[massgolfer]

Hi all,

I am about to sign an 18 months contract for a Bold with one of the carriers. The pricing is similar but what worries me the most is 3G data speed.

How do the three carriers compare? I hear O2 has a slow 3G (a friend has it on his iPhone). Is Vodafone the best/fastest for London area? Any insight is appreciated.

Cheers.

[dmacd]

Originally Posted by massgolfer

Hi all,

I am about to sign an 18 months contract for a Bold with one of the carriers. The pricing is similar but what worries me the most is 3G data speed.

How do the three carriers compare? I hear O2 has a slow 3G (a friend has it on his iPhone). Is Vodafone the best/fastest for London area? Any insight is appreciated.

Cheers.

I am on Orange and there 3G speed is ok. However, their 2G (EDGE) speed is very slow - so I would not recommend Orange if you don't have good 3G coverage. Orange and Vodafone have agreed to share their 3G networks (see Vodafone and Orange to share mobile phone network | Media | The Guardian) so maybe either Orange or Vodafone might have better coverage than O2. I haven't used Vodafone, but if there 2G network is better than Orange, Vodafone might be the way to go.

[bogman]

Originally Posted by dmacd

I am on Orange and there 3G speed is ok. However, their 2G (EDGE) speed is very slow - so I would not recommend Orange if you don't have good 3G coverage. Orange and Vodafone have agreed to share their 3G networks (see Vodafone and Orange to share mobile phone network | Media | The Guardian) so maybe either Orange or Vodafone might have better coverage than O2. I haven't used Vodafone, but if there 2G network is better than Orange, Vodafone might be the way to go.

I am on O2. I find it ok - not spectacular, but fine to use. I was in the US recently and connected to AT&T 3G - which was about the same as O2 3G. I haven't used Orange or Vodafone 3G, but was on Vodafone prior to this and their 2G was about the same as O2's.

To be honest, I find 3G a bit underwhelming - its faster than 2G alright, but still nothing like a broadband connection on a PC. Purely from a personal perspective, if I were you I would go for whoever gives me the best deal on the phone and contract. Take a look at the threads on here, some people have got cracking deals on new Bolds.

[massgolfer]

Originally Posted by bogman

I am on O2. I find it ok - not spectacular, but fine to use. I was in the US recently and connected to AT&T 3G - which was about the same as O2 3G. I haven't used Orange or Vodafone 3G, but was on Vodafone prior to this and their 2G was about the same as O2's.

To be honest, I find 3G a bit underwhelming - its faster than 2G alright, but still nothing like a broadband connection on a PC. Purely from a personal perspective, if I were you I would go for whoever gives me the best deal on the phone and contract. Take a look at the threads on here, some people have got cracking deals on new Bolds.

Thanks for the replies, thats helpful.

I dont really expect broadband type of connection on Blackberry but waiting for a page to load for several minutes basically renders internet useless for me (dial-up speed?).

I looked thru but didn't see any deals posted for UK... were there any specific ones you are referring to?

[blackcatz]

I'm on Orange and the 3G performance and coverage in London is very good.
The 2G performance is ok, but the coverage can be a bit patchy outside main cities.

The biggest hipcup for you with Orange is that I don't believe their actually selling the Bold at the mo - it was put on stop early in September due to the number of issues that had reported to them and it's not come back on yet.

I did check with Orange account manager last week and he hadn't got a new 'release' date for it yet.

[massgolfer]

Originally Posted by blackcatz

I'm on Orange and the 3G performance and coverage in London is very good.
The 2G performance is ok, but the coverage can be a bit patchy outside main cities.

The biggest hipcup for you with Orange is that I don't believe their actually selling the Bold at the mo - it was put on stop early in September due to the number of issues that had reported to them and it's not come back on yet.

I did check with Orange account manager last week and he hadn't got a new 'release' date for it yet.

It also seems that Orange puts a 6mb limit on data. That could be a dealbreaker when O2 offers unlimited data.

[bogman]

Originally Posted by massgolfer

I looked thru but didn't see any deals posted for UK... were there any specific ones you are referring to?

Here you go:

http://www.blackberryforums.com/gene...o-you-get.html

[Boldboy]

Originally Posted by massgolfer

Hi all,

I am about to sign an 18 months contract for a Bold with one of the carriers. The pricing is similar but what worries me the most is 3G data speed.

How do the three carriers compare? I hear O2 has a slow 3G (a friend has it on his iPhone). Is Vodafone the best/fastest for London area? Any insight is appreciated.

Cheers.

Why worry about 3G, HSDPA is much faster!

[massgolfer]

Originally Posted by Boldboy

Why worry about 3G, HSDPA is much faster!

Pardon my ignorance, but which carrier provides HSDPA (otherwise known as 3.5G)?

[wibbly]

Originally Posted by Boldboy

Why worry about 3G, HSDPA is much faster!

HSDPA *is* a part of the 3G specification, like GPRS and EDGE are part of the 2G spec.

[wibbly]

Originally Posted by massgolfer

Pardon my ignorance, but which carrier provides HSDPA (otherwise known as 3.5G)?

Vodafone and T-Mobile for sure, possibly others too.

[dmacd]

Originally Posted by massgolfer

It also seems that Orange puts a 6mb limit on data. That could be a dealbreaker when O2 offers unlimited data.

Orange has increased their data limit to 250MB. Better than their old silly 6MB limit but probably less than everybody else.

[massgolfer]

Originally Posted by dmacd

Orange has increased their data limit to 250MB. Better than their old silly 6MB limit but probably less than everybody else.

Yes, Vodafone has a 500mb monthly limit.