[Ben]

Just playing with my e606 on Threepay...

...when I was on contract you could hold down the services key and it'd drop back to 2G. This doesn't work on Threepay.

When I have no 3 signal (it seems to have gone really patchy here again!) the phone doesn't move to 2G anymore - it just shows signal bars (full, good old O2) but doesn't actually connect to it. Incoming calls go to answerphone and outgoing calls don't work either. If I move the phone back to somewhere with stronger 3 coverage, the lovely NEC tone is heard and the green 3G icon lights back up.

Is it just that Threepay wasn't designed to work with the NEC e606 or is Threepay just limited to 3's 3G coverage? Is the limitation localised (imposed by Three so areas they know have coverage cannot be used in 2G mode) or is it a network-wide Threepay thing? :S

lol, as a test, I video called from my 6680 to my e606 last night. The e606 died after 20 minutes while the 6680 still reported full battery life! The 6680 died several hours later after continuous data use on Agile :D Usually 3G signal isn't particularly strong on Orange here, but during the video call every time 3G signal dropped right down something seemed to happen to boost it right back up again. I moved to various *dead spots* around my house, and even put the phone inside the subwoofer at one point, and it just wouldn't give up! I was amazed! Three also faired well. Quality was so-so.

[Ben]

Tried calling the e606 earlier after leaving it with a friend to have a video call from the Basement Jaxx concert only to constantly get the error, after a long delay, that the number is not in use. Later, I can get video voicemail when I call, but 3 coverage in my area of Kent appears to have gone almost completely (it was really really strong a couple of months ago).

Oo! Phone's just picked up some coverage. *dials again* "Number Not In Use". *dials again* oh, success at last!

All still seems pretty sub standard to me.

I want Three to be good, and had higher hopes after coverage here improved, so I can consider a retrial if and when proper data services are provisioned. Unfortunately it looks like it's just as hit and miss as it was in March 2003. All the problems seem to be network issues, but as soon as I end up with a better redundant 3G handset than the e606 I think I'll do a comprehensive re-review of Three UK.

[Hands0n]

The e606 will not flip to 2G with a Threepay USIM - this appears to be some minor (!) incompatibility. The same Threepay USIM in an a835 works fine flipping to 2G as and when my contract phone does also.

Surely a man of your means :D should be busy buying something nice and shiny on eBay n'est pas?

My own Videocalling experience with the e606 suggests that the experience is not as good as to a more current handset such as the a835 or the LG U8110/20 series. I think that the e606 barely makes it :) aaaah bless. But it is, nevertheless, not a entirely terrible handset as long as you are in a reasonable 3G area. It does get decidedly shake outside or when transitting 3G/2G.

Seeing and experiencing [since January 2005] the quality of Three's network coverage and quality using a Motorola e1000 I do not believe that many of their current problems are network. Rather that they are more to do with the handsets, and the NEC seem to be the worst of the batch. In North Kent I am getting almost rock solid 3G access. In London there is an almost constant flipping from 3G to 2G as I move around. But the e1000 handles it more than capably - almost seamlessly. More than can be said for the e606 ever could!

I, too, wanted Three to be good, and they are in many ways. They are more than dire in others, mainly in respect of their Customer interface. They do have some way to go yet in those terms and also in opening up the network to unrestricted Internet access. If they survive in their present form long enough to do this will be some achievement. I, personally, anticipate another One-to-One happening - buyout or full merger.

[Jon3G]

If does buy a sim free phone then 3 will lock it in no time

[Hands0n]

Eh? Not possible. SP locks are local to the handset and cannot be set remotely by Three.

They could, I suppose, bar the IMEI from their network but for what reason? That is only for stolen or lost handsets. They would more likely disconnect the Threepay number rendering the USIM useless. They seem to do this to Threepay USIMs that have been previously topped up/activated but subsequently not used much/at all.

Three own no property rights to the handset which has been fully paid for by the customer, they only have [full] ownership of the USIM.

I think it is a strange practise though - disabling the means for people to pay money into Three's coffers. Surely it hardly matters from where the money actually comes from so long as it is coming ............ If I were Three's execs I would actively encourage the re-sale of Threepay USIM on eBay and elsewhere - I'd be selling them myself from my corporate website - if I were a Three exec!! Bring that money in anyway, anyhoo!!

[Ben]

D'oh, the Z1010 roams onto O2 fine - I can even still use 3's content area, albeit a very stripped down version, when I'm in a 'voice and picture' area for the first time! Even managed to get my laptop to dial in via bluetooth eventually, which brought about 3 seconds of excitement!

Weirdly the Z1010 hasn't reported more than 2 of 5 bars of 3G coverage for 3 yet... it was frequently full on the e606. That said, call quality and video call quality are still as reliable as they were on the e606. Perhaps the e606 was over-reporting the signal strength.