To 3 or not to 3

RnR

So having been away on hols I'm wondering whats the verdict on 3?

I'm out of contract and contemplating a move from O2 to 3.

Considering the iP4 on 3 (no charge) and the €95 PM 18 mth contract.

Suggestions welcome!

turnsoutIwas

I've had no problems with the customer service and the guys in the shop have been helpful as they can but I have had the same network issues as others, even in Dublin City Centre. If they sort this out I will be happy to stay with them for the 18 months but I am just at the end of my two week period where I can leave and I may have to.

Personally I would hold off and see if they fix the network issues first although the prices are good.

DonRosco

I was pretty close to changing back to o2 because of the same issues...until the first bill came in. I can live with occasional 3G issues for that much saving.

naasrd

I seem to be one of the few having no issues at all with 3. Everything has run perfectly and I've been all over Dublin using it. I switched from VF and haven't looked back.

seamus

I was going to start this thread, but that wouldn't be right.

I'm kind of looking for a definitive "yay or nay" on switching to 3.

I've been with O2 for the last 18 months. I like having Edge available, though speed tests suggest that it's just barely better than GPRS, so I can probably live without. The vast majority of my hardcore surfing is done over WiFi anyway, I only use mobile data for mail and weather mainly. They also have a 3G mast about 250m from my house. O2 don't - they had to take theirs down after putting it up without permission - so I have quite poor O2 coverage in my house.

So, definitively;

Pros of Three:
- Best 3G coverage in Ireland (allegedly)
- By far the cheapest plans - half the cost of O2 & Vodafone on a per-call/per-text basis.
- The cheapest handset deals
- Data roaming agreements in other countries, using your domestic data allowance (?)

Cons of Three:
- Odd data roaming/connectivity issue when outside 3G areas
- Odd AppStore issue
- 3G speeds can be very poor at times outside of major urban centres (allegedly)
- Web traffic is heavily proxied (?)
- Customer Service is hit-and-miss


I reckon that I would be an idiot to go with a clearly inferior package (O2) on the basis of two problems which will most likely be fixed by Three in the short-term. I generally use wifi for the appstore anyway, so even that doesn't bother me much.

Anything I've missed? I'm aware that happy customers tend to be the quietest, so it would be nice to hear from more people who are happy with Three (and where you're based)

fbradyirl

I'm happy with 3. Rather than repeating myself, just check out my blog post about switching from O2.

OCD

Another +1 for 3.

Given the fact that this is there first iphone release, I'm very happy with them. I was with O2 for 11 years and they wanted to reduce my monthly mins and charge me more for the phone!

3's prices are fantastic, the customer service (esp. the tech guys) are polite and helpful (I wish people in here would stop refering to the "Indians" they talk to....they are people just like you and me). And their shop staff are far more knowledgeable than O2's and Vodafone's in my experience.

They will sort the data issue with falling back to 2g but I think their 3g coverage is far better and the speeds are fantastic.

O2 took 11 (!!!) days to release me which was frankly shocking. They are the grandaddy of the iphone release in Ireland yet still find someway to charge their customers a fortune and make it difficult to leave. I don't think I'll be running back anytime soon.

I would say if you are hesitant, get a 3 sim, try it out and then make up your mind but I have had no problems with them.

KetzerF

I think, in Three's case when things are going well it's a great network but when they're bad it's terrible.

I would suggest waiting a few weeks to see if the can iron out the kinks. For what it's worth, I read on the Three UK blog that the app store issues have been resolved.

deep1

Moved from o2 to 3 and so far very happy, Based in Dublin and have travelled around.
here is my other post if you want to have look.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=67297692&postcount=275

I believe 3 is having teething problem but good thing is they are listening to customers and their price plan is hard to beat, i am saving good bit since moving to three, and hopefully 3 launch the 2g fix on Friday and happy days.
No regrets moving to 3.

naasrd

seamus wrote: »

I was going to start this thread, but that wouldn't be right.

I'm kind of looking for a definitive "yay or nay" on switching to 3.

I've been with O2 for the last 18 months. I like having Edge available, though speed tests suggest that it's just barely better than GPRS, so I can probably live without. The vast majority of my hardcore surfing is done over WiFi anyway, I only use mobile data for mail and weather mainly. They also have a 3G mast about 250m from my house. O2 don't - they had to take theirs down after putting it up without permission - so I have quite poor O2 coverage in my house.

So, definitively;

Pros of Three:
- Best 3G coverage in Ireland (allegedly)
- By far the cheapest plans - half the cost of O2 & Vodafone on a per-call/per-text basis.
- The cheapest handset deals
- Data roaming agreements in other countries, using your domestic data allowance (?)

Cons of Three:
- Odd data roaming/connectivity issue when outside 3G areas
- Odd AppStore issue
- 3G speeds can be very poor at times outside of major urban centres (allegedly)
- Web traffic is heavily proxied (?)
- Customer Service is hit-and-miss


I reckon that I would be an idiot to go with a clearly inferior package (O2) on the basis of two problems which will most likely be fixed by Three in the short-term. I generally use wifi for the appstore anyway, so even that doesn't bother me much.

Anything I've missed? I'm aware that happy customers tend to be the quietest, so it would be nice to hear from more people who are happy with Three (and where you're based)

Well said. There's got to be so much data posted on various threads that, if collected and analysed, may point towards what the problem is for some members. Is is the week of production, factory of manufacture, ported numbers...? Time will tell I guess. Has anyone with problems tried their sim in an iPhone that's working a treat? That's got to be one way or narrowing things down.

seamus

OCD wrote: »

I would say if you are hesitant, get a 3 sim, try it out and then make up your mind but I have had no problems with them.

That's a great idea actually. I've just ordered a 3Pay SIM. When I get it, I'll put the 250MB Data add-on onto it, stick it in my iPhone for a day and see how I get on.

Definitely worth spending a tenner to see if Three is for me...

Scottish

One thing I would say Seamus, is that this:

Odd data roaming/connectivity issue when outside 3G areas

Doesn't just happen when you have no 3G, that is what makes it so frustrating.

It does it even when there is a good 3G signal.

If they sort that out (and the weird no internet connection when having a full 3G signal) then I would recommend it because when it is fast and working, it is very very good.

Stuxnet

seamus wrote: »

I'm kind of looking for a definitive "yay or nay" on switching to 3

you wont get one, the nearly 40 page thread of nayer's gets hijacked by the one or 2 that say everything is rosey,

imo Nay, stay with o2

Scottish

One thing I would say Seamus, is that this:

Odd data roaming/connectivity issue when outside 3G areas

Doesn't just happen when you have no 3G, that is what makes it so frustrating.

It does it even when there is a good 3G signal.

If they sort that out (and the weird no internet connection when having a full 3G signal) then I would recommend it because when it is fast and working, it is very very good.

Walkman

I say move to 3. 2G data on Friday shows they are listening and watching here. I've not had many problems. Had one or two drops of 3G at the start but nothing since last week

seamus

Right, got a 3Pay SIM plugged into my iPhone, €10 topup + internet add on. Dublin City Centre, iPhone 3G, iOS v.4.0

I'll put it in and out randomly over the next few days and post what I find.

So far, 3G is strong and fast, quicker than my best speedtest results with O2. Here at my desk I never had 3G access, always Edge.

Interestingly, when I do a Carrier search, I lose the 3G connection while it searches, then it pops back again when the search is done.

Furthermore, when you do a network search on 3, you see the following networks:
O2 IRL
IRL - METEOR
3
3 (3G)

When you search again using an O2 SIM, you see
O2 IRL
IRL - METEOR
3 IRL
vodafone IE

This show that there's some kind of "masking" going on - 3 SIMs can't see Vodafone's network as a distinct network, but sees two "3" networks as being distinct entities. Thus, it will select whichever one of those networks has the best signal. I would have expected the iPhone to select the best 3G signal available and then fall back to 2G, but maybe it doesn't work like that.

Either way, I haven't seen the phone drop the 3G network yet, so time will tell.

I'll keep this thread updated rather than the other one.

Walkman

The 3 sim recognises voda. 3 just have it set up to appear as 3 (2g) this is the same on all 3 phones not just the iphone

seamus

Looking fairly promising for 3, for me tbh.

Was out golfing yesterday. No 3G coverage at all on the course, which is not uncommon for all the operators, but had full bars on 2G. No GPRS oddly, but then I suspect Vodafone don't have GPRS coverage there either. I didn't bring my O2 SIM with me.

Up near the clubhouse there was patchy 3G coverage and no problems with switching between networks. When 3G was available, the phone connected to 3G. When the 3G signal dropped off, it reverted to 2G. But it kept/connected to the 3G signal as long as there was at least one bar, regardless of how good the 2G signal was.

However, I still had no GPRS, which may be a key factor in the phone choosing the 3G network over the 2G one.

blaz

seamus wrote: »

However, I still had no GPRS, which may be a key factor in the phone choosing the 3G network over the 2G one.

Did you have data roaming turned on? Unless you do, you will never see the Vodafone GPRS signal.

Davexirl

I want to get the new iPhone but am holding out just to see if the problems with 3 get sorted. Their price plans are fantastic compared to other networks.

etcetc

Done same as seamus above got a prepay sim and put 250mb add on

just popped it in to 3g iPhone 3.13 didn't change any settings or anything

3 sim is 5 bars and constant 3g I put o2 sim in another iPhone and as usual only showing 2/3 bars and 3g constantly jumping from 3g to edge

Location artane Dublin off malahide road close to coolock Garda station which presumably has o2 hardware on it's mast

stimpson

Spent the weekend down in the sticks with the family. My brother has an iPhone 4 on O2. Mine is on 3. I constantly had better signal than him. Even when it was GPRS (admittedly slow) it was more usealbe than his.

I had a signal of some sort almost constantly, when he had none for a lot of the time. I had 3G signal (usable too) in lots of places where he had no signal at all.

I'm thinking th problems were overblown or have been mostly sorted.

fbradyirl

stimpson wrote: »

Spent the weekend down in the sticks with the family. My brother has an iPhone 4 on O2. Mine is on 3. I constantly had better signal than him. Even when it was GPRS (admittedly slow) it was more usealbe than his.

I had a signal of some sort almost constantly, when he had none for a lot of the time. I had 3G signal (usable too) in lots of places where he had no signal at all.

I'm thinking th problems were overblown or have been mostly sorted.

This is exactly what I'm seeing.

etcetc

stimpson wrote: »

Spent the weekend down in the sticks with the family. My brother has an iPhone 4 on O2. Mine is on 3. I constantly had better signal than him. Even when it was GPRS (admittedly slow) it was more usealbe than his.

I had a signal of some sort almost constantly, when he had none for a lot of the time. I had 3G signal (usable too) in lots of places where he had no signal at all.

I'm thinking th problems were overblown or have been mostly sorted.

Where exactly is down in the sticks?

Has anybody tried tethering with 3 prepay I tried last night but don't think settings were correct I had blue connection thing on iPhone laptop was connected but only thing that loaded was rss feeds but unuseable

fbradyirl

Tethering is working on 3pay for me.

seamus

blaz wrote: »

Did you have data roaming turned on? Unless you do, you will never see the Vodafone GPRS signal.

Right, cool, that works.

When I switched it on initially I got GPRS where I should have good 3G, but after a minute or two it switched to 3G and has stayed there ever since.

It's likely that this is something of a software fix required. Data roaming is a function very much designed for using your phone outside of your own country. So if you have data roaming on, then the phone is going to look for the provider who is giving the strongest data signal, not necessarily the one giving the fastest data transmission type. Which is why the phone may choose Vodafone GPRS over Three 3G; there's a conflict between choosing the home network and choosing the strongest data conneciton. If you have data roaming switched off, this issue goes away because the phone will always favour a data connection.

Still not looking like a major issue for me now. I wouldn't be a demanding person. I'd probably leave data roaming off. If I'm out of Three's coverage for 30 minutes, no harm. If I'm out of coverage for any length of time and I need web access I can just switch data roaming on and use Voda's network.

Aside from 30 seconds when I initially turned data roaming on though, I've still to encounter the issue, so a little more testing needed!

etcetc

fbradyirl wrote: »

Tethering is working on 3pay for me.

What settings are you using I haven't got wifi here so have been unable to update carrier settings
current carrier settings is 5.01

fbradyirl

Carrier settings 7.1 are needed. If you sync with iTunes you should get them.

etcetc

fbradyirl wrote: »

Carrier settings 7.1 are needed. If you sync with iTunes you should get them.

Yeah tried that last night but no joy presumably because I didn't have Internet connection

thanks

ArthurG

fbradyirl wrote: »

Carrier settings 7.1 are needed. If you sync with iTunes you should get them.

I'm on 7.1, but am a bit unsure about the tethering for my netbook.

Do I need iTunes on the netbook for tethering to work?.

What I've done so far is enable it on the iPhone, then plug into netbook USB (no iTunes on the netbook).

Not seeing anything in network options to connect to.

Am I missing something obvious?

Matt Bauer

AFAIK you need to install iTunes on your netbook. Is it a Windows or Linux netbook? If it's Windows it should be no problem. For Linux, I'm sure someone wrote a third party driver or something to make it work.

OCD

blaz wrote: »

Did you have data roaming turned on? Unless you do, you will never see the Vodafone GPRS signal.

does turning on data roaming in ireland cost anything outside your bundle?

culabula

ArthurG wrote: »

I'm on 7.1, but am a bit unsure about the tethering for my netbook.

Do I need iTunes on the netbook for tethering to work?.

What I've done so far is enable it on the iPhone, then plug into netbook USB (no iTunes on the netbook).

Not seeing anything in network options to connect to.

Am I missing something obvious?

No need for iTunes on the netBook per se. You can connect it either by Bluetooth or cable.

culabula

OCD wrote: »

does turning on data roaming in ireland cost anything outside your bundle?

No.

funk-you

So, just a few questions for you guys already on 3 if that's okay?

Do I have to do that airplane mode toggle every time it loses 3G?

What are the biggest drawbacks any of you have found compared to O2/VF?

Do they block websites?

If it wasn't for the cheaper contract would you put up with any problems you have found or which network would you go with?

I held off buying on release until the end of the month because i didn't want to jump into something i'd regret. I'm out of contract with O2 at the moment. With O2 on my 3GS, everything just works. I don't want any hassle. Just to do what it is meant to. Will I get this on 3?

Thanks for the help guys.

-Funk

culabula

funk-you wrote: »

So, just a few questions for you guys already on 3 if that's okay?

Do I have to do that airplane mode toggle every time it loses 3G?

What are the biggest drawbacks any of you have found compared to O2/VF?

Do they block websites?

If it wasn't for the cheaper contract would you put up with any problems you have found or which network would you go with?

I held off buying on release until the end of the month because i didn't want to jump into something i'd regret. I'm out of contract with O2 at the moment. With O2 on my 3GS, everything just works. I don't want any hassle. Just to do what it is meant to. Will I get this on 3?

Thanks for the help guys.

-Funk

As a regular user and one who travels from Belfast to Dublin on a regular basis, I can tell you that there were significant improvements on Friday compared to my normal experience. The 3G signal was being held just about everywhere I would normally go, especially in areas where it would falter. I did not have to toggle the airplane mode once.

Later on, I travelled back on a night bus to points north, normally hell for 3G connectivity but there was a massive improvement over travelling down just 15 hours earlier.

The only drawback on Friday was that the messing about clearly broke 3 Like Home in so far as my contract phone wracked up unnecessary charges and the credit on my 3 Italia SIM was eaten alive. However, this should now be past and I hope to recover this credit and have these charges refunded.

They do not block any websites to my knowledge, but I do have huge problems sending Vodafone webtexts using Jelly while connected to either of the 3 APNs. This has been a problem for a long time now.

But -owing to the cheaper contract and the advantages of 3 Like Home I will put up with just about anything from 3. The network is good, voice quality excellent and clearly the best network for all-Ireland usage.

naasrd

culabula wrote: »

But -owing to the cheaper contract and the advantages of 3 Like Home I will put up with just about anything from 3. The network is good, voice quality excellent and clearly the best network for all-Ireland usage.

Yeah, I'd say 3 Like Home could be the deal maker for a lot when they hear about it.

slasher_65

culabula wrote: »

They do not block any websites to my knowledge, but I do have huge problems sending Vodafone webtexts using Jelly while connected to either of the 3 APNs. This has been a problem for a long time now.

They do block sites, and had this confirmed to me in store. It was also confirmed by a Three representitive (through a Boards employee) on the other topic. However, they are apparently building an off switch for the blocking software so people can turn it off if they wish.

culabula

slasher_65 wrote: »

They do block sites, and had this confirmed to me in store. It was also confirmed by a Three representitive (through a Boards employee) on the other topic. However, they are apparently building an off switch for the blocking software so people can turn it off if they wish.

Do you have an example?

seamus

culabula wrote: »

Do you have an example?

Just google for porn and try to click the links

naasrd

seamus wrote: »

Just google for porn and try to click the links

Urban dictionary is also blocked by them.

culabula

seamus wrote: »

Just google for porn and try to click the links

The things you guys make me do! OK, you're right, just tried it (shows that I have never done this before, at least).

slasher_65

culabula wrote: »

The things you guys make me do! OK, you're right, just tried it (shows that I have never done this before, at least).

I was going to go with UrbanDictionary, but porn works too.

The guy in the shop used Sikipedia as an example, which I found hilarious.

drunkmonkey

If you want a superphone on 3 get a Galaxy S, You'll be amazed at where and how fast you can pick the high speed network. You'll also be able to poke fun at anyone with an iPhone 4.
Been on 3 since they started and the iPhone has to be the worst phone they've released so far. It's a shoite phone, posters here will argue it's the network they are so so wrong.
It's a great network, it's cheap and it's got the best 3G coverage in the country. Don't ruin your time on it by jumping on the iPhone bandwagon.

slasher_65

drunkmonkey wrote: »

If you want a superphone on 3 get a Galaxy S, You'll be amazed at where and how fast you can pick the high speed network. You'll also be able to poke fun at anyone with an iPhone 4.
Been on 3 since they started and the iPhone has to be the worst phone they've released so far. It's a shoite phone, posters here will argue it's the network they are so so wrong.
It's a great network, it's cheap and it's got the best 3G coverage in the country. Don't ruin your time on it by jumping on the iPhone bandwagon.

I refer to my previous post on this.

slasher_65 wrote:

Haven't we been through this? Yes, there is a problem with the arial on the iPhone in that it is exposed. Nobody here is confusing shorting the arial with bad reception.

The iPhone launch brought a LOT more focus on Three from tech interested people, the type of people who visit Boards.ie and the type who would activly complain about issues.

NONE of these problems (that don't relate to somebody shorting the arial in a deathgrip) are showing up on either Vodafone or O2. If it was an issue with the phone, they would be showing up on these networks as well.

Furthermore, there have LONG been complaints about 3's reception on this very website. Please educate yourself and take a look at this five hundred and fourty page long thread about 3 data services dropping out and just breaking for no reason.

Yes, there are problems with the iPhone, but since we can see that the problems being spoken about here ONLY happen on the Three network, we can rule out these issues being with the phone. In this case, it seems that the problem is with 3 not correctly configuring the phone to use their data services they way they intend, something which they CAN fix.

Of course, you will probably dismiss this by telling yourself that I'm just an Apple loving fanboy. Or, you could investigate the issues further and see that yes, 3 are providing a sub-standard service, but seem to be working on fixing it.

Thankfully, since I posted that post HERE, a fair number of the problems have been solved, without any action from the iPhone users. So what's more likely? That there were issues on Three's side or that all the iPhones on Three's network suddenly magically just started working in ways they weren't previously?

ArthurG

Matt Bauer wrote: »

AFAIK you need to install iTunes on your netbook. Is it a Windows or Linux netbook? If it's Windows it should be no problem. For Linux, I'm sure someone wrote a third party driver or something to make it work.

Yup - once I installed iTunes the tethering started working.

Thanks!

drunkmonkey

slasher_65 wrote: »

I refer to my previous post on this.



Thankfully, since I posted that post HERE, a fair number of the problems have been solved, without any action from the iPhone users. So what's more likely? That there were issues on Three's side or that all the iPhones on Three's network suddenly magically just started working in ways they weren't previously?

The one issue that hasn't and can't be resolved is the iPhones reception the phone is fundamentally flawed. Use a galaxy s and iPhone 4 side by side for a day and you'll know exactly what I mean.

Johnzy Fitzgerald

drunkmonkey wrote: »

If you want a superphone on 3 get a Galaxy S, You'll be amazed at where and how fast you can pick the high speed network. You'll also be able to poke fun at anyone with an iPhone 4.
Been on 3 since they started and the iPhone has to be the worst phone they've released so far. It's a shoite phone, posters here will argue it's the network they are so so wrong.
It's a great network, it's cheap and it's got the best 3G coverage in the country. Don't ruin your time on it by jumping on the iPhone bandwagon.

Stir **** much?

drunkmonkey

Johnzy Fitzgerald wrote: »

Stir **** much?

When ever I can : )

I do know my phones though and I do travel a good bit around the country, I've also been on 3 for years and I do know when a phone is not up to scratch and this one isn't.

Johnzy Fitzgerald

Maybe so, but from what I've head and read so far it's doing alright on the other networks here in Ireland.
That's not to say 3 is to blame. I think it's a problem between both the phone and 3. However I also feel (hope) that these problems can be easily fixed.

seamus

Well I've placed an order now for a phone from 3.

I couldn't find any fault with the network while I used it over the past 5 days and 3G speeds were well above what I get on O2.

All in all, the minor issues people are raising aren't enough to convince me to go to another provider who is offering half the service for the same price.