GiffGaff runs on the O2 network, but could it get low priority?

im-lost

GooliesOfFire wrote: »

Wrong impression you were under. In terms of UK coverage O2 is second worst. Only the Three has worse coverage.

I'm with giffgaff and except some outages that hit both O2 and giffgaff users I had no problems mentioned above. In fact my data speed is very decent compared to i.e. T-Mobile. Giffgaff download speed 3Mb/s, upload speed 2Mb/s. No delayed texts noticed, call quality is ok.

Really? People are still peddling the three are crap myth?
Please do your research before making such comments.
Look at the coverage maps produced independently for ofcom.

http://licensing.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/spectrum/mobile-wireless-broadband/cellular/coverage_maps.pdf

Three have the best coverage by a mile.

O2 is massively oversubscribed, they have been lacking in infrastructure investment
for years.

Where as three continues to have money pumped in to them by their parent company
to continue upgrading their network year after year.

Giffgaff along with o2 are at the bottom of the pile, they are the only network
that gets blackouts lasting days on a regular basis, giffgaff / o2 are what three were years ago.

Herongull

sillygoose wrote: »

Still seems like a bad deal for use in a smartphone, £10 a month gets you a paltry 100mins /100 texts and 1gb data.

For £2 more on GiffGaff you get 250min, unlimited text, unlimited data.

With a smartphone its all too possible for something to go wrong and horrendous data charges to rack up which are hard to fight - this forum is full of tales of such woe every week. Unlimited data gives a safety shield from ever being hit with these £100's of charges if it goes wrong. Worse case you will get in trouble for exceeding fair use policy but at least it won't cost you anything.

However Ovivo would be good as a starter for a child to keep in touch on a basic phone or someone just needing a cheap to run handset for occasional or emergency use its very attractive.

Well of course which is better depends on your exact requirements. If you really need 1G of data, then you are better off getting the GG bundle. Most people need more calls though rather than huge amounts of data.

But with PAYG (which both Giffgaff and Ovivo are) there is no possibility of running up big bills without realising. With PAYG you just pay for what you actually need rather than paying for huge amounts of unused minutes, texts and data "just to be on the safe side". If you accidentally use more than your bundle, then any credit on the phone starts to be used up - but who has more than £5 or £10 of credit on their phone anyway?

I believe Ovivo send you a text when your credit gets down to £2. Never happened to me, cos I've still got some of the original £10 credit from my sim left.

I can't even use up half my free Ovivo data allowance - my phone uses WiFi when I'm at home, and struggle to use more than 75% of the free minutes and data.

Unless you live with your phone plugged into your ear, you can't use huge amounts of calls. If you've WiFi at home you don't need lots of data. If you use instant messaging such as Whatsapp, you can't use lots of texts.

Ultrasonic

im-lost wrote: »

Look at the coverage maps produced independently for ofcom.

http://licensing.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/spectrum/mobile-wireless-broadband/cellular/coverage_maps.pdf

Since this thread is about data transfer rates, it is worth noting that near the start of that OFCOM document it states:

The shaded areas on the map indicate areas where customers have the possibility of making and receiving a call outside over a 3G network (but with no guarantee of being able to do so). They do not indicate areas where customers are able to access higher data rate services.

(Bold added for my emphasis.)

I'm not saying that 3 doesn't have good 3G data coverage, but that report doesn't prove that it does (or indeed did in 2009 when the report is from).

Ultrasonic

Herongull wrote: »

Most people need more calls though rather than huge amounts of data.

Out of interest, do you have any evidence to support that statement? Most people I know hardly ever make calls on their mobiles so data and texts are much more important. I bet there must be some surveys out there on mobile usage...

[Deleted User]

GooliesOfFire wrote: »

In terms of UK coverage O2 is second worst. Only the Three has worse coverage.

I'd have to disagree with you there. The disclosure being that I work for Three, but personally I get great speeds and reliability in rural Somerset.

thatsean

I second that, whilst not in rural Scotland I've been with three twice before - in 2003, and in 2008. Just tried them again on payt and the coverage is good, and the data speeds significantly faster than o2, or Orange who I was with before.

Obv. horses for courses, and will vary regionally, but they do seem to have spent some money on their infrastructure.

Poq

Three has terrible service in London, for example.

(And their customer service was really weak when I left.)