Looking at maybe getting a new phone. Have previously been on EE (superb), Giffgaff (ok) and O2 (good).
Best contract deals just now seem to be with ID who use the Three network.
Looking at their network coverage they seem to be ok apart from the whole of the North western side of Scotland. But they do offer free EU data roaming
Anyone got any specific networks they recommend or advise to avoid? Especially interested in those who travel around a lot.
On a side note, GiffGaff use O2 network but having gone from GG to O2 , the O2 coverage seems much better. Similarly ID use Three.
I wonder if the parent provider in effect turns down the coverage for the other one, or maybe priorities their own customer coverage first?
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The network O2 has will be the same whether your contract is with O2 or GiffGaff.
You noticed a difference and this is probably down to your new phone.
The modem in your phone will vary depending on make/model - I-phones have a modem by Qualcomm.
Qualcomm have been in phone modems "forever". Other modem makers will vary in the quality of their offering - cheap phone = cheaper modem components.
Interestingly Apple has been trying to replace Qualcomm modems with in-house designs for some 5/6 years.
So far Apple has spent $7+Bn on trying to develop their own in-house modem chipset. Despite having successfully developed chipsets before e.g. M1/M2 they have failed with modems and heads rolled.
The reasons are many BUT the main one is that there are the different protocols 2G/3G/4G/5G and in roughly 120 countries each protocol seems to have variations in that country's networks which all need to be addressed.
Qualcomm have been doing this for many years - Apple have no modem / network experience. All in-house Apple chip design in the past has been within the "Apple World"
When Apple eventually get things sorted their annual savings are reckoned to be many $Billions per year.
Qualcomm have a new contract to supply Apple for another 2/3 years, at least.
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There is at least one difference between O2 and Giffgaff and that is WiFi Calling, where if you have no phone signal you can use a WiFi connection to the internet to make and receive calls. O2 has it and GiffGaff doesn't. As I discovered when I was working in a location with no signal but excellent internet via a land line. I was wondering why some peoples phones worked and mine didn't,
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>> There is at least one difference between O2 and Giffgaff and that is WiFi Calling,
>> O2 has it and GiffGaff doesn't.
Tesco support it however, and their tariffs are cheaper than O2's.
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>> Tesco support it however, and their tariffs are cheaper than O2's.
They do and it seems to work OK. Your phone needs to support it tho.
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I'm with Tesco Mobile. They use the O2 network, are cheap and still offer EU Roaming.
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Been with Orange/EE/Plusnet since forever - 1996.
First time we went to Scotland with it there was no coverage north of the Central Belt. We had a cottage on Harris for a week in July of 96. In a tribute to Scots English I added 'or outwith the Orange service area' to my voicemail OGM's reasons as to why people might hear it.
Coverage on 3 and 4g is excellent. Works fine on the Western Isles for both calls and as a Modem for laptops etc away from 'landline' internet. There's actually been massive investment to provide mobile coverage around SE Harris where line of sight is rarely more than a few hundred yards. Logos on the masts record the money as having come from the EU....
It's fine in France, Spain, Germany and Madeira but I think free roaming is a legacy thing. On the two occasions I've used it in the States I had a 3 Sim as they added a few places outside the EU to their roaming deal.
As Plusnet are giving up Mobile provision I'm going to have to move. O2 have some good deals SIM only with unlimited calls and 12(?)GB data well under a tenner. Might look at Gif Gaff as well. I'm f8cked if I'm paying to roam in the EU - red line territory.
Looking back to that visit in 96 is quite an insight into how technology has moved on and what now seems normal.
The cottage we were staying in had a payphone but they were still on pulse dialling. I had a little pocket tone device so I could interrogate the home (tape based) anserphone. Needed to do it daily as we were in the middle of a house sale and I could not rely on the agent to do as they were told and take viewings themselves without asking me if was OK. Accompanied viewings were not yet the norm. No internet, no laptops or tablets. The (useless with no signal) phone was a Motorola MR20. No camera, no games. Tariff was 'Talk15'. £15/month, including the phone itself and 15 minutes airtime 30p/minute thereafter. Don't think I ever busted the 15 mins.
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See my post here fora bargain (near free) 3 SIM - only 13 hours left on the offer though.
www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?f=5&t=30962
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When living in rural Scotland years ago, I got a new job with a south east of England head office.
They provided me with a mobile phone on the Orange network which didn’t work at my house or indeed in many other places in Scotland at the time. In addition, they gave me a company car with a fuel card for a chain of petrol stations that had no sites in Scotland.
Took a while to get them to agree to an alternative arrangement.
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I'm with talkmobile, i think they only do sim only. No issues at all, moving about the country. Only the odd black spot when I'm in the middle of nowhere. I think they use Vodafone.
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I'm pretty sure EE got the Emergency Services Network (ESN) contract to take over from Airwave which is/was O2 since its inception.
However there have been massive delays and its not due to be completed until 2026.
The up side is that EE are investing massivly in its infrastructure to implement 5g.
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Actual coverage by the different networks is evening out and where we live there's sod all to choose between them as far as signal is concerned. That's because the planning bods are telling providers to share masts if an application is submitted for a new one if there's another nearby.
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I am with Tesco, (O2) 11 quid month for 30gb & roaming on a clubcard deal.
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3 Mobile started 20 years ago.
Early Glasgow customer joined immediately but wanted to return the phone for bad signal coverage. He was refused as he had signed the contract for 24 months!
He contacted the Daily Record (=Daily Mirror) - full page photo article of him standing in George Square (Centre of Glasgow) and NO signal!
3 allowed him to cancel & get his money back .
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Just thought I would sneak this in. Mrs Z has moved from Iphone to Android (Pixel 7a). Before I ship her old phone off to WBAP, anyone want one? Iphone 12 mini, 64gb, pristine condition, £220
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You can get get a massive 120 gb for £12 per month from ID mobile. Includes roaming.
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Always worth a negotiate when you come up for renewal with ID. I'm on unlimited everything for £8 for 2 years.
Their roaming is subject to fair usage which is 30Gb on the larger plans, unless you were a customer before 20 June 2023 in which case you can use your entire allowance roaming www.idmobile.co.uk/help-and-advice/eu-roaming/fair-usage-policy
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Think I would struggle to go through 30GB roaming on my week holiday!!
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...you'd need to be in the Scottish Parliament to do that.....
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>>you'd need to be in the Scottish Parliament to do that
Say you are a Partick Thistle supporter (who you may ask!) + deny you watched the Old Firm Game!
He said he did not know his kids watched it when Celtic scored an equalizer in the dying minutes of the game to get a draw! They would be unlikely not to say anything.
Using 8Gb of data in 2/3 days answering emails is stretching matters
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Phone networks - Falkirk Bairn
