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Mobile Phone Contract with UNLIMITED Data
My mobile phone contract just ended with Vodafone and I was getting the usual sales phone calls from them. So I thought I’d do a bit of research.
Looking at all the different phones available I decided to go for the Smasung Galaxy 2S. It seemed to be the most full featured phone currently available and being a bit of a gadget freak it ticked all the boxes 😀
So, having decided on the phone, I now started looking for the best contract to suit me. I’ve always been a big internet user and often got the cautionary text from Vodafone warning me that I was about to exceed my data limit 500Mb per month.
Now I’m sure we’ve all heard of the word UNLIMITED in the sales blurb of phone sellers but the small print, very descretely placed in the corner stating ‘subject to fair play usage! In other words, UNLIMITED didn’t mean UNLIMITED!
So then I see an ad by Three Mobile – All You Can Eat Data. Rather than go straight to the shop, I logged into an independent Three forum and quizzed the AYCE claim. Yup, it really is UNLIMITED – 1Gig, 10Gig, 100Gig, up to you. This was confirmed on my visit to a Three shop.
Now, you might be wondering how you could ever use that much data on a mobile phone. Three allow ‘tethering’. The Samsung Galaxy 2 has an App pre-installed that allows you to very easily setup a WiFi Hotspot. This means that I can connect my PC to the interet through the Samsung’s hotspot, in fact, I can connect up to 4 PCs and never have to worry when downloading large files or watching online videos.
£35pm all in, less than I was paying to Vodafone and a free Samsung Galaxy 2 = Best deal out there.
Two weeks into my contract. Phone is just amazing and Hotspot proving VERY useful.
John
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17 Replies
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my contract is close to renewal for 4 phones (hd2 on voda)
i started off paying £20-30 a month then all the bits were missing like insurance etc
The unlimited data, we haggled with them aftersales to sort out wrong items on the contract but sure enough it was unlimited data, the small print on a lot of new datacoms contracts have fair usage policies due to the evil torrent users.
so yes worth reading into everything these days, i also found the terms on vodas contracts to be universal, i remember heading over to the website to find only one set of terms
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I’m not wishing to advertise for Three!
I’ll find it particularly useful when doing shows etc – I’ll have internet access and if I want to speak to a supplier in the USA, I can do so via Skype from my mobile phone and not be concerned with my data usage.
Vodafone would have skinned me alive if I’d used the data as much as I wanted!
There’s even an App that automatically would allow others to use the Hotspot and collect a payment based on how you set it up!
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John,
I have the iPhone4 on the all you can eat deal from 3,superb! I dropped the broadband from my business line and just tether to the iphone which acts as a modem, it’s not slow either, ok so it hangs a bit occasionally but it’s better than my mates talk talk broadband! i’ve never pput broadband in at the new house either, I used a dongle but no need for that now either!
3 have their own dedicated 3g network now, I left vodafone after about 12 years, finally had enough of them and their customer service, the could not and would not get close to what three offered. I paid £69 for the phone and £35pm / 24 month. it’s a total of around £900 over 2yrs but i know people who’ve paid £4-500 for an iP4 and still have their monthly contract or payg with naff data allowance! i checked my phone the other day and since feb i’ve used nearly 50gig of data,
the wifi hotspot you mention is on the later software downloads, it’s not an app, it’s just a switch on or offable part of the software, when you tether to the phone it activates it, so the kids can use it too – though my oldest lad has got his own iP4 with the same deal and the younger lad has enough data (1gb) on his £10pm tesco contract for his facebook nonsense that they don’t bother!
there is no better deal than the 3 deal, i spent a long time looking and don’t know of any other network offering truly unlimited internet use. plenty of people tell me they do but when pushed it’s a gig at most. one or two offered 2gig but it was very pricey.
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Good post Hugh.
If you were really savvy about this hot spot stuff, you would have downloaded the additional App that would allow you to have charged your children for use of the internet 😀 Just think how much maoney you would have made.
Last time I went to Gatwich Airport there were NO free Hotspots. Lowest price was about £7ph. I’m thinking of sending my kids to Gatwick just to hang around with the Samsung and make some money while loitering :lol1:
See you at the match 13th August.
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I never thought about it like that John!!
I’m looking forward to the match too, we’re gate 1, U34, RFU allocated so not sure how surrounded by my sound-alikes i’ll be, would be amusing to be the only ones cheering the boys on while surrounded by white!! I thought it time to upgrade the old brains reebok top so have just ordered my new 2011/12 strip, went for the black / red away strip as the red makes me look fat – well, the love handles make me look fat but ya know what i mean!! (i’m working on that!).. ! we’ll be driving down now, unless there’s a cancellation at the b&b we use then looks like a night in the van in the services – ya never know, might meet Andy Powell while there!
oops, phones, yes, 3 all the way. the signal down at a little campsite near pendine / Laughrne was 100% with full 3g, mates voda fone kept dropping and had no 3g, 02 good but no 3g. 3 might still be iffy here and there but I actually think i get better reception than vodafone gave me.
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A lot of it must be down to your location, I had a 3 mobile dongle for a while when I couldn’t have a landline connection and it was the worst thing I ever bought. Constantly fell out and never seemed to get a good signal.
That was about 3 years ago so quite possibly things have changed since then. In fact I am sure I still have it somewhere along with a 3 phone I bought so I could use skype on the mobile. Phone was never very good either which is why I stopped using it.
Maybe I should dig them out and try again. -
from what I can gather, ‘3’ have spent the last couple of years building their own dedicated network, they no longer piggy back on other networks – so I was told,
Hugh
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Your probably right Hugh, as I said it was 2 or 3 years ago and a lot can happen in that time obviously.
I do remember the skype on my phone being free but subject to a fair usage policy. The limit was set at 4000 minutes a month on a £10 top up which was fine for me as I would never come close to that many minutes a month on skype while out and about. -
Thanks John & Hugh, dug the 3 mobile phone out of a box just to see if the signal was any better than before, charged it up, switched it on and I have £26 credit on it that I didn’t know I had lol :lol1: :lol1: :lol1: :lol1:
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But are you getting a decent signal now Martin?
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quote Martin:Thanks John & Hugh, dug the 3 mobile phone out of a box just to see if the signal was any better than before, charged it up, switched it on and I have £26 credit on it that I didn’t know I had lol :lol1: :lol1: :lol1: :lol1:
result!
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Well I’ve just changed to Three because of the data network and so far so good.
Speeds are excellent (ranging from 1.5 to 5.4mbps download). Not really had any signal issues with them. I get annoyed with talking to "Rosemary or Dave from India" but that’s my only gripe but i can do most things from an app on the android anyway without talking to them.
The only thing that might effect me is that they don’t seem to have bundles for calls or data abroad (yet) as for data you pay a flat fee per meg. -
often wonder how much money is lost in redundant sims/phones sat around, possibly millions
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Phill, it’s sat on my coffee table and has a 3G signal showing at the moment, only time I saw that in the past was when down south so maybe the network has improved up here.
Dave has to be millions. Just think about lost or stolen phones. Company puts a block on the sim so it can’t be used anymore but they never recredit any money on the sim so that never gets used. Lost count of the number of phones my kids have had. Even when they get a new phone the old one gets binned straight away, may only have a couple of quid on it but multiply that by all the other phones it happens to. Last couple of phones my youngest has had she has kept her number but don’t think any credit was transferred to the new sim.
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My daughters phone was stolen on Friday, orange blocked the sim and are sending a new one out with the credit on it – hopefully the credit was still on there as only put £10 on the day before!
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When are we gonna get a sim with all the networks on!!! i pay for that
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Sounds like the 3 contract is blinding. already have an Orange mobile, and just bought an Advent Vega tablet. Inorder to connect on the move we have also splashed out on a 3MYFI, which sounds like the bit included in Martins contract. The device is the size of a small mobile, and will allow 4 devices to connect through it……..
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