Three Ireland conning their customers in Ireland

divjoy

Hi I've been with Three PAYG for over 3year paying €20 per month apart from the odd hickup they were pretty good to be honest.
But in the last month they have been dropping my 4G data connection to E meaning I have to go in and search for 4G every time.
Spoke with guy in Three shop who advised it is deliberate policy of Three unless you bought your phone from Three which has additional software to pick up 4G quickly all other non three phones get the stronger signal E. Which has no data! This has been happening to others PAYG customers...what a con! I am paying €20 per month and cannot get 4G without going through a manual change every time...wot has other Three customers experienced?

heebusjeebus

That's interesting. I'm on my second phone since joining 3.
Both phones were bought sim free (OnePlus One & Nexus 6p) and both consistently drop to Roaming when I'm travelling outside of Dublin and I always need to change networks manually back to 3G or 4G "3" Network.

This does not happen to my friend who has a Galaxy 6 which was bought via the 3 store.

divjoy

Not surprising, since I heard it from the Guy in the Three store.

I think its a scandal that just because you haven't bought your phone from Three you cant get 4G automatically anymore!, I have been with Three over 3 years and pay my €20 each month without fail and I get a poorer service.

Its time to go to the ombudsman!

Anyone else getting the same shody service!

whomitconcerns

I think you will find that this is untrue and he was either lieing to you or pulling your leg. Either way it's untrue.

E is edge, and is no use to you for data.

davo2001

divjoy wrote: »

Its time to go to the ombudsman!

Hold your horses bucko, you're going to need proof to backup your claims, some guy in a Three store spouting this shIIte isn't exactly proof and do you honestly think Three will admit it even if it is true?!

Bottom line, if you're unhappy with your network then what is stopping you from changing provider?

divjoy

First off I'm paying for 4G and I was getting 4G.

There were no change to my phone setting and I verified setting on Three website and this service change is not just happening to me!

Three users need to band together and get these changes reversed.

The reason I dont want to change from Three is they are/were the only provider in my area that provided a 4G!

Zombienosh

Think this might just be your phone?

I'm with Three and have a phone that's not from Three. I pick up 4G fine.

duffman13

divjoy wrote: »

First off I'm paying for 4G and I was getting 4G.

There were no change to my phone setting and I verified setting on Three website and this service change is not just happening to me!

Three users need to band together and get these changes reversed.

The reason I dont want to change from Three is they are/were the only provider in my area that provided a 4G!

Why don't you buy a cheap phone from 3 and run a little test yourself. Sounds like nonsense to me but try and do at least some simple exploration yourself and see if that helps

divjoy

Hi Duffman13,

Done that , friend phone from Three no bother.

Mine and other from other suppliers were all now getting E!, Were in Donegal so maybe the problem is outside Dublin as per heebusjeebus comment.

It needs more investigation!

Zombienosh

If your network selection mode is auto, your phone will always pick up the strongest signal, unless you specifically tell it to chose only LTE etc.

So it could be just that the coverage has changed near you? or could be handset specific as in the bands if picks up?

What phone are you using?

Also for someone in store to tell you that phones bough from Three work better just sounds like a sales tactic.

divjoy

Settings fine. Set to preferred network 4G no difference.

Even when I choose and get on 4G when I drive around it drips to E possible because i m moving between cells!

Could be unsuspecting customers then go an buy a new phone from Three!

12Phase

No issue whatsoever on my Nexus 6P

I would treat what salesmen say with a large amount of scepticism tbh. I don't think Three are likely to have broken the 3GPP standards.

4G can be on 800MHz or 1800MHz. Some headsets don't support all LTE bands.

To me, it sounds like 3 have moved sites to 800MHz which is part of their O2 licence and it's much better for signal propagation in rural areas.

Check the exact model of your phone online and find out what bands it supports.

If that's not the issue, and they are breaking standards, then just move to a network that actually works.

divjoy

my phone is the Be Touch 2 I have had it for over a year, great phone dual sim etc.

Only been happening in last few weeks really.

Also been happening on friends phones Samsung S3 and Ulefone Paris!

So not an isolated incident just want to know if other Three users are experienceing the same thing

Also h

divjoy

my phone is the Be Touch 2 I have had it for over a year, great phone dual sim etc.

Only been happening in last few weeks really.

Also been happening on friends phones Samsung S3 and Ulefone Paris!

So not an isolated incident just want to know if other Three users are experienceing the same thing?

pillphil

I think yer man was talking ****e. Three's signal has gone to **** over the last few weeks in the north west. My phone is locked to three and the same thing is happening.

9de5q7tsr8u2im

the whole company is utter dog****, 3 money card absolute gob****es cant believe these blokes are running in this country

jay93

This is a long known issue with Three at one point this only happened to iPhones rather they were bought on Three or not. I've seen this issue lots of times too on multiple phones on Three that I have had over the years I'd have to manually search for 3G or 4G after the phone switched to E it would be on E for hours unless I force it back onto the 3G or 4G signal.

I've never seen this issue on Vodafone or Meteor or even O2 when they did still exist.

god's toy

OK not going to add anything but say this comes up over and over.

I would say the guy in the store doesn't fully understand how three's network works.

All networks have a default 4G 3G and 2G settings and your phone picks them up when it connects, your phone auto jumps between them as needed. However three don't have a 2G network, they never did, they did have a roaming agreement with Vodafone but I think that is gone now that they own O2.

So what three have to do is have custom firmware on the modem of your phone (if it is a three phone) telling it the networks unique setup and how to handle it. As your bringing a phone to three they cant flash new firmware onto it so it handles it as best it can and most often gets it wrong.

I know some will say they have three phones and still jumps about, yes it does but on the whole three branded handsets are much better behaved than non branded handsets and until three fully integrate O2 as their 2G fallback default this will all make for people complaining on boards.

RossieMan

Think about how it would be possible for three to install different software on phones they sell to pick up extra 4G. It's not feasible, or possible for that matter.

The three guy you were talking to hasn't a clue what he's talking about.

divjoy

Hi Guys thank you for your posts, it sounds provable alright by this has only started happening and I believe you are right cause the guy in the store said a special piece of software is on the phones three sell!

But can they not provide an app that would do the job for us?

Kind regards

RossieMan

You can force your phone to pick up 4G only, but when you don't have 4G you have no coverage at all. Have you it set that 4g is your preferred choice?

maximoose

This has been a problem for years, I've had it since I moved to 3 donkeys ago and there have been heaps of threads on here about it (search two networks, stuck on E)

If I have 4G and lose network (for instance every time I get into a lift in my office), the phone will never automatically reconnect to 4G. It'll stay on E or H+ until I manually reselect network. Now on my 4th handset and the same issues on all.

They are well aware of it I'm sure. Standard answer from reps on here is replace your SIM, have tried that and it doesn't work.

It's a pain in the ass but not annoying enough to switch, sadly noone else can match the €20 AYCE offer.

12Phase

So they have broken GSM /3GPP standards! That's impressive lol

Mobile networks are supposed to just work with a SIM card. That's the whole concept of the GSM family of standards.

Can you imagine if you changed over to another electricity provider and you needed new plugs on all your appliances? That's about how ridiculous this is.

The whole thing is supposed to be standards based and not require network specific handsets. that's the very fundamental basis of the whole European standards idea !!

divjoy

Good Point 12Phase,

So that why we need to get onto the Ombudsman...surely they can force Three to solve this issue, if they really wanted too.

A warning needs to go out to customers thinking of switching to Three, there adverstising 4G but not delivering in a useable way, its just too much of a hassle!

Here is a possible workaround I found on the internet but treat with care !

I cant post a link yet so add the h t t p:// to the beginning.

editorsean.com/articles/how-to-force-three-to-use-3g-and-4g-only/

divjoy

Good Point 12Phase,

So thats why we need to get onto the Ombudsman...surely they can force Three to solve this issue, if they really wanted too.

A warning needs to go out to customers thinking of switching to Three, there advertising 4G but not delivering in a usable way, its just too much of a hassle!

Here is a possible workaround I found on the internet but treat with care !

I cant post a link yet so add the h t t p:// to the beginning.

editorsean.com/articles/how-to-force-three-to-use-3g-and-4g-only/

12Phase

FYP : http://editorsean.com/articles/how-to-force-three-to-use-3g-and-4g-only/

ED E

12Phase wrote: »

So they have broken GSM /3GPP standards! That's impressive lol

Nope, not at all.

The problem stems from them being two different networks in the eyes of handsets. 272(IE) - 02(o2)/05(3). Phones only scan for their current operator while cell hunting, presumably to conserve power as its a big drain factor, and as they see 2G coverage as a different network they won't look for a 3/4G signal on 05.

Its a mess created by the buyout and TBH its probably the better way to do it, if they migrated every mast overnight we'd have 40% of Irish mobiles giving grief for two weeks while issues were straightened out.

jimmynokia

Bullsh1te.

Nonoperational

This is an ongoing issue for years. It has nothing to do with phones being from 3 or not. That guy in the shop was talking complete nonsense.

_Kaiser_

So if I read the above right, the issue is most common on handsets that have been ported to 3 (either ex-O2 or from other networks?) and it's down to the firmware used.

If so, couldn't you download the 3 firmware for your handset model from sammobile, reflash it and fix it that way? Granted some tech knowledge required but it's not that tough either.

Would that work?

divjoy

Possibly but you would have to root your phone and Three wouldn't stand over it...
Or Else Three could change thir system to allow all phones with Three sim to access 4G equally...

Whatever the outcome new customers should be made aware of the poor service