iPhone - Orange or 02

sky_rat

Which would be the best network to go for ?

Like alot of people, I was hoping there would be a price war when Orange started selling the iPhone.

But the prices are exactly the same as O2.

So the decision now is who is the best provider.

The 750Mb data limit on the Orange network puts me off, but then 'apparently' Orange have a better 3G coverage than O2.

Having never owned a phone with internet, how much data would the average person download ?

For home broadband 750Mb is terrible, but on a mobile phone would you ever be likely to reach this limit ?

Ive been looking at getting an iPhone for over a year and the high prices have always put me off.

First I waited for the new iPhone 3GS to come out, but when it did the high price put me straight off it.

Ive just started using more minutes and texts so my phone bill has increased significantly lately (last one was over £100) - im only on a £15 monthly contract with Vodafone.

So I cant carry this on and need to get a new tariff and new phone (my phone is over 3 years old).

But will Vodafone bring the price of the iPhone down when they start selling and are Vodafone a better provider than Orange and O2 ?

I can knock £120 off the cost of an iPhone by getting £60 cashback from Quidco and £60 for my old phone from Fonebank.

movilogo

Go whichever is cheaper.

O2 offers to unlock iPhone legally. Not sure about Orange.
O2 has usually better network coverage too.
If you have O2 broadband, you can get £5/month discount by taking O2 phone.

sky_rat

movilogo wrote: »

Go whichever is cheaper.

But both networks charge the same tarrifs and phone prices !

movilogo wrote: »

O2 offers to unlock iPhone legally. Not sure about Orange.

This has only just been anounced hasnt it ? A marketing trick by O2 to try and keep existing customers and get new customers.

movilogo wrote: »

If you have O2 broadband, you can get £5/month discount by taking O2 phone.

This is something I am considering because I havent yet got broadband and will need to get it (when I find a house).

The money I save on broadband will help negate the expensive cost of the tarrifs.

Is O2 broadband any good though ?

movilogo wrote: »

O2 has usually better network coverage too.

Does it ? I thought Orange had a better 3G coverage ?

Apparently theres more to it than just looking at the maps. Capacity plays a part in it as well. Its no good having 100% coverage if it cant handle too many people using it.

Ive been looking at getting an iphone for over a year and looking and waiting for ways to get it cheaper.

But it seems it aint gonna happen and Ill just have to bite the bullet.

Sol00

movilogo wrote: »

Go whichever is cheaper.

O2 offers to unlock iPhone legally. Not sure about Orange.
O2 has usually better network coverage too.
If you have O2 broadband, you can get £5/month discount by taking O2 phone.

From my own experience and others from here and O2's forum, Orange has better coverage overall in comparison to O2.

Andyblizz

I think if you are in a city.

Orange maybe better. As they have less "Smart" data sucking phones on there network at the moment.

As i have heard that around London O2 Data network is slower due to the number of "smart" handsets.

Google it, as it may help.

I have an iPhone 3GS with an O2 simpicity sim card £20 a month. And the 3G at my work is great. But Rubbish at home but i use my wifi.

O2 plus points, Picture messaging is 4 text units out of your allowance. And text message abroad is 4 text units per text.

On the Data usage front i have used in the last 3 month between 550mb and 700mb. So me personally i wouldnt move over to Orange plans.

edinweegie

I'm going through the same process as the OP. I'm due an Orange upgrade right now and was very pleased that Orange were getting the iPhone. I'm pretty familiar with the phone as my wife has had one on O2 for over a year.

First thing I noticed was that the mid tarrifs £34-£44 are essentially identical on both networks. I felt that the maps showing Orange's greater 3G coverage might swing me to stay on Orange, but then the 750Mb fair usage policy surfaced in the Orange iPhone T&Cs.

I've read many views on how this "limit" may or may not be enforced, and some of the press releases from Orange about how it's "where they'd like people to be" in terms of data usage. I've also read people on forums like this saying 750Mb is way too much data for the average user, and that in their time with their iPhones on O2, they've never approached this limit anyway.

For me though, 750Mb is a problem. A lot can happen in a contract length of 18-24 months in technology, and 750Mb today might be inadequate tomorrow. I did a quick experiment on my wife's iPhone with the newish TVcatchup service for iPhone. 2 mins of live TV equated to about 8Mb. It doesn't take a genius to work out how long you'd get before you'd used up your monthly limit on Orange using a streaming service like this (on 3G or wi-fi). The SKY app that has just been launched also offers TV services. One analysis of this showed that watching an EPL game on your Orange iPhone would see you hit your monthly limit in 15mins.

It probably is perfectly adequate if you only browse the web on it and use the push email functionality, but if you spend hours like me sitting around airports and want something smaller than a netbook that you don't have to frantically try and close down and pack away when your flight is finally called, the iPhone with streaming services like TVcatchup, SKY and YouTube is perfect. Does anyone know if Orange are planning to allow a one-off data package add-on for the iPhone?

All that aside, after 13 years with Orange for a personal phone, and 13 years with O2 for work, I can categorically say that Orange is not any better than O2 for coverage in Scotland. I travel the length and breadth of Scotland and the UK and can honestly say that certainly in the last few years, I can't think of an occasion when I've had no signal on my O2 phone, but quite a few with none on my Orange phone.

I'm just back from a weekend just outside Aviemore, and of the 6 people who were staying in a lodge, I was the only one without signal for the entire weekend unless we ventured into town. I was also the only one on Orange.

I have a strange loyalty to Orange, perhaps because it's the first and only network I've had my personal phones on, but barring an announcement from O2 saying that they too will put a figure next to their "fair usage" which is in the region of Orange's 750MB, I'm swaying toward O2 for my iPhone.

tobyjug

great replies all very helpful I am having the same dilema...and tempted by the straightforward and hopefully non hassle orange upgrade but I know that where I live there are pockets of areas that don't have great orange, problem is I have orange free broadband and although would love to change to o2 broadband for the reported and reviewed better service.

intyeresting comments about technology now and what it might be in 18 months hadn't considered that....I might just wait until after Christmas and see what vodafone do.

goonermontana

15mins of one footy game means 750MB gone!?

lol

[Deleted User]

goonermontana wrote: »

15mins of one footy game means 750MB gone!?

How is that possible? You'd be pulling down 50MB/min, equivalent to a 6.7Mbps connection for that - and even though the iPhone 3GS supports 7.2Mbps HSDPA, both O2 and Orange's phone data APNs only support up to 3.6Mbps, thus making your alleged 6.7Mbps connection impossible.

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

edinweegie

billbennett wrote: »

How is that possible? You'd be pulling down 50MB/min, equivalent to a 6.7Mbps connection for that - and even though the iPhone 3GS supports 7.2Mbps HSDPA, both O2 and Orange's phone data APNs only support up to 3.6Mbps, thus making your alleged 6.7Mbps connection impossible.

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

I suspect the writer of the article was thinking of the theoretical iPhone max speed rather than the network capability as you rightly point out.

Google:

o2-trumps-orange-with-free-sky-sports-on-iphone?=42123

to read the article

However, based on my experiment with tvcatchup.com (repeated again tonight), 2 minutes of streaming ITV1 equated to 7Mb usage, giving over 200-220 mins per month of streaming tv on that particular site (with excellent picture quality too).

A quick mess about on YouTube showed that many of the videos are lower quality than the above and a 5 minute (poorish quality) video only used about 4 megs.

These downloads were checked on the usage meter on an iPhone 3G and with wi-fi switched off.

goonermontana

billbennett wrote: »

How is that possible? You'd be pulling down 50MB/min, equivalent to a 6.7Mbps connection for that - and even though the iPhone 3GS supports 7.2Mbps HSDPA, both O2 and Orange's phone data APNs only support up to 3.6Mbps, thus making your alleged 6.7Mbps connection impossible.

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Lawd knows thats what I read somewhere. But what about the IDFR via the GPRS? And then we have the u2 via the red wine?