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Carrier Best Carriers in the UK
- Thread starter softandy
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EE has the best speeds by a long distance, however local variations do apply so the best network for someone depends on where the live. Personally I've found speeds on Three highly erratic, sometimes very fast and sometimes very slow. Vodafone hasn't been particularly fast but a reliable speed and O2 has been patchy. Just switched from Three to EE as got sick of the massive variability of speed, so sacrifice unlimited data for something reliably fast.
In Central Belt of Scotland, Three is by far the best. No other networks come close, and I've tested them all. Moving slightly further away from the larger cities and EE is the best speed wise.
Three are the only network to offer truly unlimited data.
Three are the only network to offer truly unlimited data.
Ask the people that live, work and socialise where you do.
That's the only way to gauge coverage where you will be using it.
Asking people that live in various corners of the UK won't help you.
Failing that, get a free PAYG from each network and test it yourself.
Thanks guys.
I do travel quite a bit with work particularly between the north west and london.
I seem to get no signal what so ever on the train into London and have to put the phone onto aeroplane mode otherwise by battery will be effected..
I do travel quite a bit with work particularly between the north west and london.
I seem to get no signal what so ever on the train into London and have to put the phone onto aeroplane mode otherwise by battery will be effected..
Agreed. I also travelled East Coast a few weeks back, whilst tethering from my iPhone 5 on Three to my laptop - can't think of a time it cut out. Absolutely brilliant.
Another vote for Three here. I've been with all of the major networks over the years and I was admittedly surprised to find that Three has provided me with the best coverage and fastest speeds I've had.
I also find their tariffs to be excellent value, especially when it comes time to renew a contract. I've had great discounts with Three, the last time I negotiated a contract with them I was told that they will do whatever it takes to keep customer's from leaving their network and my bill got slashed in half.
I use giffgaff who run through the O2 network. £12 a month for 500 minutes, unlimited texts and unlimited data.
I've just move from 3's One Plan, where I had unlimited handset data and unlimited tethering, to an EE SIM Only deal, with unlimited minutes, unlimited texts and 10 gig of data and the difference has been astounding.
I now get 4G everywhere I go and speed tests return 40-60Mbps down and 20 up.
Using 4G (finally!) has proved to be a real night/day experience.
I only did it because EE gave away a SIM with 100GB of data per month for 2 months, so it seemed rude not to!
I stuck £15 of voice calls on it and forwarded all the calls from my 3 SIM to the EE number.
2 days later, I decided to go for the 10 gig SIM Only EE tariff, despite paying £28 per month for a 10 gig allowance, as opposed to £15 to 3 for unlimited everything, but I found a deal that gave me £156 Cashback, which means I'm paying an average of £15 per month.
Out of interest, I've used 1GB in the last 8 days, which makes me realise that I'm one of the people that wanted unlimited data, as opposed to genuinely needing it.
I now get 4G everywhere I go and speed tests return 40-60Mbps down and 20 up.
Using 4G (finally!) has proved to be a real night/day experience.
I only did it because EE gave away a SIM with 100GB of data per month for 2 months, so it seemed rude not to!
I stuck £15 of voice calls on it and forwarded all the calls from my 3 SIM to the EE number.
2 days later, I decided to go for the 10 gig SIM Only EE tariff, despite paying £28 per month for a 10 gig allowance, as opposed to £15 to 3 for unlimited everything, but I found a deal that gave me £156 Cashback, which means I'm paying an average of £15 per month.
Out of interest, I've used 1GB in the last 8 days, which makes me realise that I'm one of the people that wanted unlimited data, as opposed to genuinely needing it.
It obviously depends where you are but Three are getting the title as best right now. O2 which is what I am on has flaky coverage and EE which had great coverage is getting continued reports of poor customer service and dire coverage. Quite a few of my work colleagues here in Cardiff are losing signal around the Capital on EE and when you consider a major headquarters is in South Wales, its very strange indeed. A few months ago coverage was excellent. Their complaints have fallen on deaf ears and my boss is in the process of proceeding with legal action against them as they have failed to live up to expectation and won't terminate his contract to get a decent service elsewhere. Just check out their twitter account for thousands on non-satisfied customers.
3 for me.
EE was slower and had terrible signal.
Also blocked websites randomly even after proving I was over 18!!
3 I havent a single complaint.
EE was slower and had terrible signal.
Also blocked websites randomly even after proving I was over 18!!
3 I havent a single complaint.
I had no real issues with 3, other then getting bored of waiting for 4G and getting annoyed that they are getting rid of the One Plan, when peoples contracts run out.
I find Three to be the best for the unlimited data but EE are quite quick for downloads.
I am super impressed with Three's ping rate and upload very similar to my Fibre connection.
I am super impressed with Three's ping rate and upload very similar to my Fibre connection.
In my immediate family, we're almost all on different networks. 3, giffgaff, O2, EE or Vodafone.
I'm on 3 as it's fairly cheap, and download speeds are fairly good but coverage isn't perfect. A lot better than it was three years ago though. Plus £15 p/m for unlimited data is a good deal.
gg/O2 have pretty good coverage everywhere, but gg is very slow compared to other networks with download speeds.
EE and Vodafone both seem to be very reliable, but they are a lot more expensive.
I'm on 3 as it's fairly cheap, and download speeds are fairly good but coverage isn't perfect. A lot better than it was three years ago though. Plus £15 p/m for unlimited data is a good deal.
gg/O2 have pretty good coverage everywhere, but gg is very slow compared to other networks with download speeds.
EE and Vodafone both seem to be very reliable, but they are a lot more expensive.
Agreed, it's just a shame they have decided to backtrack and move everyone that's on One Plan tariffs off of them and phase it out completely.
It was good while it lasted.
Out of interest where did you get the £156 cashback deal? I see Quidco pay £70. Thanks.
Was with 3 for the 2 years I had an iPhone 5, was more than happy until the last couple of months. The Internet stopped working while at work, nowhere else. Also there were people at work that were on 3 that had no problems. I contacted 3 but nothing changed. I did wonder if I was being throttled by the local cell tower because I downloaded too much data?
Changed to Vodafone when iPhone 6 came out, and got 8GB of data and spottily for £40.50 a month. Enjoying spotify but coverage in Scottish central belt not nearly as good as 3. When I get a 4G signal Internet is pretty fast but I can get 3 or 4 bars of 3G and the Internet crawls. If phone only connects to GPRS, which is quite often at work, you can forget the Internet. I remember when I had O2 and an iPhone 1 and 3 I hardly saw 3G and almost never Edge but the Internet worked even if it was slow, with Vodafone you get lost connection errors.
I'll try Ee next time maybe.
Changed to Vodafone when iPhone 6 came out, and got 8GB of data and spottily for £40.50 a month. Enjoying spotify but coverage in Scottish central belt not nearly as good as 3. When I get a 4G signal Internet is pretty fast but I can get 3 or 4 bars of 3G and the Internet crawls. If phone only connects to GPRS, which is quite often at work, you can forget the Internet. I remember when I had O2 and an iPhone 1 and 3 I hardly saw 3G and almost never Edge but the Internet worked even if it was slow, with Vodafone you get lost connection errors.
I'll try Ee next time maybe.
Three are still going to offer unlimited data for phone usage....it is tethering which is going to be capped.
Yes, sorry, I should have been clearer about that.
It also looks like the plan they are looking to move people to is £23/£28 (1/12 month contract), so more expensive too.
