and dont offer me anything. Their support is good and likewise is coverage. They have a good phone range also. Meteor have dodgy signal in parts of Ireland, their support isnt the best but they do offer some very compeditive packages. 3 have been hammered for poor support and service so iv avoided them. Tesco are new so its hard to comment.

Ah-Watch

Sam Vimes wrote: »

i worked in a place that sold vodafone for over a year and i did maybe ten vodafone first time connections in that time. I did a good few upgrades for older people but when people saw the tariffs it was very rare for them to choose vodafone. Usually they did if they wanted a specific phone or something like that

good man sam , from boards I reckon you're highly knowledgeable but I still prefer vodafone to any other network. o2 had such a huge customer base that I was part of for many years and they let this slide with bad promotions etc. Meteor is good as long as I dont have to ring them(have a vodafone and meteor number-I make the most-why not:D) and three was a complete disaster!!! I see what you say but I still rather vodafone!;):)

Sully

Ah-Watch wrote: »

good man sam , from boards I reckon you're highly knowledgeable but I still prefer vodafone to any other network. o2 had such a huge customer base that I was part of for many years and they let this slide with bad promotions etc. Meteor is good as long as I dont have to ring them(have a vodafone and meteor number-I make the most-why not:D) and three was a complete disaster!!! I see what you say but I still rather vodafone!;):)

o2 have improved a lot though and are well ahead of Vodafone when it comes to promotions. Vodafone dont seem to pushed at all.

Solair

The Irish networks are all GSM, however '3' is 3G only.

Networks:

Vodafone - 2G/3G
O2 - 2G/3G
Meteor 2G (3G soon)
Tesco Mobile 2G (Virtual operator piggy backs on O2) [Tesco is a large supermarket chain]
'3' - 3G only (and they don't sell SIM cards without a handset)

All of the above do pre-pay accounts, the rates vary check www.callcosts.ie for neutral information about the costs.

If you're a regular skype user get a handset from '3'. They've built-in skype and it's free to use. So, your skype contacts can call you directly to your mobile phone. Their normal voice/data rates are pretty good too.
The only downside with them is their customer care, which is all based out of India and while polite, can be pretty ineffective and frustrating. That being said, their products are nice. The other downside is that you will have to buy one of their handsets, they are very heavily customised and locked down tightly. However, they are just 3GSM (GSM 3G) handsets, so once they're unlocked, you can use them on any GSM (2G or 3G) network.

On the plus side, 3's coverage is perfect as they hop seamlessly onto Vodafone Ireland when you're not in one of their 3G coverage areas, so you'll lose the fancy features, but you're never out of voice/sms and slow data coverage in Ireland. Also, roaming in the UK is free.

http://www.three.ie/handsets_new/prepay-mobiles-skype.htm (Their range of skype compatible handsets)

If you're planning on roaming around Europe, I'd suggest that you pick Vodafone prepay as it's most reliable when in more far flung countries.
Other than that, make sure you've a SIM-unlocked handset so that you can buy local sim cards when abroad.

Walkman

'3' - 3G only (and they don't sell SIM cards without a handset)
[/QUOTE]
3 have been selling sim only packs for over a month now. There are available only from a 3 Store AFAIK and are €9 with €80 credit or free if porting

holotik

Thanks for advices. I have an unlocked phone, i just need a SIM. It's good to know your opinions as in Czech Republic I'm on Vodafone, because they're the cheapest network here. I won't travel a lot, and I hope that in Limerick the coverage is good all over the city. I'll go for the lowest price.