[HD2 General] chris_ah1:
I have personally been doing quite a bit of network research and I would say that O2 has signal in more places.

At home O2 is better than ALL the networks. Then T-mob then Vodafone then Orange.

At Holborn on the street all are 100% 3G HSDPA.

Inside Court number 4 at the RCJ, O2 > T-mob > Orange.

At St. James's square inside all networks are at 100% HSDPA or perhaps at most one bar off without orientation.

In the basement at law school in Holborn T-mobile > Orange > O2 > vodafone. it seems to penetrate the basement better.

However, in Rocca (South Ken restaurant) within the building T-mobile gets no signal on any band, whereas Vodafone and O2 are strong 2G and 50% 3G.

I will fill this in tomorrow with more detailed information on how the networks fare in London, but it seems that T-mobile is consistently the best 3G signal. O2 is the best 2G signal. I am almost never without a functional O2 signal, whereas sometimes without one on T-mobile. But where T-mobile is full, O2 often lags.

So with T-mobile you seem to either get 100% HSDPA or nothing.

With O2 you rarely get 100%, but almost never nothing. There is generally always some signal to use.

However I cannot go with Vodafone as they claim I travelled to US, called my 121 mailbox for four hours and then flew back to the UK.....faster than concorde could get back and forth and yet they still refuse to give back false charges.

I will edit this in more detail, but for paymonthly and HD2, Virgin is of course the cheapest.

But there are some good orange deals too.

Virgin - £30x24 (800mins, UT, UI (capped speeds))

Orange - £30+£30x24 (1200mins, UT, 500MB). +£5 for 'UI'.

O2 - £100 phone + £30x24 (600mins, 1000texts, UI).

Vodafone - I have not researched prices.

T-mobile: £25x24 or £30x24. Handsets pricey on either. Also 900mins and 600min option. Flexible booster along with UI.

From my research (and I'll add figures later)

1. Virgin - cheapest £30pm effective.

2. T-mobile 600mins - next cheapest

3. Orange 1200mins -

4. T-mobile 900 mins

5. O2 - £34pm effectively

6. Orange with unlimited internet . most expensive.

I think that the coverage maps on OFCOM leave a lot to be desired and I have found Orange to be very disappointing in its coverage. It is never as good as T-mobile for me in most locations. But still often worse than O2. They are also a very congested network. Good roaming packages however and pretty much equal to O2.

O2 - seems to have the best approach to data. Orange punish, T-mobile castrate. Virgin capp. However, t-mobile is very snappy. they are also upfront and have good roaming. £10 package for 1000mins received and outbound included at 25p/min. International texts count as 4 regular texts which is nice.

Vodafone - lying stealing barstewards who take money without due reason. legal proceedings being initiated. However, their passport and roaming charges are easy to control but not as generous as O2. Good coverage in the world and probably the best 2G network in the UK along with O2. 3G seems just as patchy as O2, but a bit better. Data speeds are often disappointing. Long transaction times and connections often timeout.

T-mobile - I really get great reception with T-mobile almost everywhere. But when it bottoms out it disappears. 2G is crap and battery life is useless on 3G so :(. Internet is snappy and responsive. Their PAYG is awesome. Their internet is snappy but of course castrated with proxy+ftp. Cant edge out O2 when at home. However, the best feature in the tariffs is the choice - unlimited landlines for calling cards/family? unlimited texts? going abroad? Roaming packages are crap however and pricey and give very little compared to Orange/O2.

Virgin - same network as T-mobile so ok. Expensive punitive roaming. Toy network. capped data apparently. Future unsure now Orange+tmobile coming together.

I personally go abroad a fair bit and use my phone - so T-mobile as nice as it is falls outof the running. I also want a reliable 2G signal and it falls flat. Having 0 reception anywhere in london even inside is stupid. O2 might not be as good with HSDPA indoors, but at least 2G will never let me down. T-mob does.

Orange or O2 then? probably O2 because they are nicer chaps. Orange has the better deal...but i dont like their data ethos, and it is one helluva congested network - with lots of dropped calls and network blips.

But having said that T-mobile PAYG looked after me after vodafone and I have a soft-spot for them so I might just give them a whirl....but IF you travel to europe and use your UK sim there, then all your savings on T-mobile/Virgin over O2 will quickly be chomped every minute you receive a call. 5min=£1.

This is what makes Orange interesting - I shall calculate soon how much O2 > Orange for roaming.

If I never travelled, I would go with T-mobile in a heartbeat.

But because I travel O2 becomes the pricey winner. But of course if Orange better i would like ot know!!! lol