O2 tariffs, wtf ?!?!

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Who the hell needs that many free minutes, texts and data? I have 800 minutes which is more than enough and 500 texts and 500 Mb of data and never go over so that deal is only a good buy if you actually use it all. If you don;t then you are wasting money and could have got a cheaper tariff and got the phone thrown in for free.

'Different strokes for different folks' I guess, I can easily burn through 1500 mins, I'm on the 5th day of this months goody bag from giffgaff and I've already burned though 400 minutes and I'm not even a socialite, I have a few select close friends and we like a good natter from time to time, and 500mb is nothing, I like streaming podcasts and digital radio, plus I'm always surfing the net, my phone is my life, I need to be able to use it properly without worrying and the £25 giffgaff goodybag gives me that.
 
Associate
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Can someone tell me what 'Tethering' is?

I'm on o2 with a crappy broken Nokia 6700classic, 24month contract which has just under a year left.. baaah I want new phone and better contract.
 
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OP
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Got to love long term cashback deals.

£25/month nets me 300mins/unltd sms/500mb data

then I get £24/month cashback (never let me down so far) and £40 from quidco just for signing up. Bought a HTC 7 PRO for £220 sim free.

So effectively I'm on a £25/month orange contract with a free wp7/qwerty phone for less than £9 a month. I'm never going to get such a good deal again.

How did you manage that one then?
 
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Can someone tell me what 'Tethering' is?

I'm on o2 with a crappy broken Nokia 6700classic, 24month contract which has just under a year left.. baaah I want new phone and better contract.

Wiki quote:

Tethering means sharing the Internet connection of an Internet-capable mobile phone with other devices. This sharing can be offered over a wireless LAN (Wi-Fi), or over Bluetooth, or by physical connection using a cable. In the case of tethering over wireless LAN, the feature may be branded as a mobile hotspot. The Internet-connected mobile phone acts as a portable router when providing tethering services to others.
 
Soldato
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They only have a 3G network. So its 3G or no signal :p .

However three are brilliant. As mentioned their CS agents have a lot of discretion over what they can do without the system preventing them. Three made a profit last year for the first time in their existence and just goes to show how much investment they have put into their 3G network. They are currently rolling out on a large scale (o2 and t-mobile have a limited rollout) the latest 3G technology known as HSPA+ supporting upto 21Mbps depending on the number of people using the mast.

You default to T-Mobiles network if you havnt got coverage for 2g services.
 
Soldato
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You default to T-Mobiles network if you havnt got coverage for 2g services.

Nope. T-Mobile mast sharing is only for 3G services.

2G fallback does exist with orange but only in areas they deem their 3G network to be inadequate. Basically there is no fallback in cities.

If you want to try it, select 2G only on your phone and be ready to receive no signal.

edit:

Here we go.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/11/08/3uk_orange_roaming/
 
Last edited:
Soldato
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Bristol
I asked that question to an O2 CS rep a while ago and was told that my iPhone uses a different AP when tethering so they can find out. However, if the tethering/sharing software on the phone just used the same AP (i.e. through a jailbreak), they feasibly wouldn't.

Hmmm. All I'd be using tethering for is from my Android phone via mobile hotspot for my tablet to connect to. How could they monitor that? Surely the data requests are exactly the same?
 
Soldato
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iPhone APN is still iphone.o2.co.uk right? This isn't their general APN because originally package data on iphone. was differently charged to wap.o2.co.uk thus the need for a split - it's a cheap fix for billing (and billing is a gigantic pain in the arse for networks). The tethering question comes up about once a week on this forum and the short version is:

They can tell you're doing it.
They currently don't charge because it's not commonplace.
If it becomes commonplace they will likely charge for it.
As long as you stay within your limits you will be fine for now.

Three belong to MBNL (with Orange/T-Mob) so the networks will be mashed together soonish anyway. Until then three and T-M share 3G through their lovely Ericcson designed network join.
 
Soldato
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Nope. T-Mobile mast sharing is only for 3G services.

2G fallback does exist with orange but only in areas they deem their 3G network to be inadequate. Basically there is no fallback in cities.

If you want to try it, select 2G only on your phone and be ready to receive no signal.

edit:

Here we go.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/11/08/3uk_orange_roaming/

Ok, not saying your wrong but I read this:

http://www.itpro.co.uk/622588/t-mobile-and-3-in-400-million-network-deal

I know it's older than your link but your referring to orange. For arguments sake I put my phone into 2g mode by removing the pan settings and it texts and phones no issue. My s2 showed no data usage just signal bars. The Internet didn't work during this test.
 
Soldato
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Ok, not saying your wrong but I read this:

http://www.itpro.co.uk/622588/t-mobile-and-3-in-400-million-network-deal

I know it's older than your link but your referring to orange. For arguments sake I put my phone into 2g mode by removing the pan settings and it texts and phones no issue. My s2 showed no data usage just signal bars. The Internet didn't work during this test.

That source is correct but as Myshra mentioned and my article, this is for 3G networks.

2G does work in some areas but this is with Orange. But for most of the population this roaming is switched off.

Remember that Three don't have 2G infrastructure and so they have to pay another operator. Whilst for 3G they can come to a mutually beneficial agreement.

http://www.mbnl.co.uk/

http://www.3g.co.uk/3GForum/showthread.php?t=108636
 
Soldato
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I'm going to be upgrading my 3GS and its currently with O2, £35.74 currently for 600mins 500 texts and unlimited 3G and WiFi. Fair enough my contract is a grandfather one in regards to the Data. But to get that combo of minutes and say 500mb of data is £42! or with 1gb its £46!=

my iPhone tariff with 02 has 600 minutes, 1200 txts and unlimited internet for £20 a month
 
Soldato
Joined
8 Mar 2005
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9,173
Simple, don't get the phone on contract. High end phones are so expensive you pay way more even on the same minutes. Or look at around at other operators.

I got sick of the high monthly payments and silly long contracts. Especially with iPhone it is so much cheaper to buy it outright. Androids not so one sided, but can still often similar prices but you don't get tied in.
This! I bought my iPhone from Apple, currently paying around £19 a month for the lowest simplicity plan on O2 (150 mins, 300 texts) plus an unlimited web bolt on which I've kept from years ago. I don't really call/text often so works out cheaper for me to buy the phone outright and go on a low tariff which I can cancel any time I like.
 
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