3 Network Coverage

ta10

I am on 3 now but deciding whether to remain on the network or switch to another one at the end of my contract.

Is there 3 network coverage as bad as it is made out to be? I have never used any other networks for my personal phone so I have nothing to compare them to. I am based in London by the way.

Thx

DarkConvict

I have never used 3 myself, but from these forums i believe it is the customer service aspect of 3 that lets them down alot, in addition to changing terms and conditions and mis-selling or misleading information on sales of contract.

Sorry its not information on Coverage thou, i honestly don't know. I have used Vodafoen and orange. Found Orange is fantastic in my home town where i use it most. But Vodafone was far better in newquay than any other provider. I was the only guy with a signal on the stag do. So it does depend on where you plan to use it most.
If you want to check yourself in the areas you use alot, get some free sims and then a unlocked handset and just try the sims to see what signal you get. Don't just rely on the website coverage plots of signal coverage, as they are just coverage plots (a simulation) so aren't 100% accurate.

property.advert

Where I am, 3 is not good. I tried a handset to use Skype and found it would not work. Thus, the top end of the 3G services were not working.

I had Orange in London from the mid 1990s until 2003 or so and they were the best. Much more choice nowadays but stupidly long contracts, probably because people will just not pay for their phones.

You have to ask yourself just what attracted you to 3 and whether that is sufficient reason to remain. I hear that 3 retention offers are quite good and you build up a loyalty bonus but the downside is poor customer relations.

Work out the deals first across other networks including SIM only etc. and then see what attracts you.

Snakeeyes21

3 arent half as bad as some people make out.
they have the largest 3g network in the uk, and fall back on orange for 2g connection, i have yet to come across a spot where i cant get signal.
but their customer service is shockingly bad, but what networks isnt.
alot of people who bad mouth havent used them since the early days when they first started up, but 3 have pulled their socks up in the last couple of years, they are winning awards left right and center.
if they could sort out ther customer services they would be the best network out there.

Danger_Fourpence

Snakeeyes21 wrote: »

3 arent half as bad as some people make out.
they have the largest 3g network in the uk, and fall back on orange for 2g connection, i have yet to come across a spot where i cant get signal.

I'll invite you round. . .:rotfl:

epz_2

Ill hold my hands up and say many years ago i worked for three, the biggest problem on the customer services side was a that upper management didnt give a !!!! or try to sort out the process, the list of people asking for pac codes was done on a excel spreadsheet !!!!!!.

also there were some pretty shady deals done early on so NEC got a share in the company and built half the network and also persuaded 3 to buy millions of cruddy handsets at ripoff prices.

that said this was a long time ago and some of this was caused by the introduction of 3g, but now all support has been shipped to india you are likely stuffed if you get a complicated problem.

Most people dont get issues but it wouldnt chance it with them, reception wise there was also a LOT of probs with the network handing over between 3g and 2g so if you were somewhere with a very weak 3g signal but strong 2g signal it was constantly causing dropped calls.

jebervic

I've always found the network coverage to be ok, as for CS, the Istaff at Indian call centres are alays polite and helpful, whereas i've always found the staff at the Exec office and the Scottish call centre to be quite rude.

Old_Gold

jebervic wrote: »

I've always found the network coverage to be ok, as for CS, the Istaff at Indian call centres are alays polite and helpful, whereas i've always found the staff at the Exec office and the Scottish call centre to be quite rude.

The CS in India are being rude - its just that you dont understand them.:eek:

jebervic

Old_Gold wrote: »

The CS in India are being rude - its just that you dont understand them.:eek:

They're fine, always been helpful to me, I think there is a certain amount of racial bias against Indian call centres, but hey im not getting into that.

greyster

ta10 wrote: »

I am on 3 now but deciding whether to remain on the network or switch to another one at the end of my contract.

Is there 3 network coverage as bad as it is made out to be? I have never used any other networks for my personal phone so I have nothing to compare them to. I am based in London by the way.

Thx

if you live in london, you're not really going to have much of a problem with any network. If you leave 3, leave only because a) you hate the Customer Services or b) you found a better deal. I wouldn't jump for the sake of coverage.

DarkConvict

Off topic. 3 became so expensive due to paying i believe £22bn for the spectrum to run 3g. First buy of its kind so it forced high costs for use of the technology. In other countries they paid no where near that figure even if you count in the number of users per square kilometre. The high price followed by cost cutting maybe why the customer service is how it is.