Prepaid Mobile Services- Which is best around Cork?

TAlderson

I'm going to grad school at UCC in September, and I've been trying to figure some stuff out before I get there (I'm from the US). I looked up the different prepaid mobile plans from Meteor, Three, O2, and Vodaphone, but while I can weigh the costs of in-network texts and such, it doesn't do me much good if the reception is bad or everyone else has some other service.

So, what's got good or crappy reception around the city, what do most people use, what should I stay away from, etc.? I'm a pretty typical 20-something in that I generally text more than I call, but I'm not someone who sends 1000s of texts a month or anything. Also, I have a phone, so all I need is the SIM card.

Thanks,

Tyler

PS: I figured this was appropriate for the Cork City board since it's region-specific, but I'll move it or re-post if someone thinks it's better elsewhere.

Chris.Buckley

What i'd personally recommend is Go Conquer. http://www.48months.ie/ if you're between 18 and 22 (it doesn't matter if you're over 22, just when you're signing up put 20 or something) you get free calls and texts to any network if you top up by €10 a month until you're "22". Also free sim card and good coverage in the city too.

that said, most people in Ireland go with vodafone just because it's a more established company (go conquer only came out this year). they have a prepay deal going, if you top up by €25 you can get free calls and texts for 2 months.

rebel.ranter

All of the networks are pretty decent in Cork, they all have similar network coverage designs in the city & suburbs. 48months runs on the O2 network & is specifically targeted at students. Go for the €20 a month "VIP" package, it's a prepay deal (no contract) that gives you free mobile to mobile & some data:

http://www.48months.ie/vip

For years Meteor was the most popular network for students as they were the first to offer cheap prepay tarriffs, so look at them too.

All the networks have poor enough indoor coverage around the campus (in certain buildings because of the college's lack of forward thinking in relation to allowing mobile operators install equipment on site. All of the areas where most students live will have decent coverage. All networks in the area bar "3" have 21Mbit/s data service (Three has iHSPA 14.4 Mbit/s) enabled but you're unlikely to see that sort of speed given the density of people under a site near the college.

kart

Tesco mobile.
I made a switch from Vodafone few months ago.

Before doing it i analysed all that were out there and by far this came at best price for me.

Calls to most Europe landlines and UK 1c per minute.
Calls to USA to mobile and landline both 2 c per minute. (Which u really pay 1 c for minute as u get double credit.)

Every time u top-up 10eur or more, you get double credit. So topping up 10 u get 20.
All calls and txts to other tesco mobiles are free. You can keep ur number ofcourse from any network.

Considering that u get double credit that means that calls to other mobiles are actually costing u 10c per minute and txts to other networks 4,5c each.

Awsome if people you talk most are in tesco mobile too.

It more than halved my phone spendings.
Txt charges are 9cents and minutes to other mobiles 20c per minute.

deRanged

kart wrote: »

Tesco mobile.

is brilliant if you're calling abroad a lot. saves a fortune.

what'll you be doing in UCC? that will dictate which building you're in, and might have some bearing on which network would be handiest. (some buildings have masts or repeaters on them).

kart

deRanged wrote: »

is brilliant if you're calling abroad a lot. saves a fortune.

what'll you be doing in UCC? that will dictate which building you're in, and might have some bearing on which network would be handiest. (some buildings have masts or repeaters on them).

Yup, and as he mentioned hes from States, i would guess he might need to call abroad:P

Tesco network is in covered by O2 network. My coverage everywhere is good, dunno about UCC campus tho.

TAlderson

deRanged wrote: »

what'll you be doing in UCC? that will dictate which building you're in, and might have some bearing on which network would be handiest. (some buildings have masts or repeaters on them).

I'll be doing a music degree, not sure if the music building is one with a repeater but I sort of doubt it.

Thanks for all the suggestions, looks like I'll look into Tesco and Go Conquer, both seem to be good for students. It's also good to know that Meteor is popular among students, it's always good to have something everyone else has.

-Tyler

Quii

meteor all the way if you're headed to college, I reckon about 75% of students in Cork are on meteor

techsavysista

Hiya, I saw your post and did this Post for you!
Hope it helps!

Solair

For international calls Tesco is very hard to beat.
EMobile is worth considering too. They've 350 min & 350 texts and a gig of data and unlimited landline call for €30/month on prepay.

If you're using prepaid calling cards which use a normal landline number to access them, it means you get dirt cheap calls to the US too.

if you're in Cork City mobile reception issues between networks are generally not an issue.

Meteor / EMobile reception in some rural spots can be patchy for 3G, but it's improving drastically.

Tesco mobile is hosted on O2 btw.

Ireland has 4 mobile operators who own and operate their own networks:

• Vodafone www.vodafone.ie
• O2 www.o2.ie
• Meteor (Eircom) www.meteor.ie
• 3 www.three.ie

Then there are a number of MVNOs (Mobile Virtual Network Operators). These are hosted on other networks' infrastructure.

• Tesco Mobile (O2) www.tescomobile.ie
• Emobile (Meteor) www.emobile.ie
• Blueface (3) http://www.blueface.ie/mobile.php
• Postfone (Vodafone) www.postfone.ie
• 48 (O2) www.48months.ie
• LycaMobile (O2) www.lycamobile.ie

Two more are due to launch sometime soon.

• UPC Mobile (Ireland's main cable TV company is supposed to be launching a network to enable quadruple play (TV, broadband, landline & mobile))
• More Mobile (seems to be launching)

Switching network between pre-paid networks in Ireland is extremely easy and only usually takes about 1 to 30 minutes to complete. So, if you find a network isn't what you want, you can keep your number and hop to a new network without much fuss (provided you've an unlocked handset). It's just a matter of calling into a store that sells sims for your desired network and bringing your phone. They arrange the "port" in a matter of minutes.

Also, getting a pre-paid mobile in Ireland is really no fuss compared to most countries. You just buy a SIM. They will try and extract your address and marketing information, but there's no legal requirement for them to do anything and generally it's absolutely no fuss whatsoever.

Topping up is done a few ways:

Voucher - You can buy a pre-paid voucher with a code on it in most shops, supermarkets, convenience stores, vending machines etc. You just dial that into your phone.
Debit/Credit card - almost all the networks accept top ups using your debit card. Once you've an Irish bank account, that'll be a lot easier. Just make sure you get one with a Visa Debit card e.g. from Bank of Ireland or Permanent TSB. AIB still issues Laser Cards which aren't much use online.
Internet Banking - most banks let you top up the major networks from their online banking.
ATM - Some banks let you top up major networks from their ATMs.
Automatic scheduled topups, some networks let you schedule a regular top up that comes from your debit/credit card.
Text top up - some networks let you top up using a pre-registered credit card / debit card by sending a text with a pin to a specific number.

For broadband I'd DEFINITELY go with UPC if available in your house/apartment. They usually have student offers available (they're often promoted on-campus, especially in the area around the Boole Basement lecture theaters on the main campus)

One word of warning, due to the construction materials / insulation systems used in the Western Gateway building almost all radio reception, including mobile phones is impossible in the building! This is UCC's main IT building and also contains part of the medical school on the upper floors. It's very annoying, but it's nothing to do with the mobile networks' reception. It's down to the building acting like Faraday Cage.

WiFi is available throughout the campus, but it requires pre-registration and the system administrators seem a bit over the top.

http://www.ucc.ie/en/sit/network/wireless/

You can register any devices you want to use though : laptops, phones, tablets etc.

Also, if you get a VoIP landline service / mobile service from Blueface you can also get a virtual number in the United States (or anywhere else). This means that US callers can just dial a local number in your home town to get through to your Irish mobile / landline at no extra cost. It works out at about €10/month.

TAlderson

Thanks for all the replies, it's good to know I've got options. Here in the US most people (including myself) have service that requires a 2 year contract, but it sounds like there are a lot of prepaid and month-by-month services in Ireland, which is a plus. I'm probably going to use some kind of VoIP for calls home, although it would be nice to know that I could call home on my cell if need be and it wouldn't cost an arm and a leg.

-Tyler

Solair

Blueface might be a good option. They're a VoIP provider who also own their own virtual mobile network. The whole thing's linked together so you can setup VoIP numbers that feed into your mobile and all sorts of weird and wonderful combinations of services all managed through their website.

Don't be put off by the fact that they pitch themselves as a small business product.

Tesco mobile's probably your best bet for international calls if you don't want all the confusion of VoIP services and prepay cards to get cheap rates.

Tesco's a huge supermarket chain that also runs its own mobile network and financial services products. Their rates to the US are something like 2cent per min.

http://www.tescomobile.ie/international-rates.aspx

They've all sorts of offers that give you ClubCard points which you can then spend in-store.

techsavysista

TAlderson wrote: »

Thanks for all the replies, it's good to know I've got options. Here in the US most people (including myself) have service that requires a 2 year contract, but it sounds like there are a lot of prepaid and month-by-month services in Ireland, which is a plus. I'm probably going to use some kind of VoIP for calls home, although it would be nice to know that I could call home on my cell if need be and it wouldn't cost an arm and a leg.

-Tyler

The good thing is you're not tied to anyone so if you don't like it, you can move to another the next day! For me I'm on 48. ( 10 for free calls and texts to all networks!) and I call home using tesco call cards that I just buy whenever I do my shopping!

Vodafone have a thirty euro for free texts to every network (emobiles 350 is not enough for me) as well as free international calls!