Free 4G service for Three Customers for 6 months

Dman001 · 21-01-2014 10:05pm #1

http://www.three.ie/explore/4G/index.html

Due to launch on the 27th January, Three are offering 6 months free 4G service to Prepay and Bill Customers. Seems pretty decent, even to just try it out. After that, it'll cost €4.99 (for Bill customers, on top of their existing Bill I'm guessing) for the service which seems pretty competitive.

Been with Three for 2 and half years myself. Not one issue with them. Wouldn't go near Vodafone or O2 again.

jenno86 · 21-01-2014 10:09pm

Fantastic. I have been with them for years and I can't recommend them enough!

whatawaster · 21-01-2014 10:11pm

It should be free, surely?

It's an evolution of their data service, which will eventually replace 3G. Just like E-Fibre is priced similarly to how broadband has always been priced.

Dman001 · 21-01-2014 10:12pm

jenno86 wrote: »

Fantastic. I have been with them for years and I can't recommend them enough!

Same. Vodafone and O2 still bewilder me as to how much they continue to rip people off.

tonic wine · 21-01-2014 10:16pm

4G network covergae doesn't look that great looking at the map.

Grab All Association · 21-01-2014 10:25pm

tonic wine wrote: »

4G network covergae doesn't look that great looking at the map.

Three coverage never was great. Ironically when the network first rolled out here in 2005 we could pick up 3G out here and it wasn't that bad until 2009. My area is in the NBS and all we can get is 2G on Three. I live in tiny village in Mid Tipperary we already have 4G on Meteor and Vodafone before most major towns not bad.

Stuxnet · 21-01-2014 10:58pm

Ridiculous that they would charge for this, its a simple evolution of a technology standard, typical rip off republic, squeeze the feckers for everything

Dman001 · 21-01-2014 11:11pm

Stuxnet wrote: »

Ridiculous that they would charge for this, its a simple evolution of a technology standard, typical rip off republic, squeeze the feckers for everything

Meteor and EMobile seem to have 4G specific plans which cost more than their normal plans from what I can tell, so this is really inline with what the others are at. It was the same when 3G was launched in Ireland, it cost more for the service.

Ardennes1944 · 21-01-2014 11:18pm

switched to 3 yesterday, whoop!

Sonics2k · 22-01-2014 12:03am

Stuxnet wrote: »

Ridiculous that they would charge for this, its a simple evolution of a technology standard, typical rip off republic, squeeze the feckers for everything

Ah now, let's not do the rip off republic thing, the rates across the UK and US are mental too.

Alanstrainor · 22-01-2014 12:30am

Already pay 55 a month, feck paying 5 more. Tbh, I reckon the 3g/H/H+ coverage could be a lot better even around dublin. They'd be better off improving that.

uck51js9zml2yt · 22-01-2014 12:33am

o2expires end of Jan.

wil · 22-01-2014 12:36am

whatawaster wrote: »

It should be free, surely?

It's an evolution of their data service, which will eventually replace 3G. Just like E-Fibre is priced similarly to how broadband has always been priced.

4g seems to be a real battery drainer according to most reviews, wish someone would sort out decent battery life.

drumswan · 22-01-2014 12:38am

Alanstrainor wrote: »

Already pay 55 a month, feck paying 5 more. Tbh, I reckon the 3g/H/H+ coverage could be a lot better even around dublin. They'd be better off improving that.

Why would you pay 55 a month, its 30 a month for unlimited everything

Kristopherus · 22-01-2014 12:42am

drumswan wrote: »

Why would you pay 55 a month, its 30 a month for unlimited everything

He has a fancy phone to pay for with that tarriff:D.

AlanS181824 · 22-01-2014 12:48am

Wish I had a 4G phone right about now. :P

Beadyeye · 22-01-2014 1:01am

Quick question, does anyone know what happens if you want to avail of 4g offer but don't have a 4g phone (have a galaxy s3). Coming to the end of a 2 year contract in August.... Thanks

Kristopherus · 22-01-2014 1:07am

AlanS181824 wrote: »

Wish I had a 4G phone right about now. :P

Beadyeye wrote: »

Quick question, does anyone know what happens if you want to avail of 4g offer but don't have a 4g phone (have a galaxy s3). Coming to the end of a 2 year contract in August.... Thanks

Your best bet for getting good value on a sim free 4g phone is Amazon. With the Euro sinking against sterling, it might be better to peruse the .de and .fr versions of the site. Amazon.de currently have daily deals and there are some phones coming up now and again, but I have yet to see a 4g one.

kn · 22-01-2014 1:54am

Its only available in the main cities and Wexford. Plus they are charging €99 for a 4G mobile broadband device - feck that. Why would you want to be tied to 3 long-term by purchasing their device??

Beadyeye · 22-01-2014 2:21am

Kristopherus wrote: »

Your best bet for getting good value on a sim free 4g phone is Amazon. With the Euro sinking against sterling, it might be better to peruse the .de and .fr versions of the site. Amazon.de currently have daily deals and there are some phones coming up now and again, but I have yet to see a 4g one.

Thanks for the advice, your dead right, I may sell the S3 while it still has some value and get a simfree 4g. I may check Amazon for one, hopefully the german site is cheaper for a Nexus 5!

moodrater · 22-01-2014 2:44am

kn wrote: »

Its only available in the main cities and Wexford. Plus they are charging €99 for a 4G mobile broadband device - feck that. Why would you want to be tied to 3 long-term by purchasing their device??

Fail to see the problem here. They are offering it free while they extend the network. For those who can get it(probably 1/3 of the poplulation given coverage areas) it means 6 months free 4g versus signing up to a 12 or 14 month contract with other networks. When you can't get it you still have 3g which is all your paying for anyway.

The €99 device is on 3pay - no contract, everyone was charging about the same for the 3g mifi devices when they came out. I don't see anyone else in ireland offering it on prepay? You can get it free on contract with three same as meteor, vodafone.

The_Conductor · 22-01-2014 7:12am

Dman001 wrote: »

Same. Vodafone and O2 still bewilder me as to how much they continue to rip people off.

Vodafone have given me a 'free' upgrade to 4G- as my phone is a 4G phone- aka, its the same charge as I would have paid for 3G- there is no differentiation between 3G and 4G. If the '3' offer is free- as in no charge whatsoever, great- if its the same as their 3G costs- they are simply aping the other suppliers.

crazygeryy · 22-01-2014 7:21am

Sonics2k wrote: »

Ah now, let's not do the rip off republic thing, the rates across the UK and US are mental too.

Is 4g good? Has anyone tried it and is there a huge speed difference to 3g?

The_Conductor · 22-01-2014 7:24am

crazygeryy wrote: »

Is 4g good? Has anyone tried it and is there a huge speed difference to 3g?

If you're in a marginal area for coverage- you will drop to 3G and HSDPA speeds- but I'll run speedtest.net on my phone when I'm out and about in a good area over the next few days- and post back the results. Where I am at the moment- I'm getting a download of 12Mb- I would expect this to vastly increase in a better area (though its quite respectable in its own right).

okedoke · 22-01-2014 7:55am

I've been a three customer for 20 months now. I was happy for the first year or so but in the last 8/10 months the 3G speeds have gone off a cliff . It's common for me to get download speeds of way less than 1mbps often less than 0.1mbps which means no internet effectively. This happens in urban areas.

Before you sign a contract get a free sim and check your signal over the course of a couple of weeks. Also have a look at the talk to three forum here - a lot of frustrated customers waiting out their contract periods (including me).

I don't know if they will have similar issues with their 4g network.

witnessmenow · 22-01-2014 8:14am

I've been with 3 for about 6 months or so.

I think when you are on their network I think their speeds are fine, but once you roam to Vodafone or whoever they use you may as well not have internet, even simple things like a Google maps search can take ages, or not work at all.

I'm on their €20 per month plan which I think is perfect for me. 15gb ("unlimited") of data and 350 flexi units (1 min or 2 texts). I don't think the fiver extra for 4g is a bad deal at all. Look at meteors plans, I think the highest cap they give is 6gb and that is expensive.

To be honest I think people are being entitled to think this was going to be free. It's very rare any company will offer a new service for nothing.Didn't they have to buy a licence for this as well? Sky HD is an example. Someone mentioned efibre, they are only offering that at the same rates as UPC are so competitive.

Fingleberries · 22-01-2014 8:35am

AlanS181824 wrote: »

Wish I had a 4G phone right about now. :P

Random question - If you put a 4G-enabled SIM into a non-4G phone, will it still work (but fall back to 3G or whatever the phone is capable of)?

CreepingDeath · 22-01-2014 9:12am

whatawaster wrote: »

It should be free, surely?

According to their website...

Three wrote:

What is 4G?

4G (LTE) gives you up to 10x faster data speeds. Meaning it’s the best internet experience on your phone or tablet yet. Stream, upload and download faster and smoother than ever.

It’s data as it should be.

So if it's data as it should be, then we're currently paying for data which is not as it should be.
Mobile data is crap and patchy all across Dublin city.

22-01-2014 9:13am

Stuxnet wrote: »

Ridiculous that they would charge for this, its a simple evolution of a technology standard, typical rip off republic, squeeze the feckers for everything

Indeed, but just look at the amount of people that pay for the HD package from Sky.

To think People would actually pay for a picture quality that should be standard in the first place for modern TV's is bewildering!

SKY still transmit in mpeg 2 which was fine for a low resolution CRT TV back in 1998, it's mental people will pay for a HD package !!!

But back to three, I thought the merger with 02 would mean better coverage ?

While Three have 0 limits on their 3G I presume 4G is the same ? if so and I could get it, it might persuade me to ditch the poxy 6mb down and 300 kbps up Eircom line.

Mobile operators don't realise the potential for a dsl replacement service .

crazygeryy · 22-01-2014 9:18am

The_Conductor wrote: »

If you're in a marginal area for coverage- you will drop to 3G and HSDPA speeds- but I'll run speedtest.net on my phone when I'm out and about in a good area over the next few days- and post back the results. Where I am at the moment- I'm getting a download of 12Mb- I would expect this to vastly increase in a better area (though its quite respectable in its own right).

If that's 12 mb a min?that sounds v good to me.

nightster1 · 22-01-2014 9:22am

Dman001 wrote: »

Same. Vodafone and O2 still bewilder me as to how much they continue to rip people off.

don't praise three too much or they"ll jack up their prices

corsav6 · 22-01-2014 9:22am

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Indeed, but just look at the amount of people that pay for the HD package from Sky.

To think People would actually pay for a picture quality that should be standard in the first place for modern TV's is bewildering!

SKY still transmit in mpeg 2 which was fine for a low resolution CRT TV back in 1998, it's mental people will pay for a HD package !!!

But back to three, I thought the merger with 02 would mean better coverage ?

While Three have 0 limits on their 3G I presume 4G is the same ? if so and I could get it, it might persuade me to ditch the poxy 6mb down and 300 kbps up Eircom line.

Mobile operators don't realise the potential for a dsl replacement service .

The exact reason we don't join sky, pay extra for HD, mad.
Unfortunately three are worse than useless around the sticks in mayo, and we gave them a fair chance.

Stuxnet · 22-01-2014 9:28am

Dman001 wrote: »

Meteor and EMobile seem to have 4G specific plans which cost more than their normal plans from what I can tell, so this is really inline with what the others are at. It was the same when 3G was launched in Ireland, it cost more for the service.

Because it an organised cartel, ...as for cost of the service, these guys make a killing as it is, its squeeze them for more, cos they can attitude. nothing more. Why cant one provider man up and say, we'll provide the upgrade at no extra cost, a provider like ting.com ...and maybe attract new customers... oh wait , there's an idea....

22-01-2014 9:53am

Deleted User wrote: »

Indeed, but just look at the amount of people that pay for the HD package from Sky.

To think People would actually pay for a picture quality that should be standard in the first place for modern TV's is bewildering!

SKY still transmit in mpeg 2 which was fine for a low resolution CRT TV back in 1998, it's mental people will pay for a HD package !!!

Its even more mental having a 40inch HD tv and watching a heap of SD channels. For the sake of 7.50 per month (its 15 but any effort will get it for half price) its well worth it getting the HD pack imo.

The_Conductor · 22-01-2014 10:10am

crazygeryy wrote: »

If that's 12 mb a min?that sounds v good to me.

Getting really bad pings etc this morning- 129ms, 14.89mbps download, 3.62mbps upload, nearest server Vodafone Dublin.

Anyhow- even in bad conditions- that type connection is very possible- I've a 200mbps broadband connection at home, so I'm not overly overjoyed with these sort of speeds, but they're certainly not to be sniffed at from a phone (though the ping rate is crap- for whatever reason).

skydish79 · 22-01-2014 11:02am

Dman001 wrote: »

http://www.three.ie/explore/4G/index.html

Due to launch on the 27th January, Three are offering 6 months free 4G service to Prepay and Bill Customers. Seems pretty decent, even to just try it out. After that, it'll cost €4.99 (for Bill customers, on top of their existing Bill I'm guessing) for the service which seems pretty competitive.

Been with Three for 2 and half years myself. Not one issue with them. Wouldn't go near Vodafone or O2 again.

Not for all customers just those in cities

long_b · 22-01-2014 11:23am

Incredible moaning on here - 6 months free 4G and the whingers are out.

Never ceases to amaze me.

Paranoid Mandroid · 22-01-2014 12:21pm

long_b wrote: »

Incredible moaning on here - 6 months free 4G and the whingers are out.

Never ceases to amaze me.

Aren't you moaning too?

former legend · 22-01-2014 12:36pm

corsav6 wrote: »

The exact reason we don't join sky, pay extra for HD, mad.
Unfortunately three are worse than useless around the sticks in mayo, and we gave them a fair chance.

You obviously don't have a HD set-up, the difference is amazing.

If 4G turns out to be as much of a step-up in terms of quality, it will be worth the extra fiver, but there are two things to keep in mind here:
1) it's free for a few months so people can decide themselves if it's for them
2) if it's not for them, then they can continue on with 3G

It's a no-lose situation really.

skydish79 · 22-01-2014 12:47pm

long_b wrote: »

Incredible moaning on here - 6 months free 4G and the whingers are out.

Never ceases to amaze me.

But its only in certain areas, if im living outside those areas then it isnt free!!

love that turbo · 22-01-2014 1:04pm

skydish79 wrote: »

But its only in certain areas, if im living outside those areas then it isnt free!!

True, I live in Cavan and do I get 6 months free when I comes to my area in 2047?????????????

bren2001 · 22-01-2014 1:41pm

skydish79 wrote: »

But its only in certain areas, if im living outside those areas then it isnt free!!

It still is free. You just would not be able to avail of it while in those areas.

Its a smart deal by 3. I'm considering switching over for the 3 months for it.

pumbah · 22-01-2014 2:22pm

Got 42Mb download and 16.4Mb Upload today in Dublin City (Baggot Street)
4G indicated on my Lumia 920 (unlocked) with Three:)

PatM65 · 22-01-2014 3:51pm

4G? I'd be happy if I had decent 3G where I live!

Dman001 · 22-01-2014 5:56pm

I'm genuinely surprised people expected this to be a no cost/free service. Any premium service comes at a cost - it's a capitalist world after all. Phone networks in particular have always been awful for charging users wherever possible. Why some had assumptions that a 4G rollout would initially come at no cost, I've no idea. I'm sure down the line, however, we'll see competitive plans come out and 4G eventually being established as the norm and additional charges will be scrapped.

Davy · 22-01-2014 5:57pm

Redsoxfan · 22-01-2014 9:45pm

Does Three's Unlimited/Generous data allowances still apply on the free/€4.99 4G offer?

TOC03 · 22-01-2014 10:06pm

Where I live, we have yet to be able to watch a You Tube clip, without buffering with 3. Sort out the mess that they have left the rest of the country in with the so called NBS first!! 4 G only a dream....

soc · 22-01-2014 11:55pm

PatM65 wrote: »

4G? I'd be happy if I had decent 3G where I live!

+1

How about they sort that out first? I'm only out in Kildare, and don't have a 3G signal. :mad:
Phone network is a joke too - get a lot of 'no network connection' messages on the phone during day (depending on where I am in house). When I go to manually find network, there are times when I can see O2 and Meteor... but no 3.

Ardennes1944 · 23-01-2014 1:26am

I saw 4g pop up on the phone for the first time today, for about 5 seconds

pogsick · 23-01-2014 3:31am

http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/i/712319675

On vodafone myself with the 5s, it is noticeably faster

Free 4G service for Three Customers for 6 months

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