T-Mobile UK’s hamster powered network
I’m sat on the phone to Chris from The Dogs Trust earlier today, right? We’re debating the finer points of charity funding when all of a sudden I don’t hear anything from Chris. I’m chatting away and I hear silence.
I check the screen of my Nokia E61i and I see the dreaded message:
CONNECTION ERROR
I phoned back and spoke to a confused colleague (”Chris is on the phone?”)
“No, he was on the phone to me, just a second ago, seriously…”
I get connected back to Chris and apologise. He queries what happened.
I have to explain that I’m a T-Mobile user — we then continue our conversation.
How stupidly embarrassing is that?
My handset just disconnected. This isn’t a handset feature. It happens whatever I’m using, whether it’s a Sony Z7, iPhone, any Nokia or whatever. I just get disconnected now and again, randomly.
I have to phone back and it makes me feel like a total numskull.
Why am I using T-Mobile? Well, I think the Flext plan is a good deal. I like it. I don’t like Vodafone’s idiot call charges once you use up your minutes. I think it’s ridiculous to pay 35p a minute to talk to someone on another network. It is, afterall, 2007.
I’m also rather impressed at the 55p/min interational rates. Yes it’s expensive to make a call from Los Angeles to London, but I like the fact I’m paying rates nearby what a Vodafone customer is paying to talk to me on T-Mobile when we’re both in the UK.
By contrast, Three’s US rate is £1.20/min to make a call and £0.80/min to receive.
Every time I get near dumping T-Mobile, I take a close look at the prices and……… arse. I don’t know.
What’s your opinion?
Should I stay or should I go?
I have to say - international call charges are my main reason for staying with your most hated network. On international (UK->Away) and roaming (Away->Away, Away->UK, Receiving Calls) they are fantastic. They also don’t drop calls randomly. I have given up on them on data side - have a 3 modem for heavy lifting.
Posted by Barry O'Connell on October 23rd, 2007 at 5:17 pm.You know what Barry, I’ve started using my 3UK handset for data (as well as my 3UK USB modem) rather than T-Mobile because I’ve found it far better.
Posted by Ewan on October 23rd, 2007 at 5:24 pm.I’ve had nothing but problems with T-Mobile for the past two weeks. Calls drop out, texts don’t send, internet works intermittantly. T-Mobile admit there is a problem, but so far have done nothing to fix it. *sigh*
Posted by Simon on October 23rd, 2007 at 5:49 pm.“why am I using T Mobile?”…
Sorry but I don’t care if they send a troop of lap dancing girls in their working costume round to my house every month, who hand over a golden platter piled high with money, £1 for every minute I spent speaking over their network. If a mobile operator cannot perform the basics of providing telephone calls then dump ‘em.
I think people keep forgetting what it is mobile operators are here to do. In fact I think mobile operators sometimes forget what it is they are here to do.
Posted by Steve Procter on October 24th, 2007 at 6:14 am.Yep - have to agree here. T-Mobile are suffering growing pains. Our office is opposite one of their 3G cell sites, full 3G coverage on my E65 - and I start getting voicemail notifications cause calls are pushed straight through to voicemail without ringing. I can only assume they must be having capacity problems..
I then fire up the data connection: “Gateway error”. Reboot the phone just to be sure and its still missing calls and data is reaalllyyy slow
Trouble is - T-Mobile dropped both my FlexT35 packages down to £5 a month each for not upgrading the handsets (SIM Free for me). £5 a month for 900 minutes of calls can’t be beaten, so I guess you get what you pay for
And as for the others;
O2 - No chance - dislike the branding, dislike the tariffs, maybe the iPhone will save them
Vodafone - Stupid customer service system and uninspriring tariffs
Orange - They’ve lost the plot - best coverage in South West by far but tariffs are just insane
3 - Very tempting, but I’m still haunted by their dire customer service from when I tired to use them a few years back after a stolen phone that took a month to get a working SIM back out of ‘em.
Ah well - we’ll all be running VoIP over their data connections soon so it doesn’t matter
Posted by Steve Curtis on October 24th, 2007 at 8:47 am.I hear a great deal about troubles with T-Mobile in the UK. However, honestly speaking, I have been a T-Mobile customer for 7 years now and I can count on one hand the times I have been dropped. Maybe it is my service area, (Atlanta, GA), maybe it is the states and T-Mobile, but I have had very good success with T-Mobile as my carrier…
As for roaming, our company’s international HQ’s are in Sydney. It only costs me 35 cents/minute US to call Australia.
For me, T-Mobile is pretty dern good…
Posted by Giff Gfroerer on October 24th, 2007 at 3:19 pm.It is the UK coverage for T Mobile that sucks! Glad to hear they managed to put a bit of string between two yoghurt pots in at least one continent thought Giff.
Posted by Steve Procter on October 24th, 2007 at 7:25 pm.