As of today my number finally ported and the iPhone is now working on the Vodafone network. So far I have found the signal strength in the Medway area to be excellent, 3G coverage is extensive and certainly much better than on O2 and even Orange as well. This all tends to back up the Vodafone claim of having the "Network you can rely on" and hopefully my love/hate relationship with the iPhone is now going to change - loved the handset and features but hated the network with O2 and Orange!
The iPhone signal on O2 at home was exceptionally variable. O2 coverage maps and customer services claimed that there was full 3G signal at my postcode but in reality the signal was rarely 3G and almost always 2G even on the top floor of the house with line of sight to their mast. Vodafone signal is full strength 3G all around the house and does not vary in the same way that the O2 signal did. Strangely the O2 signal was variable in many other locations (and on other mobiles as well as the iPhone) switching between 2G and 3G repeatedly over the course of the day.
The only downside with the migration of my number to Vodafone has been the lack of information from Vodafone about the transfer process which appears to be quite common.
When you first register the iPhone via iTunes you get the message on the handset "Awaiting Activation" and Sim registration failed. It would appear that the handset will NOT activate until your number ports to Vodafone and the Sim then registers on their network. This is completely different to other networks and a lot of calls to their customer services would be avoided if they provided information about this process up front. Vodafone do not supply temporary numbers for transfers so you can only use the handset once your number has transferred which for me was 4 days later.
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