3's coverage is patchy, but if you're in an area where it's good I think theu're the best value for money. They're upgrading the networks this yesr which should result in 7.6 Mbps HSDPA and more coverage. I understand the rollout in London/SE England is done (or thereabouts) but haven't seen timetables for the rest of the UK beyond a statement in an article that it would be done through this year.
It would be nice to work out a way to access 3's free skype from the n900; I understand it's done using iSkoot? Also, does anyone know if using MSN via Conversations counts against your data allowance or against the free MSN they offer?
For 3G coverage nobody beats Three, they only own 3G masts and have been building their network for about 5 years. No other network has their infrastructure.
All of their 2g network is rented from another network company, Orange I think.
So with Three you have to take 2 reception facts into consideration, will you get good 3g AND 2g coverage in your area?
i ve got a contract wid 3 for 18 months for my e71. the 3G signal's find as long as you can get one. the reception is pain in the *** from time to time. it does seem better lately. in my house i used to have literally 2 spots to make phone calls now i can make phone calls every where in my house. the strength of the signal still varies of course but still it's way better than the past 16 months. with my contract coming to an end, they offer me a one month 15 contract wid 500 mins and unlimited texts to all network , and unlimited internet data which is really 1GB/m because of the fair use bullsh*t policy. however i did go beyond my allowance once and they didnt charge for it. so if the reception in your area is good, i d say go for it.
one other thing, anyone knows how to use 3's skype on n900? they dont have a compatible version for n900 on the site. i know we can use the integrated one in the phone but it eats up your allowance. when i was using my e71 which is a AWESOME phone BTW,lol they just use a little bit to verify that you are using the 3 sim and the conversation part doesnt count as your allowance use. another good thing about 3 skype is people calling you on skype and you missed it they get to leave voice mails to your 3 account.
didnt realize i had written this much, hope i helped,lol
I have the 3 sim only plan for 15 pounds (1gb data) and its great! The coverage is excellent in downtown london but once you go to North London then hell breaks loose!...
It really depends where you are. 3 claim the strongest network and they recently upgraded the network locally but I saw no difference, but from being a customer for 7 yrs and hating their appalling India based customer service, I left last month and am now with Voda whos 3g is more stable and faster in my locality.
Not saying it is where you are but I did try Voda on a sim month by month deal to check it out alongside 3. Its far better.
In my experience their customer service is a mile better than talking to 3 that are based on the other side of the world and read from a script and can barely comprehend what you are saying!
Although I do know someone who had a fraud on their voda contract and has had a nightmare trying to sort it out.
doing well with this so far. great data performance both at home and in the Shropshire area (where I am for a week).
Is it possible for a program to get hold of cellular signal strength (and s/n) data? it might be an interesting experiment to regularly smple and plot that data on the journey home.
