Has anyone on here tried this network? What's the reception like in Sheffield? I'm coming to the end of my contract and want to get a new handset. I tried an upgrade from T-Mobile to the Motorola E550 but haven't really taken to it - as I bought this direct I can return it, which I am doing (just awaiting prepaid bag).

Nothing basically wrong with the phone apart from I was under the impression it had infrared and an mp3 player and it doesn't - the bluetooth dongle is expensive which means I can't get my photos/video off without sending them to myself on email. Also because this handset is so new you can't buy any compatible assessories not even a case!:( I must admit I prefer the Samsung (V200) I was upgrading from.

I've been looking at the Samsung P510, E710 and E310 with Vodaphone and also the Sharp GX20 and GX30, but the reason for my question is that I am considering the LG8120 on 3 as this phone looks very much like the Samsung V200.

Can anyone advise me?:help:

I only know one person on 3 in Sheff, and he's just ditched it as being awful. There's a lot of opinion and a good forum at www.3g.co.uk (http://www.3g.co.uk) including a section and discussion on LG8120.

Personally, I'm sticking with 2.5G for several more years...

3 is the worst network in the UK! Period. Don't go with them.

I had a 3G phone last year and despite living slap bang in the middle of the city centre it was considered a rare treat if i ever got a signal. It had absolutely no signal for about 60% of the time, a 2G signal which enabled me to chat but nothing else about 39% of the time and every blue moon it slipped into 3G mode which meant i could get premiership goals and have a video chat.

The other problem was that nobody I knew had a 3G phone so never actually had a video chat.

The reception was so bad that 8 months into a 12 month contract i got a new phone on O2 and continued paying both line rentals until the 3G contract ran out.

Better signal than O2 here in Handsworth.

Originally posted by J-Blaze
3 is the worst network in the UK! Period.

I bet Vodafone isn't far behind.

I know someone who got tempted to get a cheap mobile on 3. He says it was a big mistake and says they are the worst service provider! Trouble is, he's got a contract so is still paying for it lol. We worked out he would have been better off buying the phone for more money but putting another SIM in it.

Thanks Guys I think I'll go with one of the Samsungs on Vodaphone. Lickszz - I used to be on Vodaphone a few years back and always had a pretty good reception, in fact when I lived at Firth Park I got a better reception on Vodaphone than I ever did on T-Mobile. My son has a Vodaphone pay as you go phone and I don't think he has had any problem. Thanks for the help though.

Well, Wendy I have been on Vodafone for a few years now and I can't say I am impressed with the reception. A lot of common places I can't get a signal but other people on other networks can. I was on a night out in the city centre 2 weeks ago and in a particular pub friends of mine had decent signals on T-mobile and Orange but I couldn't get one. It's a frequent happening.

SOS only. :rant:

I'll try my son's pay as you go out before I decide I've got to wait a while anyway as I still have to send the Motorola back. Trouble is though T-Mobile don't have any handsets that I really like that much, so I can't win really:(

Originally posted by Lickszz
Well, Wendy I have been on Vodafone for a few years now and I can't say I am impressed with the reception. A lot of common places I can't get a signal but other people on other networks can. I was on a night out in the city centre 2 weeks ago and in a particular pub friends of mine had decent signals on T-mobile and Orange but I couldn't get one. It's a frequent happening.

SOS only. :rant:

PM me the postcodes (or street / building name) and I will review them in the network.

Originally posted by Bookey
PM me the postcodes (or street / building name) and I will review them in the network.

I had this done in The Link at Meadowhall when I was looking at the offer they had on it. - I presume you mean on '3' and it came out as fairly good, but if you mean on Vodaphone I used to live at S5 and that was a good reception, I now live S9 and I work S3 (near west one). I posted the thread because I wanted to know people experiences rather than the theory if you know what I mean.

Originally posted by wendy
I had this done in The Link at Meadowhall when I was looking at the offer they had on it. - I presume you mean on '3' and it came out as fairly good, but if you mean on Vodaphone I used to live at S5 and that was a good reception, I now live S9 and I work S3 (near west one). I posted the thread because I wanted to know people experiences rather than the theory if you know what I mean.

No on Vodafone, I can get in the network and check coverage down to 200meters, check what site(s) cover you and what capacity it has and such like, see if x number of users in z area would lower the signal you would be getting.

Clear as mud? :thumbsup:

I think I know what you mean. I've pm'd you. Thanks for the help.

Going to against the tide here and champion 3. I had one of the very first 3 phones, way over 18 months ago and have been with them ever since.

In terms of call costs, at the moment I'm getting 750 any-time, any-network minutes and 150 texts for 20quid a month. I live on West Street and signal is definitely not a problem.

I changed to a LG8120 two months ago. Unfortunately it crashed and died on Thursday last week, however after a reasonably simple phone call, they picked it up on Friday afternoon, fixed it and it was back in my hand early Tuesday morning.

Admittedly their customer services are a bit lacking. Let's not turn this into a rascist thread but any quick read of a mobile forum will tell you that they have two call centres, one in Scotland and one in India (I think). Unfortunately, if you happen to go through to the wrong person, they can't understand you, your accent or your colloquialisms and it's a very tough conversation. I had one person put me on hold once whilst he 'consulted his answer book' lol!

But, on the whole the calls and phones are so much cheaper than other networks I'm quite happy to take my chances. When my phone broke I thought it was my SIMcard, and I would have to pay £15 to replace it. A few hours later they called back, went through the problem and told me they didn't think I did need one. They could have very easily just taken my money.

All in all, I have had no problem with signal in Sheffield at all. Early on I did have signal trouble back home at my parents but never in Sheffield.

I was told that as 3 is a new (3g) technology, not only have they been given public money for development but they have a sharing/roaming policy with the other networks, so theoretically the signal is better than others because it combines them all.

Thanks for the info isha that is really helpful. Do you know anyone else on 3. Where do your parents live - I'm just trying decide based on the signal. I haven't a clue what 2G or 3G is, I've never heard of it. I was told that Sheffield is a good reception area and also that Leeds where my daughter is a university is also good, but I don't know about other parts of the uk.

Now I'm confused again, as this brings this back into the equation

:confused: Thanks for your input though!

All I can say is EVERYONE I know who has had a 3 phone has found it an complete nightmare!

What everyone is failing to mention here is that with 3 is that if there is no coverage where you are, it defaults back to a 2G network.

So you will still be able to have a voice conversation and text etc, just not have a video call.


I have a friend who has one and they are offering a phenominal amount of free minutes and texts for £15/ £20 per month packages.

Originally posted by mikey
I have a friend who has one and they are offering a phenominal amount of free minutes and texts for £15/ £20 per month packages.

That's one of the things that is attracting me plus the LG8120 looks exactly like the Samsung V200 that I currently have.

Can someone please explain what 2G and 3G is only I haven't a clue.

Wendy, my parents live in Cheshire in a fairly rural area. As I said anyway, the signal has greatly improved over the past year or so too.

As Mikey said, when you aren't in 3g coverage, you get 2g. Basically 3g stands for 3rd generation technology. This on a simple level means that the phone and the network can cope with transferring large amounts of data such as video calls. When that signal isn't available it drops to 2g, which exactly what any 'normal' mobile works on, you can text, make calls, just not send video messages or make video calls. When the phone is working on 2g you can find that you have better signal than, say a friend on Vodafone because of 3's sharing agreement, when the Vodafone signal drops out, your 3 phone would 'roam' on a different network, so if you're in an area with no Vodafone signal but Orange signal, it will just use the Orange network. You don't pay anything for this as it's all in the way 3 works.

The only place in Sheffield I have found I don't have signal is my friend's basement flat in Sharrow. When I say basement, it is properly underground!

I'm not on the 3 network for video calls, just for cheap call costs. As it happens my brother, his friends, my flat mate and quite a few others I know are on 3 as well. People who went on the network at the beginning will report that they had problems but a lot didn't seem to stick with it. Having given them a chance and stuck with them, they have got A LOT better and no-one out there can touch them on call prices and monthly plans. When I shopped around for my new phone I worked out that equivalent plans on other networks would cost me way over double to talk as much!

Thanks for that Isha that was really helpful but leaves me with a decision to make now :rolleyes:

Oh dear as the saying goes: "Decisions, Decisions, Decisions":rolleyes:

I'm glad you answered though as I don't know anyone that is on 3 - I've been looking at the offer that they have at The Link -£5 a month for 5 months or something like that and then £25 for 500 anytime minutes which include video, as I pay £21 now for 100 minutes on T-Mobile that seems excellent value to me. I might give it a try.

i think 3 have good deals at the moment, 500 minutes a month, half price rental for a year..

but, when one of our 3 phones was stolen, the handset was replaced by endsleigh straight away, but it took a month of calling 3's helpline to get a new sim card, they kept fobbing us off and lying basically about where it was. it took us about 4 weeks before anyone would put us through to a supervisor and only then did they sort it out. plus, they said they'd compensate us and they haven't.
also, their helpline is based in bangledesh and its very hard to understand the advisors i'm afraid.
like i said, their tarrifs are good, but the service provided isn't!

My boyfriend recently looked into getting a 3 phone because they were offering amazing pay as you go phones really cheap. He asked about reception and they told him that 3 uses O2 when the reception drops so you would have the same reception as O2. From what everyone is saying, this doesn't appear to be true if they are having real probs with reception.

The thing I don't like about 3 is that they keep ringing me up at home and trying to sell me a contract. I've never known another company to do this, so it puts me off because they appear desperate by cold calling. I tell them I'm on a contract already so why would I need a new phone. They say because they are cheaper. I say, not cheap if I'm paying for two contracts and put to them that they buy me out of my current contract. They go quiet!

Yep, "3" phones are meant to drop to O2's 2G network when out of 3G coverage. If you think about that for a moment, that's technologically very impressive stuff. Problem is that I heard it's not all that good at actually doing it.

Well just to update everyone since Steve d posted the same question on the wanted noticeboard section.

Well I decided to take the risk and go with the LG on 3. I got the phone on the 29th and so far I'm very happy with it. Very impressive phone - I've had it freeze on me a couple of times but these were after I had left it against the edge of my laptop and on top of the clock radio in the bedroom (on both occasions it felt quite hot) since I've made sure I don't do that again and it has been fine. I've made loads of calls and the signal has been very good most of the time I even get a fairly good 3G signal downstairs at home and I've haven't had any time where there hasn't been a signal. I've even made several calls sat in the car in McDonalds car park on Queens Road. It drops off occasionally but it has only dropped out twice on calls so that's nothing I had a much higher call drop out rate on t-mobile.

My number is going to be ported over from t-mobile tomorrow (oops today). I've just received my first bill (I went to Phones 4 You in the end) first three months half price - £15 for 500 minutes talk time and 100 text and after 6 months I send a copy of my first and six month bill to Phones 4 You and get £50 back, plus the phone came with the software and a data cable so I didn't have to buy this, which I would have had to do with other phones.

Well so far I am very happy with this, heres hoping it stays that way. However, when all is said and done it is unlikely to be the end of the world if I can't make a call for a minute of two - but then I've had times with t-mobile where I haven't been able to get on the network for over an hour so its swings and roundabouts really.

Orange are the best network in the UK but it's not really suprising considering.

Vodafone are ok but the 3 Network is shocking. It's nothing but a shambles with more and more errors.

Did you know there is a form of content ratio with 3 Phones? Meaning if someone down the road from you is using a 3 phone your VERY likely to be cut off or unable to make a call?

Well I've had a very good signal so far J-Blaze in fact it has been better than T-Mobile and as I said before I have had more calls drop out on T-Mobile than on 3 and I have used over 120 minutes on it in the last couple of weeks so these weren't short calls in fact one call to my daughter was 38 minutes long. I've made calls to her on T-Mobile before and in the space of 2 minutes the call dropped out 6 times. So we shall see, but to be honest no network is totally perfect. The calls I make aren't really crucial if it drops out I'll ring back but again it's been pretty good from what I've seen.

What are you basing your comments on - have you had personal experience of the network or are you relaying other people's experience?

Whatever I am getting 2 and a half times the amount of inclusive time (and that's including the extra 50 I got free) and 100 text a month for only £9 more with the equivalent of for first 6 months at half price and I got a free phone that has all the features I want and more I am more than happy to take a little risk that I may lose signal sometimes for a few minutes and get a customer service person who is new and reading from a script - I've also had ones at t-mobile that didn't know what they were talking about so what's new!

All in all it's my choice and I'm going to give them a chance, but remember too that all mobile companies start off with lower coverage and I am told it is improving all the time and that 3 has been started by the same person that started Orange.

If I couldn't have a landline to make most calls from then I might consider 3, but for someone who has a landline but needs a mobile in addition I think 3 are a rip off. And I wouldn't count it as a bonus if a data cable was included with the phone, as you can pick up a data cable for any mobile for £10 anyway.

I'm with Tele2 on my landline and I also have an O2 mobile, which only costs me £10 per month for 100 minutes of calls and 300 texts.

Originally posted by Patchy
If I couldn't have a landline to make most calls from then I might consider 3, but for someone who has a landline but needs a mobile in addition I think 3 are a rip off. And I wouldn't count it as a bonus if a data cable was included with the phone, as you can pick up a data cable for any mobile for £10 anyway.

I'm with Tele2 on my landline and I also have an O2 mobile, which only costs me £10 per month for 100 minutes of calls and 300 texts.

I have a landline at home and access to one at work but I work for a charity and do not see why my employer should pay for my personal calls. I have Telewest at home so the calls are cheaper enough generally but all calls to mobile are higher than to another landline - my daughter does not have a landline only a mobile as I was using a contract mobile anyway I may as well use that to ring her rather than the landline.

Sorry but I don't see how you can consider that deal a rip off when you compare it to what I was paying for t-mobile (£21 for 150 minutes and no text), granted you have a very good deal on O2 but I couldn't find a deal for that price, in fact I'd love to know where you got yours from, although I wouldn't use that many text I'll be struggled to use up the 100 as it is, as I would sooner ring than text.

Also you may be able to get some datacables for £10 but not all, the LG 8120 has only been out since the summer and I don't think it has a very universal fitting for the connection, believe me it isn't always that easy to get compatable data cables etc I tried for the Motorola E550 and had to give it up and send it back. That was another new handset and there weren't any compatible datacables or software available. Plus why should I have to pay for it when it is included - of course it is a bonus if you don't have to shell out extra money,:loopy: not all manufacturers include this now.

I know you work for a charity and I wouldn't expect you to use their phones for personal calls! I agree that the 3 deal sounds better than what you were paying to T Mobile, but I never said 3 were the worst company. :)

Originally posted by Patchy
I know you work for a charity and I wouldn't expect you to use their phones for personal calls! I agree that the 3 deal sounds better than what you were paying to T Mobile, but I never said 3 were the worst company. :)

Now I never you had said that did I? No seriously I really don't think they are any worse than any other mobile company. Where did you find that deal you have because that is really good value?