[Layla]

Hi

Just wanted to know if anyone had any positive/negative feedback about the T Mobile service at the moment. Imcurrently on Orange and the service is really good but found a good monthly contract deal with T Mobile.

But have only heard that the network coverage is really bad. So dont know wether to take up the offer or not? It is value for money interms of the mins/tx im getting just not sure if the service is up to scratch!!


Any comments would be appreciated!!

Thanx!

[Ben]

T-Mobile's coverage isn't exactly the best in the UK, but it's stronger in some areas than others so it'd be a good idea to check their Coverage (http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/Dispatcher?menuid=phones_cua_uc_gis&ref=homepage&customerCategory=personal) in the places you'll be in most and, if you do opt for the contract, make sure you take the first seven days of it to check you're not going to have signal problems before your cancellation period runs out.

Welcome to Talk3G!

[Hands0n]

Just wanted to know if anyone had any positive/negative feedback about the T Mobile service at the moment...................

Hi Layla. It all rather depends on where in the UK you are. I am located in the South East, North Kent to be precise, and I travel around into London City and Docklands. In all cases I have a T-Mobile service in all but the most radio-adverse areas (I also carry around a Vodafone 3G).

The T-Mobile 3G service in and around the area is as near solid as it gets. I find only occasional drops back to 2G in rather well defined and predictable areas, and even these have been getting fewer through the year.

I have been on T-Mobile since the beginning of this year, having signed up for their Flext35 with Web N Walk originally and lately upgrading to Web N Walk Plus.

There are horror stories about T-Mobile in general and the PCN 1800MHz frequencies in particular (Orange is a PCN network too). At these higher frequencies the radio signal can be subject to interference or blockage by the simplest of things, even trees and large expanses of water ....... But much of this is historical, the deployment of a large number of radio transmitter stations has seen these issues largely disappear into the mists of history. There are, however, classic areas where either the deployment is weak or the territory is particularly difficult.

If you are into a particular deal with T-Mobile do remember you have a 14-day cooling off period in which you can unconditionally return the phone and cancel the contract - you will be liable for any calls made during that period. Thus, you could take out the T-Mobile contract, try it out and about where you live, work and play. If it works for you then keep it, if not then get it back to the dealer within the 14-day period.

Do let us know how you get on.


NB: Ben says 7 days, I say 14 ............. errrr .... ummmmm .... ask in the store, and get them to show you the small print where it says how many days you have. Don't take their word for it .... see it in print with your own eyes!

[Ben]

(I've always been a little blurry on the 7-14 day stuff... it's probably 14, but if things aren't looking good within the first 7 days, a full week of usage no less, then it'd be a good idea to throw in your hat)

[miffed]

Personally , I can't fault them - a huge contrast to the perfomance I had previously come to expect from T-mobile
I'd disregard any horror stories you heard that are more than a couple of years old - I too experience the "old" T-mobile ,and I agree ,they were absolutely dire , with poor coverage ,voicemails & texts dissappearing on a regular basis , calls going straight to voicemail even when I was in a full coverage area and many other problems -
But now - I honestly couldn't ask for anything more from them , I am seemingly never without signal , Everything seems to work OK , and the icing on the cake is that CS are the most helpful & polite of all the Networks ATM (IMO)
It is understandable that you have heard bad things , after all , mud sticks & T-mobile spent a lot of time up to their necks in it ! but now , they have really gotten their house in order & I for one am glad I gave them a another chance

[Layla]

Thanks for all your comments! much appreciated:)

I live in manchester, everyone whos given good feedback of TMobile seems to be from down south:( a friend who lives next door had 'horror stories' about the coverage. Shed have to go into diff rooms in the house to get a signal and do balancing acts sometimes, arms stretched etc just to send a tx! bt that was about a year ago.


There are horror stories about T-Mobile in general and the PCN 1800MHz frequencies in particular (Orange is a PCN network too). At these higher frequencies the radio signal can be subject to interference or blockage by the simplest of things, even trees and large expanses of water ....... But much of this is historical, the deployment of a large number of radio transmitter stations has seen these issues largely disappear into the mists of history. There are, however, classic areas where either the deployment is weak or the territory is particularly difficult.



Hands on, You said it seems to be historical about trees etc. But in my area there is generally bad network coverage of most networks, what other reason could there be? We always thought it was the trees because theres a lot!

Ben, thanks for the link for coverage. Ivr checked and have 'Very good' 2G coverage but only 'good coverage' of 3G. With the 3G theres 2 areas of 'no coverage' on either side of my house! So that means TMobile for me is doomed right?

[Hands0n]

Hands on, You said it seems to be historical about trees etc. But in my area there is generally bad network coverage of most networks, what other reason could there be? We always thought it was the trees because theres a lot!

Ben, thanks for the link for coverage. Ivr checked and have 'Very good' 2G coverage but only 'good coverage' of 3G. With the 3G theres 2 areas of 'no coverage' on either side of my house! So that means TMobile for me is doomed right?

Largely, yes. But as I said, there are areas where the network's signal quality and strength are marginal to non-existent. This can be as much to do with trees (forestation) as it can with the local geography. Particularly hilly areas can be difficult to cover, for example. Yours does sound like a difficult area, as you say that "most networks" suffer. You then have to choose the one that works best for you.

Perhaps you could check out a T-Mobile PAYG SIM in a spare handset for a few days to get a feel for what their coverage in your area is like. The network maps from the mobile operators are, at best, indicative of what you can anticipate. Before I signed up with T-Mobile (having had poor experiences in the past) I trialled a T-Mobile PAYG for a couple of weeks. The result was completely contrary to the expectation set by my local mobile phone dealer, all the places he said it would not work it did, reliably well. The real acid test is to run a trial for yourself.

3G is even harder to spread than 2G PCN as it is operating at an even higher frequency. The networks are still building out 3G, and it will take yet more time for coverage to truly mirror what is traditionally observed on 2G GSM/PCN networks.

All of the networks sell £1 SIMs on their websites these days (with few exceptions). It may be worth buying one from each and checking them all out in an unlocked handset before you make your choice. In any event, you could anticipate the 3G signal availability and quality to improve (possibly with the exception of O2! [see elsewhere on Talk3G]). So whatever today's observations are, they are likely to improve over the next 12 months if the networks conform to the obligations of their 3G licence acquisition.

[chagle]

Hi

But have only heard that the network coverage is really bad. So dont know wether to take up the offer or not? It is value for money interms of the mins/tx im getting just not sure if the service is up to scratch!!


Any comments would be appreciated!!

Thanx!

Hi. Probably a bit late... but...............

I was with O2, here coverage is rubbish.. went over to T-Mobile, brilliant! Including full 3G signal -- Perfect!

South East Essex by the way :) .. Where we have boy racers in Su'ffend!

Glen.