'3' network - recommend them?

SideWinder

SideWinder

SideWinder

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Joined
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Pondering swapping to 3...been with EE/T Mobile for years and years but 3 are offering me a much better deal.

I remember when they first started operating and coverage was an issue, all good now? Customer service? Any other comments?
 
I left them last year some time, mostly because their coverage, speeds and reliability up here were iffy and I could get a better deal on BT Mobile being a BT Broadband customer.

Customer service is pretty poor, I complained to them repeatedly about the above issues but nothing was ever really acknowledged. Their app to check usage and bills is crap too, the BT one is much better.
 
They are good if you get good coverage, it's all hit and miss unfortunately.

I get decent coverage outside of work but inside, it's horrible where as people on EE, BT and o2 always have good reception. Speeds are very hit and miss as well, sometimes i get 30/30 and othertimes i barely get 5/2. I'll be switching to BT in the next month or two after 6 years with them.
 
Crap as far as I'm concerned. Was stuck on a contract I basically couldn't use because of no reception. Giffgaff since then with no problems. Cheap too. Can't really complain.
 
Depends on your area I guess .. I like them for free 0800, and the feel at home free service so when visit family in Spain about 3 time's a year I can just use my data and calls as normal at no extra cost.
 
customer service is crap. personally found the signal to be fine although its highly effected by being indoors.

Speeds were excellent but I think they have expanded too fast without the appropriate infrastructure upgrades.

I only really stay with them due to the "feel at home" deal, which I make use of a fair bit and free 4g. Price is as you say, good.


If you are moving contract (2 year one for example) think about getting a 1 month 3 sim and seeing what the service is like in your area before agreeing.
 
Nope. Been with them just over a year now. Indoor signal absolutely sucks, outdoor reception is seriously spotty. £5 a day for EU usage, and that's just for data - no calls or texts included at all. Maybe not a deal breaker, but would be nice to have when I'm in Europe on my jollies. Never had a need to contact them over the phone so I couldn't tell you how their customer service stacks up.

Definitely wouldn't bother with them again.
 
Although I agree that reception can be spotty, especially indoors, I would say I'm content with it. For the price it's not too bad (£15/month for 200 mins/texts and unlimited* data, the latter of which is mainly what I use). A lot of other pay monthly sim only deals seem to have quite low bandwidth caps (2-4GB) for the same price.

Atari said:
£5 a day for EU usage
Click to expand...

I've not actually used the service myself, but don't 3 have the "Home Abroad" thing where you essentially get free data while in certain countries, including a lot of EU countries?
 
I've been with 3 for about 4 or 5 years now not sure exactly. Never really had any issues, used to be that my coverage was poor inside the house but that's been improved now. Pretty happy with them overall.

Only thing I can say is that sometimes their deals are quite expensive compared to others I think.
 
SideWinder said:
Oh wow - wasn't expecting this many negative replies. :o

Didn't realise BT had their own mobile thingy...will take a look.
Click to expand...

Yep, uses EE's network although BT own EE now anyway.

BT Broadband customer discount + Amazon giftcard + TopCashBack means you can get a pretty good deal out of them.
 
vanandjuanunited said:
Used 3 for a few years now. No issues with reception etc. Only black mark is the recent price rise but other than that all good. Use data extensively so still good value. Also feel at home is great.
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^^^What he said.

Been with them for years now. Other than a couple of signal dropouts due to work over the years it's been reliable. Don't get much signal where my parents live, but that's ok. BT, EE and Vodafone are useless too.

Not even had a problem with their customer services on the couple of occasions that I've had to call them. I've heard complaints about all mobile network provider customer services though. They're all much of a muchness. Well, apart from Virgin who are complete and utter excreta. The utter worst company I've ever had the misfortune of calling.

3's Feel at home service saved me hundreds last year. It was great not having to worry about anything.
 
Why not grab a free PAYG sim and give it a shot to test reception?

Three's reception up here (north-east Northumberland) is better than anyone else and it's rare that I don't get near full reception.

4G will be poor indoors due to the nature of their frequencies, but their 3G is plenty quick enough for me (10-17mbps down usually depending on location) to stream full-HD Youtube for example, so I'm happy with that.

So it depends on where you live and work really. If in a built-up area then you're probably better off elsewhere, but if you're usually in a rural location then if their reception map looks decent enough then they're certainly worth a shot.
 
Feel at home is brilliant for a traveler although not available for every country it has served me well when I have been abroad. And for this even with the price rise I shall be sticking I dont think any other provider comes close to what offered here.

Cant complain about the signal either H+ at home indoors and 4g at work never had a problem.
 
Been with them 6 years, no problems in that time. Coverage has been fine even better now as I can use data abroad at no extra cost.

Never needed to call customer service so can't comment on that aspect.
 
Coverage was rubbish when I was with them (prob 2010 to 2012)

Keep on the Ee network (change to Bt for price?), they're the best I've has
 
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