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Im almost certain ill be going with Three in the UK, on a sim only deal. £15 a month. However im also still tempted by O2s simplicity tarrifs.

Ive been warned that when you buy an iPhone direct from Apple, £500 16g for example... that as soon as you put one networks sim inside, thats it. Your new phone is tied to that network from then on. Is this the case? As you buy what is essentially an unlocked iPhone from Apple can you not switch from Three to O2 every other month if you really wanted too?

Also, id be interested to hear what people think comparing Three and O2 as an iPhone service provider. Ive heard mix opinions from various shops, as you do :), as to whos best, whos got the quickest network?

One other question id like to ask... teathering on Three. Anyone had experience with this? On O2 you need to pay an additional £10 ontop of any contract to have this ability. How does it work on Three? Is there a similar charge?

Cheers

Three is faster, cheaper and unlimited tethering.

O2- their calls cut alot, slow, sometimes no service, and after certain times during the day no customer service you have to call during working hours.

With three- 24/7 you can call.
 
Im almost certain ill be going with Three in the UK, on a sim only deal. £15 a month. However im also still tempted by O2s simplicity tarrifs.

Ive been warned that when you buy an iPhone direct from Apple, £500 16g for example... that as soon as you put one networks sim inside, thats it. Your new phone is tied to that network from then on. Is this the case? As you buy what is essentially an unlocked iPhone from Apple can you not switch from Three to O2 every other month if you really wanted too?

Also, id be interested to hear what people think comparing Three and O2 as an iPhone service provider. Ive heard mix opinions from various shops, as you do :), as to whos best, whos got the quickest network?

One other question id like to ask... teathering on Three. Anyone had experience with this? On O2 you need to pay an additional £10 ontop of any contract to have this ability. How does it work on Three? Is there a similar charge?

Cheers

Utter rubbish... it does in no way lock once you put a sim card in. Sim free is sim free. I've had like 4 iPhone 4s all sim free and not one locked once I put a sim card in.
 
Im almost certain ill be going with Three in the UK, on a sim only deal. £15 a month. However im also still tempted by O2s simplicity tarrifs.

Ive been warned that when you buy an iPhone direct from Apple, £500 16g for example... that as soon as you put one networks sim inside, thats it. Your new phone is tied to that network from then on. Is this the case? As you buy what is essentially an unlocked iPhone from Apple can you not switch from Three to O2 every other month if you really wanted too?

Also, id be interested to hear what people think comparing Three and O2 as an iPhone service provider. Ive heard mix opinions from various shops, as you do :), as to whos best, whos got the quickest network?

One other question id like to ask... teathering on Three. Anyone had experience with this? On O2 you need to pay an additional £10 ontop of any contract to have this ability. How does it work on Three? Is there a similar charge?

Cheers

If you have a quick search in the forum you'll find a lot of comments on 3's service as a lot of us jumped from O2 to 3, myself included. Nothing but praise in the main as I now get excellent reception & 3G in all the areas that O2 were lacking - not just London where I live but out at my brothers & parents who live in more rural areas. Some say that it's only the big cities that get good coverage, but in my personal experience its been excellent.

You do miss out on visual voicemail, but I use ON Voicefeed which does the exact same thing but with more bells & whistles like different voicemail greetings for anyone you want, or groups of people.

Whoever told you about your phone becoming locked after putting in the sim is talking utter nonsense. I bought my 4 unlocked, and it's with that phone I moved from O2 to 3, no issues at all. Your phone is unlocked and it will stay that way.

Another good thing about 3 is the fact the tethering is free. No £10 charge. Tethering works the same way on any network as its a phone function, it's the charges that vary from network to network. I've only ever used it once just to try out, but it works exactly like you'd expect, and it's a nice thing to have available as an option.
 
The big problem is they now no longer fall back to Orange everywhere like they used to. In areas where they feel their 3G coverage is good enough they have turned off the option to fall back to Orange but that has caused more blackspots than they had before.

Ah man that sucks. Wasn't aware of that. 3G coverage is good enough where I live so that's ok :)
 
Brilliant, just what I wanted to hear. Many Thanks everyone for answering my questions so quickly!

I was a bit wary when I was told about the sim locking... glad you guys could clear that up for me! Great to hear I can swap when I choose.

Three it is :) Excellent. thank you.
 
Im almost certain ill be going with Three in the UK, on a sim only deal. £15 a month. However im also still tempted by O2s simplicity tarrifs.

Ive been warned that when you buy an iPhone direct from Apple, £500 16g for example... that as soon as you put one networks sim inside, thats it. Your new phone is tied to that network from then on. Is this the case? As you buy what is essentially an unlocked iPhone from Apple can you not switch from Three to O2 every other month if you really wanted too?

Also, id be interested to hear what people think comparing Three and O2 as an iPhone service provider. Ive heard mix opinions from various shops, as you do :), as to whos best, whos got the quickest network?

One other question id like to ask... teathering on Three. Anyone had experience with this? On O2 you need to pay an additional £10 ontop of any contract to have this ability. How does it work on Three? Is there a similar charge?

Cheers

I think that threes 3G speeds are faster. Their 3G coverage is better. I'd get which ever has the best coverage at your work/home.
 
Three is faster, cheaper and unlimited tethering.

O2- their calls cut alot, slow, sometimes no service, and after certain times during the day no customer service you have to call during working hours.

With three- 24/7 you can call.

Seriously, are you on commission? I have never seen anything like how much you push Three. :confused:
 
He is right however about 3. I have the mifi with them and its blazing fast. I have been on 02 for years with my iPhone and the 3g is so slow!!.
Just jumped ship today to 3 on a 4s, going to see how good the tethering is and if it is i will try and get out of my contract with the mifi as daft paying for both.
 
Just my 2p on the three vs O2 (and other carriers debate)...

Where I am in Northern Ireland, 3 have the best 3G coverage. As far as I know, it's been shown by several independent surveys that its the best in the UK.

But, and its a giant BUT, I wouldn't touch three with a barge pole. Back when I got my iPad 1st Gen I went with the three plan as it was, and still is like their phone plans, the best data for your money. But dealing with their Customer Service centre, trying to cancel contracts, the lack of knowledge and ability to help you in a store by the stores staff, the way they bombard you with CS calls after you buy a phone; well they can ****** right off with that.

If you are happy and can live with shocking CS anytime you might need to phone them, and being locked to a 24 month contract, then you are a better man than me with the patience of a saint. Maybe they have changed, but I ain't even going to try them out again. I've had no issues of a similar kind with my personal carrier O2, or my works preferred carrier Vodafone.

And it will be one less person for me to queue up against on Friday at my local O2 store.... :D
 
...
Ive been warned that when you buy an iPhone direct from Apple, £500 16g for example... that as soon as you put one networks sim inside, thats it. Your new phone is tied to that network from then on. Is this the case?....

That is only for phones bought on contract or PAYG. You can eventually get the phone unlocked for a price and after a minimum period of time.
 
Thanks
its so frustrating i'll keep trying like the post says but thinking it might be worth leaving till much later when it will be quieter.
using the Quidco deal or i would be happy to queue on friday morning for it


Yeah I persisted because of quidco, was getting pretty frustrating and if it wasn't going to happen online I probably wasn't going to bite.. but hey order isnt confirmed yet (still) so I may still get no-where.. it has oddly tracked on quidco though!!
 
Three is faster, cheaper and unlimited tethering.

O2- their calls cut alot, slow, sometimes no service, and after certain times during the day no customer service you have to call during working hours.

With three- 24/7 you can call.

Anyone I know with three has had loads of issues. And my only experience with them is bad.

Might just be my area or luck. But one thing I can say for sure is take nothing the above quoted guy says seriously. He just seems to spam LOVE for three all over the forums.
 
Im almost certain ill be going with Three in the UK, on a sim only deal. £15 a month. However im also still tempted by O2s simplicity tarrifs.

Ive been warned that when you buy an iPhone direct from Apple, £500 16g for example... that as soon as you put one networks sim inside, thats it. Your new phone is tied to that network from then on. Is this the case? As you buy what is essentially an unlocked iPhone from Apple can you not switch from Three to O2 every other month if you really wanted too?

Also, id be interested to hear what people think comparing Three and O2 as an iPhone service provider. Ive heard mix opinions from various shops, as you do :), as to whos best, whos got the quickest network?

One other question id like to ask... teathering on Three. Anyone had experience with this? On O2 you need to pay an additional £10 ontop of any contract to have this ability. How does it work on Three? Is there a similar charge?

Cheers

Spoke to three the other day and was told tethering isn't included in their cheaper sim only tariffs, only the one plans. Tethering is included in all o2s data packages. I'm considering the switch from O2 to three but concerned as I use tethering a lot.
 
Im almost certain ill be going with Three in the UK, on a sim only deal. £15 a month. However im also still tempted by O2s simplicity tarrifs.

Ive been warned that when you buy an iPhone direct from Apple, £500 16g for example... that as soon as you put one networks sim inside, thats it. Your new phone is tied to that network from then on. Is this the case? As you buy what is essentially an unlocked iPhone from Apple can you not switch from Three to O2 every other month if you really wanted too?

Also, id be interested to hear what people think comparing Three and O2 as an iPhone service provider. Ive heard mix opinions from various shops, as you do :), as to whos best, whos got the quickest network?

One other question id like to ask... teathering on Three. Anyone had experience with this? On O2 you need to pay an additional £10 ontop of any contract to have this ability. How does it work on Three? Is there a similar charge?

Cheers

I am in rural Wales but travel down to london a fair amount. I was with O2 for my first iPhone and the 3g was awful .. switched to Orange for the iphone 4 and that's been pretty bad too (especially in my home town although on their 'coverage map' it's supposed to be brilliant!!!!)
I have switched to Three for my iPad and the 3g is excellent .. far, far better than anything I've got on a phone before (or since!) .. I'll be switching to Three PAYG with the iphone 4S ..
I have had to deal with their Customer Services and have found that as long as I was firm but pleasant they were absolutely fine. I had to be pretty determined NOT to get signed up to the other stuff they were trying to get me to join though! lol
 
This will be my first unlocked phone, and before it has even arrived, i am loving it already.

I've got my GiffGaff sim ready to activate, and a 3 sim on £15/month contract which is only 1 month at a time so I can cancel whenever.

Right now i have an iPhone 4 on O2. And i have 4 bars of signal, not 3G, not even EDGE, just normal crappy phone signal - internet browsing is impossible.

GiffGaff uses o2, so i have gone with them as a 'back up' in the event i have no signal at all with 3 which seems unlikely. The chances are 3 has better signal than o2 where i live. If they are bad i will just end my contract and it will of only cost me £15, no big deal.

Unlocked is definitely the way to go :)
 
I was considering switching to 3, if they had better signal but I put a 3 sim in my iPhone 4 and it kept switching between 1 bar and no service and its not like I live in the middle of nowhere.

O2 (or GiffGaff) I always at least get something so I can still make calls and texts.

I think threes downfall has been getting rid of the orange fallback in some areas, it an attempt to save costs. They have obviously done this based on theoretical coverage, rather than what their coverage is like in reality. Plus last time I was with 3 (back when they did have orange to fall back to in my area) they managed to lose my number whilst porting it from Virgin, and the customer service was terrible.
 
Has anybody ordered direct with Orange and got an indication on stock levels & delivery for the 14th?

Ordered mine a few hours ago...all they say is that delivery can take up to 30 days! :eek:

They apparently took 4000 orders on day 1 and it depends on how many they get from apple and how long it takes them to ship them!
 
O2 charge you extra for tethering? It says on their website that all the data boltons include it?? :s Is this a lie?
 
Spoke to three the other day and was told tethering isn't included in their cheaper sim only tariffs, only the one plans. Tethering is included in all o2s data packages. I'm considering the switch from O2 to three but concerned as I use tethering a lot.

I switched to the one plan in May with unlimited data which does not get throttled, that does have free tethering, 2000 mins, 5000 texts, 5,000 3 to 3 minutes, I am on sim only for £25.

Never had to call customer services luckily (used to be with them years ago and the experience of customer services was terrible then), the signal is great for me in West Wales, Bristol and London.
 
managed to sell my iphone 4 32gb for £350, preordered form apple a 32gb 4s. Still on 02 simplicity old tariff with 600 mins unlimted texts and data for £20 a month.
Just wondering if there are any better tariffs out there, most seem to restrict data allowances?
 
O2 charge you extra for tethering? It says on their website that all the data boltons include it?? :s Is this a lie?

They only charge extra for tethering if you are on one of the older tariffs, all the tariffs they offer at the moment include tethering when you buy the standard data bolt ons.
 
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