Best Mobile Operator in Dublin

gmogames · 27-04-2015 10:53am #1

Hi There,

I've just recently moved to Dublin from the US and I bought a Three 4G sim card, but the signal is horrible.
Even being right now in the city working, I can only get 2 bars and only 3G signal.
4G is like once in a while.

Would love to hear some suggestions about the best carriers around (in terms of coverage and quality of internet).

Thanks!

tooth*grinder · 27-04-2015 11:02am

Been a tesco mobile customer for a couple of years now. Outside of some issues when the entire network died (apparently there was a leak right over one of the main network cabinets that fried the server stack) I've found them to be great, never have no signal, always decent network speed.
They don't do 4G, but on the other hand €30 per month gets you 500txt and min and 15GB of data. Last I checked you can't beat that price in the country.
www.tescomobile.ie

jimmii · 27-04-2015 11:26am

tooth*grinder wrote: »

Been a tesco mobile customer for a couple of years now. Outside of some issues when the entire network died (apparently there was a leak right over one of the main network cabinets that fried the server stack) I've found them to be great, never have no signal, always decent network speed.
They don't do 4G, but on the other hand €30 per month gets you 500txt and min and 15GB of data. Last I checked you can't beat that price in the country.
www.tescomobile.ie

Tesco uses the network now owned by 3 so guessing that isn't going to improve things for them much!

Carlos Orange · 27-04-2015 11:30am

jimmii wrote: »

Tesco uses the network now owned by 3 so guessing that isn't going to improve things for them much!

The O2 network is owned by Three now but I imagine it will be years before they are the same network.

jimmii · 27-04-2015 11:30am

I live and work in the City Centre and have been using eMobile for the last couple of years when in Dublin the network is superb data speeds are always 25mb+ outside of Dublin the coverage is a bit iffy though in my experience. Their business deals are superb value not sure about the consumer ones think it depends on whether you are with Eircom or not.

jimmii · 27-04-2015 11:39am

psinno wrote: »

The O2 network is owned by Three now but I imagine it will be years before they are the same network.

When they are combined you would certainly think it would improve things too.

tooth*grinder · 27-04-2015 12:21pm

jimmii wrote: »

Tesco uses the network now owned by 3 so guessing that isn't going to improve things for them much!

well they do have minimum performance clauses built into the agreement so I'd not expect any issues there. It was one of the clauses put in the takeover deal by both the european and local regulators.

What I would say to the OP is have a read of the responses, pick a couple of likely networks and get yourself the cheapest pay as you go SIMs from them and try them out in your area.
To be honest, between Vodafone and o2/3 networks in the greater Dublin area if you have signal trouble with them you'll have it with any network. In my experience the same cannot be said about Meteor/emobile.

gmogames · 27-04-2015 4:14pm

Yes,

I've been meaning to buy a few sims from the other operators and try it out. I'm living in Inchicore right now, and my building has no signal whatsoever on 3. But according to their coverage map, it is very well covered the whole area, but i can only get 1 bar IF I go outside.

The reason I chose 3 in the first place was because topping up €20 per month, I can have unlimited data, unlimited texts, unlimited minutes with other 3 users and unlimited weekend calls to any operator.
Seems an awesome deal seeing I only call my wife (which has a 3 phone as well) and use the internet.

But from the messages I didn't get anyone saying that a specific operator is very good and works everywhere, all of them seems to have a problem or another, so the decision ends up being by which one do you prefer or what is the cheapest.

In the US I used to have TMobile, which gave me unlimited everything with LTE. Their coverage was not broad, but in Massachusetts it was fine, so i could use it everywhere.

But thanks for the input!

Carlos Orange · 27-04-2015 4:48pm

It is a bit of a long shot but did you buy a new phone here or are you using a US device? Maybe all the Irish bands aren't supported.
More likely you just have poor coverage but you never know.

gmogames · 27-04-2015 7:16pm

psinno wrote: »

It is a bit of a long shot but did you buy a new phone here or are you using a US device? Maybe all the Irish bands aren't supported.
More likely you just have poor coverage but you never know.

Yeah, my phone is from the US and you are not the first person telling me that. I should probably do a little digging on that.

jimmii · 27-04-2015 7:23pm

gmogames wrote: »

Yeah, my phone is from the US and you are not the first person telling me that. I should probably do a little digging on that.

Find the version of the model you have and check on gsmarena or somewhere like that what bands the phone can use and then check it against the network. If you are able to get some 4G coverage then it seems that the phone must be capable though.

vrusinov · 28-04-2015 12:54pm

Vodafone is pretty good.

Apart from 4G/3G getting stuck sometimes (which might be actually my device issue) I've had no problems with it in various parts of Dublin and country.

blackplum123 · 28-04-2015 1:05pm

I'm with meteor , can't get a signal in my house in Clontarf .I actually have to go outside to make a phone call. I got no joy off reps on boards . I'm going back to three when my contract is up.

safetyboy · 28-04-2015 2:26pm

http://www.48months.ie/ this is fine with me and cheap,

jimmii · 28-04-2015 2:39pm

safetyboy wrote: »

http://www.48months.ie/ this is fine with me and cheap,

Thats not going to work for OP as it uses the three network. Its good value though for sure.

jimmii · 28-04-2015 3:17pm

Mr.S wrote: »

It uses the old o2 network, now owned by Three. they are separate infrastructure for now, but owned by the same.

Is there anything they didn't get with the O2 deal!!
It says that users get the exact same coverage as three customers which I guess is underselling it a bit being an ex-O2 three customers seems a lot better than being an existing three customers for the moment!

gmogames · 29-04-2015 10:29am

jimmii wrote: »

Is there anything they didn't get with the O2 deal!!
It says that users get the exact same coverage as three customers which I guess is underselling it a bit being an ex-O2 three customers seems a lot better than being an existing three customers for the moment!

That is right. I have another phone with me using my US sim card and that one while roaming, is using O2 network.
While I have both phones side by side, the O2 one gets a full bar, and the three one gets 2 or 3 bars max.
Being that they "are using the same network" that's not very accurate.

James Delaney · 30-04-2015 7:57pm

I'm in Clontarf also - really depends where ur located.

I ave an Apt block across from me but if I go to a window my signal is generally ok.

Caliden · 01-05-2015 9:57am

I'm with Vodafone and get H+/4G almost all of the time.

More expensive than other providers but I've always had coverage when others on 3 or meteor haven't.

blackplum123 · 01-05-2015 10:27am

James Delaney wrote: »

I'm in Clontarf also - really depends where ur located.

I ave an Apt block across from me but if I go to a window my signal is generally ok.

I was curious to whether it was just me . Meteor were not a bit interested in looking into it. The meteor boards reps had the cheek to tell me their engineers said I had a good quality signal where I live.

Best Mobile Operator in Dublin

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