Perhaps Zeddo can advise.
We are with Orange and have been for the past 15 years. Reasonably satisfied too.
I am getting polarised answers from dealers and from Orange themselves.
EE would love all orange customers to move to EE.
We have very little 3G here and I run my phone and all previous phones on 2G as that is better for voice calls. 3G seems to be a battery sapping non-working pain, well here anyway.
When I spoke to a Techie at Orange he said don't go to EE.
Manager at local shop (I respect this Guy) seems very knowledgeable, unlike most of the others. He seems to think that EE will be fine, but I guess that they get a bung for getting peeps onto EE!
I have for the past 2 or 3 renewals gone through retentions, but at the moment they are playing hardball.
The deal on the table in the shop tonight was as follows: Unlimited minutes for 2 sharing. Unlimited texts. 2gb data. £48.00 and a few pence + vat. Pay another £5.00 per month and you get data roaming, texts and calls in most of Europe with any additional charges plus another 2gb of data. 1 No. IPhone 5c at £25.00 and another phone free. A galaxy s111 if poss.
Views please especially on the EE/Orange thing.
Regards.....MD
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Orange is EE and EE is Orange. T mobile and Orange that make up EE are now (more or less) sharing all the infrastructure, so there is no technical reasons why you should not move. All T mobile and Orange shops are in the process of being rebranded as EE.. Duplicate shops will close.
EE have yet to, but are working on smashing customer services together.
Therefore you only reason to move is one of cost, and the deal you can get but at some stage you will not be given a choice. It will be a case of you move to EE or we ship you out.
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Final answer?
When you say smashing customer services together I am in knackered mode and am not sure what you mean.
I have varied info regarding the continuance of 2G, but from all of my experience 3G is a ruddy nightmare. Her indoors on her Blackberry seems to suffer no such nonsense.
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Really dreadful adverts apart.....
My wife runs her iPhone on Orange, never heard her complain.
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>> Final answer?
>>
>> When you say smashing customer services together I am in knackered mode and am not
>> sure what you mean.
Billing, help desk, shops, etc etc are all to be come one organisation.
>> I have varied info regarding the continuance of 2G, but from all of my experience
>> 3G is a ruddy nightmare. Her indoors on her Blackberry seems to suffer no such
>> nonsense.
Er indoors blackberry is a good phone thats why. Not sure what you mean about continuance of 2g All phones from all networks drop back into 2g mode if the 3g signal is not good enough.
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>> Er indoors blackberry is a good phone thats why. Not sure what you mean about
>> continuance of 2g All phones from all networks drop back into 2g mode if the
>> 3g signal is not good enough.
>>
But usually after the call is lost as it seems to hang on to 3G by its fingertips.
The man in the shop insists that 3G cannot be turned off on the Iphone 5c but info on the net suggests that disabling mobile data has the same effect. I realise what that does but if one has wiFi I guess that covers that prob??
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>> But usually after the call is lost as it seems to hang on to 3G
>> by its fingertips.
If it dies loosing 3g its because it didn't have good enough 2g to fall back on. Bad signal is bad signal when it comes to voice calls.
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>>
>> >> But usually after the call is lost as it seems to hang on to
>> 3G
>> >> by its fingertips.
>>
>> If it dies loosing 3g its because it didn't have good enough 2g to fall
>> back on. Bad signal is bad signal when it comes to voice calls.
>>
Depends how well the many network parameters have been set up, there's an awful lot of fairly new hardware in the EE network that may well not be that well optimised yet.
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>> smashing customer services
Not a phrase I've ever heard used to describe Orange.
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>>"but are working on smashing customer services together"
"Smashing" was intended to be description of the approach rather than a description of the organisation, I think.
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I did realise that. Smiley absence strikes again.
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Sorry. Its 7am, my brain is not particularly perceptive at this time.
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I only have an Orange PAYG phone as I'm a tight old git and do my best to avoid using the mobile. It come's into its own when we go to the cinema using Orange Wednesdays; we get in on a Wednesday afternoon for £4.60 for the two of us.
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Well that's nice to know my Dear.
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Well, it alone is reason enough for me to stick with Orange, my Duck.
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You must be Quackers old chap:-)
Anyway I hate this contract renewal stuff. There is no transparency and they couldn't lie straight in bed if I'm honest. There's always a little something that they don't tell you. I have been reading reviews about EE which are appalling to say the least and I am just wondering whether to get a sim only deal and stick with the old phone.
I have been with Orange for almost Fifteen years now and it has been quite good, but now I am getting the jitters.
The only saving grace of course is that I pay by cheque and will not under any circumstances have a direct debit. Not under ANY circumstances.
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Another tight old git here - I use giffgaff PAYG which runs on 02.
Free calls gifgaff to giffgaf if you top up a tenner every 3 months.
My free calls have run out!
Why this obsession with talking/texting to people?
Harrumph. :-)
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Got fed up with Orange taking the mickey on cost and changed when the signal in my area and especially home became poor. Due to "improvements" with rolling out 4G they said.
I've now got a Huawei Y300, my first smart phone for £7.70 per month including phone itself, 250 minutes talk, endless texts (5000 or something) and 500Mb of internet. I got it from Carphone Warehouse on the TalkMobile network which piggybacks Vodaphone.
So far, much improved signal and if you read the reviews a top performing phone for the price - now I just need to learn how to use it
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>> if you read the reviews a top performing phone
>> for the price - now I just need to learn how to use it
>>
When my iPhone dies (which it will surely, one day) I will not be getting the latest model (too big) but trying to get information on how phones perform these days (i.e. getting a good signal as opposed to how many gadgets they have) seems almost impossible these days. How is one supposed to make a informed decision?
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"How is one supposed to make a informed decision? "
Spend hours, hours and more hours on the web poking about. Then take deep breath and plunge in.
That's my method anyway.
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>> >> if you read the reviews a top performing phone
>> >> for the price - now I just need to learn how to use it
>>
>> >>
>>
>> When my iPhone dies (which it will surely, one day) I will not be getting
>> the latest model (too big) b
It is, more or less, the same size as the old one.
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Having held one I find it is the 'more' bit that I don't like.
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The iPhone 5 is the same width, thinner, lighter and a mere 8mm higher than the 4.
You are making mountains out of molehills.
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I compared my unused iPod Touch (1st gen) to my Android phone yesterday. What a difference in size... I wouldn't want to use a phone as small as that now. It was brought out of the drawer to test scratching the screen.... I didn't managed too but it does have a scratch on it.
I should do something with it but it's worthless of course.
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>> Having held one I find it is the 'more' bit that I don't like.
>>
And the iOS 7 doesn't help the decision making.
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Sorry but from my own experience with TMobile the link up is definitely not equal.
I know that both Watchdog and MoneyBox are/have run pieces on how many TMobile/EE customers have experienced a massive drop in call reception since the tie up and 4G upgrade (this is what has also happened to me) so the whole marketing piece about the biggest and best network doesn't cut it with me and many customers.
Also I'm near my upgrade month but TMobile don't do the phone that I want but I can get it in CPW BUT I was told that TM won't let me take my old number across to EE so the only way to do it was to buy a cheap Orange SIM and transfer my number on to that because Orange WILL let me transfer my number over to EE!, so they aren't really being treated equally.
I've always used TM (all my family are with them as well) because in the early days I got a good service and call reception but I'm now at the point of seriously moving carriers but like the OP I have not real idea what the call reception will be like until I move carriers and then it may be too late (the postcode look-up shows I have 0 4G bars, 1-2 3G bars and 4 2G bars and I only live 15 miles from the centre on Londinium).
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>>TM won't let me take my old number across to EE
It is your right to continue with the same number, whatever service you take.
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As mentioned that dreadful Holywood luvvie in the advert put me right off.
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That's what I thought but both salespeople in CPW and Phoes4U said the same thing, apparently there is a technical reason that it can't be done from TM to EE but it's OK from Orange to EE.
Well I'll see come December which is my earliest upgrade date, looks like I'll have to go to CPW as there are the only place doing the phone I want on TM.
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I have been to the shop again today and the manager there is really most helpful. he has made it quite clear that where Orange and T-Mobile have transmitters on the same mast that in all cases one of them is being removed and where the above are sited reasonably close together (on different masts) one of them is also being removed. Clearly is doesn't make too much of a difference if one is close, but if one is a fair way away from the transmitter then a lack of service is being experienced or indeed a lesser service.
4G does not support calls at the moment. There is no mention of when it will.
I really do hate this two year debacle and I dare not add up my downtime trying to sort this.
Grrrrrrrrrr
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Has anyone used or are with TalkMobile?
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MD
I refer your goodself to my post Fri 8 Nov at 11.06 Para 3.
Yes, far better than Orange in my patch. So far I am very pleased with reception. TalkMobile piggybacks Vodafone.
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Sir. I have re-read. Thank you.
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>>, apparently there is a technical reason
They may be refusing, or reluctant, to do it, there is no reason it cannot be done*. The network itself does not work by telephone number.
I struggle with the idea that someone at CPW knows and understands the implications of what is going on unless he's come from T-Mobile or Orange.
*at least, there wasn't and I cannot imagine the people running the RAN consolidation, who I know, have allowed one to creep in.
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Apologies in advance for what will appear to everyone else to be startling naïveté. Bah, ipad has put in those accents, I'm not that pretentious. Anyway.
For years Mrs C has had a basic phone with a Virgin payg sim in it. Been just fine, and topped up with the very occasional fiver to keep it ticking over.
My old works iphone became free, so I put her sim in and it worked fine. She seems to quite like it. But The iPhone has used some data, as opposed to just texts and calls, and the £20 I topped up with a few days ago is down to £11.
So I investigated. Turns out that when Virgin say £1 a day for 100MB that means £1 if you use a single byte upwards. I hadn't really sussed that til now, and it looks as if other providers have the same kind of model.
If you top up with a tenner every month the problem goes away as you get loads of data as well as texts and minutes, all way more than she needs.
So it looks as if its pay a tenner a month, or ditch the iPhone, which seems a shame. She's already said its not worth a tenner a month to her.
Is this right or am I missing a trick somewhere? I really wanted a payg tariff that gives you data, but at a few pence per k or something, as that's all we need. The few bytes are coming from me using the Find My Phone app on the web or my current iphone to see if she's got the train or whatever, or possibly it's the iPhone doing something in the background I haven't tracked down of course.
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GifGaf
For only £5 get 60 UK Minutes, 300 UK texts, 20 MB and a free extra minute for every minute you get called (as long as the call is not from another giffgaff number). Plus, you will still benefit from our free giffgaff to giffgaff calls and texts.
Why not get her to text you to tell you she has got the train? I have to say I tend not to track my wifes movements.......
Last edited by: Zero on Thu 14 Nov 13 at 19:55
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Ta for that. Other than making her laugh hysterically, for which thank you, I looked at giffgaff but I read their offer as a tenner a month plus a fiver for a goody bag giving you what you set out there, making fifteen a month in total. Maybe I was wrong. I usually am.
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>> you could be right.
>>
I thought I was wrong once.
But I was mistaken.
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I recommend Ovivomobile.com
Their freedom offering give you 150 minutes, 250 texts and 1Gb data for free each month. All you need is to pay twenty quid up front, of which they give you £15 credit.
They also offer a data only offering giving 1.5Gb per month. I've got the data one in my ipad and the boy has one in his phone. Piggybacks Vodafone so coverage is OK
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That looks good mikeyb, but I'm almost terminally stupid so I don't understand how it works.
I give them £20. They give me a sim and on it is £15 of credit. But a shed load of calls and texts and data are free. So far so good. I imagine if I use that shed load in a month I then eat into the £15.
But what happens next month, when it says there is no ongoing cost? Obviously I don't get the shed load again for no money, so do I top up with another tenner or something? I which case how is it no monthly cost...brain is dribbling out of ears now, too many tariffs looked at tonight.
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>> But what happens next month, when it says there is no ongoing cost? Obviously I
>> don't get the shed load again for no money, so do I top up with
>> another tenner or something? I which case how is it no monthly cost...brain is dribbling
>> out of ears now, too many tariffs looked at tonight.
>>
You get the same allowance again each month, no need to ever top up.
I thought it was too good to be true, but used it for about 6 months now with no issues
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Thanks mikeyb again. Read it all up now. Yes, looks like it really is free, in return for them forcing ads on you when you access your web browser on the phone.
No problem, she'll never work out a web browser...or if she does, can put up with a few ads.
I've signed up, so we'll see how it pans out in reality. Looks like a good tip so far!
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She'll know you are tracking her when the add for wonga.com pops up on her phone.
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I struggled to grasp how it could be 'free'.
This video gives a very clear explanation:-
tinyurl.com/qxqnvwm
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Orange/EE - Zero
