The Best Mobile Network in Ireland

Austerlitz

Which do you think is the best mobile network operator in Ireland?

And a more specific question: will be moving to Ireland soon, and I plan to pay as I go first (will be getting only a SIM card without a phone), and phone calls will have a priority then. Afterwards I would get an iPhone 6 with a contract - something that would give me lots of minutes and texts, and unlimited Internet (or enough GBs). So far Meteor seems as the best option (the €49.00/month plan).

Also, if I decide to change the carrier, do I have to change the number?

Paulw

Austerlitz wrote: »

Also, if I decide to change the carrier, do I have to change the number?

No, there is full mobile number portability, so you can keep your number no matter what operator you are with.

Nonoperational

Vodafone is the most expensive but it's coverage is great.

Austerlitz

Is Vodafone worth the extra € if you'll be using it only in Dublin?

mad muffin

Tesco at the moment have one of the best sim only plans. For €25 you get:

10,000 minutes to any mobile/landline

10,000 texts

15Gb of data

200 webtexts

50 international webtexts

or

€15 PAYG gives you:

10,000 minutes to any mobile/landline

5,000 texts

1GB of data

and the usual free Tesco to Tesco

The downside:

Tesco has no 4G and their 3G speeds are generally slower. Although they seem to have a better 3G coverage in the country side. They are an MVNO and use o2.

biko

So the question should be "The Best Mobile Network in Ireland Dublin"?
They are all pretty bad out in the countryside, VF probably best. As long as you're inside county Dublin or close to any city they all should have sufficient coverage.

Chose one on "Pay as you go" and see if it's what you need. You can always switch and bring number to another provider.

magicmoves

Vodafone has the best coverage of all the networks but is the most expensive

Nonoperational

Austerlitz wrote: »

Is Vodafone worth the extra € if you'll be using it only in Dublin?

Probably not, but I moved from Three and even in the cities I much prefer Vodafone.

Vodafone use 800Mhz for a lot of their 4G and it has better building penetration than 1800Mz used by Three. I have heard Three are rolling out lower frequency 4G too now but most of their 4G is on 1800Mz. I found it's building penetration was poor. Meteor use low frequencies too as far as I know. Three however have unlimited data which is a nice perk but a little unnecessary if you only use it on your phone.

Three/O2 should have a great network when the integration is complete however, but presently my order of preference would be Vodafone,Meteor or O2 (although no 4G on O2) then Three.

TempAc

Austerlitz wrote: »

Afterwards I would get an iPhone 6 with a contract - something that would give me lots of minutes and texts, and unlimited Internet (or enough GBs). So far Meteor seems as the best option (the €49.00/month plan).

Just don't do it, I've had contracts with all of them and they all generally seem to find a way to plug in some extra charges (sometimes to a ridiculous degree) and provide poor customer service in one manner or another. I've referred 2 of them to comreg (our regulator) and they were fairly quick to apologise after that. They also all seem to try and wriggle out of their warranty obligations (though I don't know if that's staff ignorance or staff following orders).

Make your life easier, buy the phone sim free and go pay as you go. You have plenty of options from the likes of Unlimited texts/call and 5GB from 48 for €20 or unlimited internet from the likes of 3 for the same.

Oh, and that Meteor plan has you basically paying €875 for a 16GB iPhone 6. It's €699 on apple.ie

Nonoperational

Are you ignoring the calls texts and data Meteor provide though?

TempAc

Nonoperational wrote: »

Are you ignoring the calls texts and data Meteor provide though?

I'll assume that was aimed at me, sorry if it wasn't.

I wasn't ignoring it, I went with a base price contribution of €20 actually being paid for mobile services for comparisons sake. The remaining €29 being the financing repayment on the iPhone. Meteor was unlimited calls and texts and 3/6GB of data.

48 are unlimited calls to mobiles, unlimited text and 5GB data for €20.

3 are unlimited weekend calls and texts, unlimited data, and you keep your credit (which if you have some over you can use on data add ons so it stretches more than a month thereby decreasing average monthly costs further) for €20.

Another poster pointed out the €15 Tesco PAYG deal, you keep the credit to spend on addons so for €15 you can get 6GB data (incl 5GB add on for €10), unlimited calls and unlimited texts, using this as a comparison brings how much you pay for the iPhone on contract up to €995.

Austerlitz

That's actually a much better solution. Tesco has a 30-day plan for €25.00 - unlimited minutes/texts/data + no long-term contract is always a plus. Thanks, TempAc!

Austerlitz

TempAc wrote: »

Another poster pointed out the €15 Tesco PAYG deal

But this might be even better if you don't go crazy with data. Unlimited calls and texts and 1GB data, or Unlimited calls and 6GB data for €15.

jay93

Vodafone for 4G coverage it's in ALOT of places even rural . Although their data allowances are quite bad .

I'm with Meteor on a 4G plan my bill is €75 a month I have a 15GB Add on as well as the 6GB that comes with the plan so 21GB in total and unlimited calls and texts . Coverage is quite good too 4G works well but isn't as widespread as Vodafone would be in Dublin I had 4G constantly. Outside of the city it's limited to big towns.

imokyrok

Stay away from Three. Total disaster to deal with.

TempAc

imokyrok wrote: »

Stay away from Three. Total disaster to deal with.

All of them are, hence PAYG can be a far better option, less possibility of overcharging, arguing warranties etc..

Just a little Samba

TempAc wrote: »

All of them are, hence PAYG can be a far better option, less possibility of overcharging, arguing warranties etc..

3 for me €55 per month (39.75 sim only) for 10000 minutes, 10000 texts and all you can eat data with free 4g. Once the o2 merger is complete in early 2015 they will be the largest network in Ireland and have the largest hardware infrastructure.

userduluth

which network coverage is better now a days any improvement of network out side of Dublin for various networks

jay93

userduluth wrote: »

which network coverage is better now a days any improvement of network out side of Dublin for various networks

Vodafone are the best outside of the city then Meteor but they still have patches of 2G or no service at all.

userduluth

jay93 wrote: »

Vodafone are the best outside of the city then Meteor but they still have patches of 2G or no service at all.

@ jay93 Are you sure about Vodafone and Meteor across remote places in Ireland?


What I noticed couple of months back when visiting Wild Atlantic Way around Donegal is eMobile is a total crap outside Dublin but my friend has a Tesco mobile which worked brilliantly across whole journey from Dublin to Donegal(including Wild Atlantic Way areas).

Any other have similar experiences with other mobile operators.

whiterebel

userduluth wrote: »

@ jay93 Are you sure about Vodafone and Meteor across remote places in Ireland?


What I noticed couple of months back when visiting Wild Atlantic Way around Donegal is eMobile is a total crap outside Dublin but my friend has a Tesco mobile which worked brilliantly across whole journey from Dublin to Donegal(including Wild Atlantic Way areas).

Any other have similar experiences with other mobile operators.

Very rare to have problems with Eir coverage around the country. Three was a disaster, at least it was before the O2 takeover.

bk

whiterebel wrote: »

Very rare to have problems with Eir coverage around the country. Three was a disaster, at least it was before the O2 takeover.

Well you can't really compare Three today with the past. o2 had excellent cross country coverage (though no 4G), so Three now owns the o2 network and have been merging the two, thus Three today should have vastly superior coverage then in the past.

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

imokyrok

Which network is doing the best payg deal at the moment for unlimited calls and unlimited data?

DopeTech

imokyrok wrote: »

Which network is doing the best payg deal at the moment for unlimited calls and unlimited data?

Depends if you need truely unlimited or not, if you want trurely unlimited data you will have to go with 3 but they don't have unlimited calls on payg.

If 15gb 4g data and unlimited calls is enough then meteor have this deal for €20 but no texts are included.

https://www.meteor.ie/pay-as-you-go/simplicity/


iD have 30gb of 4g data and 300 minutes for €15 at the moment. You also get to keep your credit so you could use that on 100 text messages or more minutes.

http://www.idmobile.ie/prepay

Lyca have 20gb of 3g data and 8000 minutes and 8000 texts for €15 a month.

http://www.lycamobile.ie/en/bundle?id=NT

Wanderer78

FrostyJim wrote:

Lyca have 20gb of 3g data and 8000 minutes and 8000 texts for €15 a month.

Whos network do they piggyback?

DopeTech

Wanderer78 wrote: »

Whos network do they piggyback?

3

_Kaiser_

bk wrote: »

Well you can't really compare Three today with the past. o2 had excellent cross country coverage (though no 4G), so Three now owns the o2 network and have been merging the two, thus Three today should have vastly superior coverage then in the past.

But it doesn't because they've made a bit of a mess of the merge by all accounts leaving people who previously had decent (O2) coverage with little to none, and then selling off a big slice of the bandwidth to MVNOs like 48, Tesco and others.

The ONLY reason I'm still with them is price. I have a sim-only plan that includes calls, texts and unlimited data, with tethering and roaming for €25 a month. I tried VF last year and the coverage was only marginally better outside Dublin, the value was significantly less (data allowances are very poor!) and their customer care/billing was atrocious.

Meteor/eMobile have better coverage but the same poor support/billing - although at least when you have to call them you can usually get it sorted with some patience and perseverance

KELTICKNIGHTT

I had Vodafone best service but over priced for what they give you. There data package with price is the worst
Currently with idmobile .better package but data poor . I give them while more to improve other wise I gone .maybe 3 .not sure yet
Virgin mobile says unlimited data but checking there terms and conditions their unlimited is 30 gb so that False

Curb Your Enthusiasm

Meteor have a new plan which I just signed up to.

€35 per month SIM only

Unlimited calls and texts to any network
30gb 4G data
50 mins/texts to international numbers
Free EU roaming (including 1gb EU data per month)

https://store.meteor.ie/sim-only-plans

With actually decent coverage and usable data, unlike 3, who are absolutely rubbish.

Very good value for those of us who need a lot of actually reliable data.