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Barryh

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I have been with Vodafone for 16+ years now,but started to look at O2 tarriffs wich seem much cheaper on a contract.

I believe the coverage is better with Vodafone ,and I have had no problems as I travel mainly round scotland.

Should I change?
 
A mate of mine is / was on O2 - he cant get reception in a pub in central slough, 100 yeards from the 02 headquaters..

Nag voda and get them to pricematch.

And dont buy your next contract from voda direct - go to high st retailer or online. (they told me that themselves! )
 
Agree with Guy on this.

Yes, O2's pricing is even more aggressive than T-Mobile now but if you are used to the quality of the Vodaphone network coverage you will definately notice the downgrade in coverage and quality of reception if you migrate to O2.

The extent to which this effects you personally may still make it worth moving financially. For me, I have no useable O2 signal at my house in Richmond at all so almost worthless for me having a O2 phone.
 
stick with vodafone , i always get a signal in glasgow with them , O2 , now thats a different matter...
 
I'm not that technically knowledgable on all this but i was under the impression that Voda&O2 used the same channel or something, and TMob&Orange shared their channel?

I started with TMobi.. couldn't move heaven or hell to make a call and was told to switch to Orange.. after suffering the same fate i moved to O2 and have never had a problem. Would love to move to Voda, but with my monthly bill on O2 i dread to see what it would be on Voda.

Would hope after 16 years there would be some kinda customer loyalty scheme :rolleyes:
 
guydewdney said:
A mate of mine is / was on O2 - he cant get reception in a pub in central slough, 100 yeards from the 02 headquaters..

Nag voda and get them to pricematch.

And dont buy your next contract from voda direct - go to high st retailer or online. (they told me that themselves! )


I found that the retailers quote only list price,online has no scope to negotiate and by phone to vodafone,they have yet to commit to any pricematch until I choose a tarriff & phone if required.
 
Having previously been an Orange, Cellnet(!), and now a TMobile customer, with many friends who are on Vodaphone, I'm firmly of the opinion that they are all as bad as each other. Coverage is pretty much stable, as in the network has been rolled out by now so its really down to customer service as far as I'm concerned.

In response to the technical questions... All mobile networks in the UK work on the GSM frequencies, with O2 and Vodaphone using 900MHz and TMobile, Orange and Virgin Mobile using 1800MHz. There is no inherent difference quality between the two frequencies.
 
Rose Chap said:
In response to the technical questions... All mobile networks in the UK work on the GSM frequencies, with O2 and Vodaphone using 900MHz and TMobile, Orange and Virgin Mobile using 1800MHz. There is no inherent difference quality between the two frequencies.

I guess only number of Antenna etc would be the only plus point over each network?
 
Just phone up customer services and tell them you want your PAC code to move to another network. They WILL ask you why (if they don't then they need shooting!), and when you explain to them it should be pretty simple to arrange a suitable deal.

A friend of mine nearly left Vodafone when they wouldn't give him a W800 FOC on upgrade. Using the above tactics he got what he wanted (and with some insider knowledge and prompting from me, a bit more).

Regarding the network quality, there is one aspect that may have bearing on this. A few years ago I did some work in network mapping, and Vodafone and O2 had 2 different approaches. Vodafone went along the lines of more base stations to improve coverage, whereas O2 used fewer cells, but with higher transmission power to achieve the same apparent result (but with lower quality, patchiness etc). This may no longer be the case, I'm not longer involved in network mapping.
 
Madferrit said:
I guess only number of Antenna etc would be the only plus point over each network?

Pretty much, and the available carriers on each base station (antennae masts you can see). For example a base station in the middle of a village might be geared up to handle less traffic than one on slap bang in the middle of the City.
 
DO NOT get Orange. Customer service - 10 stars... Reception - 0....
Seriously, i work on the 16th floor of a building in Central London - No reception... No reception on parts of the M1 and M40...
My calls cut off all the time... Its rubbish.
Now im tied in for another 6 months after which I will def go back to Voda.
 
vodafone rock , im never short of a signal .. even way way up north in wick and john o groats
 
I'ev pretty much been on all the UK networks and in my opinions Vodafone is by far and away the best, I was never in a situation where I had no reception!
 
Mambo said:
I'ev pretty much been on all the UK networks and in my opinions Vodafone is by far and away the best, I was never in a situation where I had no reception!

Mmmm - can't say that's 100% true. Try using vodafone on the GNER lines. It cuts off while others are working. There are certain blackspots and don't you just know that's when the phone's going to ring :D

At the end of the day it comes down to where you're going to use it and who gives the best coverage for that area. Must admit I'm with Vodafone both for work and personal because generally the cover is better and the benefits for the phones being on the same networks are good too.
 
No complaints here from O2
 
pammy said:
Mmmm - can't say that's 100% true. Try using vodafone on the GNER lines. It cuts off while others are working. There are certain blackspots and don't you just know that's when the phone's going to ring :D

At the end of the day it comes down to where you're going to use it and who gives the best coverage for that area. Must admit I'm with Vodafone both for work and personal because generally the cover is better and the benefits for the phones being on the same networks are good too.

well , it works for everyone apart from the peasants that use the train then :p
 
I have just left Vodaphone after many years. Two reasons.
1). Customer Service. Non existant. Try emailing them, that should keep you occupied for a while! They finally contacted me AFTER I had cancelled and AFTER I had taken up a new contract with O2.
2). Reception. Where I now live it is very bad. O2 is good.

I also have an Orange contaract which I will be changing too. Although their customer service is good the reception is not,
 
I switched to Voda about 2 years ago after approx 10yrs with Cellnet/O2 due moving house into a blackspot (about the size of my house, OK 20 yards up the road either way - grrr) costing me about £10 a month extra......
 
In my experience Vodafone have the best signal by far and that's ultimately the most important part of any package.

They are also doing some good deals such as free extras and stop the clock when you order online.
 

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