Three.ie - what they don’t tell you about their mobile service
After 12 months on the ‘todo’ list, I’ve finally switched my mobile to Three Ireland. I’m broadly happy with the choice, but everybody loves a moan, so here are the three things that Three.ie don’t tell you.
- It’s impossible to topup online for prepay, neither via the Website nor via AIB / Bank of Ireland. It means you have to go to the shop and buy a topup voucher, then enter in a 16 number code. Not very user friendly.
- You can’t sent text messages via the Three.ie Website. No chance of using a proper keyboard to type your messages then.
- While the MyThree.ie portal is free, it’s a bit Ryanair-ish - all ads for Video Poker and ‘Download these ringtones’.
Not exactly killer ‘don’t use Three Ireland’ complaints , is it?’
So to give you (in the immortal words of Fox news) ‘fair and balanced reporting’ - here are things that I like.
- Coverage (on both 3G and the 3.5G / HSDPA) is pretty good. At least in the Dublin - Belfast corridor where I spend most of my time. I’ll wait a while before transferring my Vodafone Data card though.
- It’s cheaper for me than 02 and Vodafone - at least according to callcosts.ie official telecom regulator site.
- The phones are good. The Nokia 6120 that I got is average size, which is a compliment for the normally bulky 3G models. It’s got a small screen, but it plays well with my Nokia 770 Tablet , so it works out ok.
- A large selection of their phones offer Skype - that’s free calls over the internet. While it’s crippled so no call in or out from normal telephones, it’s still useful enough for talking to overseas developers.
Paul
Having suffered using Three’s mobile broadband solution and eventually switching to O2 I would recommend stick with Vodafone. Have a look over at boards for more info
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055115306
Brian
Comment by Brian Honan — January 7, 2008 @ 10:52 pm
Brian,
Went for Three (a) because they are cheaper on voice calls and (b) tired of being overcharged (compared to the UK) by the established operators.
I was going to switch the datacard to three as well - but held off because you and other bloggers had so many problems with the service.
No immediate plans to change; I may set up the phone as a data-modem to test the service, but even then they’re a phone company , not an IT service company so I don’t expect to get a lot of help from the call centre.
Paul
Comment by admin — January 8, 2008 @ 7:41 am
Paul
>>phone as a data-modem to test the service
Just make sure you don’t end up like this guy http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7141935.stm
Brian
Comment by Brian Honan — January 8, 2008 @ 10:28 pm
Brian,
I’m currently on an ‘unlimited’ plan with Vodafone (they’ve since realised their mistake and tried to cap it), so apart from lack of coverage, that’s what’s holding me back.
Paul
Comment by Paul Browne — January 9, 2008 @ 12:14 pm