My phone contract is coming to an end and I’m about to start haggling with Orange for a renewal. Tesco are offering a Moto G with 4G and 1Gb data for £16. Orange apparently can’t offer 4G.

So, is 4G worth it? What sort of coverage does it have? Will it make a noticeable difference over 3G?

I noticed the difference…..

4G coverage (on three) is patchy, but I expected that.

So, is 4G worth it?

Yes if you’re in areas regularly enough that have coverage.

What sort of coverage does it have?

Depends on the network.

Will it make a noticeable difference over 3G?

Yes if you get a good connection.

I’m making the same decision.

What is it you need such a high speed download for? I get 16Mbps at home and that is fine for netflix etc

A friend who does have 4G doesn’t see any real world advantage in it anyway.

Can you not get on EE with Orange? As they do offer 4G.

4G (on Three for no extra charge) is very good but the coverage is not great. I don’t get it at home (though this is fine as I’m in WiFi there) or at work (again, fine as I can connect to WiFi if needed). It seems better in cities and I suspect the coverage will increase over the time I have this phone.

I don’t really use it anyway, I watch the occasional video on YouTube and view pictures on Twitter so i may not be the best critic of this!

Definitely worth it (assuming coverage where you live), makes a huge difference when you’re browsing etc.

depends what you do, I stream about 6/7gb of music a month, so the idea of a 4G 1gb limited deal sounds silly to me. I’ll stick with unlimited h+ which is fast enough for my needs.

What is it you need such a high speed download for? I get 16Mbps at home and that is fine for netflix etc

I’ve found it a bit like upgrading to a more powerful phone…you’re not saving hours waiting for things, but you do notice a snappiness, an immediacy to everything. Coupled with a good phone, it just makes for a nice, quick experience.

Have been on 4G (on an iPhone 6) since late last year with EE. Bristol/Bath has really good coverage and it is bloody fast. You may find 1gb not enough if you get good 4g coverage as you’ll be more inclined to use the phone than before (eg, on 3G with Three, I knew there were certain spots around Bristol/Bath where it was pointless trying to use google maps, as it would just take too long…stuff like that). Best thing for me is that I have 4G in the house so if wifi goes a bit funny, there’s still good reception on phone. EE also uses Orange/T-mobile network, so in the event of losing 3 or 4G, you’ll (nearly) always have a signal to make a call or send a text. Painful thing for me is not being able to carry over data allowance month to month.

I’m not especially an EE fan – I think they’re all an average of shite but it’s been excellent so far for me.

On some networks yes as their 3G is awful (e.g. Vodafone.) Moved to Three and in comparison their 3G is so good I’m not that bothered about 4G. Can reliably stream video (e.g. Iplayer) on car journeys over their 3G, that’s about as much as I need.

And TBH if you’re only getting a 1GB allowance then you’re not really going to want 4G.

I am on 3 and up near Barnsley I get 15-30mb download and 15+ upload..so its good and costs no more on 3…all depends on coverage tho

I’m on EE 4G and coming from 3’s 3G service it’s been bloody excellent. Having said that 3’s coverage was better and unlimited downloads meant no worries streaming Soundcloud. But 4G means I can download quicker and not take up the network speeds like 3’s would so the loads are way faster saving the occasional buffer.
However..
4G ain’t everywhere despite EE’s claims, patchy coverage in South Hampshire 50% coverage, even in Town it’s random but I’d say probs about 90%, up North I bearly get a signal in the sticks unless 2miles radius of Harrogate or bigger Towns/village.

I’d say if you can get it cheap then do that, clearly you know your usage.

I have 4G although I can’t get 4G in my hometown, however I travel with work a bit so it’s great for streaming films on the train etc.

I use GiffGaff (£12 a month) and barely ever reach my 1gig limit.

My personal phone has it, work one is still 3G.

For my use I’d rather the expanded 3G coverage, I’m in Scotland and 3G coverage is rotten let alone 4G.

Also, I found when I went to 4G I started regularly using up my 1GB allowance whereas previously I never did. So I guess without really realising it I was browsing and using more data because it was faster.

4G here since the summer

Its f*******ing fast and incredibly adictive

Despite using approx 500MB of 3G per month for the last 4 years I guzzled 2 Gigs of 4G in the first 48H!!

My contract is for 7 and now Ive settled down Im using 2-4GB per month

But the message is be careful

Would you buy a Ferrari and limit yourself to 10 miles a month?
4G is seriously addictive for streaming absolutely anything on the fly

Cheers

Is it fast? Yes
Is it worth it? It’s free on Three
Can you get it? Maybe

I find EE 4G fantastic the coverage is good and speeds excellent. However you have to watch out for data usage I easily go through 4-5gb a month.

EDIT

38.63 Mbps down and 22.71 Mbps up from where I am now.

Swapped from Virgin (runs on EE 3G) to Three, it’s pretty great in and around London and just before Christmas they enabled 4G in my home town. For me it’s not even the speed I just get a much much better data signal from Three than I ever did from Virgin, for instance streaming the world cup (on radio) was a joke on Virgin despite the apparent “full signal”. On Three I didn’t lose connection once on a two hour dog walk the other day.

Remember that it is not just about speed. Many 4g contracts have far lower download amounts than non 4g contracts. So you get super fast downloads but blow through your free allowance really quickly, they then charge you a whole chunk more. This is what happened with me and EE so I went back to the non 4g contract with unlimited downloads. A tad slower but a massive amount cheaper.

I just got EE’s 4G last night. Well, I’ve had it for ages but just got a phone that can use it.
It’s cool.

I have 18gb allowance somehow (even though only paying £12 a month)?

I have found that my 3G connection is not as good as it used to be with the 4G turned on. So if I don’t have 4G available to me then 3G improves if I disable 4G on my phone.

4G, its often faster than my BT home broadband. I have it with Three and pay nothing extra vs 3G, unlimited data £18 (no phone included), and I can use my data/call allowance when in France/Switzerland for free. I get 4G in London and Hampshire/Surrey. It does occasionally drop out to 3G if the signal strength is weak even in London

So yes it makes a difference

The development of coverage is all about 4G now (was involved slightly in a previous job), I’m picking it up in places I never expected too. If you use your phone a lot as a device you’d do well to go for it.
I live in rural Hants and 4G has just started to appear (I can get it some days not others.. still not sure how that works) and it’s better than my ADSL when it’s firing.

Tesco use o2 who like vodafone are currently hovering around 50% 4G coverage and 92% 3G coverage. EE are at 80% 4G coverage and 98% 3G coverage.

If you mainly need a phone for voice calls go for Vodafone but if you need any data go for EE or Three.

Additionally, wifi calling on EE launches in March – it won’t require an app and just means that at home your phone will select Wifi or a cellular network depending which gives better speed / quality of voice calls… I’ve used the same technology in the states and it works really well.

Upgraded from Orange to EE. The 4G is excellent. Live in Bolton and sit between Manchester and Preston and still get 4g coverage 95% of the time. Only time I don’t is in the hills where it drops to 3G.

Pay 45 a month Unlimited mins, texts and 4gb of double speed 4g data on a HTC One M8. I haven’t rinsed through 4gb.

I just recently got the exact same deal as the OP is looking at with Tesco, and for me it’s been fine, although I don’t tend to use the data that much, I find I get a far better phone signal than I used to at home. I used to only get and signal in one bedroom of the house, now I get a good signal pretty much everywhere…

T’other half is also on Tesco but 3G, and doesn’t get as good reception about the house as I do.

FFS. Getting through to Orange is bloody impossible! I think I’ll go with Tesco just because I can talk to real people in a real shop.

Go to EE shop they’ll deal with you.

EE’s customer service and website are awful

40 minutes on hold. Urgh. Orange’s best deal is £19.99.

Tesco here I come.

I’ve heard that the networks are running down the 3G coverage to encourage users to switch to 4G. I’ve certainly found that my previously good 3G coverage was getting worse.

Changed my Vodafone 3g to 4g and the difference is massive. If I wasn’t a phone tart I’d go for the tetesco offer. Sometimes they run offers to top up data for a nominal amountnominal at time of purchase.

40 minutes on hold. Urgh. Orange’s best deal is £19.99.

Tesco here I come.

Why not three?

Properly unlimited data…plus the added bonus of being able to use your phone for free in:

Spain
New Zealand
France
USA
Australia
Italy
Switzerland
Israel
Finland
Norway
Indonesia
Sri Lanka
Macau
Austria
Hong Kong
Sweden
Denmark
Republic of Ireland.

“40 minutes on hold. Urgh. Orange’s best deal is £19.99.

Tesco here I come.”

If you go Sim only then unlimited calls, texts and 5Gb data on EE is £16 a month. You also get the benefit of a network which enables you to use the data in most places – which surely needs to be factored into the o2 / tesco price given that o2 has the worst quality coverage and 2nd smallest coverage area for 3G?

I’m on giffgaff and my office is in a bit of a dead spot for 3G (back side of the building when looking from the transmitter and surrounded by other buildings). 3G was 4 mbps at times but quite often dropped to E i.e. wasn’t useable. 4G is rock solid always available and runs anywhere from 6 to 18 mbps. The max speed doesn’t do it for me much, but the improved coverage is fantastic!

4G on O2 is hopeless around N.Wilts, especially Chippenham, which is odd considering its one of the fastest growing towns in Wiltshire, and is on most major transport routes. Oddly, I was sat in my car on the Herepath, a little lane/track that goes from Avebury, where there’s no signal at all, up to the Ridgeway, yet I got 4G about a half mile out of the village.
Same in Colerne, several miles outside of Bath, out for a drink with a friend and got 4G in the pub, yet back home, nada!

Should be alright in and around Manchester though I suspect.

Update.

4G Sony Experia 3 on T Mobile.

1Gb data, unlimited texts but only 100 mins (I’m a bloke, so this doesn’t matter).

£13.99 per month

…and £100 cash back. Offer today only in Tesco.

You’ll need restraint! My advice would be not to do any speed tests to see how fast it is, you’ll burn big chunks of your allowance!