How are Meteor for just making calls and sending texts.

Dman001

I have recently noticed how much cheaper Meteor's postpay price plans are compared to O2 (eg. for €30 a month you get 175 mins and 100 texts with O2, but Meteor offer 200 mins and 200 texts for €20 a month). Now Ive never had a problem with O2 but I am seriously considering in switching. But TBH Im looking for a catch with Meteors service. They say they offer 97% coverage while O2 claim they have 95%. I realise O2 offer a better 3G service, but all I want from the phone is calls and texts. So is there any catch with Meteors service? Is it too good to be true?

blaz

Dman001 wrote: »

I have recently noticed how much cheaper Meteor's postpay price plans are compared to O2 (eg. for €30 a month you get 175 mins and 100 texts with O2, but Meteor offer 200 mins and 200 texts for €20 a month). Now Ive never had a problem with O2 but I am seriously considering in switching. But TBH Im looking for a catch with Meteors service. They say they offer 97% coverage while O2 claim they have 95%. I realise O2 offer a better 3G service, but all I want from the phone is calls and texts. So is there any catch with Meteors service? Is it too good to be true?

Based on my own experience, O2's coverage is much better than Meteors. Meteor has a lot of dead spots, even in larger cities. I'm talking about bog standard GSM here, not 3G, where the situation is even worse for Meteor. Of course some people are perfectly happy with Meteor, it very much depends on the coverage in the area where you will use your phone most. Best is to get a Meteor prepay SIM and try them out, if the coverage is fine, then you can switch over your main number.

dinneenp

Meteor have 'odd' deals at the momnet-
for 30 day contract sim only-
€30 per month
200 mins, 200 texts, FREE meteor to meteor calls and texts and voicemail

12 month contract you get the same as above for €25 per month but no free meteor to meteor calls or texts.

To me it seems strange, the 30 day contract seems to be the obvious choice (if you have any friends etc. on Meteor). You'd think that the 12 month contract option would offer you more minutes etc....

I'm with Three, my wife with O2, we're both going to change to the 30 day sim only. If the reception is dodgy we'll just leave.

I think O2 and Vodafone just expect people to stay with them and therefore don't have as competitive offers as Three/Meteor etc.
Pa.

Dman001

Cheers guys. The coverage is my main concern. Now I know O2's isnt perfect but Im not sure if I want to move to a serivce which could offer worse coverage.

Kensington

dinneenp wrote: »

Meteor have 'odd' deals at the momnet-
for 30 day contract sim only-
€30 per month
200 mins, 200 texts, FREE meteor to meteor calls and texts and voicemail

12 month contract you get the same as above for €25 per month but no free meteor to meteor calls or texts.

To me it seems strange, the 30 day contract seems to be the obvious choice (if you have any friends etc. on Meteor). You'd think that the 12 month contract option would offer you more minutes etc....

I'm with Three, my wife with O2, we're both going to change to the 30 day sim only. If the reception is dodgy we'll just leave.

I think O2 and Vodafone just expect people to stay with them and therefore don't have as competitive offers as Three/Meteor etc.
Pa.

You've sort of answered your own question above!

The 30 day contract is a SIM only plan, you cannot get any handset on this plan nor can you buy a handset as an upgrade on this plan (you'd need to switch to one of their "Connect" plans and tie yourself into a 12 month contract).

The 12 month plan comes with a handset, which in many cases is heavily subsidised by Meteor. They then have to factor in the cost of this subsidy into the plan to cover themselves, with the result you get less usage time for a similar price as part of your monthly commitment goes to recoup their losses, whereas with the SIM-only plan, every cent of your monthly commitment is revenue for them.




Personally, I've found my experience with Meteor absolutely awful. Texts taking ages coming through, texts taking ages to send or failing altogether, calls breaking up, incoming calls not getting through, calls dropping and even losing network coverage altogether for hours on end. Coverage outside of major cities and towns is usually very weak in comparison to O2 or Vodafone. I got onto their customer care countless times about the problems and was either completely ignored or given a standard fob off excuse such as "It has been forwarded to the appropriate department", and not heard anything back since.

However, that's just my personal experience - there's obviously many, many satisfied customers out there (nearly 1 million in fact) who would disagree with me. Service could be fine in the places you will be using the service, but for me at least it's that "hit and miss" element of Meteor that puts me off them completely.

Jax Teller

Love meteor . My bill is 20 a month for 60 mins and free meteor txts . Can't get that plan anymore I don't think .

Cool Mo D

blaz wrote: »

Based on my own experience, O2's coverage is much better than Meteors. Meteor has a lot of dead spots, even in larger cities. I'm talking about bog standard GSM here, not 3G, where the situation is even worse for Meteor. Of course some people are perfectly happy with Meteor, it very much depends on the coverage in the area where you will use your phone most. Best is to get a Meteor prepay SIM and try them out, if the coverage is fine, then you can switch over your main number.

Meteor uses O2's towers when it can't access it's own. It has the exact same coverage as O2. I'm on Meteor, and I've never been anywhere in the country I couldn't get a signal where someone else could. GSM coverage is not an issue for any network in Ireland - they all pay to use each others towers if they have to. Not saying Meteor are brilliant or perfect or anything, and there have been times when texts have taken ages to some through, but I find them the best value for someone who is a light user.

blaz

Cool Mo D wrote: »

Meteor uses O2's towers when it can't access it's own. It has the exact same coverage as O2. I'm on Meteor, and I've never been anywhere in the country I couldn't get a signal where someone else could. GSM coverage is not an issue for any network in Ireland - they all pay to use each others towers if they have to. Not saying Meteor are brilliant or perfect or anything, and there have been times when texts have taken ages to some through, but I find them the best value for someone who is a light user.

The above information is completely outdated, Meteor switched roaming from O2 to Vodafone years ago. In addition:

1. Meteor uses Vodafone and not O2 where they don't have ANY coverage at all, i.e. some parts of western Ireland.
2. Meteor users do NOT roam on any other operator in most other parts of Ireland. Their coverage has very bad dead spots even in Dublin.
3. It is quite easy to verify that Meteor's coverage is inferior by looking up the number of masts in an area on this site. While the data there is not perfectly accurate, it does show a clear picture.
4. I am a very light user and have been with Meteor for quite some time, but I just couldn't stand their bad coverage and switched to Vodafone about half a year ago. Service is much better now....

Dman001

Cool Mo D wrote: »

Meteor uses O2's towers when it can't access it's own. It has the exact same coverage as O2. I'm on Meteor, and I've never been anywhere in the country I couldn't get a signal where someone else could. GSM coverage is not an issue for any network in Ireland - they all pay to use each others towers if they have to. Not saying Meteor are brilliant or perfect or anything, and there have been times when texts have taken ages to some through, but I find them the best value for someone who is a light user.

I thought so alright. I thought all networks piggyback on each others towers so coverage wouldnt be a major issue for any network. Meteor do seem to be the best for light users, while Vodafone and O2 are superior for business/3G users.

Kensington

Cool Mo D wrote: »

Meteor uses O2's towers when it can't access it's own. It has the exact same coverage as O2. I'm on Meteor, and I've never been anywhere in the country I couldn't get a signal where someone else could. GSM coverage is not an issue for any network in Ireland - they all pay to use each others towers if they have to. Not saying Meteor are brilliant or perfect or anything, and there have been times when texts have taken ages to some through, but I find them the best value for someone who is a light user.

Meteor use Vodafone, not O2, and this applies only to the western counties of Ireland where Meteor has no infrastructure of their own. If you live in a blackspot in Dublin, for example, tough, you will not roam over to Vodafone.

John Player

I used to be with em before the free network calls on o2 payg came in so I changed cos all mates with o2.

Coverage in Dublin while out and about was grand, but sometimes things happened like when you walk into a shop and loose all coverage. Was constantly getting the missed call txt from them and phone never even rang. That was over a year ago so it may of improved.