Best network?

frag420

Sorry about the broad question but if someone were to get an unlocked Iphone or similar smart phone what would be the best network cost wise and signal wise?

It would be mainly used for txts, some calls, FB, msn , email etc. May be used to look at the odd website but this will more than likely be using home network or office network.

Thanks folks

frAg

frag420

cheeky bump



anyone??

Mimikyu

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frag420

HI, thanks for the reply,

I am currently on Meteor payg. I top up by twenty euro a month and get free any networks texts. I would rather keep the free any network texts.I could send up to 40 txts on somedays and sometimes less than ten per day. I am mainly a texter esp during the day when in the office.

I genneraly call when I have the credit to do so. I sometimes top up by the odd fiver during the month when I need to make a call but this is rare.

Most people I call are on meteor and o2. very few on voda and 1 or 2 on three.

I would prefer to saty on payg but would be open to a contract if the offer was right.

thanks frAg

Mimikyu

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Vurnon San Benito

Captain Morgan wrote: »

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Just so some people get the wrong message, literally!

Mimikyu

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drunkmonkey

Frag Sligo is in your Sig, where will you be using it, best network in dublin mighten be the best in sligo.

offtheball2

Well I'm with Meteor bill pay and I have no real issues apart from roaming. I was recently in Scotland and it didn't change over automatically or even did pick up on manual wich was a real pain. So watch out for the little things.

frag420

been meaning to change sig as in dublin now.......

The Three PAYG plan does not look too bad for 20 euro per month.......


frAg

drunkmonkey

You can take the boy out of Sligo but you'll never take Sligo out of the boy ; )

That 20 euro offer is very good.

Plasmoid

Captain Morgan wrote: »

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Apparently it's dropped from 100mb to 50mb. Heard that from an annoyed friend who got caught out by them changing it after the new year (and not updating their website)

Mimikyu

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drunkmonkey

There's an awful lot of messing with the vodafone option, using different apn's to get charged differently, sign up for 360, certain services not allowed, it really seem like a chore.

Mimikyu

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Solair

The availability of EDGE on O2, Meteor and eMobile makes a huge difference if you've a smartphone.

Vodafone only have GPRS or 3G/HSPA.
3 seem to have a similar setup because they roam on Vodafone's network if you're in 2G coverage areas.

While Meteor/eMobile and O2 have the full range of GPRS/EDGE/3G/HSPA.

EDGE makes a massive difference in areas of weak 3G coverage e.g. if you're in a building you will often find that you can pick up EDGE but not 3G because the 2100mhz signals don't penetrate buildings as well as the 900mhz carriers used for EDGE.

While EDGE is not as fast as 3G, it's light years ahead of GPRS and it's quite easy to tweet, browse the web (a bit more slowly) etc on an EDGE connection.

However, if you're stuck on a pure 2G GPRS connection with Vodafone or 3 Mobile you'd hardly be able to send much more than a tweet. It's really far too slow.

That being said, Vodafone do have very widespread 3G coverage, it's more that when you're in buildings / dodgy spots you can't pick it up while you'll get perfect 2G GSM/GPRS.

For me, the lack of EDGE is a massive deal-breaker at the moment. 3G needs to become available on 900mhz before it will have the same kind of universal coverage and I'm not really prepared to wait for several years while that happens.

In the meantime, I'll stick with O2 or Meteor for smartphones.

drunkmonkey

I wouldn't move to o2/meteor/vodafone/emobile due to their lack of 3G coverage, i'm very happy with my 3G coverage countrywide. Edge would do my head in, it's just to slow. Tried it won't go back.

Comreg is trying to stall the 900 Mhz again going by the latest submissions from the networks. Don't see what the problem is, it'll drive down the cost of 3 calls when they do as it'll cut out some of the Vodafone roaming charges they have to pay.

Maental2000

drunkmonkey wrote: »

I wouldn't move to o2/meteor/vodafone/emobile due to their lack of 3G coverage, i'm very happy with my 3G coverage countrywide. Edge would do my head in, it's just to slow. Tried it won't go back.

Comreg is trying to stall the 900 Mhz again going by the latest submissions from the networks. Don't see what the problem is, it'll drive down the cost of 3 calls when they do as it'll cut out some of the Vodafone roaming charges they have to pay.

Are you saying comreg is stopping 3g from being delivered on the 900Mhz frequency??
I'm just trying to get a grasp on all this...

srsly78

Solair wrote: »

The availability of EDGE on O2, Meteor and eMobile makes a huge difference if you've a smartphone.

Vodafone only have GPRS or 3G/HSPA.
3 seem to have a similar setup because they roam on Vodafone's network if you're in 2G coverage areas.

While Meteor/eMobile and O2 have the full range of GPRS/EDGE/3G/HSPA.

EDGE makes a massive difference in areas of weak 3G coverage e.g. if you're in a building you will often find that you can pick up EDGE but not 3G because the 2100mhz signals don't penetrate buildings as well as the 900mhz carriers used for EDGE.

While EDGE is not as fast as 3G, it's light years ahead of GPRS and it's quite easy to tweet, browse the web (a bit more slowly) etc on an EDGE connection.

However, if you're stuck on a pure 2G GPRS connection with Vodafone or 3 Mobile you'd hardly be able to send much more than a tweet. It's really far too slow.

That being said, Vodafone do have very widespread 3G coverage, it's more that when you're in buildings / dodgy spots you can't pick it up while you'll get perfect 2G GSM/GPRS.

For me, the lack of EDGE is a massive deal-breaker at the moment. 3G needs to become available on 900mhz before it will have the same kind of universal coverage and I'm not really prepared to wait for several years while that happens.

In the meantime, I'll stick with O2 or Meteor for smartphones.

QFT

What other posters are not understanding is thus: yes EDGE/2g sucks and we don't want to use it. BUT, it's signal propagates better. Even in an urban area with strong 3g coverage, if you are indoors with thick walls you can lose your 3g connection, and fall back onto edge/2g. For me last year, the problem was the switching BACK to 3g after re-establishing connection. This simply did not work on 3's network. The devices (milestone, g1, and desire) would show a 3g/H icon, but all network traffic would fail until airplane on+off was done. After months of this I switched to meteor (and had even worse problem with them for several months lol, but they fixed it in the end).

If 3 have fixed their network then good stuff, as they are cheapest All networks suck tbh, but I find meteor has worked perfectly for about 5 months now (5 bars+hsdpa always in dublin city centre, 5-6Mb/s). FWIW the "even worse problem" with meteor was for several months I got the random "no connection" appearing, and losing even ability to receive phonecalls (epic fail, but gj fixing it).

photonirvana

Solair wrote: »

The availability of EDGE on O2, Meteor and eMobile makes a huge difference if you've a smartphone.

Vodafone only have GPRS or 3G/HSPA.
3 seem to have a similar setup because they roam on Vodafone's network if you're in 2G coverage areas.

While Meteor/eMobile and O2 have the full range of GPRS/EDGE/3G/HSPA.

The terms and conditions for 3Pay say, under "General": "You can only use your 3Pay mobile phone for internet surfing in 3G coverage areas."

http://www.three.ie/terms/3pay_terms.htm

Does this seriously mean that with 3pay you can NOT use GPRS? But you can use both 3G and GPRS with billpay?

Maental2000

photonirvana wrote: »

The terms and conditions for 3Pay say, under "General": "You can only use your 3Pay mobile phone for internet surfing in 3G coverage areas."

http://www.three.ie/terms/3pay_terms.htm

Does this seriously mean that with 3pay you can NOT use GPRS? But you can use both 3G and GPRS with billpay?

No, I'm on 3pay & if I go out of 3G coverage, it roams onto vodafone's network.

SachaJ

Maental2000 wrote: »

No, I'm on 3pay & if I go out of 3G coverage, it roams onto vodafone's network.

I've actually noticed that when I'm switched over to Vodafone's 2G network I get all sorts of connection errors when I try and use data (twitter etc). I'm with 3 bill pay but will be cancelling my contract tomorrow.

delito

Solair wrote: »

The availability of EDGE on O2, Meteor and eMobile makes a huge difference if you've a smartphone.

Vodafone only have GPRS or 3G/HSPA.
3 seem to have a similar setup because they roam on Vodafone's network if you're in 2G coverage areas.

While Meteor/eMobile and O2 have the full range of GPRS/EDGE/3G/HSPA.

EDGE makes a massive difference in areas of weak 3G coverage e.g. if you're in a building you will often find that you can pick up EDGE but not 3G because the 2100mhz signals don't penetrate buildings as well as the 900mhz carriers used for EDGE.

While EDGE is not as fast as 3G, it's light years ahead of GPRS and it's quite easy to tweet, browse the web (a bit more slowly) etc on an EDGE connection.

However, if you're stuck on a pure 2G GPRS connection with Vodafone or 3 Mobile you'd hardly be able to send much more than a tweet. It's really far too slow.

That being said, Vodafone do have very widespread 3G coverage, it's more that when you're in buildings / dodgy spots you can't pick it up while you'll get perfect 2G GSM/GPRS.

For me, the lack of EDGE is a massive deal-breaker at the moment. 3G needs to become available on 900mhz before it will have the same kind of universal coverage and I'm not really prepared to wait for several years while that happens.

In the meantime, I'll stick with O2 or Meteor for smartphones.

3 have 96% 3G coverage, what Id love to know what the other networks coverage rate is solely for 3G, as personally I think EDGE and GPRS is stink. Working out and about on the road I found 02 and vodafone to run on EDGE and GPRS more than 70% of the time, making there broadband coverage claims hugely exagerated.

A person sticking with Meteor for their smartfones based internet coverage, I would say is someone who doesnt move around alot.

For me Id rank them

3 (by a long shot)
O2
Vodafone
Meteor.

srsly78

You must have missed the bit about 3's network not actually working for smartphones? How the hell can you rank them #1?

Meteor may be more expensive but at least their network works. I'm mostly in Dublin, but when I do go back to the sticks only METEOR has reception there as well. So it's a mixed bag when it comes to rural reception issues. 3 certainly did not work for me before in Dublin city center (data constantly dropping).

edit: lol just read your post, pretty clear you did not read my other one above about how EDGE/2G network is necessary. 3s ****ty solution about piggybacking on vodafone is riddled with problems. Tell me why 3 was constantly falling back to "roaming" in Dublin city center if they have 96% coverage?

edit2: look at 3s forum: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=1367, look at all the people complaining about their internet "dropping" and so on. This is your "best network"? It's good for someone that doesn't actually want to use internet on their smartphone sure.

frag420

jeez should have kept my mouth shut as more confused now........:D

Well as it happens the Iphone wont be forthcoming anytime soon as expected so will have plenty of time to research your posts,

Thanks for the replies

frAg

ingen

drunkmonkey wrote: »

I wouldn't move to o2/meteor/vodafone/emobile due to their lack of 3G coverage, i'm very happy with my 3G coverage countrywide. Edge would do my head in, it's just to slow. Tried it won't go back.

Comreg is trying to stall the 900 Mhz again going by the latest submissions from the networks. Don't see what the problem is, it'll drive down the cost of 3 calls when they do as it'll cut out some of the Vodafone roaming charges they have to pay.

EDGE is not too slow for normal internet use, i use it for radio streaming general internet browsing, and email, as a result i find my battery lasting much longer.

on three, the phone was switching between 3's 3g net and vodafone 2g, thus resulting in faster battery drain. an iphone running on mainly 2g will last a lot longer ( battery wise) than a phone constantly running on 3g, or switching between 2g/3g.

all networks will have different signal quality in different areas.

so far the best network that i have used an iphone on 3g was vodafone, far superior and flawless operation than three. ( and i have tried both).


o2's 3g network doesent seem to be as good as vodafones but, i run mainly on 2g, which suits, as i get better battery life..

delito

srsly78 wrote: »

You must have missed the bit about 3's network not actually working for smartphones? How the hell can you rank them #1?

Meteor may be more expensive but at least their network works. I'm mostly in Dublin, but when I do go back to the sticks only METEOR has reception there as well. So it's a mixed bag when it comes to rural reception issues. 3 certainly did not work for me before in Dublin city center (data constantly dropping).

edit: lol just read your post, pretty clear you did not read my other one above about how EDGE/2G network is necessary. 3s ****ty solution about piggybacking on vodafone is riddled with problems. Tell me why 3 was constantly falling back to "roaming" in Dublin city center if they have 96% coverage?

edit2: look at 3s forum: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=1367, look at all the people complaining about their internet "dropping" and so on. This is your "best network"? It's good for someone that doesn't actually want to use internet on their smartphone sure.

I've about 4 android phones (lost count at this stage) and an android tab at one stage, 3 dongles and 2 other smart phones all contract handsets running without any issues on 3. Anyway, I covered the areas of Longford, Roscommon, Westmeath, Offaly south tipp and galway daily.

Outside of Dublin (there is life) and funny enough at my house 3 is not the strongest of the lot but on a whole, over all these areas listed above, it is far ahead which is proven in the sales figures for the dongles also their NBS increased their 3G coverage.

Before you make the claim meteor is the best solely because it works at your most used location well thats just silly and biased. Oh and the iPhone, assuming thats the "issue" is not the only smart phone on the market, its not even the smartest phone. Imho its a simple overated, overpriced fashion item.

srsly78

What are you talking about the iphone for? It affects all devices on 3. If you drive around a lot you probably don't notice it, problem mainly happens when you go indoors (thick walls) and device switches to 2g. This has been a known problem for almost a year, and they do nothing about it. If it wasn't for this, 3 would be a great network. Do you honestly NEVER have to toggle airplane mode on/off? I had to do it all the time with 3, and it drove me up the wall. Device won't even indicate that there's a problem, connection indicator seems normal but no data will send or receive.

SachaJ

srsly78 wrote: »

What are you talking about the iphone for? It affects all devices on 3. If you drive around a lot you probably don't notice it, problem mainly happens when you go indoors (thick walls) and device switches to 2g. This has been a known problem for almost a year, and they do nothing about it. If it wasn't for this, 3 would be a great network. Do you honestly NEVER have to toggle airplane mode on/off? I had to do it all the time with 3, and it drove me up the wall. Device won't even indicate that there's a problem, connection indicator seems normal but no data will send or receive.

+1

drunkmonkey

srsly78 wrote: »

What are you talking about the iphone for? It affects all devices on 3. If you drive around a lot you probably don't notice it, problem mainly happens when you go indoors (thick walls) and device switches to 2g. This has been a known problem for almost a year, and they do nothing about it. If it wasn't for this, 3 would be a great network. Do you honestly NEVER have to toggle airplane mode on/off? I had to do it all the time with 3, and it drove me up the wall. Device won't even indicate that there's a problem, connection indicator seems normal but no data will send or receive.

It's not a problem, it's meant to switch to 2G. Until Comreg give 3 access to 900Mhz spectrum it can't be avoided. It's not a fault with 3's network it's limitation of the Technology & Frequencies currently available to them.
If your on bill data should be working over 2G if it's not you need to let tech support now so they can enable it on your account.
It does work I use it all over the country. You don't need to toggle airplane on and off, you just need to select 3G in the settings and then select automatic and the phone will look after the rest. The iphone also won't switch from 2G to 3G if there is an open data connection. Honestly I never toggle airplane mode now that I know how it all works.

MastiffMrs

Best network definitely depends on location.have been with vf,meteor,o2 and am now with 3.in rural meath 3 has best broadband and best 3g on smartphones.also has best signals on phone every place I've been so far.helps also that its cheapest too!

srsly78

drunkmonkey wrote: »

It's not a problem, it's meant to switch to 2G. Until Comreg give 3 access to 900Mhz spectrum it can't be avoided. It's not a fault with 3's network it's limitation of the Technology & Frequencies currently available to them.
If your on bill data should be working over 2G if it's not you need to let tech support now so they can enable it on your account.
It does work I use it all over the country. You don't need to toggle airplane on and off, you just need to select 3G in the settings and then select automatic and the phone will look after the rest. The iphone also won't switch from 2G to 3G if there is an open data connection. Honestly I never toggle airplane mode now that I know how it all works.

You aren't understanding my posts. I worked as a mobile software engineer over the last 2 years, so used loads of devices (blackberries, iphones, android, nokias) on loads of different networks. I do know how to configure the devices correctly. With different sims + different devices it is easy to find out if a problem is caused by device or network or software etc.

On 3 the devices will switch from 2g back to 3g, and all seems to be ok, however no data will send/receive and there are no error indications. TCP connections will simply time out. I personally had this problem, and loads of other people have the problem. "you don't need to toggle airplane mode": Your alternative is exactly the same. YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE TO MANUALLY SWITCH NETWORKS, on other networks "it just works". Note I'm talking about Dublin City Centre here. It's great that it works for you guys outside Dublin, but surely the ****ing thing should work in the capital too? Maybe some kind of network congestion breaks the 2g->3g handover? I dunno, and 3 won't even acknowledge the problem.


If you think I'm some kind of rabid anti-3 poaster then think again. Other networks have their own problems, O2 are useless port-blocking ****s, Meteor had a flakey network until a few months ago, dunno about vodafone but their prices were lousy when I checked.

Practical implications of the network issue:
I am used to emails popping up on my phone just like text messages, also I am used to having google chat and skype running. With 3 you cannot rely on any of these to receive messages/calls because the internet is probably dead until manually reset. End result = taking phone out of pocket every 5 minutes and testing internet, then resetting airplane mode or network. I paid a lot of money for smartphone and dataplan, and I expect to be able to use it as intended, 3 were not able to do this.

See the response from 3 about this issue: "can you receive calls and text? well then it's working fine!"

drunkmonkey

Why don't I have this problem in the city center? Were both using the same phone (iphone4?)

srsly78

I don't have a (lol) iphone4 and I don't use 3. My experience with them was from jan-apr 2010, but I see lots of people reporting the same symptoms on various devices these days. It's a wierd problem, if you are lucky and live near a tower you might not experience it. When wandering about town, going into shops and pubs etc I found that it would drop internetz.

jimmycrackcorm

srsly78 wrote: »

On 3 the devices will switch from 2g back to 3g, and all seems to be ok, however no data will send/receive and there are no error indications. TCP connections will simply time out. I personally had this problem, and loads of other people have the problem. "you don't need to toggle airplane mode": Your alternative is exactly the same. YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE TO MANUALLY SWITCH NETWORKS, on other networks "it just works". Note I'm talking about Dublin City Centre here. It's great that it works for you guys outside Dublin, but surely the ****ing thing should work in the capital too? Maybe some kind of network congestion breaks the 2g->3g handover? I dunno, and 3 won't even acknowledge the problem.

I've also experienced this problem but it's rare. In fact the only circumstances I experience this are after crossing the border from the north where the 2G signal won't get data enabled and I have to enforce an airplane off/on. I put that down to moving from foreign UK roaming to internal VF roaming.

I can go from one end of my office to the other and back where the connection moves from 3G to 2G and back again without issue.