Opinion of the Three network

aoifethomas

Just looking for peoples opinions on the Three network.

There new offer of free texts to all network and free calls to any network at the weekend for €20 a month on 3Pay seems a great offer.

Anyone have any trouble porting on/off the network while keeping your number?

Thanks

BeardyFunzo

Never had any trouble with them over the last year and a bit. the price plans are good, never had coverage problems. And you can use your bundled mins/texts/internet in the UK (and some other countries) as if you are still in Ireland.

Phone support has been outsourced so ready yourself for heavy foreign accents if you need help. Terrible but improving selection of phones at the mo.

god's toy

Dumped voda 3 years ago for the three network and never looked back.
yea we all know the posts your going too see here, people saying they suck donky balls and what have you but I've never had any probs with the support or network.
Best deal for Internet add ons too.

prettyunhappy

I ported from my account with Vodafone to Three pre-pay last month, and it's been excellent. You can buy internet on it (1GB was €9.99) from your top up. Once you get the free SIM from Three, call them and give them the SIM card number, your Vodafone account number and they had it ported in around an hour. No problems since then.

I had a lot of issues with Vodafone in the past few months, Three has been excellent and also has free Skype calls outside of your internet package. I primarily wanted internet on my phone (N900) and the price/coverage seems to be a lot better than I had with Vodafone.

The main downside is roaming, as there is no equivalent of the Vodafone Passport - it's a smaller roaming area. €5 SIM card solves that though.

mossie

I left 3 a few months back because I wanted a new phone and their selection of phones was poor and because their coverage around my house sucks. In 3 years with them I generally found the network reliable but support was incredibly, unbelievably awful. The worst I have ever experienced anywhere.

On one occasion I phoned them asking to be put on the 1gb internet addon. Instead they put me on unlimited, I called to get this changed, which they did but they continued to charge me for both for nine months despite at least 20 calls to support. When my phone broke it was returned to me still not working and it took me 3 weeks to get a replacement. The support seems to be based in India, however last time I called I got an Irish voice for the first time so maybe they've switched? Unfortunately I asked her for a paper copy of my bill which I still have not received after 3 months.

Roaming is very good however if you are going where 3 have a network anyway.

_sparkie_

i have been with three since january 07 and i havent had a problem with them yet except for their crappy phone selection.

Elessar

Three are the best for pre-pay, especially if you use the internet a lot. I switched to them last year after I got my iPhone 3Gs. Top up by €20 a month and get 300 free texts, 200 free weekend minutes and buy the 1Gb internet allowance out of that top-up.

One thing I noticed though is the voice call quality is very poor in comparison to anyone else - particularly if you lose the 3G signal (which I do quite a bit in swords). It would often be so bad as to cut out words the other person is saying.

I moved to O2 because I lost my unlock, and voice quality is clear and superb. Unfortunately their pre-pay internet at €1 a day for 50mb is paltry

Dacelonid

Left Vodafone a long time ago for 3 and love it. Want to get the HTC Desire and would leave 3 for Metoer in order to get it. Other than that I wouldn't leave 3.
Pros

• The price plans are saving me a fortune. Was spending upwards of €100 on Vodafone, and currently spending only €30 on 3 (granted there are other factors like getting married and not having to ring the then girlfriend constantly, but even in the first year I saved 50% off my phone bill)
• Free or nearly free phone every year. Since I joined 3 I have spent at most €20 for a shiny new phone every year, and that was for a W995 this year, normally it is free/€9.
• Support is fantastic. Had to send back a SE W705, and within a week I had a new W705a, well it was my phone, but the internals had been replaced.

Cons

• Phones are locked down. No way to turn off 3G for example. Without flashing the phone that is
• Switchoever from 3G to GSM can be a pain, but I don't know if that is the phone or the network, but when it takes >1min to connect a call it is a pain.
• Current choice of phones is poor (in my opinion anyway). But there is a new choice of phones promised, eg HTC Desire coming 3rd May apparently

thirtythirty

I'm leaving at the end of this month purely because of their outsourced customer care which is literally the worst i've ever dealt with. I've had to contact them maybe 3 or 4 times for various stuff, and no matter what you're query is it seems like they just pick out a few random words and send back the template response accordingly via email, or directly on the phone. It takes a whole lot of posing the question several ways before you get anywhere.

I also experience occasional data loss where i have full 3g signal, but no throughput. That's manageable though.

A word of warning on their flexi-units - if you call someone and get their voicemail and immediately hangup, it costs you a half unit. Those half units add up you quickly end up spending 15 - 20 mins worth of flexiunits on immediate hangups...

FonezOnline

it does seem a very good offer but 3's coverage wouldnt be the best i know that

aoifethomas

Thanks for all the replys guys!!

Think I might give them ago.
The new offer seems brilliant! I don't know how they will profit tho?

Anyone have any problems porting your number off the network as if I switch and things dont work out, i would want to keep my number and perhaps switch back to my current provider!

thanks again

k123456

I use Skype a lot, which is free to use with three, other operators will charge u data units for .

However on some phones Skype will close when u mimimise it, this means other Skype users can only call u on Skype when Skype is open on your phone, example is Nokia 6700

On the Cara and Nokia E71, Skype stays open when u mimimise it, which is ideal.

BeardyFunzo

aoifethomas wrote: »

Thanks for all the replys guys!!

Think I might give them ago.
The new offer seems brilliant! I don't know how they will profit tho?

Anyone have any problems porting your number off the network as if I switch and things dont work out, i would want to keep my number and perhaps switch back to my current provider!

thanks again

No trouble porting number at all. I got my phone from the carphonewarehouse and i was transferred from vodafone to three that day (possibly sooner as i had to get home to charge my new phone). And don't worry... mobile phone companies ALWAYS turn a profit!

Jason2379

I'm thinking about getting a 3 phone, but I don't know how the coverage is in Wexford. Anybody have any ideas, or is there any way I could check their coverage?

Walkman

How about going to their website three.ie?

Jason2379

Well, that's clearly the last place I'd go.

Now if you were unnecessarily helpful, you'd tell me how I'd come about that.

Sarcasm aside, I can only find the mobile broadband coverage. They'd be in the same category?

drunkmonkey

Jason2379 wrote: »

Well, that's clearly the last place I'd go.

Now if you were unnecessarily helpful, you'd tell me how I'd come about that.

Sarcasm aside, I can only find the mobile broadband coverage. They'd be in the same category?

You should be nicer to walkman you might need her help some day;) She was just stating the obvious.

On the bottom of the map there's a drop down menu, show coverage, select the layer you want to see shown on the map

Mimikyu

This post has been deleted.

Beno

Jason2379 wrote: »

Well, that's clearly the last place I'd go.

Now if you were unnecessarily helpful, you'd tell me how I'd come about that.

Sarcasm aside, I can only find the mobile broadband coverage. They'd be in the same category?

I'm from wexford and I have no problems with reception. When you lose the three network it roams onto the vodafone one. My father is also on it and he has no issues either. This would be in the wellington bridge - new ross area.

donkey balls

god's toy wrote: »

Dumped voda 3 years ago for the three network and never looked back.
yea we all know the posts your going too see here, people saying they suck donky balls and what have you but I've never had any probs with the support or network.
Best deal for Internet add ons too.

your not sucking my balls:D im with them about three years have found them very good, although the last year or so i have found the signal strenght where i live to be very poor indoors.

lord lucan

donkey balls wrote: »

your not sucking my balls:D im with them about three years have found them very good, although the last year or so i have found the signal strenght where i live to be very poor indoors.

I'm the exact same. The last 6 months my 3g signal at home is ****e,sometimes it's ok if i go upstairs?! Outside it's fine and generally it's been pretty good wherever i've been around the country.