Vodafone or 3 for iphone 4? Which is better?

buzzymam

Hi

I am looking into both Vodafone and 3 networks for getting a new iphone 4 / 18 month contract. Havn't been with vodafone in years and never been with 3.

I'd really appreciate some advice or recommendations anyone might have on these networks.....coverage, customer service, repairs etc.... any and all advice would be much appreciated!

I cant go with O2 as they have sporadic coverage issue in my area recently.

Thanks

e-sull

hahahahahaha three.... stay well away from them.. if you notice your coverage constantly fading, it isnt you holding the phone wrong. thats all i'll say. i wont even start on their customer 'service'.

naasrd

Switched from Vodafone to 3 and haven't looked back. Haven't had any problems.

gartcork

Switched to 3 from O2 and I'm very impressed with their coverage. Get a free 3pay sim and try it out in your area.
http://www.three.ie/shop/simonly.htm

Walkman

With 3 with iPhone 4 and no problems

buzzymam

Thanks for the replies folks. Its so hard to call, this forum is throwing up so many iphone 4 issues im becoming inclined to hold off for a while. Temperature issues, 3 internet issues etc... Christ its a hard one one to call when your signing up for 18 months.....

gizabeer

They're BRUTAL !

buzzymam

gartcork wrote: »

Switched to 3 from O2 and I'm very impressed with their coverage. Get a free 3pay sim and try it out in your area.
http://www.three.ie/shop/simonly.htm

Thanks garcork, got the 3 sim and pay as you go yesterday to try em out and so far do good on their basic entry level pay as yo go phone......Never been with 3 before so v interested in hearing peoples thoughts on them...

e-sull

if youre interested in other peoples thoughts on three check out the three mobile broadband problems megathread on boards! let me know if you find a thread of similar size about vodafone...! personally i have no interest in vodafone as i have been a happy meteor PAYG customer since 2006!

Hogzy

TBH its completely pointless telling the OP 3 is crap/good or Vodafone is crap/good.

Better off telling him what area yer living in so he can tell which areas have coverage and which do not.

buzzymam

Hogzy wrote: »

TBH its completely pointless telling the OP 3 is crap/good or Vodafone is crap/good.

Better off telling him what area yer living in so he can tell which areas have coverage and which do not.

Wicklow Town (bad for O2) believe me i know! 3 pay as you go looking alright so far but no vodafone experience. I dont believe their "coverage maps" for 1 minute, been online looking at them on screen showing coverage whilst i've have no service! Far prefer the opinions on coverage from here to be honest, far more honest.

Hoins

Vodafone seem to be getting there act together good signal all around bray, although there site u's a different story constantly crashing

Dades

Hoins wrote: »

Vodafone seem to be getting there act together good signal all around bray, although there site u's a different story constantly crashing

Their site is temperamental, granted - but still functional. Usually when you get a page error a refresh or just going BACK will sort it out. I've found it very useful in analysing my (and the wife's) bills. Also have had good customer service from VF and no coverage issues.

Can't speak for "3", but I didn't see any other network having a whole WARNING thread to itself. Nearly went with them myself, but am very happy I didn't in hindsight.

Hoins

Will try that tip thanks

dancin

Can only speak for 3. Have been on 3pay for over 2 years with their Internet add-on. Was working just fine. Never had reception problems. There are a couple of dead spots I've found in work (large concrete building in dublin city).
Was boating on the Shannon last month, and got full 3G in the most unlikely places (killglass lakes, rockingham), but none in rooskey.

Circumstances are changing, so jumped to billpay and got an iphone4. Coverage is the same, handset is fine. And with the addition of GPRS last Friday, now have network coverage everywhere in work.

I'm happy with them and would recommend to friends and family.

Delirio

I just ordered my iPhone4 from Three.
Their prices are great imho, also I am traveling to Italy very often and the 3 Like Home coverage is excellent for my needs.

I was told from the Three Rep. that also the 2GB data can be used when traveling to 3 Like Home countries. I thought this was not the case, but he said it is. I will test it soon in Italy and see the outcome.

e-sull

Delirio wrote: »

I just ordered my iPhone4 from Three.
Their prices are great imho, also I am traveling to Italy very often and the 3 Like Home coverage is excellent for my needs.

I was told from the Three Rep. that also the 2GB data can be used when traveling to 3 Like Home countries. I thought this was not the case, but he said it is. I will test it soon in Italy and see the outcome.

yeah trusting their reps isnt really all that recommended... you clearly havent read much of the problems threads on here have you??

naasrd

e-sull wrote: »

yeah trusting their reps isnt really all that recommended... you clearly havent read much of the problems threads on here have you??

Maybe he read the good and the bad...you clearly haven't read any of the good ones.

Delirio

e-sull wrote: »

yeah trusting their reps isnt really all that recommended... you clearly havent read much of the problems threads on here have you??

Yes, I've been reading the "problems threads" regularly since launch date. I acknowledge the fact that several users are experiencing issues with their iPhone on 3, some of the problems now fixed with the GPRS coverage to use data. I also trust 3 must get their acts together or they won't be able to compete in the market.
On top I got few (3/4) friends on 3 and none of them are experiencing issues, actually 3G data is much faster then O2/Vodafone.

40eur a month for 350 flexi + 2GB data + free 3 to 3 calls + free add-on + thetering + free wifi for duration of contract + 3 Like Home it is priceless. So I give it a shot !

Hoins

That's very good as I'm just back from Spain and was charged a fair few euro for data roaming

e-sull

well by all means try them.. see how you feel about them 4 years down the line after being scammed into contracts each year! got the district court to give them the boot this year! i feel like a huge weight lifted from my shoulders!! :P

naasrd

e-sull wrote: »

well by all means try them.. see how you feel about them 4 years down the line after being scammed into contracts each year! got the district court to give them the boot this year! i feel like a huge weight lifted from my shoulders!! :P

Eh...right, good luck with that so.

Kevin!

e-sull wrote: »

well by all means try them.. see how you feel about them 4 years down the line after being scammed into contracts each year! got the district court to give them the boot this year! i feel like a huge weight lifted from my shoulders!! :P

They can't scam you into a contract, the duration of the contract for the iPhone is 18 months and after this period you are free to switch to any network of your choice.

It's your fault for staying with the one provider for 4 years, you obviously continued to receive upgrades from them.

buzzymam

Thanks for all the opinions folks, appreciate it. Leaning towards 3 coz their iphone 4 package for €40 a month seems to offer the best deal. My pay as you you trial 3 phone has shown good coverage too.

I have a total newbie question here but which is the better signal "5 Bars and 3" or "1-2 bars and 3G"

Thanks again

naasrd

buzzymam wrote: »

Thanks for all the opinions folks, appreciate it. Leaning towards 3 coz their iphone 4 package for €40 a month seems to offer the best deal. My pay as you you trial 3 phone has shown good coverage too.

I have a total newbie question here but which is the better signal "5 Bars and 3" or "1-2 bars and 3G"

Thanks again

To be honest, I haven't noticed. It just kicks into gear for me everytime I use it.

cian1500ww

To be honest I was quite annoyed with 3 at the start but the work they've done on the network in the past week has made a huge difference to me. I'm very happy now and quite glad I didn't cancel.

Walkman

e-sull wrote: »

well by all means try them.. see how you feel about them 4 years down the line after being scammed into contracts each year! got the district court to give them the boot this year! i feel like a huge weight lifted from my shoulders!! :P

How in the name of God could they scam you into contracts four times? Ridiculous statement!!!

Walkman

Delirio wrote: »

I just ordered my iPhone4 from Three.
Their prices are great imho, also I am traveling to Italy very often and the 3 Like Home coverage is excellent for my needs.

I was told from the Three Rep. that also the 2GB data can be used when traveling to 3 Like Home countries. I thought this was not the case, but he said it is. I will test it soon in Italy and see the outcome.

Once your on 3 Italy your data will come out of your bundle. To ensure you don't get any roaming costs make sure you are on 3 Italy and havn't roamed onto another network

Jimdagym

Delirio wrote: »

I just ordered my iPhone4 from Three.
Their prices are great imho, also I am traveling to Italy very often and the 3 Like Home coverage is excellent for my needs.

I was told from the Three Rep. that also the 2GB data can be used when traveling to 3 Like Home countries. I thought this was not the case, but he said it is. I will test it soon in Italy and see the outcome.

Thats reassuring. I know culabule swore to that effect, but a second source is always welcome.

fbradyirl

Yep in roamed up north last weekend and wasn't charged for it.

Make sure you select the local 3 network as opposed to having it on Automatic carrier selection.

scottyboy

I have used my iPhone in Austria, NI and all over the UK (all on the 3 network) with all charges taken out my bundle. Great service 3 like home. With regard to 3 and the iPhone, any small issues I had with the dropping of data service have gone but were never large anyway. The phone service is excellent and falls back onto the Vodafone network when in very remote places.

Go with three!

e-sull

well honestly i havent had an iphone with three.. just their fraudband. and yes with a company that is as devious as three it is very possible to get scammed into a contract. first contract was taken out for 18 months. that was fine modem was still working fine 18 months later. renewal time came around so we decided not to renew but keep on the month by month thing. but before we got a chance to do that a modem arrived in the post with a letter saying it was a condition of them sending out the modem free that we'd have another 18 month contract. i rang up straight away only to get through to mumbai and be told i didnt answer the phone when they rang so they took that as an agreement to use the new modem and there was no way they were taking it back. obviously i wasnt happy but i was still getting ok speeds. a year down the line the modem completely stalled. sent it back for repairs. they said they couldnt fix it but they could send out a replacement free and with no new contract. thought thatd be grand.. no. another letter with the modem saying another 18 months.. rang again same story was told i should never have been told there'd be no contract. went to solicitor and he got the ball rolling on giving them the boot. got a €359.82 refund from three for the last 18 months too. now on o2 home broadband package and couldnt be happier! i know that post kind of went off topic there so three mightnt be all bad with the iphone.. apple might make them clean up their act.. god knows someone would want to.

dSleeper

I had an iphone4 with 3 in castleknock. I had a few issues, namely I couldnt get a 3g signal in the house, and mostly got a 2 bar 3 signal.

To cut a long story shourt, sometimes I had 5 bars coverage, sometimes 1 and this was just looking at the phone ona table- not moving it around.

After many calls to 3's customer service, there was no setting that could be made, and they agreed to take it back.

I gave it back, no hastle and pleasant. I did ask to move my number to pay as you go, but they said it would take a few days as my contract was active.

Anyway, went to vodafone and after a few days had halm my phone working, i could receive some calls, send some texts but people started telling me they were getting weird messages.

I called vodafone, and they checked and discovered that 3 hadn't done all they needed to do, and they would haveit sorted in a few hours.
It took another call but all done.

Working fine, good general coverage. Mostly 3g in Dublin.
What helped swing it for me:
Vodafone web texts can be used internationally (I send to the US)
I can text and receive texts from verizon US (you cant both ways with meteor or 3)
I have network coverage, and dont have switching issues. (3/3g)
I can change my plan after 6 months without it affecting my 18 month contract.

buzzymam

I just tried calling the 3 sales number 1800 944 443 and it didnt go AT ALL well.

Is it an international call centre coz with absolutely no offense intended i had to make my excuses and hang up after 3-4 minutes of straining to understand every single word of the csr's accented english and her lack of understanding about questions like tethering, add on etc.... didnt instill confidence in me. Not a great start....back to undecided again "3 -v- Vodafone"

Hogzy

Exactly. Thats what put me off aswell, If there sales team cant convince you then there is no hope of them having a good customer service dept.

Having a good customer service team for mobile phones is really important for me. Its why i like meteor so much.

buzzymam wrote: »

I just tried calling the 3 sales number 1800 944 443 and it didnt go AT ALL well.

Is it an international call centre coz with absolutely no offense intended i had to make my excuses and hang up after 3-4 minutes of straining to understand every single word of the csr's accented english and her lack of understanding about questions like tethering, add on etc.... didnt instill confidence in me. Not a great start....back to undecided again "3 -v- Vodafone"

buzzymam

Jeez I wish this was easier.

Went into vodafone store today and was when I said " i am thinking if thinking of the 3 €40 pm tarriff, what's your equivalent package" I was quite rudely told that "well now I dont know WHAT other networks are offering, this is our tarriff, end off" ffs......of course they should know whet rivaling networks are offering - basic sales for christ sake.

drunkmonkey

Why would you walk into a Vodafone store with questions but when you've some on 3 you decide to call someone in India, I don't get why you would take such different approaches to buying from either network. Every possible question on the iPhone has been asked here on boards why did you think the person in Mumbai could give you more advice, what more do you need to
know, make a decision and run with it. It's a phone your buying not a race horse. Just buy it if you want it ; )

buzzymam

drunkmonkey wrote: »

Why would you walk into a Vodafone store with questions but when you've some on 3 you decide to call someone in India, I don't get why you would take such different approaches to buying from either network. Every possible question on the iPhone has been asked here on boards why did you think the person in Mumbai could give you more advice, what more do you need to
know, make a decision and run with it. It's a phone your buying not a race horse. Just buy it if you want it ; )

Because i was near a vodafone store and not near a 3 store. I didnt "decide to call India" i called the 1800 sales number on their literature. Tell you what, as my asking questions so bothers you, feel free to ignore!

seamus

buzzymam wrote: »

ffs......of course they should know whet rivaling networks are offering - basic sales for christ sake.

If they told you that they knew what other networks were offering, then they would have to tell you. And since Three's offer is a million miles better, they'd be talking themselves out of a sale.

Instead, they can say they don't know what anyone else is offering and then bleat on about how good Vodafone are.

dSleeper

seamus wrote: »

If they told you that they knew what other networks were offering, then they would have to tell you. And since Three's offer is a million miles better, they'd be talking themselves out of a sale.

Instead, they can say they don't know what anyone else is offering and then bleat on about how good Vodafone are.

IMO, Firstly you need coverage where you will be most of the time, then worry about the deal. I made a mistake and went with the 3 deal, and had to change to vodafone for coverage. Not much point in having a great deal and no coverage, or patchy.. (I was with Meteor, but they wont do the iphone)

buzzymam

seamus wrote: »

If they told you that they knew what other networks were offering, then they would have to tell you. And since Three's offer is a million miles better, they'd be talking themselves out of a sale.

Instead, they can say they don't know what anyone else is offering and then bleat on about how good Vodafone are.

I agree, but he didnt even "bleat" on about their services etc.... worst sales assistant I ever cam across. I said i wanted iphone, pay as you go phone & sim for spouse and home bb stick....he'd zero interest in trying to sell us anything, very unimpressed.

buzzymam

dSleeper wrote: »

IMO, Firstly you need coverage where you will be most of the time, then worry about the deal. I made a mistake and went with the 3 deal, and had to change to vodafone for coverage. Not much point in having a great deal and no coverage, or patchy.. (I was with Meteor, but they wont do the iphone)

Hi dsleeper. Thansk for the reply. I actually bought a cheap pay as you go phone with 3 to check out my coverage last weekend and its been great. I had virtually lost most of my previous O2 coverage an an old iphone so I was not gonna sign up to an 18 month contract with anyone without knowing I could get signal in my living room. When i asked vodafone sales rep if i got te iphone and the signal was poor/none could i return?.....he told me NO, 18 month contract...blah, blah, blah.... Bull Sh1t Ive read here about returns for that very reason. Defo looking at giving 3 a go, fingers crossed!!

seamus

dSleeper wrote: »

IMO, Firstly you need coverage where you will be most of the time, then worry about the deal. I made a mistake and went with the 3 deal, and had to change to vodafone for coverage. Not much point in having a great deal and no coverage, or patchy.. (I was with Meteor, but they wont do the iphone)

That really depends on the person. 2G coverage among Vodafone, O2 and Three is now pretty much equivalent. 3G coverage differs depending on where you are, but Three have the widest (allegedly).

So it's only a handful of people who will say that "I can get O2 in my house, but not Vodafone" and for the vast majority of people, coverage is not an issue and they will go with whoever gives them the best deal. That's how Meteor started out - despite having atrocious coverage compared to Vodafone and Esat, tonnes of people went with Meteor because they were offering the best deals at the time.

Delirio

Delirio wrote: »

I just ordered my iPhone4 from Three.
Their prices are great imho, also I am traveling to Italy very often and the 3 Like Home coverage is excellent for my needs.

I was told from the Three Rep. that also the 2GB data can be used when traveling to 3 Like Home countries. I thought this was not the case, but he said it is. I will test it soon in Italy and see the outcome.

So I got my iPhone4 yesterday from Three.
Inserted Micro-SIM and called "Three India" for activation. I was told 24hrs were required for the card to work, instead after 2/3 hours it was all set.

I went to iTunes: sync'ed my apps, contacts, calendars, etc & installed carrier 7.1. I am not updating to version 4.0.2 as yet.
So my new iPhone is now registered and ready to go.

Connection to wi-fi all good at home and friends houses. Could not try the free bitbuzz yet, but I registered my number with them and all is good.

3G connection seams stable so far. Maybe not very fast, around 800kb down, 350kb up. Even if sometimes it gets around 1.5mb down, 800kb up. But at least I have constant 3G signal (Dublin Docklands).

I also have GPRS (little circle instead of 3G sign) but I didnt try it for data as yet.

Next will be to get a 3Cover (insurance) from a Three Store this weekend and hope my new gadget keeps working well.

jrochie

Very interested in this thread as I'm looking at getting one myself early next week. Have 2 numbers, both with vodafone but one was with o2 for a while. Have never been with 3 but have ordered a free sim to see how it works in my area, a new mast went up 2 weeks ago so am expecting good coverage from it.

Just wondering though, whats the procedure with signing up as a new bill pay customer with 3? Gonna go into a shop to do it if i do decide to go with them, but what will i need with me? and do they take a €200 deposit like vodafone?

seamus

jrochie wrote: »

Just wondering though, whats the procedure with signing up as a new bill pay customer with 3? Gonna go into a shop to do it if i do decide to go with them, but what will i need with me? and do they take a €200 deposit like vodafone?

I went into a CPW with photo ID and my last O2 bill. They would accept the O2 bill, but wanted another proof of address because the bill was printed (by me).

So instead I went online, filled out the boxes, provided no identification and I had the phone the next day, €10 cheaper than buying instore too. No deposit required online, dunno about instore.

Unless you have a really good reason for getting the phone *today*, then just order it online. A whole lot easier.

jrochie

excellent thats great, i was thinking i would go instore as it might just make the whole process easier and quicker, online sounds a lot better though! gonna wait to get my free sim first just to make sure it works alright around here first.

thanks!

dSleeper

buzzymam wrote: »

Hi dsleeper. Thansk for the reply. I actually bought a cheap pay as you go phone with 3 to check out my coverage last weekend and its been great. I had virtually lost most of my previous O2 coverage an an old iphone so I was not gonna sign up to an 18 month contract with anyone without knowing I could get signal in my living room. When i asked vodafone sales rep if i got te iphone and the signal was poor/none could i return?.....he told me NO, 18 month contract...blah, blah, blah.... Bull Sh1t Ive read here about returns for that very reason. Defo looking at giving 3 a go, fingers crossed!!

I bought my iphone in an instore 3 shop. They accepted it back on day 14 (after talking to support blah blah..). Then I went to vodafone and asked if coverage was poor could i return it and i was told no. They said once you buy the phone its yours unless it doesnt work. If it doesnt then you must return it to apple.

Not sure if thats policy or the reps interpretation, but he seemed to know what he was talking about...

e-sull

dSleeper wrote: »

I bought my iphone in an instore 3 shop. They accepted it back on day 14 (after talking to support blah blah..). Then I went to vodafone and asked if coverage was poor could i return it and i was told no. They said once you buy the phone its yours unless it doesnt work. If it doesnt then you must return it to apple.

Not sure if thats policy or the reps interpretation, but he seemed to know what he was talking about...

thats total bullcrap. its basic consumer law that if you buy a product manufactured by company X but sold by company Y, if you have a problem bring it back to where you bought it who will sort things out with company X.. to be honest i thought vodafone were better than that..

buzzymam

dSleeper wrote: »

I bought my iphone in an instore 3 shop. They accepted it back on day 14 (after talking to support blah blah..). Then I went to vodafone and asked if coverage was poor could i return it and i was told no. They said once you buy the phone its yours unless it doesnt work. If it doesnt then you must return it to apple.

Not sure if thats policy or the reps interpretation, but he seemed to know what he was talking about...

I was told the same in vodafone store too. seem v. unfair imo.

My only reservation about buying the iphone online is if there is a problem and i need to return I cant just bring it back to the nearest store? Read somewhere on boards.ie that if you buy online you have to deal with the "online store" rather than the physical one. I'd rather deal with the store.

Delirio

Delirio wrote: »

So I got my iPhone4 yesterday from Three.
Inserted Micro-SIM and called "Three India" for activation. I was told 24hrs were required for the card to work, instead after 2/3 hours it was all set.

I went to iTunes: sync'ed my apps, contacts, calendars, etc & installed carrier 7.1. I am not updating to version 4.0.2 as yet.
So my new iPhone is now registered and ready to go.

Connection to wi-fi all good at home and friends houses. Could not try the free bitbuzz yet, but I registered my number with them and all is good.

3G connection seams stable so far. Maybe not very fast, around 800kb down, 350kb up. Even if sometimes it gets around 1.5mb down, 800kb up. But at least I have constant 3G signal (Dublin Docklands).

I also have GPRS (little circle instead of 3G sign) but I didnt try it for data as yet.

Next will be to get a 3Cover (insurance) from a Three Store this weekend and hope my new gadget keeps working well.

UPDATE:
Checked out the free bitbuzz wi-fi in a couple of places around town (Dublin) and all works well.

As known the 3G connection is not very stable, here my output:

Date Download Upload
25/08/2010 15:27 535 252
24/08/2010 20:31 2190 1125
24/08/2010 12:58 0 1430
23/08/2010 23:25 485 985
22/08/2010 14:17 2073 1429
22/08/2010 12:19 706 1723
21/08/2010 19:02 1336 1528
21/08/2010 16:20 103 50
21/08/2010 13:57 2543 1611
21/08/2010 01:44 926 843
20/08/2010 21:46 212 148
20/08/2010 11:26 253 55
20/08/2010 09:27 384 598
19/08/2010 12:44 1144 589
19/08/2010 12:00 0 789
18/08/2010 22:07 613 344
18/08/2010 17:00 712 1071

Not great, but I don't complain. It can only get better.
Also GPRS data works, considerably slow but this is expected.

I was told by Three Support that they have out a request with Apple to fix the manual change 2G/3G (Airplane Mode) but they don't know when a fix release will be in place.

Overall I am satisfied so far.