Mobile phone network recommendations?

Hi all,
I've finally come to the end of my 18 month contract with T-mobile, and I'm thinking of switching to another network. I get little or no T-mobile signal at home so it's time for a change.

I've been doing a bit of shopping around, and it seems that 3 (three) offers some calling plans that would suit me (ie very little calling time and 150+ texts for £15 or less a month). They seem to have reasonable coverage in my area (according to their coverage map).

Can anyone share their experiences with the 3 Network? Especially if you're in Scotland - what kind of coverage do you get? Customer services? Anyone using another network that they would definitely recommend? I was with Orange previously, and thought they were pretty good, but they don't really have any plans just now that would suit me.

Thanks!

In my experience, 3 suck you in with good deals but they are pretty rubbish.  I found the customer service utterly atrocious (I used to work for O2 "customer service" and even they weren't as crap).  The main problem for me was the network coverage though, I found it very patchy (I'm in Scotland too).  They might be better now but I didn't have a particularly good experience.  I'm with Orange now and i'm happy enough with them.

STAY AWAY FROM O2, OR O2 ONLINE AT LEAST.  God help you if you ever need assistance and have to call them. 

Ah hah...well, that echos what my one 3-using friend had to say about the network. She gets pretty good coverage here in Edinburgh, but she had to jump through hoops to get a replacement phone when hers broke. I was hoping hers wasn't a typical experience!

I'm coming off a half-price plan with T-mobile costing me a measley £12 a month, so perhaps I'm being too optomistic about my chances of finding something good for around the same price. I notice Orange has a £20/month plan that has the minutes/texts I need. And I didn't have any complaints about them back when I was on their network (and all my friends seem to be on Orange!)...  perhaps I'll look a bit closer at their deals.

thanks

I'm on Vodafone and have absolutely no complaints!  Don't know how they fair on low tariffs (mine is £25, so I'm in the mid-range!), but their customer service is good and my boyfriend's had to get his phone replaced twice on them (and there's been no problems).  Dunno about coverage - ask around?  I weirdly get NO reception inside my flat in CENTRAL LONDON, but I think that's the flat's fault, not Vodafone's .

Thanks, Aless....will look into Vodaphone. I was with them for 4 years when I first moved to London in 1997 (!), and couldn't complain back then either.

One of my coworkers hates 3 with a passion.....crap coverage! I'm also looking for a new provider, I'm with Vodafone pay as you go at the moment.

The future's bright, the future's Orange.   

(plus you get Orange Wednesdays!)

Vodafone is the only reception we get at my work, so that's what i use.   It also works on lots of the Hebridean islands... useful for our annual trip to Islay.  I've never had any problem with Vodafone at all.

We only get Vodafone or Orange out here.  Luckily, DH's contract with T-Mobile was up at the end of August, so he just went PAYT till now.

It seems like Vodafone reception is pretty good all over Scotland.

Expect anything using the new 3G services to have patchy coverage.  The network just hasn't expanded sufficiently yet to give anything else.

As I've pointed out before, do remember that whoever you actually sign up with, the physical network you are using will be one of only a very limited number.  Leaving aside the new 3G networks, for regular GSM900/1800 service until very recently there were just four networks in Britain:  Vodafone, O2, Orange, and T-Mobile (UK).  To these have been added Opal Telecom and TeleWare, both of which have only started in about the last year.

So if you get GSM service with anybody else, it will be using one of these networks.  Vodafone and O2 (which was formerly BT's Cellnet) are the longest established and have both GSM900 and 1800 celltowers, which tends to provide better coverage in more rural areas (obviously with localized variations).  The others are GSM1800 only.

dh works for the carphone warehouse, i will ask him, but my first contract i had was with 3, WASNT IMPRESSED...

My girlfriend had 3 some time ago, and hated them.  If you ask her about them today, you'll still stir her up. 

We're both on Orange now, and they've been fine.

good luck,
Carl

Thanks everyone, for your suggestions!

In the end, I decided NOT to go with 3...and instead called T-mobile up and asked what they could do to convince me to stay. They gave me a great monthly plan and a nice new phone upgrade. The new phone seems to get a better signal at home than my last one, so my big issue with T-mobile has resolved itself.

3 (three) doesn't have their own network - they piggy back off of other networks' towers.... (I work for Orange )

(I work for Orange )

Yeah, you're in Bristol, aren't ya?  I'm very partial to a certain Orange employee myself...