UK O2 Users: How do you rate O2??

[glanv]

Hi all

I'll be moving to O2 from T-Mobile come Friday (well, hopefully if the 16gb is available). I was interested in how any existing O2 (not necessarily iPhone) users rate the network?

I have always found T-Mobile to be brilliant and I'm really hoping O2 is just as good, if not better.

Any input would be much appreciated....

 

[razorianfly]

I've been with O2 for the last 5-6 years and never had service problems.

Their customer service can be troublesome, and un-informed though.

Overall I'd rate them at 7/10 as a UK service provider,
and they are a better network than some I could name.

R-Fly

 

[glanv]

I've been with O2 for the last 5-6 years and never had service problems.

Their customer service can be troublesome, and un-informed though.

Overall I'd rate them at 7/10 as a UK service provider,
and they are a better network than some I could name.

R-Fly

Thanks R-Fly! I suppose, as long as I get a good signal and good 3g coverage (which according to their map is good for Portsmouth) then I'll be happy. I have hardly ever had to deal with CS for my mobile so I am sure I could handle a one or two uninformed conversations a year!

Glanv

 

[MojoWill]

O2 have great coverage much better than T-Mobile (i used to work for T-Mobile and had a O2 contract!)

 

[neiltc13]

Coverage in my area is awful. The phone rarely gets above 2 bars but with my old phone I got great reception with both Orange and Vodafone. I have never been in a location anywhere in the UK where I've actually had continuous Edge coverage - the E icon sometimes appears but within a few seconds it always goes away no matter where I am.

Let's hope the plastic back on the 3G phone improves things and I won't be holding my breath for O2 to make any sort of investment in my area. A few weeks ago one of their transmitters completely failed near here and coverage was non-existent for a time. 3G coverage will likely be limited to London with all of the rest pretending to have it but never actually delivering.

Oh how I wish another network had won the iPhone contract. Oh well, the broadband is good and I get a £5 discount, bringing it to just £17.50 per month for 8mbit

 

[netdog]

Having signed on with O2 on November 9th, I have been very happy with their service. Just the same as Vodaphone.

 

[t0mat0]

Hi all

I'll be moving to O2 from T-Mobile come Friday (well, hopefully if the 16gb is available). I was interested in how any existing O2 (not necessarily iPhone) users rate the network?

I have always found T-Mobile to be brilliant and I'm really hoping O2 is just as good, if not better.

Any input would be much appreciated....

Network 3G coverage can be found here: http://www.webmap.o2.co.uk/ or ask in-store now, and they'll show you what you can get locally (2G, 3G, HSDPA, and also mast positions and all other sorts of things).

No real downtime on the data network except sometimes in the wee hours for routine mainenance I guess.

Customer services can be useful, and generally very cheery, when you get through to them. Their 100 customer services phone system is much nicer than BT - generally you can get hold of a rep.

Beyond that - pop into an O2 shop whenever you forget to bring a charger with you - they've got a universal charger machine that'll charge up the battery in half an hour. When the stores aren't busy, most all the reps i've spoken to are friendly, and love talking about the iPhone amongst other things.
Having seen Orange stores, CW stores etc - the O2 reps seem much more tuned in.

 

[glanv]

Thanks for posting everyone...seems pretty good so far! Except for poster in Fife. However, that is almost the opposite end of the country to where I am so coverage is likely to be very different.

 

[neiltc13]

Thanks for posting everyone...seems pretty good so far! Except for poster in Fife. However, that is almost the opposite end of the country to where I am so coverage is likely to be very different.

Well I'm only a short drive from Edinburgh, it's not like I'm out in the Highlands or anything.

 

[Petoz]

I've been with O2 for the entirety of having a mobile phone. Probably over 10 years I think. I have never had any problems with them, on both pay and go when I was younger, and on contracts for the last however many years. Never had a problem with coverage. In my house last year, I was the only one with reception, as my housemates were on other networks.

 

[cdownton]

I've been with T-mobile then Orange. A few months ago I got sim only with O2.

I think O2 are better than both of them. T-mobile had unresponsive customer services, although the online help system was good and they would call you back. Also very good value for money.
I had the worst ever experience with Orange - right down to one of their people telling me they were a mobile company not a web company when I complained I couldn't get the online billing system to work!! Calls dropped all the time and GPRS with them was terrible.
O2 is much better in comparison - good customer service, nice 'treats', good web billing interface. Very good coverage, although perhaps not quite as extensive 3G as others. And you get great broadband if you want it too.

Bring on Friday!!

 

[sallythemac]

I have been with o2 since it was BTCellnet, with only a brief switch to Orange when they had an awesome student offer. I think they are a great carrier, signal, customer services, stores and great value for money - just ask anyone with a Genie Sim!

 

[glanv]

Well I'm only a short drive from Edinburgh, it's not like I'm out in the Highlands or anything.

Sorry mate - didn't mean my post offensively, just meant that Portsmouth is a long way from Fife and hopefully won't have similar coverage probs. O2 should sort your coverage out!

Cheers!

I've been with T-mobile then Orange. A few months ago I got sim only with O2.

I think O2 are better than both of them. T-mobile had unresponsive customer services, although the online help system was good and they would call you back. Also very good value for money.
I had the worst ever experience with Orange - right down to one of their people telling me they were a mobile company not a web company when I complained I couldn't get the online billing system to work!! Calls dropped all the time and GPRS with them was terrible.
O2 is much better in comparison - good customer service, nice 'treats', good web billing interface. Very good coverage, although perhaps not quite as extensive 3G as others. And you get great broadband if you want it too.

Bring on Friday!!

Hi cdownton

I have cable (Virgin) broadband and have always been a bit wary of adsl broadband - is O2's a good service then?

 

[neiltc13]

Hi cdownton

I have cable (Virgin) broadband and have always been a bit wary of adsl broadband - is O2's a good service then?

O2 have two different types of broadband available. ADSL and ADSL2+ (which is provided via "Local Loop Unbundling", a process which involves O2 putting their equipment at your local telephone exchange). Both are generally regarded to be very good as they are served by arguably the UK's best ISP, Be, which O2 acquired some time ago.

Visit http://www.samknows.com/broadband/search.php to find out what LLU services are available from your telephone exchange. Generally LLU providers are much better than regular ADSL.

I have the regular ADSL service, because like their mobile coverage it hasn't reached my town yet. We got broadband in 2003, a long time after many other places.

 

[SayCheese]

I signed up with O2 on November 9th last year when I got the original iPhone. I have not had a problem with them at all. I even recently signed up to their broadband service.

The only complaint is that they are not giving out any information about the new iPhone.

 

[glanv]

O2 have two different types of broadband available. ADSL and ADSL2+ (which is provided via "Local Loop Unbundling", a process which involves O2 putting their equipment at your local telephone exchange). Both are generally regarded to be very good as they are served by arguably the UK's best ISP, Be, which O2 acquired some time ago.

Visit http://www.samknows.com/broadband/search.php to find out what LLU services are available from your telephone exchange. Generally LLU providers are much better than regular ADSL.

I have the regular ADSL service, because like their mobile coverage it hasn't reached my town yet. We got broadband in 2003, a long time after many other places.

Thanks neiltc13

I may well consider it as my monthly "media" bill is massive:

Virgin Phone & BB £25
Sky HD £57
iPhone (soon) £35 (possibly £45)
TOTAL £117 (possibly £127)

Then there's also my girlfriend's mobile bill of £30! Modern life is so very expensive!!

O2 have two different types of broadband available. ADSL and ADSL2+ (which is provided via "Local Loop Unbundling", a process which involves O2 putting their equipment at your local telephone exchange). Both are generally regarded to be very good as they are served by arguably the UK's best ISP, Be, which O2 acquired some time ago.

Visit http://www.samknows.com/broadband/search.php to find out what LLU services are available from your telephone exchange. Generally LLU providers are much better than regular ADSL.

I have the regular ADSL service, because like their mobile coverage it hasn't reached my town yet. We got broadband in 2003, a long time after many other places.

neiltc13

What is an LLU? I am so used to cable bb that I don not know much about other forms.

Cheers

 

[ACDeag]

Hi cdownton

I have cable (Virgin) broadband and have always been a bit wary of adsl broadband - is O2's a good service then?

I was wary of ADSL as well, however O2 broadband £10 a month and I actually get the advertised speed, far better than Virgin ever managed.

 

[neiltc13]

neiltc13

What is an LLU? I am so used to cable bb that I don not know much about other forms.

Cheers

LLU is just a term used to describe the fact that the ISP has placed their own equipment in your local telephone exchange. If the connection is not LLU then it is provided by BT and your provider just re-sells BT's product.

 

[nick9191]

O2 and Virgin are my favourite network providers.

 

[Mac-Addict]

I've been with o2 for about a year now and they are a good network, I get 3g signal all where I live, customer service are very good, easy to understand but sometimes lacking of knowledge. Pricing is ok, abroad pricing is a bit more pricer than other networks. I should know I racked up £100+ worth of texts to twitter, admittedly my fault. Overall a good network.

 

[sjw]

Another happy O2 customer here. Never had a problem with them! Always had good experiences dealing with their customer service.

 

[chrissmash]

Hey dude,

I have been with o2 since they were BT cellnet and I have never had coverage problems at all!

Theyre in store staff in Northern Ireland however I have 90% of the time considered to be useless.

But O2 coverage itself is excellent and the service is gd, just not the instore staff as much....im sure there are a few exceptions though.

 

[iPhelim]

In cities and large towns their coverage is usually excellent, but unfortunately at my house i have to hold it to a window to get two bars.... i find their website rather unhelpful and everyone they employ at their stores seems to be utterly useless and rude I've been with them since November like a lot of people and tbh you barely notice that you're with O2 if you have an iPhone since nothing of theirs is on it.

 

[moabon.rob]

I've been with o2 for the past 5-6 years, and stuff has only gotten better. Signal has been great in most places, dying out a bit in a more rural bit of Norfolk, dying out more in some remote areas of Wales and Scotland... Overall though, has been better (on the whole) than other providers. It was better in Scotland (near Loch Lomond) than T-mobile (3-4 bars compared to none). It is fantastic for me in the South (Southampton), and locally, around Southampton University, it is full signal, whilst the likes of Orange dies out - which, I have to say, is quite shocking to me.

EDIT: o2 online customer service (my main port of call with the o2 online SIM) has generally been good, although as can be seen in this forum there is conflicting info regarding PAYG and the new iPhone 3G from emails, so I guess they aren't as good as I thought - though I've not really had to use them much!

And slightly OT: I'm currently on an o2 PAYG online SIM -- one that has similar rates to those advertised for the new iPhone; for £10/month I get 300 free texts, 1Mb free internet (which on my crappy phone with my current rare usage suffices) and of course the £10 in credit, cost is something like 20p/min for the first 3 mins, then 5p/min thereafter to landline numbers and o2 numbers, 20p/min all the time to non-o2 mobiles, and 3 or 4 times a year I get 10% of my topups back in the form of more credit...

By the sounds of things, the tariffs for PAYG iPhone 3G are the same as this, so I could use this and pay an extra £10/month for the unlimited wifi, giving a fairly good deal in my opinion!

 

[Sanzu08]

pretty good

I've been with them since the Iphone came out and I think that there good - I'd say 8/10.

I have also moved my broadband to them and am happy with that.