Associate
I have been with three for over 5 years and their service is absolutely horrendous. they have finally agreed to let me out of my contract without any payments
Three UK, anyone noticed that they are not as good as they used to be.
- Thread starter TheNottsTogger
- Start date
Associate
- Joined
- 10 Jul 2006
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- 2,423
I find its hit and miss across the board. I'm yet to find a network that works on my commute on the Thameslink to London Bridge and back. Tried Vodafone, O2, Three...yet to try EE.
Soldato
As per my earlier comment in this very thread, why not just get the £15 Unlimited Smarty bundle of a 30-day rolling then?
Soldato
- Joined
- 14 Aug 2018
- Posts
- 3,395
I was on Three for ~10 years mainly for the free roaming as I travel a fair bit.
Once they dropped roaming I was forced to move to O2. Paying £8 for 50Gb data bumped up to 100Gb with Volt + free roaming in the States, which came in handy as I've just come from New York.
One thing my missus and I have noticed is how terrible the O2 network is here compared to Three.
I'm one of those who gets perverse pleasure from running Ookla speed test wherever I go and on Three I'd normally get 20Mb+ on 4g. We straight away noticed on O2 we'd be lucky to get >5Mb, with 1-2Mb being all too common!
We now like going away abroad so much as that's the only time we get good data speeds on O2 as we're really on another network.
You might complain about Three but for network speeds in the UK they're still way better than O2 in our experience.
Once they dropped roaming I was forced to move to O2. Paying £8 for 50Gb data bumped up to 100Gb with Volt + free roaming in the States, which came in handy as I've just come from New York.
One thing my missus and I have noticed is how terrible the O2 network is here compared to Three.
I'm one of those who gets perverse pleasure from running Ookla speed test wherever I go and on Three I'd normally get 20Mb+ on 4g. We straight away noticed on O2 we'd be lucky to get >5Mb, with 1-2Mb being all too common!
We now like going away abroad so much as that's the only time we get good data speeds on O2 as we're really on another network.
You might complain about Three but for network speeds in the UK they're still way better than O2 in our experience.
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Soldato
I used Three as my main network from 2011 to 2022. They used to have good coverage but the last few years it started going down hill and if I went anywhere remotely outside of a town then there would be no signal.
I moved to Talkmobile (Vodafone) and I now get signal everywhere Three didn't. I also have a Talkhome Mobile (EE) sim in the second sim slot for back up.
I moved to Talkmobile (Vodafone) and I now get signal everywhere Three didn't. I also have a Talkhome Mobile (EE) sim in the second sim slot for back up.
This completely. I found O2 comically bad in so many places where other networks have signal. It's location dependent but for me Three is much better.
EE signal is better but not willing to support their pricing, misleading advertising and excessive contract terms though.
Associate
Yeah this is what I ended up doing (except it only worked at £16 a month for me which is fine)
Soldato
Can't comment on 3, but I've just switched to 1p mobile after years of Vodafone. I have an O2 work phone too and my wife is on O2.
Around central London, Vodafone has been all but useless for the last 18 months, and O2 only barely better.
1p uses EE, and is not bandwidth restricted either. I got 500mbps today on the Thameslink platform at St Pancras and my wife wasnt able to load Google.
Mega impressed so far for £10pcm for 25gb with EU roaming (capped a 14gb) included and no contract.
Around central London, Vodafone has been all but useless for the last 18 months, and O2 only barely better.
1p uses EE, and is not bandwidth restricted either. I got 500mbps today on the Thameslink platform at St Pancras and my wife wasnt able to load Google.
Mega impressed so far for £10pcm for 25gb with EU roaming (capped a 14gb) included and no contract.
Soldato
Now I have a 5G phone I'm looking to get off my current Vodafone plan. Smarty currently have a 70GB plan for £10.
Man of Honour
I was with Vodafone for going on almost 20 years but the cost is getting ridiculous and then they accused me of lying after they changed my tariff (I had the new contract info, etc emails all sent to me!) - and that was the straw that broke the camels back for me.
I already had a Smarty (Three Network) SIM in my Tablet which was super quick when I needed it but having ported my number to Smarty now for mobile too I'm finding that the Three Signal just isn't as good in general use - although Edinburgh is pretty poor for a lot of networks it has to be said, I'll see how I go though - its hard to overlook the cost saving - I might try just leaving my mobile on 4G and see if that helps!
I already had a Smarty (Three Network) SIM in my Tablet which was super quick when I needed it but having ported my number to Smarty now for mobile too I'm finding that the Three Signal just isn't as good in general use - although Edinburgh is pretty poor for a lot of networks it has to be said, I'll see how I go though - its hard to overlook the cost saving - I might try just leaving my mobile on 4G and see if that helps!
Soldato
Could go for lebara to stay with vodafone signal or 1p for EE - I use 1p and have very good signal throughout the city. O2 on my work phone definitely struggles with signal more than EE.
That being said the blackspot at Stockbridge and Summerhall hasn't gone away in the 7 years I have been here...
Soldato
Three Network down outage again! 
www.thesun.co.uk
Three hit with outage as hundreds of customers left without internet and signal
THOUSANDS of Three customers have been left without mobile internet and service in the network’s third outage in just weeks. Several thousands of reports have been made according to Downdetec…
www.thesun.co.uk
Associate
Wasn't too bad though only a few hours. Although admittedly shouldn't ever happen.Three Network down outage again!
Three hit with outage as hundreds of customers left without internet and signal
THOUSANDS of Three customers have been left without mobile internet and service in the network’s third outage in just weeks. Several thousands of reports have been made according to Downdetec…
Man of Honour
Ah I hadn't realised there was an outage; I've been in York since Friday and just arrived back in Edinburgh - it was basically unusable and then I noticed today that I was getting signal (even 5G) in places I just had zero on Friday; still annoying though!
They never use to be like this. Been with them for around 10 years and they were great with good offers and even when i messed up they would give me £10 credit as a nice gesture!
Just the service seems to have somewhat gone downhill, signal is never that great no matter where i am tbh.
Soldato
I rarely have issues with signal. I can't remember the last time. Been with them since 2005.
Soldato
Tempted to just leave Three, having been with them for many years. Currently on a monthly rolling contact at £9.41, offers unlimited calls and texts and 8GB data..... very excessive for what I need!
I rarely even phone or text, and data usage is limited due to always being near wifi. What have others changed to that's on PAYG or even cheap pay monthly mainly for data usage? Even just topping up could probably last me over a month, maybe more.
Three are trying to tell me my current contact can't continue, and just want to throw more expensive deals at me, this time they can bugger off!
I rarely even phone or text, and data usage is limited due to always being near wifi. What have others changed to that's on PAYG or even cheap pay monthly mainly for data usage? Even just topping up could probably last me over a month, maybe more.
Three are trying to tell me my current contact can't continue, and just want to throw more expensive deals at me, this time they can bugger off!