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Three Uk - 3G, Edge, ..?

F

faffoo

macrumors 6502
Original poster
May 22, 2008
293
46
Glasgow, UK
Hi guys,

I have just got the iPhone 4 on three uk on the £30 a month option. I have heard online and in store that If you have no 3G coverage, you get no data at all.
If this is true, then why do I get a circle next to 3 on iPhone signal bar area sometimes. And I even get E sometimes.

My questions:
are all of these symbols showing the same signals from three?
If three do not have a GPRS signal, what am I getting when the circle shows?
Am I being charged extra for the other connection types (GPRS, 3G)

Apart from this,
Three are amazing and the free tethering is great!
Best regards
Faffoo
 
faffoo said:
My questions:
are all of these symbols showing the same signals from three?
If three do not have a GPRS signal, what am I getting when the circle shows?
Am I being charged extra for the other connection types (GPRS, 3G)
Click to expand...

You can still browse the internet on GPRS/EDGE at no extra charge - they use the Orange network for that so GSM coverage and EDGE availability is the same as Orange customers experience.

Some people get confused because (on some phones - I don't have an iPhone so I don't know about it) the way that 3 has implemented GSM roaming means that it might warn you about roaming charges or turn off data entirely until you turn it on yourself, because it thinks you are abroad and might be charged. But you won't.
 
Up til a few days ago I couldn't browse on EDGE or GPRS either, seems like I can now so that's great. No extra charges at all (used it before on my old Nokia phone).

And yeah, Three are awesome :)
 
sorchard said:
You can still browse the internet on GPRS/EDGE at no extra charge - they use the Orange network for that so GSM coverage and EDGE availability is the same as Orange customers experience.

Some people get confused because (on some phones - I don't have an iPhone so I don't know about it) the way that 3 has implemented GSM roaming means that it might warn you about roaming charges or turn off data entirely until you turn it on yourself, because it thinks you are abroad and might be charged. But you won't.
Click to expand...

vitaminz said:
Up til a few days ago I couldn't browse on EDGE or GPRS either, seems like I can now so that's great. No extra charges at all (used it before on my old Nokia phone).

And yeah, Three are awesome :)
Click to expand...

That was fast!

So why do Three tell you that you can not do that?

Thats great though?
Another thing I noticed. I drove along one road and the signal i was getting was GPRS. I then came back in the opposite direction along that exact same stretch of road and it was 3G. Weird!

I love three and I especially love how they are offering some sensible pricing!!
 
faffoo said:
So why do Three tell you that you can not do that?
Click to expand...

Do what? They completely allow you to use the internet on your phone on GPRS and always have. If I go to the 3 mobile site (http://mobile.three.co.uk) on my non-iPhone it tells me not to worry about data roaming charges and that all is well.

I'm not sure why you have tethering enabled, as 3 generally don't allow that and I believe the operator can turn it on and off with the iPhone.
 
sorchard said:
Do what? They completely allow you to use the internet on your phone on GPRS and always have. If I go to the 3 mobile site (http://mobile.three.co.uk) on my non-iPhone it tells me not to worry about data roaming charges and that all is well.

I'm not sure why you have tethering enabled, as 3 generally don't allow that and I believe the operator can turn it on and off with the iPhone.
Click to expand...

When i spoke to them in store they said:
You can not use the internet on the iPhone 4 when you do not have 3G signal. You can still use voice and text though.
Click to expand...

And tethering has always been a feature that three provide free with iPhone contracts
 
faffoo said:
Also guys,

When i use GPS, does that come out of my data allowance?
best regards
faffoo
Click to expand...

Anything that uses the internet (such as Maps, which I believe downloads mapping images and data) will come out of your data allowance.

As for tethering, it must be a new change. They've never explicitly allowed it on any other phone that they sell. I wonder if that will change, since they don't have iPhone-only plans - they are the same plans that you can get SIM-only or with other phones.
 
i believe that up until very recently, if you didn't have 3G reception, you couldn't use data and only use Voice and Texts on GPRS. Apparently this has changed, since they had so many complaints. I think there is something about it on the 3g.co.uk forums about it that I saw mentioned on a forum I visit.
 
Gamst said:
i believe that up until very recently, if you didn't have 3G reception, you couldn't use data and only use Voice and Texts on GPRS. Apparently this has changed, since they had so many complaints. I think there is something about it on the 3g.co.uk forums about it that I saw mentioned on a forum I visit.
Click to expand...

I've been on 3 for years and I've been able to do data on GPRS. I heard that they stopped broadband dongles from being able to access Orange's network though.
 
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