Unused minutes - pay as you go

ChapelGirl

I have a 3G contract with 3 but I sometimes travel to areas with no 3G coverage, so I need a backup phone on a 2G network (I have confirmed with 3's technical support line that I cannot connect to a 2G network with my existing phone, even using a different SIM card.)

The best option for me seems to be a pay as you go deal. I already have a cheap unlocked handset so I don't need a new phone.

None of the comparison sites seem to tell you how long the top-ups last before they automatically expire. I have been caught like this before - thinking I had £10 credit when I hadn't used the phone for a while and the minutes had expired. Inconvenient, and a waste of money! That can make the cost per minute of secondary importance if you don't use the phone a lot.

Does anyone know of a site where I can compare network providers and top-up options for this? Usually the more you pay the longer you get, but this can be a gamble too, as you can end up adding more and more to your credit for the sake of rolling it forward, which is of course how they make their money.

Jon_01

They're all much the same, you top up (say £10) and as long as you make a chargeable call or send a text once every 6 months your credit stays there.
There was a comment on here a while back saying that Virgin has a longer period of inactivity before they close the acc, I think it was 12 months ?

grimlea

yes jon virgin has 365 days.

robt_2

ChapelGirl wrote: »

I have a 3G contract with 3 but I sometimes travel to areas with no 3G coverage, so I need a backup phone on a 2G network (I have confirmed with 3's technical support line that I cannot connect to a 2G network with my existing phone, even using a different SIM card.)

That is very odd and possibly incorrect. What handset do you have? If you go somewhere with no 3G coverage your phone should automatically use the 2G network (Orange) without you noticing or having to do anything.

ChapelGirl

robt wrote: »

That is very odd and possibly incorrect. What handset do you have? If you go somewhere with no 3G coverage your phone should automatically use the 2G network (Orange) without you noticing or having to do anything.

I can confirm that my 3G phone does not work in the area around the Norfolk/Suffolk border. It is a Nokia N73 on the 3 network. Perhaps there is a setting which is currently turned off?

Anyway, the 3 technical helpdesk in India said I could try manually picking a different network (Orange). I have not tried that yet, but I did ask if it would be a 3G or a 2G service and he said 3G. I have looked on the Orange site and I don't think they give 3G coverage in that area either.

I think something may have got lost in the translation, because I was speaking to him about the 3 service and 2G and 3G, and English was definitely not his first language. He probably has no idea where East Anglia is either!

It did seem a bit daft that a 3G phone would end up being less useful than a 2G one, but I just put it down to one of those "gotchas" they don't tell you about in the shop.

owitemisermusa

Hmmm... AFAIK, most phones would automatically select/switch depending on signal availability. My old N70 does that without trouble (on O2).
Either 3 are being silly and uninformed, the network has a problem or you have a duff phone.

robt_2

ChapelGirl wrote: »

I can confirm that my 3G phone does not work in the area around the Norfolk/Suffolk border. It is a Nokia N73 on the 3 network. Perhaps there is a setting which is currently turned off?

Anyway, the 3 technical helpdesk in India said I could try manually picking a different network (Orange). I have not tried that yet, but I did ask if it would be a 3G or a 2G service and he said 3G. I have looked on the Orange site and I don't think they give 3G coverage in that area either.

I think something may have got lost in the translation, because I was speaking to him about the 3 service and 2G and 3G, and English was definitely not his first language. He probably has no idea where East Anglia is either!

It did seem a bit daft that a 3G phone would end up being less useful than a 2G one, but I just put it down to one of those "gotchas" they don't tell you about in the shop.

On a Nokia phone, if you go into Settings/Phone/Network you should have a setting called 'Network Mode' and the setting should be 'Dual'. This means that if there is no 3G signal the phone will use Oranges* 2G signal, and only then, if neither signal is available, you will have no signal to be able to make calls/texts etc.

Hope that helps - if it doesn't then there is always a possibility that your phone is broke, or that by coincidence there is no signal at all where you are, whether 2G by Orange or 3G by Three.

* To the end user, ie you, you will not know who provides the signal, your phone will still say '3' or 'Three' as the network provider.

Tigert

EDIT - Robt beat me to it!

I used to have an N73 on 3 and can confirm that they do happily switch between 2G and 3G as required.

It will be under phone settings then, Network settings and will be something like Network mode - It will have 2 options which I think will be something like Dual Mode and 3G and you need so set it to Dual mode. (I'm guessing these as I don't have the phone anymore but it will be something similar)

If its already set to that then then you are just not getting a signal in some places, so don't get an Orange phone as your backup as that probably won't work either.

ChapelGirl

I have looked in the manual for the N73 and it says:

Your device can automatically switch between the GSM and UMTS networks. The GSM network is indicated with (symbol) in the standby mode. The UMTS network is indicated with (symbol) .

Network mode (shown only if supported by the network operator)—Select which network to use. If you select Dual mode, the device uses the GSM or UMTS network automatically, according to the network parameters and the roaming agreements between the network operators.
Contact your network operator for more details.

Operator selection—Select Automatic to set the device to search for and select one of the available networks, or Manual to manually select the network from a list of networks. If the connection to the manually selected network is lost, the device sounds an error tone and asks you to reselect a network. The selected network must have a roaming agreement with your home network, that is, the operator whose SIM card is in your device.

Glossary: A roaming agreement is an agreement between two or more network service providers to enable the users of one service provider to use the services of other service providers.

When I go to this menu on my phone all I see is Operator selection (Automatic) and Cell info display (On).
If I try and change the Operator selection to Manual nothing at all happens, and the menu closes itself. When I go back in, it is still set to Automatic. It looks like I have a problem with the phone or with 3, or perhaps with both.