Which is the best UK Mobile Phone Network for iPhone 3GS?

In my experience the best network for iPhone really depends on your location. I've tried all 3 (O2, Orange and Vodafone) over the last 10 weeks and only Vodafone works properly where I live and work despite the coverage maps for the other networks claiming they have 3G coverage only Vodafone has consistent coverage in my locations in Kent. O2 and Orange consistently displayed the Searching and No Service messages which I don't get very often at all with Vodafone.

It does mean that the only way you can actually find out is by getting the phone on each network as their coverage maps are meaningless. The O2 and Vodafone transmitters are adjacent to each other but O2 has no 3G coverage and Vodafone has 5 bars - try to figure that one!

To summarise in my experience Vodafone's claim of being "the network you can rely on" certain does stand up and is far more reliable in Kent.

Mobile Phone Reviews

After the experiences with such a variety of mobile phones over the last few months I decided to create a dedicated site with information and real life consumer reviews of various mobile phones.

Mobile Phone Reviews - iPhone, Nokia, Orange

The site has reviews of the Apple iPhone 3Gs and Nokia E71 phones along with other information from this blog.

Review of the HTC Wildfire on 3 Network

iPhone Signal on Vodafone - The Network you can rely on?

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.

More info on Mobile Phone Reviews - iPhone, Nokia, Orange

iPhone on Vodafone Sim Registration failed Waiting to Activate

I've finally managed to get an iPhone 3GS on the Vodafone network, hoping that I will have more success than with O2 or Orange. So far so good and Vodafone seem to be living up to their claim of being "the network you can rely on". The only problem so far has been that there was a complete lack of information about how their number porting service works which is different to other networks.

Other networks normally provide a temporary number to allow you to use your phone until your old number ports across from your old network. Vodafone do not offer this service but also do not provide any information that this is the case. Even Vodafone customer services were unable to advise that this was the case so my Vodafone iPhone was sitting there showing as Sim registration failed and an iPhone message of Waiting for Activation.

Fortunately I have another Vodafone SIM that I was able to try in the iPhone and as soon as that was done the iPhone sprung into life. I am currently using this temporary SIM until my number ports across but so far the Vodafone iPhone is showing a much stronger signal that either O2 or Orange.

One difference in the comparison between O2/Orange and Vodafone handsets is that the iPhone does not appear to show whether the signal is 2G or 3G; the handset just shows Vodafone UK and the signal strength.

[Edit - it appears that the 2G/3G indicator does not appear unless your SIM is data enabled. If you have purely voice contract the network shows only as Vodafone UK]

Orange SPV M3100 Review - on O2 Network (HTC Hermes)

After my sagas with iPhones on Orange and O2 networks I recently obtained an Orange SPV M3100 handset which (fairly obviously) was locked to the Orange network. Thanks to some HTC Hermes/SPV M3100 online tools courtesy of http://pof.eslack.org/hermes-unlocker/ I was able to unlock the phone to use any SIM card in it and am now using it on the O2 Network. This wasn't immediately straightforward as unlike with the Nokia E71 I tried last week O2 were unable to update the phone with mobile internet settings presumably as this handset was never supplied for use on the O2 network.


Unfortunately the O2 website doesn't seem to provide these details or make them easy to find but thanks to website FileSaveAs I found the settings to update the phone from the Orange defaults and get internet working.


Despite the phone being over 4 years old I am actually finding it a very nice device to use and far more friendly and easy to configure than the Nokia E71. In fact with a few minor niggles apart it compares extremely well to the Apple iPhone for usability.Clearly it is a much larger, thicker, heavier phone than the iPhone but as a mobile internet device and phone it hits all the right buttons! In addition the battery life is far better than the iPhone.

Nokia E71 compared to iPhone Review

Coming Soon - review of Nokia E71 smartphone compared to iPhone and Orange SPV

More info on Review of Nokia E71 Mobile phone

The Nokia  E71 is a smartphone from Nokia that has many advanced features such as push email and applications from the Nokia Ovi store. This is a consumer review based on a Nokia E71 handset that I was using on the O2 network in the UK. Unfortunately compared to the Apple iPhone 3Gs it does not perform as well and is far less user friendly to setup and use.

I work in IT so am familiar with software development and use. Configuring the Nokia E71 to use for email and basic functions was extremely tricky and even trying to use the manual to identify settings was not intuitive by any means.

The iPhone in comparision is a doddle to setup as all menus are very clear with easy to understand headings. Some of the Nokia E71 menus are very confusing, especially the tab menus which are not easy to see initially. Much of the problem with the Nokia E71 menu system seems to be due to the Symbian S60 operating system which is also used on other Nokia phones such as the Nokia 6120 that have similar issues with their menus.

Having come from an iPhone the mouse/scroll pad was quite clumsy to use for screen navigation and many presses were needed to move around the screen.

iPhone 3GS Missed Calls/Phone not ringing/Calls go to Voicemail despite full signal

Further to my post yesterday about the iPhone 3GS calls going to directly to voicemail without the phone ringing despite the phone showing a good signal I have now done some more testing myself to check how this works and why it might be happening. My findings are as follows:

1) If your iPhone is using an app that connects to the internet AND your phone is connected to 2g (o or E symbols) then all calls will go direct to voicemail for the duration of your connection to the web. Once you close the application then the phone will ring again.

2) You may have no knowledge of these calls happening unless the person leaves a message. The iPhone 3Gs does not show any record of the calls being received.

3) If your iPhone is using 3G then you can receive calls as well as using the internet at the same time.

Despite this scenario being denied by O2 iPhone support who should know better (they claimed that a phone call will always interrupt a data call - my testing proves this is not the case) and lots of reports across the web show that EDGE/GPRS connections do not support voice and data at the same time.


http://www.everythingicafe.com/forum/iphone/no-ring-straight-to-voicemail-8537.html


Other people have also reported this with the iPhone and experienced similar problems with the signal being much worse on the iPhone than other handsets.

http://www.orangeproblems.co.uk/mobiles/viewtopic.php?p=1014#1014