Three UK, anyone noticed that they are not as good as they used to be.

Bounced through a number of networks and had Three for years prior to moving to EE, then trying others, now back on EE.

EE cannot be beaten whether indoors or out really, this is very much a matter of fact based on my experience around the UK when driving, shooting on location etc. I also use Android Auto and youtube in the car so streaming with reliable data is paramount. At least Three's data speeds in general are better than the ~2Mbps I was seeing on o2...

Use SIM Sherpa / Uswitch or other comp sites to get the best EE deals. I'm on £20 a month for a 12 month SIM only with 125GB of data. It's 5G on an Essential plan so 100Mbps down. Average speedtest on whether 4G or 5G doesn't matter, always get 115Mbps down ad about 50-55Mbps up.
 
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EH75 said:
Been with 3 for ten years, mainly for the roaming as I travel extensively worldwide for work, however now that's gone out the window they've lost the main selling point. I think Vodafone might have the best worldwide roaming offering now, really need to look into that...
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Was always this for me with Three - when driving London to east Germany it was fantastic but Brexit stopped that. The signal on my train journey post covid made me realise why I left them to begin but alas I’m stuck with them for another 13 months after it stupidly moved from Vod to Three in a moment of madness.

I’ll just get an eSim with EE based network because it’s that bad and when Three contract is up will transfer the number.
 
something has happened with three, i was getting 3 to 400 download mid last year, new contract new hub and now im capped to 120 if im lucky, apparently its been put down as more traffic is hitting the tower, odd it happened as soon as i turned on my new hub, i have also noticed my phone has gone down to 80 download old contract so nothing has changed, i think they have capped the speeds but not letting on
 
kenny_st said:
something has happened with three, i was getting 3 to 400 download mid last year, new contract new hub and now im capped to 120 if im lucky, apparently its been put down as more traffic is hitting the tower, odd it happened as soon as i turned on my new hub, i have also noticed my phone has gone down to 80 download old contract so nothing has changed, i think they have capped the speeds but not letting on
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Interesting about that i just did a speedtest on my phone and it showing D: 601Mbps / U: 18.3 Mbps it must be a good day for me right now, havent really noticed too much were i am regarding changes, but when i get it the city it does drop significantly, which has always been the case for years, in which i do switch to my work WiFi.
 
Once they lost all roaming i binned them off, with me having a pretty good Virgin deal already I jumped to 02 to get the additional Volt bonuses and their roaming package, I pay £8 a month on SIM only for 25gb Data (Double to 50gb for free due to Volt), unlimited min / unlimited texts and international roaming, the Volt bonuses also double my Virgin broadband package, so i was paying £35 a month for 500mb and this is now doubled to 1Gig at no extra cost (Virgin also sent out the replacement Wifi6 router and gave me their mesh kit for free, only used the router as a pass through though for me GX90), personally don't think it's a bad deal / package all round.
 
Three are such crooks. Been with them for probably 16-17 years at this point. For 15 years of that, had unlimited data, minutes, texts for £15/mo on a sim only rolling monthly contract. A couple of years ago they emailed saying sorry we can't offer that anymore, we'll move you onto a new 12 month contract for 25 a month. I called and complained, they discounted it down to 16/mo. That 12 months is now over, and they're trying the same shenanigans again. So I'm on another 12 month now for 17/mo this time.

I feel like this might be the last time though, luckily I've not had any issues with the network itself in south London, or roaming abroad, but if any issues crop up in the next 12 month I'll certainly be changing.
 
Minato said:
Three are such crooks. Been with them for probably 16-17 years at this point. For 15 years of that, had unlimited data, minutes, texts for £15/mo on a sim only rolling monthly contract. A couple of years ago they emailed saying sorry we can't offer that anymore, we'll move you onto a new 12 month contract for 25 a month. I called and complained, they discounted it down to 16/mo. That 12 months is now over, and they're trying the same shenanigans again. So I'm on another 12 month now for 17/mo this time.

I feel like this might be the last time though, luckily I've not had any issues with the network itself in south London, or roaming abroad, but if any issues crop up in the next 12 month I'll certainly be changing.
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Why not just go on to Smarty for £15 a month unlimited everything, 30-day rolling contract and free roaming, still on Three network, owned by Three and you aren't tied it.
 
wesley said:
3 is extortionately bad in London, especially SE area.

Switched to Giffgaff which is 02 network. Omg much better
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I made the same move a couple of years ago. I'd also been with 3 for about 10 years and was noticing the network stability going downhill, so jumped ship.

They've never come out and admitted that their network seems to be degrading. Whether they're only investing in certain areas, or maybe the amount of network frequency range they own is too small for the number of users they initially had.

Either way, definitely interesting seeing a number of people complaining about the quality, and also in lots of different locations.
 
Journey said:
Nothing.
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From doing a bit of reading, nothing really seems to match up with Three's international roaming.

EU roaming is broadly comparable with most carriers, some are better than three as it's included rather than paying £2/day.

But if I go to certain countries abroad, I can pay £5/day for a data passport which gives me unlimited data, which is particularly helpful at airports or other places. In contrast, O2 charge £65 for 1GB in the same country!! Smarty don't have anything similar at all, just European roaming.
 
Minato said:
From doing a bit of reading, nothing really seems to match up with Three's international roaming.

EU roaming is broadly comparable with most carriers, some are better than three as it's included rather than paying £2/day.

But if I go to certain countries abroad, I can pay £5/day for a data passport which gives me unlimited data, which is particularly helpful at airports or other places. In contrast, O2 charge £65 for 1GB in the same country!! Smarty don't have anything similar at all, just European roaming.
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How many times a year do you need non-EU roaming? Also pretty sure it's £5 capped at 12GB, but would need to check that, and buying a local data SIM will normally work out cheaper most of the time anyhow.
 
Journey said:
How many times a year do you need non-EU roaming? Also pretty sure it's £5 capped at 12GB, but would need to check that, and buying a local data SIM will normally work out cheaper most of the time anyhow.
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Maybe twice a year. And you're right, I have often done that e.g. in Malaysia. But some countries are somewhat less advanced and it's a struggle.

Once you're in your hotel you're fine since you get WiFi. But there's a peace of mind element that no matter where you are, if your little wifi box or whatever fails, you'll have access. And when you land, or have a problem at the airport, I can access my NAS, my documents, booking reservations, anything I might need.
 
Minato said:
Maybe twice a year. And you're right, I have often done that e.g. in Malaysia. But some countries are somewhat less advanced and it's a struggle.
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Much easier with eSIM's as you can buy them and activate them before you even land there now.
 
O2 is similar, in central manchester, full on 5G signal yet nothing works, sometimes have to go to 4g or even worse 3 to get some data through.

I stay with o2 as their contracts have good perks, who needs signal when you've got a nice phone anyhow :D
 
I was with 3 for over 10 years and had a great signal but degraded over the last few months. I have moved from 3 @ £18 per month for unlimited data/texts/600 mins to Talkmobile (Vodafone network) @ £9.95 for 150GB/unlimited mins + texts. Both on 30 day rolling contracts.
3 was down to around 20MB download even on 5G but talkmobile is around 200-250MB download and the calls sound clearer as well.
 
I've just had a the email to say they're not letting me keep my unlimited everything plan for £17 per month any more. 30 days to find a new provider.

Considering 1p mobile.
 
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