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Dobra
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Isle of Wight GB
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16-06-2018, 06:55 PM
1

3G

About to dump my Sony all singing and dancing smart phone for a simple cheaper PAYG type. Is there any advantage in 3G phones, as I already have Internet on laptops and desktops ?
Realist
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16-06-2018, 10:55 PM
2

Re: 3G

Hi Dobra

Yes there's an advantage. It will determine which phone network you can use with the older non-smart phones.

I wanted to use the cheapest PAYG service out there which is 1pMobile.

But it's based on the EE network and you have to have a 3G phone to be able to use that network. Hence I opted for a Nokia Dual Sim 301. It's brilliant. Small, portable, long battery life, real buttons, everything we all used to love about mobile phones before Apple & Co duped all the youngsters and convinced them that huge phones with no battery life were the beans.

It all depends what you want to use your phone for though. I don't connect to the internet with my phone. I only use it for calls and texts which is why I selected 1pMobile.

It's 1p per text
1p per min calls
1p per MB Data

Your only commitment is a £10 top up every 4 months so a max of £30 per year. There is not to my knowledge another PAYG service that beats this.

So yes, a 3G enabled phone allows you to use the EE network and thus mobile phone operators that use it like 1pMobile.
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Bruce
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Wollongong, Australia
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17-06-2018, 12:31 AM
3

Re: 3G

Originally Posted by Dobra ->
About to dump my Sony all singing and dancing smart phone for a simple cheaper PAYG type. Is there any advantage in 3G phones, as I already have Internet on laptops and desktops ?
Can't you just change the SIM card to PAYG (I am presuming that means Pay as you go)? If the phone is locked to network then just get it unlocked - that should be free if you have had it a reasonable time.

It may well be that 3G will be the lowest level of service you can get in the future, certainly Telstra (our BT) has no 2G service any more so all the 2G phone using their network are useless.

You may not think you are using the Internet on your phone but think of Google maps and search or even MMS. Plus the ability to use services like Whatsapp or Skype. 3G, 4G and now 5G are all increasingly faster so 2G has become unacceptable.

My phone normally uses 4G but it is noticeably slower when only 3G is available

Be wary of dual SIM phones often (but not always with newer versions) the second SIM can only use the 2G network which is hopeless if the 2G network doesn't exist for that SIM.
 

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