What network are you using on your blade?

[Guest Borderland]

Three PAYG is great for low usage people like me. The free 150MB data with a £5 top-up gets my email and other low bandwidth stuff for 3 months.

If I need to make heavy calls, then that's what the work mobile is for. :D

It does annoy me that I now have to pay to pick up voicemail though.

My Orange SIM is in the bin. It took £2 credit just checking my email!!!

[Guest Lister Of Smeg]

Hi Remlap,

How recent did you get your £20 for 6x Months Internet?? and is there any text on this, from their site or summit???

As I just got mine like two weeks ago, and am now a bit annoyed that T-Mobile may of lied to me... they told me it was 1Gb a month, which is cool...

So what happens if I go over 500Mb a month???

Cheers, Lister

T-Mobile PAYG and paid 20 quid for 6 month 500mb internet.

[Guest remlap]

It was a month ago but I checked to see what their policy here and here

Edited March 16, 2011 by remlap

[Guest Lister Of Smeg]

Hi Remlap,

Yeah, I read that when I got in from work (on my SanFran) and was shocked to hear it was 500Mb....

So I am gonna complain to them, as when I signed up in the shop, the girl told me face to face, it was a 1GB per month. And so I signed up for 6x months, just like that. I am sure 500Mb will still be fine, but not happy they lied about the connection...

Thanks for letting me know, and confirming it...

Cheers, Lister

It was a month ago but I checked to see what their policy here and here

[Guest abarthman]

I've stuck with 3 PAYG.

My previous handset was a 3 Skypephone and my immediate family all have 3 Skypephones, and we use the free Skype calls to keep in touch. The skype calls don't use up any of the internet allowance or eat into my credit.

I use the Skype on 3 app with my Blade when I've not got a wifi connection. It's not quite as polished as the normal skype app, though.

I'm on the Flat 12 tariff - 12p per minute or text.

A £10 online top up gives me 600 free texts and 150meg internet allowance, both of which are valid for 90 days.

I've been with 3 for a few years now and their customer service is abysmal, but it's no worse than Orange customer service.

Edited March 16, 2011 by abarthman

[Guest craggs]

I have been with o2 for 2 years,its ok but the signal for 3g is pretty poor in my area,never really had a problem with it, until i got a san fran and wanted mobile data.

Ive just gone back to tmobile,as they was aways excellent in my area.

got a deal last weekend

600 xnet/mins

500text

free booster obviously chose the internet 500mb

12months £7.66 a month

Ive been using it for a few days,the signals is as it was excellent,full bars constant,phone is always on either '3G' or 'H'

BUUUT there is a downside I think they limit the speed as my speedtests are consistantly coming back as 350kbps down

ive also read that a lot of other people have the consistant speed also.

The 500mb does me,i only use around 20mb0 a month.

But im just so happy to get the call quality back though,tmobile is much clearer than o2.

[Guest Miracle Boy]

stop hating on orange, without them you wouldnt even be able to get this type of phone for this price..

That may be true, But lets face it, the ONLY reason that Orange are selling the San Fransisco at a discouted price is because they hope to recoupe their "losses" by charging PAYG customers at what I would consider to be inflated prices.

That, coupled with the underhanded tactic of "taking their time" to credit customers who have just topped up with there "free" data etc allowance means that unsuspecting new PAYG customers can find that the £10 they just topped up will be swollowed up in less than 30 mins with just light data usage.

Sure, this info is in the T&C's but this sort of thing should be something that all customers shold be made well aware of from the start.

It's no surprise then, that these most disgruntled customers will look to change their provider ASAP in favour of another provider that offers better value for money.

Personally, I'm with Tesco on a SIM only rolling contact. £10 per month gets me 500 mins talk time, Unlimited Texts, and 500Mb data allowance, which is more than enough for my needs.

I also have a GiffGaff sim which I keep in my spare phone for emergences. They also offer good value for money.

Times are hard, everybody is trying their best to save money in any way that they can.

Brand loyalty is a thing of the past, since very few companies truely value the loyalty of their customers these days, so In my opinion, they get what they deserve.

[Guest amsel]

I got ripped off by Orange too - I ordered a £30/month contract, they put me on a £90/month contract instead, and I ended up going through all sorts of trouble to get the contract down to the correct amount. They still owe me something over £100, and I don't know the value of the damage they did to my credit rating when they sent debt collection after I refused to pay their incorrect bills. Orange are a bad company, and anyone who supports them really should be aware that sometime, they too will get ripped off, and no, getting the money back will barely be possible, nevermind easy.

Anyway, my OSF is on Three. Great network. I pay an effective monthly rate of £10.40/month for my contract after deducting TopCashBack and adding the cost of the San Fran, and for that, I get 500 minutes / texts, 4000 three-to-three minutes, and 500MB interweb. Three's service is outstanding. At my mate's flat, his Desire HD on Orange speedtests at about 60kbps, while I get 6mbit. A hundred times faster. That's not a one-off, either. At home I get similar speeds, often even faster, and I've done a speedtest-off against a Vodafone friend with a Desire, and he barely scraped 200kbps. O2 were universally s*** while I was with them, T-Mobile, I had to abort my contract because the signal was so poor. Three are badword great.

[Guest Victor von Zeppelin]

I got me some free sims off of 3...and...yea :/

Lets say rural Isle of Wight isn't a top spot for 3G. It's ok in some more built up areas, but where I live on the outer fringes of the island, signal's a trouble, and with no 2G to fall back on, it's pretty horrendous

[Guest da1000]

Giffgaff for me as i get pretty good coverage where i live and unlimted data for £10 is perfect for me as i use a fair bit :D also glad i am now as o2 are upping their coverage with the 900mhz band for 3G :(

http://thenextweb.com/uk/2011/03/18/o2-bec...ast-3g-network/

[Guest Redflake]

3 UK for me. Tried giffgaff but 3g coverage was pants where I live. also there dropping the free internet unless you buy a goodybag. 3 gives me 100 mins, 3000 texts and 650 mb for £10 on pay as you go. On the plus side the internet now works and I can even stream youtube and live tv. :D

[Guest insurgente]

Currently on Giff Gaff, which is amazingly cheap...... but as I can't make/receive calls from certain parts of my house it kind of defeats the point of having a phone. I like the fact that data is unlimited, so I never have to worry about it (I probably actually use very little) but at certain times the internet just won't work. at all :/

I always liked my dealings with o2, but as Giff Gaff doesn't work for me, don't see the point.

My housemates use T-mobile/Three and get better coverage than me. I'm tempted by a Three pay monthly SIM deal (the PAYG is interesting, but how do they call 150mb ''all you can eat data!?") But worry about the charges outside of the allowance.... Atleast on Giff Gaff it's still reasonable to text abroad.

Anyone on Virgin? Decent experiences? My mum has been on their broadband/TV for years so wondering if she can get a cheap SIM and gift it to me

[Guest Snipperdag]

I'm still with Orange and have been since my contract ended back in November (I used to be on the 18month contract as I bought an Omnia when it seemed good).

They moved my number to PAYG with no effort and I haven't had a problem with them. Recently changed my sim card and they moved my number with no security checks which is a bit naughty but overall I'm happy with my signal and the fact you can now use t-mobile transmitters on the orange network is a plus.

Yes the data is a bit low at 100mb but thats why I wifi whenever possible for big downloads (Angry Birds Seasons - Easter @ 18mb) and overall I'm happy.

There will always be problems with any service, just the happy people don't feel the need to say anything. :)

[Guest stylezuk]

3 on the all you can eat data package

300 mins

3000 txts

Unlimted data "yes really unlimited"

All for £15 p/m

Not great for signal where live but great for work as tether phone..

[Guest mickey megabyte]

i voted o2 a while back, but i'm switching to giffgaff as soon as i've used up my sim card credit.

i'm not a heavy phoner/texter, so i'm looking for the best payg deal.

also 02 have the best coverage in my rural neck of the woods, so giffgaff will be ok too.