Who has the best network?

BIG OL' DISCLAIMER: I work for one of them. I'll be objective. Like Fox is about BMWs ;)

There is no overall best network. There is the best network where you are often though (town/office/commute/place of drinking)

paradigm said:
With the money that the UK government is pumping into 3 at the moment (to ensure a British owned company has the best penetration), I'd say 3 will be, even if it's not quite there now.
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You mean Hutch, that awesome HK Company? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hutchison_Whampoa . Ah back in the day when they owned us Hans did some funny stuff. They still have the upside down elephants in meeting rooms from his fueg shi advisors or whatever it's called.

Lets clear it up:

Today
3: Have access to their 3G network and T-Mo's 2/3G network (they used to use Orange's 2G network until last year)
Orange: Have access to their 2/3G network and T-Mo's 2G network
Voda: Use their own network solo
O2: Use their own network solo
T-M: Have access to their 2/3G and 3's 3G network.

By the end of this year
3/Orange/T-Mo will be on one giant network. Hopefully.
O2/Voda will be solo (unless they actually do the share)

o2 does get a kicking often for data because they kinda neglected HSDPA which it turns out - was kinda crucial to the telcos for data expansion that they were forced to do 2 years ago. All networks spend a lot to keep up with current data growth but if you start behind it's harder to look good when the competition is beating you with a stick etc... They honestly aren't that bad.

"Largest network" is hard to qualify. For example AFAIK Orange still have the largest population coverage, 3 have the largest geographic coverage. While it's true, 900Mhz signals go through walls better and travel further they also only use this for 2G - 3G is currently always at 2100Mhz for all networks (aside from 900Mhz 3G re-allocation trials, I'm choosing to ignore this as rollout is bad).
 
[TW]Fox;19225074 said:
As many of you know, I am on GiffGaff. The deal GiffGaff offer is excellent but sadly the entire package is rather hobbled by one problem.

O2's network is, for want of a better word, dire.

Text messages often do not appear until hours after they are sent.

3g coverage is patchy at best - often areas where you'd fully expect to find 3G coverage - ie in large cities - has no 3g coverage

General signal is often lacking - I am often on barely 1 bar of signal, even in places where you'd expect to find a single. 10 minutes of London Paddington, probably near Slough (O2's head office!) the other day I didnt have enough signal to make an urgent call.

The data network is shambolic. A lot of the time you request pages and... nothing happens. Nothing continues to happen until you reconnect.

So, it's pretty clear that the answer to my question isn't O2. I've been on GiffGaff since Vodafone changed terms and conditions last year. I must admit that other than the terrible customer service and the idea that once I'd signed a contract they could change things, I felt the Vodafone network itself was excellent.

So, as it's probably time for another contract again, and as I am sure others probably have the same question, just who does have the best network?

I quite fancy some of the deals on T-Mobile but Giffgaff has tought me you get what you pay for..
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Bar their realtively poor 3G coverage, O2's network has proved to be far and away the best for me, I think your problems are related to Giff Gaff themselves tbh.
If I'm out places with mates, you can gurantee that anyone with an O2 phone will be the last ones left with signal. All the other networks struggle to have such reliable coverage imo. I used T-mobile and Orange, both are hopeless unless you live in a large city (sadly I live in the countryside), and 3 is only good if you're near a 3G mast. Vodafone I have little experience with so can't comment there.
 
Myshra said:
While it's true, 900Mhz signals go through walls better and travel further they also only use this for 2G - 3G is currently always at 2100Mhz for all networks (aside from 900Mhz 3G re-allocation trials, I'm choosing to ignore this as rollout is bad).
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I know lots of places where coverage is so poor that 2g is gratefully received never mind anything more than that!

:D
 
I have nothing to compare to, as I've always been with O2 or Giffgaff who obviously use O2's network. I'm new to using a mobile for data purposes, but for general use (i.e calling or texting), I've never had an issue with the above companies/network. I think the only places I've not been able to get a signal have been in deep railway cuttings/tunnels and in some parts of the Lake District!
 
I have O2 and changing as cant get signal in my new house. Which is 4 miles from Swansea city Center! Madness! Orange signal is fine so I am going to T mobile.
 
As others say,

It's all about where you live/use the phone, we've had every carrier supplying phones over the last 10 years in work, and all have issues, patchy reception etc, depending where you are.. Since we travel around the country a lot, it's immediately apparant that every network has it's good/bad areas as well as data rates..

I have always found Orange have the best coverage down around Plymouth, but their data is always a bit lacklustre speed wise.. where as where I live, O2/Vodafone have much better coverage and data speeds, 3 are superb at work, but have almost no connection at home..
 
[TW]Fox;19225074 said:
I quite fancy some of the deals on T-Mobile but Giffgaff has tought me you get what you pay for..
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I can't believe you actually typed that, so will assume you mean the opposite, however just for clarity, since GiffGaff use O2, and I can confirm with having an O2 sim and a giffgaff sim in the house, that they are identical in terms of reception/data etc.. and that's when we are out and about, if I can't get data on one, neither can the other, and data rates are identical (using speedtest.net's app), 'price' doesn't remotely come into it..



:D
 
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Evilpaul said:
I saw this report on BBC News this morning, and TBH the result confused me no end:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-13544197

O2 rated as best for mobile broadband??? I want what they've been smoking!
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O2 always appear top of the industry recognised JD Power Customer Satisfaction Index for mobile broadband as well. I think some people here just live in bad areas because the views certainly don't reflect that of the majority whenever surveyed or of OFCOM.

Fox your Paddington experience is the most confusing one, I do that journey frequently (a lot more frequently than you) and never have any problems with O2 signal. As you say this is on the main line from London to O2's HQ so I'm sure O2's many commuting staff would notice any blackspots along the way and report it. Are you sure your phone is ok? Where abouts were you in Paddington?
 
I used to be with T-Mo and the signal was shocking, half the time it was always showing 'SOS'.. O2 were great though, rarely lost signal with them. I'm with Voda now and again they're great, I rarely lose signal.
 
We're moving to orange for our business phones/blackberrys. mainly because we're in a network deadzone (j26 of M1). Voda suck here, O2 aint much better, but what sold us on orange was their UMA features for smartphones, whereby it uses your wifi to boost yoru signal. They are apparently the only provider to offer UMA. Most blackberry/smartphones on the orange network have UMA enabled, so once sync'd to your wifi it uses that as a signal booster, which would cure most of our office based call dropouts.
 
If you're a heavy Internet user 3 are awesome, I use them purely for the fact that the one plan is the only true unlimited Internet package i could find, I get pretty decent coverage too. Only lose coverage occasionally but I live in a fairly rural area so it's understandable.
 
Banzai_Joe said:
We're moving to orange for our business phones/blackberrys. mainly because we're in a network deadzone (j26 of M1). Voda suck here, O2 aint much better, but what sold us on orange was their UMA features for smartphones, whereby it uses your wifi to boost yoru signal. They are apparently the only provider to offer UMA. Most blackberry/smartphones on the orange network have UMA enabled, so once sync'd to your wifi it uses that as a signal booster, which would cure most of our office based call dropouts.
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Sounds like a software version of the Vodafone sure-signal, the difference being, sure-signal works for any registered phone but requires the sure signal 'box'..

I like these technologies thought, shame they seem to charge through the nose for them, but if needs must..
 
Demon said:
Sounds like a software version of the Vodafone sure-signal, the difference being, sure-signal works for any registered phone but requires the sure signal 'box'..

I like these technologies thought, shame they seem to charge through the nose for them, but if needs must..
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It's not really the same to be sorta picky, UMA is cheaper and better (totally IMO incoming). UMA works via WiFi forwarding the call via the internet to the handset with the last hop being 802.11b/g/n, This will always work as long as a handset can see a wifi signal and can communicate with the central orange internet call server, you're not limited to specific hardware to boost the signal like a femtocell.

Sure signal is more like a tiny cell tower and works by broadcasting normal 3g signals around it. It needs to see the central voda server much like orange but it's limited to the specific connection from the handset to the box whereas UMA works pretty much wherever you'd like it to where there is wifi.

I really like UMA and wish it was more common in the UK (has a bigger following in the US). Your office solution has probably come with additional perks (like free calling between office staff when they are in the same building) so it's hard to compare the deal you got but the tech is different. UMA should really be on more handsets too, it's beauty is in it's simplicity and the fact that in this day and age, you can always get signal at home without additional hardware.
 
The coverage share between the 2 EE brands has to make it the best option these days.

The deal will be even better for orange customers when the 3G is shared as orange 3G is frankly terrible.
 
Myshra said:
It's not really the same to be sorta picky, UMA is cheaper and better (totally IMO incoming). UMA works via WiFi forwarding the call via the internet to the handset with the last hop being 802.11b/g/n, This will always work as long as a handset can see a wifi signal and can communicate with the central orange internet call server, you're not limited to specific hardware to boost the signal like a femtocell.

Sure signal is more like a tiny cell tower and works by broadcasting normal 3g signals around it. It needs to see the central voda server much like orange but it's limited to the specific connection from the handset to the box whereas UMA works pretty much wherever you'd like it to where there is wifi.

I really like UMA and wish it was more common in the UK (has a bigger following in the US). Your office solution has probably come with additional perks (like free calling between office staff when they are in the same building) so it's hard to compare the deal you got but the tech is different. UMA should really be on more handsets too, it's beauty is in it's simplicity and the fact that in this day and age, you can always get signal at home without additional hardware.
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Thanks, this is exactly how I understood it. :)

I like the idea of UMA, although it's not clear from their blurb if it's just a bit of application software encompassing standard technologies such as VOIP, or if it's actually done right down at the 'radio' level, which are software flashable these days, so you'd think it just needs licencing to the various radio chipset manufacturers?
 
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I can only comment on Orange and T-Mobile. I've been with T-Mobile for a year and changed to Orange about 2 weeks ago. I wish I never switched...Poor coverage and when I get good coverage it's slow.
 
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