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  • Mobile phone contract question.
  • donsimon
    Free Member

    Bear with me ‘cos the contracts are abit different from what I’m used to so don’t know what’s good or bad.
    First question, 3, a good provider or not, both coverage and customer service?
    Second question, 35 GBP per month for “All the data you can eat”, 2000 any network minutes, 5000 3-2-3 minutes and 5000 texts a good deal or not?
    All this comes with a free Samsung Galaxy 2 for free.
    Deal or no deal?

    simon_g
    Full Member

    Do you use 2000 minutes and/or 5000 texts?

    Given a SIM free Galaxy S2 is about £430, and that’s a 24 month contract, you’re paying £840 over that time. Buy the phone outright and use giffgaff (£10/month for 250 minutes, unlimited data and texts) and it’ll cost you £670 over the same period. But if you actually plan to spend over an hour a day with a phone glued to your ear then Three may be better value for you.

    donsimon
    Free Member


    Cheers, I couldn’t find the contract duration from 3 to do the calculation.
    Hmmm, 1 hour per day calls and unlimited internet could negate the need for a landline and the texts could be useful, hmmm.
    Thanks simon_g.

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    Munqe-chick
    Free Member

    The key to mobile phone contracts (if you are getting a new one from scratch) is what do you want it for? ie how many texts do you want? how many minutes? As people think £35 for millions of texts is great value…well it is (potentially) if you need them. As suggested though if you don’t why not get a lesser deal.

    Mr MC got a from talkmobile, Vodfone network, £18 per month, 24 month contract for 1GB of internet, 300 minutes and 1000 texts. This is AMPLE for him and he got a HTC Desire S which is a top notch phone. The internet usage he doesn’t even get close to as at home, just surf on the wi-fi. I would check it is “unlimited” usage as lots say that then there is small print which is “fair usage” … so ie 1GB or something like that, to stop people streaming movies onto the TV. So I would check that. They also do a cheaper £15 package.

    I reckon there are better deals elsewhere, as otherwise you are paying for calls and texts you are never going to use, but it depends if you wnat it as a “business” phone.

    and with the 3-3 minutes, do you know many other people on the ‘3’ network.

    Three_Fish
    Free Member

    It’s probable that the The One contract (as you describe) will be 24 months.

    My Three 3G coverage is at least fairly good everywhere I go, apart from my house which is in the bottom of a valley surrounded by trees. Signal here is inconsistent at best, although it’s the same for most people who visit. Vodafone Edge/2G signal is good, but I can’t get their 3G coverage here.

    Full-strength 3G signal gives me about 4Mbps down and 1Mbps up.

    I haven’t had any issues that have required customer services.

    donsimon
    Free Member

    Interesting. In Spain I had a dongle for the internet which was fine for my needs and the priority here is really internet and creating a wi-fi hotspot for either a laptop or laptop and tablet and be my only internet access at home and on the move. Work will mean that I’m permanently on the move and will need access.
    Calls would be good as it will be used as a business phone too.
    Regarding 3-2-3 minutes, I don’t know anybody on any network. 😥
    Does that mean 3 is not a popular network? Movistar had the same type of offer an this was a selling point as the majority of mobiles were Movistar.

    Cletus
    Free Member

    Hi,

    I think GiffGaff is great but be aware that their unlimited Internet excludes tethering other devices using your smartphone.

    I use 3 and am reasonably pleased with them though may soon cancel as I have a work phone and can pay a small sum (£5/month) to cover my personal calls.

    donsimon
    Free Member

    So, do you reckon it’s a good deal Three_Fish? I’d be happy paying a little more for a reliable service too.
    The tethering is the key. This was my question and the suggested plan was the solution.

    br
    Free Member

    Free 3to3 minutes are good, if you know others on 3 – and worth moving your ‘loved ones’ on too. We and the kids are on 3 now, which means I can restrict the kids monthly costs but they can still phone us, whatever.

    No problem with 3 either.

    mieszko
    Free Member

    I used to have a phone on 3. The coverage was pretty good. Even if I could not get 3G signal when on Skye it was using other networks 2G signal and I still had internet. The customer service part is a bit hit and miss, depends who’s going to answer your call. I never really had problems with them and always made clear what I want so that they did not offer me millions of other services, new contracts etc etc. 24months is a pretty long contract thought. Very good thing on 3 is their Skype app. It does not use internet connection just phones a normal number and the call quality is pretty good compared to using skype and a weak 3G signal.

    The all you can use data is a good option but it’s not something that others do not offer.

    Check HotUKdeals. They had some very good deals on the HTC Incredible and Samsung Galaxt S2 for 12 month contracts.

    Depending on your organisation skills (mine were average at most) I would stay clear from any cashback by redemption offers where you send certain bills back to get a cheque.

    What you can try is to phone them and ask for a cheaper contract. You do get a lot for £35 but imho it’s not such a good deal considering you will be stuck with it for 24 months. Worth shopping around on HUKD or moneysavingexperts forum.

    donsimon
    Free Member

    Very good thing on 3 is their Skype app. It does not use internet connection just phones a normal number and the call quality is pretty good compared to using skype and a weak 3G signal.

    This could be interesting as I expect to be calling Spain from time to time.
    *runs off to investigate*

    Three_Fish
    Free Member

    When we had broadband problems at work I used my iPhone as a hot-spot for sending music files. Around 1Mbps for uploads is not a million miles off many broadband services and everything uploaded in acceptable time. When signal strength is good, normal web surfing (on a tethered computer) is OK at around 3-4Mbps. Streaming video/music is hit and miss, but everything else is fine. Surfing on the actual phone is decent enough on most sites.

    I’m happy with the deal; it suits me. That doesn’t mean it will suit you, though. Does anyone else even offer free tethering? They didn’t when I got fixed up back in March.

    convert
    Full Member

    Started a 3 contract but cancelled within the first 7 days when I realised that 1. the coverage where I lived and showed up on the coverage map checker as very good was in fact very bad and 2. I realised (it was hidden deep in the Tc & Cs) that they allow absolutely no data transfer on their partner’s 2G connection(they don’t have their own). That meant no using the phone to check the weather, email etc in more remote places with only 2G coverage on any network where someone interested in mountain biking and the like might like to spend their time.

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