UK " Three " Mobile Roaming

A snowHead

Has anyone used Three mobile's " feel at home " roaming in France?

They are saying that any Data, Voice or Texts used whilst roaming will come out of your UK allowances and not cost anymore as long as the calls and texts are to UK numbers...

I'm guessing if this is correct that signal wont be an issue in the larger resorts??

A snowHead

Used it this year in Morzine and had no major problems. It got a bit confused when we skiied over to chatel but forcing my iPhone to connect to orangefr fixed the issue

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

I found it very unsatisfactory in France (northern Alps) last year, with a maximum 2g signal. But much better in Norway last week - 3g fairly widely available, though with some "holes" with no signal at all. The first time I tried it, last summer, in Cherbourg, I got zilch. But I think they had a lot of complaints and have probably improved the deals they do with local providers.

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I had no problems with it in Serre Chevalier. Good coverage and fairly consistent data. My only complaint was the network not allowing tethering to my laptop, after they told me in store I could. Apart from that all good.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Call and texts worked well for me in various Austrian resorts. But my experience of data was poor. It felt "throttled" i.e. first few MB of a trip are normal but after that the speed drops to a unusable level. Maybe just a coincidence, but happened to me on all four trips I've used it on.

Also I did hear that come December? 2015 the EU are going to insist all operators allow unrestricted use of domestic allowances in all EU state. And this specifically precludes throttling (or at least applying it more harshly when roaming). I've not idea if this is going ahead, but may be worth checking before entering a long term contract with Three.

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@kerb, it wont be December 2015, at least not inthe form of EU rules. Although competitive forces are starting to work and operators start offering deals by themselves.

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I use it in France and the U.S.
They changed the partner in France to orange sometime late last year, and the service improved immensely. I was getting at least 2mbit downloads this winter in argentiere.
In the U.S. It is utter pants for data but fine for voice and text.

I use it through preloaded pay as you go sims which are about £20 for 3gb over 3 months. My wife has a normal three contract and they have previously confirmed to me that data only comes out of your bundle; once the bundle is exhausted they won't charge you some egregious per mb rate.

After all it is free

Had similar issue in the U.S. last month. The partner that it seems to pick up automatically is T-Mobile, however speaking to 3 customer services they advised me to switch to AT&T and it was spot on.

Ah yes, I see the December 2015 date was pushed back to 2018 earlier this year. I guess it was too good to be true!

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

I have unlimited data on Three and have used it successfully with only minor niggles in the Alps, south of France and Australia, with no sign of throttling. Tethering and personal hotspot would be a nice addition to match their UK offering.
Occasionally I have to select the best 3G provider

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I have used 3's feel at home in many countries without problem (including Cherbourg), on contract on my iPad, on PAYG on my phone. If you are on PAYG you have to buy a 30-day package ("add-on"), for which prices vary from £10-£25. I have always found the £10 one to be more than enough.

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Update on the BBC website - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-33325031 - June 2017 is the new date. There is something about a surcharge from April 2016 but it is unclear what this means. The story is just breaking so they will add more later.

I had Vodafone Eurotraveller,. it isn't the best package as you just have to send one text and it charges you the £3 daily charge. However, I've called them to enquire about upgrading (or rather to ask for a PAC code) and there are 100 minutes roaming calls included in the new contract they were offering. Still £3 for each day you send a text or use data though.

You know it makes sense.

@Gaza, still some uncertainties. the eurocap pricing mechanism is changing and indeed new surcharge mechanism as of April 2016 (to replace current retail caps) - if you are on a per-unit tarfiff plan, than you pay domestic charge plus a regulated surcharge (at the level of current wholesale caps). If you are with a flat rate tariff plan - you pay your normal domestic charge and when roaming you pay in addition reguluated wholesale 'surcharge'.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

@UnumPila, saved £400 with 3 in the US recently, with data, texts and calls coming out of my UK allowance

A snowHead

I've used Three for a couple of years while travelling, generally with good service. The switch to Orange in France seemed to improve my signal in the French Alps so mostly it's been good coverage for me, although as someone else said there was a bit of an issue around the PDS which required the manual selection of Orange in my phone's settings before I could get data to work. Other than that it's been great for me, in France, Switzerland, Italy and Austria, and it's been refreshing to "just use the phone" as I normally do without worrying about racking up a big bill. It's also worked great in the US for a couple of trips, and I didn't notice slow data speeds (although for email, messages, social media and uploading the odd photo I don't think I'm a big user of data speeds). Good that the EU is pushing for the end of all roaming charges, which will keep competition keen, although Three might still have the edge for me because of the US and maybe other non- EU countries included in their plan.

A snowHead

The snowHeads alpine caravan travelled a lot in the Alps and Dolomites last Winter and so I upgraded the snowHeads' BU5 4 DUB with broadband using a 3 feel at home data SIM.
We also tended to have phones with a couple of other networks at our disposal which gave us a good comparison.

I was aware that 3 had fewer partnership deals in place than the other networks, with EE having the most. But then EE is a level of magnitude more expensive, charging more for data per week than 3 charges per month.

Unsurprisingly, it is fair to say that overall 3 was the least likely to get a decent signal.
Tignes was fine, Val Tho OK but not great. Serre Che was fine too.
Dolomites wasn't too bad but in the Aosta valley, down in the Aosta itself 3 was fine but as we moved up the smaller valleys toward the resorts, it was almost totally absent. Meanwhile EE stayed mostly connected. Similarly so on motorways and mountain passes.
Over all I'd say 3 covered us about 60% of the time while EE was there perhaps 90%.

There's no question that 3's deal is fantastic value but if 'always on' connection is important to you, it's not quite all you need.
For next season we're setting up a twin-SIM system using 3 as the primary and EE as a back up.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

I just used 3 for the time I needed, with a simple only rolling one month contract. Was good in Norway though I couldn't get the Archers. wink

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I had problems getting the service to activate. Got to france and no signal and no way to activate international service without using someone else's phone. Although I signed up for Feel at Home international apparently you have to active the international service. can't recall how Rob sorted it but if you switch read the fine print on first use abroad ( i didn't) rolling eyes

works well for me now but i primarily just use it for calls and texts preferring wifi when doing any data intensive stuff

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

My Vodafone data signal was better in Europe at times than I get at home.

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My contract has unlimited data but tethering not allowed. They spot it immediately if you create a hotspot. However, they don't spot tethering through bluetooth, something I onlt discovered because that is how car is rethered to phone. Can mnow happily tether ipad and not get caught. Tee Hee.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

"..they don't spot tethering through Bluetooth.." -- thanks for that little titbit..... Wink

After all it is free

I live out in France and Italy year round - travel all over Europe throughout the year too. Amazing connection, best network I have used by far. 110% reccommend.

"they don't spot tethering through Bluetooth" - love it, looking forward to it, please no-one else share this anywhere else or they will be bound to stop it.

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

New Three contracts allow you to use your phone as a hotspot, even on the feel at home service (I checked!), no need to hide. I've generally struggled with data but with a new wizzy phone and the switch to Orange all seems to be much more efficient these days.

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I was in America for 3 months last winter my 3 phone worked for all 3 months for free... don't think it is meant too but it did so i wasn't complaining I had 3 all for 15 credits cued up before i left to go there...

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My 3 contract allows tethering in the UK with a data limit even though I have unlimited data. In France last year I used Google maps as a sat nav without problems and for free. However if you create a hot spot they charge for all data. I must try the bluetooth tethering.

I have used my 3 connection in the USA and France in the last year without any issues, good signal and decent data speeds. I was sceptical about their service as I had been with them 10 or so years ago and left as the reception was awful - couldn't use my phone half the time back then. Pleased to report that this time round I am a happy customer - coverage as good as with EE in the UK so far.

You know it makes sense.

Excellent as far as I am concerned - Italy - great - USA - great - got thumped on google maps as we drove over to Canada! No complaints at all

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

@geoffo, Good point. Beware skiers... Salzburg airport is so close to Germany that my phone linked to one of their networks and I got charged, be careful around the borders.

A snowHead

Looks like Three have spotted it, my contract has unlimited data plus tethering in the UK, but as soon as I tried in France using Bluetooth or wifi my tablet was redirected to this website http://tethering.three.co.uk/Tetheringblockfah with the following message:-

We’re sorry but you're currently not allowed to use your phone as a modem or Wi-Fi hotspot while you're in a Feel at Home country, even if your plan allows tethering in the UK or you have a tethering Add-on. To be able to use the internet on your phone again, just turn off your tethering settings and then switch your phone off and on again.

A snowHead

Yup, just back from 3 weeks in US. Couldn't tether there by bluetooth. In the UK my £12.99 monthly contract with unlimited data still doesn't allow me to tether by hotspot but does allow bluetooth tether. So Spotify and internet radio in car still works Smile

Both my son and I used our phones in the US without any additional charge. My son then received an email to say that he had "saved" £4,700! Oddly I didn't, although I wasn't glued to my phone all the time.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

I was using a very ordinary sort of phone - Sony Xperia. Do you think 3 were having me on? Maybe I should challenge it, though it's not a shedload of money.

I have a poor 3 signal at home, too, though as I always use my wifi it doesn't matter. Also non-existent signal down on the Fal in cornwall a couple of months ago, but that was in a remote spot, admittedly, and a valley.

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pam w, I don't think normal mobile phones can connect to satellites by themselves, could it have used wifi to an Inmarsat relay on the boat ?

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@pam w, yes, if "satellite" was on your bill, I'm not sure why. Maybe the mast on one of the islands connects to the rest of the world by satellite, but that's not really your affair. Also, I don't see how three would know, or what business it would be of theirs, if you connected to the internet via the yacht's wifi/inmarsat setup (if it had one).

After all it is free

@pam w, Strange. Normal phones can't connect via satellite. If the backhaul from a base station goes via satellite that's not your problem and you shouldn't be charged for it.

@pam w , I had some similar small charges last year while crossing the channel with DFDS when at some point mid channel my roaming connected with the ferry's (chargeable) satellite connection, but otherwise very pleased, I just make sure to turn off data roaming while on board the ferry.
Used Google maps on my phone for a 4 week trip to Australia last year which saved me having to either buy or rent a Satnav.

There are times in France when my Iphone has to be switched from "Automatic network selection", which normally selects the"Free Mobile" network to "Manual" and then select either Orange or SFR

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

i wasn't on a ferry, @Timc.

Maybe I will challenge it, given the comments above. I don't think the boat has inmarsat; the skipper uses a very old non-smart phone, gingerly, as though it was likely to blow up in his hands, to make his compulsory evening report to his probation officer. AKA his wife.

Help!!

UK " Three " Mobile Roaming

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