Vodafone/O2/3 broadband, help me choose

Ekancone

Hi, I am looking into getting one of those dongle yokes. I am fairly transient and will be for the next year or so, which means that a landline isn't for me. I am attracted to 3's offer, because there is no contract and once you go over the data limit they just cut you off instead of charging you. Although, I know nothing about these companies so I am seeking advice.

What are peoples experiences using these services?

watty

It depends to an extent where you live and what kind of usage you have.

If you are at one location, then Fixed wireless is better.

Read the threads.

Ekancone

I have been through five pages of this board and I have found only very specific threads on the technology of the dongles. Fixed wireless is not an option for me as I already mentioned. I will be using it in Cork and Dublin City.

croo

well looking the "3" thread I think is reason enough not too even consider it...

I've used both vodafone & o2.

vodafone is cheaper at €25 a month - and I think they now cut you off when you exceed 5Gb rather than auto charging for the extra.... as they were doing originally.

o2 offer is €30 a month (first 3 months for €15) so over a 12 month period it's nearly the same as vodafone! (i.e. 25x12=300 versus 315=(9x30=270 + 3x15=45))
But their monthly limit is 10Gb! and they have fair usage policy. If you exceed the limit they will not bill you ... if they believe you are abusing the usage they will tell you and if you persist THEN they reserve the right to bill.

both require a 12 month contract.

Purely from my own personal experience I found vodafone 3g coverage to be available in more of the remote locations I happened to have visited but that could be purely co-incidence. In the cities & major towns I think both were equally available.

If a contract is the issue and you only wish to collect email and do a little browsing... vodafone charge 99c for 50Mb over a one day period on a prepay phone they might have better deals on a postpay contract phone?
If you have bluetooth (or maybe you just need a cable?) on your laptop and the 3g bluetooth phone you might try that?? of course if you used it every day it would not be a good idea as then you'd be paying close to €30 a month for a mere 1.5Gb.

Personally I believe the o2 offer is currently the better one.

Ekancone

croo wrote: »

well looking the "3" thread I think is reason enough not too even consider it...

I've used both vodafone & o2.

vodafone is cheaper at €25 a month - and I think they now cut you off when you exceed 5Gb rather than auto charging for the extra.... as they were doing originally.

o2 offer is €30 a month (first 3 months for €15) so over a 12 month period it's nearly the same as vodafone! (i.e. 25x12=300 versus 315=(9x30=270 + 3x15=45))
But their monthly limit is 10Gb! and they have fair usage policy. If you exceed the limit they will not bill you ... if they believe you are abusing the usage they will tell you and if you persist THEN they reserve the right to bill.

both require a 12 month contract.

Purely from my own personal experience I found vodafone 3g coverage to be available in more of the remote locations I happened to have visited but that could be purely co-incidence. In the cities & major towns I think both were equally available.

If a contract is the issue and you only wish to collect email and do a little browsing... vodafone charge 99c for 50Mb over a one day period on a prepay phone they might have better deals on a postpay contract phone?
If you have bluetooth (or maybe you just need a cable?) on your laptop and the 3g bluetooth phone you might try that?? of course if you used it every day it would not be a good idea as then you'd be paying close to €30 a month for a mere 1.5Gb.

Personally I believe the o2 offer is currently the better one.

Thanks for that, great advice. Where is this 3 thread?

pizzahead77

Its one of the stickies at the top of the first page of the forum

croo

yes, the 3 thread is the sticky at the top of this forum.

One further thought I had is ... when outside 3g coverage vodafone reverts GPRS, which at best is about dialup speeds. o2 revert to EDGE which is still about 220k which would still make it a big improvement on dialup.

croo

pps. I forgot to add. I will really depend on which provider happens to covers best the areas you are most likely to be PLUS the numbers using the services there. They might both have good coverage but then there is also the numbers you are sharing the bandwidth with to consider... I'm not sure about vodafone currently but o2 do a "no questions 30 days return" deal so you can try it and if it's not good return it and try vodafone!

And I will add one further point... re reading my post I'm looking a bit pro o2 but I have no connection to either company ... I'm just an everyday punter who has used both.

Ekancone

No, I heard good things about O2 alright. I might go with them. Thanks!

Praetorian

I haven't had extensive experience with the mobile providers but I have used Vodafone and 02. Vodafone was very solid but sluggish. 02 was faster but the connection was more prone to dropping randomly. I think Digiweb do a wireless mobile based package? Might be worth considering also.

dub45

croo wrote: »

well looking the "3" thread I think is reason enough not too even consider it...

I've used both vodafone & o2.

vodafone is cheaper at €25 a month - and I think they now cut you off when you exceed 5Gb rather than auto charging for the extra.... as they were doing originally.

Not so:

https://www.vodafone.ie/df/shop/DirectViewBuy.shtml?handsetselected=20688&offerSelected=devices&action=view

Marlow

Praetorian wrote: »

Digiweb do a wireless mobile based package? Might be worth considering also.

Digiweb's mobile product is only available in Fingal. It's not an Ireland wide roll-out yet. However IBB have a Mobile WiMAX product. It can be found under Business and is called Go!

/Martin

Marlow

Marlow wrote: »

However IBB have a Mobile WiMAX product. It can be found under Business and is called Go!

Sorry. IBB Go! is Dublin only

/Martin

croo

dub45 wrote: »

Not so:

https://www.vodafone.ie/df/shop/DirectViewBuy.shtml?handsetselected=20688&offerSelected=devices&action=view

@dub45
I stand corrected... I must have been confusing the inclusive/exclusive VAT prices