Review: 3 Mobile Broadband

3 Mobile Broadband Review

In a nutshell: 3 Mobile offer the cheapest mobile broadband service in the UK, starting at £7.50 per month, and offering a massive 15GB for just £15 per month. Maximum speeds are now 7.2 Mbps. The USB modem is now available free on all except the 1 month contract. Download speeds are faster than T-Mobile, and similar to Vodafone. The HSDPA network covers 91% of the UK population and is easy to use. 3 are currently offering a range of free laptops when you take out a mobile broadband contract.
Best buy: Broadband Lite 1GB (£7.50 per month); or 15GB Broadband (£15 per month) with free modem.

3 Mobile Broadband is the most popular mobile broadband in the UK. The 3 network has the longest established 3G network in the UK, and so is a natural supplier of mobile broadband services. The service is very easy to set up and use: you simply plug a modem (or "dongle") into your computer's USB port, and you can then access the 3 broadband network from home, work or on the move. You can choose between Pay Monthly and Pay As You Go options. The Pay as you Go option offers data at the same cost as Pay Monthly, although you have to buy a modem, which currently costs 19.99. On Pay Monthly the modem is free, except on the cheapest 1 month tariff, where it costs £9.99. Sign up for 18 months, or take out a more expensive tariff and the modem is free. You can choose a data allowance of between 1GB and 15GB per month.

The speed that you experience will depend on whether you are in an area with "excellent coverage" (i.e within HSDPA coverage), "good coverage" (i.e. within 3G coverage) or "marginal coverage" (i.e. on the edge of the 3G coverage region. 3's HSDPA coverage region currently covers 91% of the UK population (data correct in February 2009) and offers download speeds of up to of up to 2.8 Mpbs. 3 now offers 7.2 Mbps coverage across the UK. You can check coverage by postcode on the 3 website. If you find that the service is not as good as you expected, you can return your 3 USB Modem within 3 days of purchase. If you purchased it at a distance (via telesales or online), you can return your 3 USB Modem within 14 days of receipt provided you have not used your 3 USB Modem for more than 3 consecutive days. You'll also have to return the original boxed accessories and documentation "as new". 3 claim that most people on the HSDPA network can expect a speed ranging from 1 Mbps to 1.5 Mbps.

The 3 broadband modems are very compact, and are available in a choice of colours: white or black. They can even be personalised using "skins".

By the way, if anyone is experiencing slow speeds with 3 Mobile Broadband, one of our users, Paul Tait offers the following advice: right click on the network icon (two little flashing computers in the bottom right hand corner of your screen) and click on connect to a network. Click on the 3 usb modem but with the second button and click on properties. In the window that pops up, click the configure button and another window will pop up showing the maximum speed. Sometimes the maximum speed has been set to the default value of 115200 which will cause your modem to be slow. If this is the case change it to 921600 and click OK. If this works for you, please let everyone know by submitting a review below. And thanks to Paul! [Reply by Pauline on 20th May 2009: Followed instructions re changing to faster speed and it has worked brilliantly. Have had my 3 mobile broadband for around 5 months now and it gives excellent service.] [Reply by mark from england on 24th Oct 2009: With Paul's tip 3 is now pretty quick! still not as good as Voda or O2 but a vast improvement!]

3 Mobile Broadband Consumer Reviews

Love your mobile network? Hate it? Please share your experiences to help other people choose the mobile broadband network that's best for them. Please do not review this network if you have not used it. This is a review site, not a forum, so please don't just ask questions. Please do not use swear words or offensive language, and please, no advertising!

Average rating from 183 reviews:

Reviewed by Simon from uk on 1st Sep 2010
Tried one of their new dongles on payg and it was okay. So took out a contract. Again okay for the first 2 weeks and terrible ever since. I have spoken to 3 a few times and get the feeling they are just trying to stall me and fob me off with maintenance. When I first got a dongle I was told that I am very close to the mast and another is nearby so things should be good for me. I checked online and the mast is a stones throw away on top of a high rise block of flats and beams down right into my window where my laptop is. I was also told that there would be a few days maintenance at the end of september. When I called about the drop in service they told me there was maintenance work which started on the 17th of august and was due to finish on the 31st. So today should be better right? Wrong. Just as bad. 3 say its more maintenance and they dont know how long it will take. It doesn't matter because I won't be hanging around to find out. Small claims court if I have to. Don't fall for the hype, this is rubbish and 3 are a joke.
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Reviewed by Tom E from UK on 31st Aug 2010
Absolutely rubbish. Ive had my huawei dongle for about 2/3 years and its always always dropped out and even in a strong signal area, has rubbish speeds. The money i pay on this could go towards decent broadband! Stay clear! ...and isnt it funny how all the 5 star reviews seem to be selling the same deal, 3 insiders at work... i think so, dont listen to them!
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Reviewed by ted lay from ireland on 31st Aug 2010
we have used 3 for more than a year after giving up tyhe eircom landline. 3 has been brilliant the service superb even if we phone Bombay, thought they only had one gentleman in dublin oh dear, okay video's are a bit of a pain stop go but the rest of the time no complaint, well done 3 and thanks by the way we use it at home in the caravan and sometimes in the car
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Reviewed by james from uk on 31st Aug 2010
i got a laptop and dongle from 3 on an 18 month deal last april.the signal is rubbish i dont wanna speak to people in india and want something cheaper.does anyone know who i write tp to terminate my contract ?
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Reviewed by Mark from uk on 29th Aug 2010
Just had eight attempts at a download before giving in. My story is like so many others - got a contract, all good at first while the chance to cancel was there, lousy since, 3 hard work to deal with and I am close to the mast. 3 need to sort their act out quickly or I'll be another one going through the courts to get out of my contract. Terrible network.
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Reviewed by Grimwald the Grim from UK on 28th Aug 2010
Just bought 3 mobile broadband on a 5Gig SIM only deal. SIM arrived but I can't get the network to recognise it - it's probably not activated. My issue is I can't contact 3 to get activated because their IVR can't cope if they haven't activated the SIM. This is beginning to look like Catch 22. Bless 3, probably the world's least contactable network.
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Reviewed by R Lockey from England on 28th Aug 2010
worked well a year ago but has gotten steadily worse,actually having trouble submitting this review as the modem keeps crashing(flashing green)The sad thing is we are supposed to be in a very good area.I would change to Orange but they are a terrible company.3 are ok at taking your money but you can get stuffed if you want a service.I would advise anyone considering using dongles at home, get a landline.
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Reviewed by Paul Mattingley from England on 27th Aug 2010
3 have been outstanding as a high speed data provider(Mobile Broadband).It is all down to the area that i live in where i guess the coverage is very good. I get 3G to HSDPA speed and 5GB allowance for £15 per month. I disagree with Paul, I have used Vodafone for MBroaband and the service was appaling, speeds were rubbish etc. As there is no contention ratio it all depends on the coverage and amount of users on at any one time. Go 3 :O)
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Reviewed by Graham from UK on 27th Aug 2010
I have spoken to 3 about the issue previously mentioned of decent speeds for the first two weeks and awful since. I made it clear that I wish to cancel without any fees or penalties, otherwise I instigate legal proceedings to be rid of any contractual obligation. Lo and behold, within an hour I can download at over 200 kb/sec and that's at my end. The speed it leaves the mast at was around 1.5 mb/sec. Not bad at all but not really surprising since I am close to the mast and it isn't a peak time. Funny how that reappeared for the first time in over a week when I have just threatened to take them to court. I haven't had speeds anywhere near that until I spoke with them. Coincidence? Hmmm I think not. Hopefully they'll keep it up over the bank holiday weekend. I fully expect it to drop soon and when it does, I'll repeat my request once again. If it isn't accepted, court it is.
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Reviewed by Graham from UK on 27th Aug 2010
I wanted to do some downloading late last night but couldn't because 3 had dropped the signal to 3g just after the peak time had died down. I think I'm set for a 3g bank holiday weekend. I wouldn't be surprised if I don't see a high speed connection again until next week. It's the next day and still on 3g. I am close to the mast too. I'm in the first month of a contract. Things were pretty good for the first 2 weeks, fast when you would expect it to be and not so fast at other times. Now it's much slower and I can't help but think it's because my chance to return it and get out of the contract has passed. But I shall be speaking to 3 next week if it doesn't improve dramatically. I'll tell them straight - release me from my contract or I take you to court and write to Watchdog and Ofcom. I would prefer to do it the quick and simple way. Something tells me 3 would prefer to make it a longer, more messy and protracted affair. That's fine but I won't let them get the better of me and neither should you if you aren't happy. And it sounds like plenty are not happy with 3.
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Reviewed by Alex P from uk on 26th Aug 2010
I have to agree with Robert about 3 being oversubscribed. I don't know about O2. 3 have no qualms whatsoever about selling you a package in an area which already has network capacity issues. The only way around this is new legislation which limits the number of users in a particular area in accordance with the network capacity for that area. This won't solve the problem completely as the service is mobile, but it should help considerably. But it won't happen and 3 won't responsibly police themselves without being forced to. They're not that type of company. They're more stack 'em high, sell 'em cheap and to hell with the consequences. The other problem is that 3 sit behind the excuse of 'It's mobile broadband and service can vary considerably according to various factors.' - or words to that effect. It's no more than a catch-all excuse which because of its wording hides a multitude of sins. To summarise, none of the networks are performing particularly well, but you only have to look at a selection of reviews to find that the most negative, in both volume and content, are definitely for 3.
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Reviewed by Paul from UK on 26th Aug 2010
Been getting really slow speeds for ages now and at all different times of the day and night. What complete rubbish about being near a mast. I am 300 metres from the mast where I live and I have clear line of sight to it. Yet my speeds are ridiculously slow and is being throttled by 3. I could be much faster speeds if few people are using it, but I won't because of the block put on it by those annoying people at 3. There is a software app called netmeter which picks it up. Your speeds won't be high regardless of where and when if 3 are putting slowing it down. Another way of knowing is to run two downloads concurrently. See how your speed doubles when you start the second download? Three will have set a maximum speed per download but you can run two for double speed. Maybe 3 at a time for treble speed, which still wouldn't be fast.u You're only going to get a decent speed where there are more sheep than people. Anywhere else and you're going to suffer, especially with 3 who have terrible customer services and are very difficult to deal with. Did anyone else see how they milked the YouGov ratings for all they were worth. No idea how they got top ranking but they don't have it anymore. Orange have it now.
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Reviewed by michael from uk london on 24th Aug 2010
i live in cental london and get very good fast speeds with 3 mobile broadband !! i use have tmobile broadband and it was a very bad servis very slow and keeps loseing signal ! if you live in a good 3 network signal area i would say go for it 100%
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Reviewed by DANIEL from UK on 24th Aug 2010
The list of moaning reviews below have irritated me to the point that I must speak out.I use 3 mobile internet day in day out and experience a range of speeds and service levels. BIG DEAL! HSDPA networks use radiowaves which are affected by many uncontrollable factors. They are blocked by buildings esp. those with foil insulation in many new houses. Distance from the mast. Network traffic and demand. Before slagging off the network for their lack of signal think about where you locate your USB MODEM. HSDPA networks are an emerging technology and speeds will only continue to increase. In the meantime networks need to be managed to provide a service for all. The three network also handles voice calls on their 3G network (unlike other networks that can use GSM or other bands) so at peak times which do you think takes priority on 3 network, Voice calls or data? Voice obviously. So data connections are throttled or even dumped at peak times. It isn't a conspiracy to rip people off it is called network traffic managment. To say 3 Network are the only provider to do this is misleading and untrue. ALL networks manage their traffic in this way to provide everyone with a fair service. However, 3 are not totally innocent, to market this tech as broadband is misleading but if you signed a contract then you should have done some research about signal strength and expected realistic speeds. If you did and it was missold then fair enough you criticism is warranted. If you just expect to sit in your reinforced concrete, foil insulated home 4 miles from a mast in a urban area and expect a full HSDPA 7.2 mbps signal then you have misunderstood the technology. # sitefinder gives you mast locations and strength. It is in the public domain and people fought to get it! use it to find your local mast, stick your usb modem on a window nearest the mast direction with a usb extension and you are laughing, except at peak times - on any 3.5g network - NOT JUST 3 network so be fair and realistic in your reviews.
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Reviewed by krips from UK on 24th Aug 2010
Got 3 mobile broad band used for 10 days i loved it and when there was a real need of internet it ditched me, when i went to there shop they checked something on internet and told me that there is some work going on in the mast near my place but it will be done by 19th Aug... its not working at all not even slow... than i called them again on 21st and the same thing but date changed to 3rd sept now.... not sure what they are doing...
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Reviewed by Paul Murphy from Northern Ireland on 20th Aug 2010
3 is so frustrating, it is so slow - im paying £15 a month for a dispicable service (in fact im throwing £15 a month down the drain). Does anyone know how to go about cancelling this contract? Avoid like the plauge
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Reviewed by Robert from UK on 19th Aug 2010
3 sells itself as the cheapest and most generous mobile broadband provider in the UK. However, that's all nice if you are in an area with a three tower. Otherwise, you're reduced to mobile broadband speed and it's very, very unreliable. In an attempt to keep my custom they dropped their £15.00 a month package to £5. So if you fancy a reduction and you get good service, now you know. Otherwise, be happy with better service (if less allowance) on the likes of Orange, Vodafone and T-Mobile. O2 has similar issues incidentally, it's network is currently over subscribed for mobile broadband.
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Reviewed by Gavin from Ireland on 15th Aug 2010
Stay well clear.. Unless you fancy trying to sort out your problems (and you will have plenty of them)an hour long chat with Apu the shopkeeper from the Simpsons..
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Reviewed by Manish from India on 14th Aug 2010
Its good
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Reviewed by spike from uk on 11th Aug 2010
Pants. 1 hour per day good, the rest pants. When i need it its not there.
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Reviewed by Ali from UK on 10th Aug 2010
Yesterday I tried Vodafone Pay as You Go as it was the cheapest of the lot (24.99squid including 3Gb credit!!) but to my dismay I could only get GPRS in the lounge which was crippingly slow (max 5kbps but on average was below 1kbps!!) and when I did have 3G in my room (loft) it was still max bps!!! And worst of all they have no return policy so being desperate, despite the many bad reviews I decided to try the 3 Pay as You Go Mobile Broadband service, as I noticed there's a 3 tower near my house. So far I've been getting 3G+ and average 20Mb and even streamed BBC iPlayer!!! So bottom line if you're near a 3 tower give it a go, if not well do your homework and find out which network tower is nearest to your house at www.sitefinder.ofcom.org.uk
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Reviewed by paul killeen from uk on 10th Aug 2010
3 mobile is getting worse
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Reviewed by Edyta from Ireland on 7th Aug 2010
Unfortunately I am not happy with 3 mobile service.It looks like since 2 months my internet usage is flying.Last month I got message from 3 that within 2 weeks I exceeded allowance usage(15GB) when my monthly average usage is 6-7 GB. There is some system error which 3 mobile customer service doesn't wanna investigate.I called them 8 times and they have always the same answer.Finally they sent me requested usage statement and I noticed cases for example 8sessions(sesion by sesion)to have the same usage of Mb.It doesnt make sense at all cause each session cannot be exactly the same.It's impossible cause I am not downloding anything,just searching the webistes 3 hours daily.As I mentioned I called them 8 times already,sent some emails and no effect.Nobody wants to investigate it.I am on the 12 months contract,have left 6months and I am really afraid to use the internet.As whenever you exceed the usage of 15 GB they charge you for addidtional usage 5 cents per additional MB.For example my monthly plan is 20 euro and for July I am forced to pay 70 euro.They have customer service in India so you cannot complain in the shop-try to call India,you get no help. So guys just want to warn you,do not listen to anybody,the 3 mobile internet service is really bad and believe me once you have some problems with them it's not gonna be resolved.!!
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Reviewed by Dave from UK on 4th Aug 2010
So much better than Vodafone, that's for sure... But still nowhere need advertised speeds.
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Reviewed by mark Jones from England on 3rd Aug 2010
For julie. I had the same problems with my connection lasting for about 30 seconds. On your computer, click start and then computer. it should have your modem stored there. Right click on the modem and select "connect". It won't stop it from disconnecting but I manage to get at least an hours use which is alot better than 30 seconds.
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Reviewed by Joseph Dixon from UK on 29th Jul 2010
After using Vodafone for 2 year I'm so happy I have changed to three. Vofafone was ok for about a year then 3g would come and go as it pleased. Leaving me with useless GPRS for weeks on end. When 3G was available a got 1.6mbs download and 0.5mbs upload. Gaming was a no go with pings of around 200ms. Also 5GB a month for £25 was limiting. Now I'm with three I get 5mbs download and 1.5mbs upload. Gaming is also ok as pings are now normally under 100ms. All this in a rural location in Cumbria. And the 15GB a month for £15 is great.
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Reviewed by nic from uk on 29th Jul 2010
Terriable customer service and poor signal, could not never get connected!!!
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Reviewed by Sally from UK on 29th Jul 2010
I tried to get 3 to call me using a "call back" link from their website (when it eventually loaded on my horrendously slow mobile broadband) - needless to say they didn't call - and I ended up going into my local 3 shop (don't belive the opening times quoted on 3's website by the way) to avoid the expensive customer service phone calls. I wanted to cancel - the shop staff were superb, and I used their phone to speak to customer services - but have now negotiated a new better dongle f.o.c. and a cut in monthly fee (for the same amount of data). Not sure if it'll help (seeing as how the nearest mast to where I want to use it has had a known fault since mid May) but they've got 14 days to prove themselves. I'm not holding my breath!
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Reviewed by Julie from uk on 28th Jul 2010
Well it's a few hours later now and the problem has got even worse. A connection now lasts for about 30 seconds and it takes between 5 and 15 attempts to get another when that goes. I won't be speaking to customer services again, what's the point of listening to more lies? I've had to write this on microsoft word then copy and paste it across and hope it sends during an active connection. Oh and the signal is all over the place - one minute it's one bar then shoots up to the maximum, then down to 3, then back to one etc. Please stop fiddling with my signal, please put something honest and useful on the website, please stop lying and misleading customers and please sort it out. I haven't asked you to apologise because I know that saying sorry is beneath you. The most data you can buy on contract or PAYG with all of the other networks is 3 gigabytes per month. 3 will sell you 15 for 15 pounds. That is why it's rubbish. Too many customers with large allowances clogging a system which cannot cope. It's not their fault, they see an appealing offer and go for it. The fault lies with 3 and ofcom for letting them do it. Three would have to have several times more masts than any other network at the very least to be able to provide an equivalent level of service. They don't and they never will. It explains why customer dissatisfaction is so high. This company is irresponsible, dishonest and rotten to the core. Avoid at all costs. ARGH WHAT IS IT WITH THESE PEOPLE?
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Reviewed by Julie from uk on 28th Jul 2010
I keep having to disconnect and unplug the modem, then plug it back in and wait for it to install and pick up a signal. This is just to get another two minutes of internet before it happens again. This makes browsing a pretty miserable experience and it's been this way since saturday. 3 don't have an explanation, it's just the usual blaming the computer, dongle or anything else they think they can get away with. What is it with these people?
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Reviewed by TerryMcShinty from England on 27th Jul 2010
Ive had one for 18 months, overall the signal is good, and download speeds are quick. Im mainly watching streamed porn videos, and they load quickly. Only now and then does it disconnect by itself, but i just manually reconnect.
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Reviewed by HY from Uk on 27th Jul 2010
3 is rubbish now! My internet mobile broadband keeps dropping everyday at every time that I use the service. Since 3 has upgraded their IT infrastructure to take on board more customers the service is now 100% faulty - I can not use their internet anymore! Stay clear of 3 and be warned!
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Reviewed by Lisa from UK on 27th Jul 2010
I have posted before saying I've been disconnected every 10-20 secs continously for over 3 weeks and that 3 Mobile promised "engineering works" would be completed on 22 Jul. It is now 27 July and I have now had ZERO access to the internet for 24 hours+. (Am typing this on wordpad and will paste as a review WHEN I can get onto the internet by another service provider). I would like to warn anyone considering using this diabolical service to go elsewhere. 3 Mobile suggested I go to another location and assured me I would get connected then. I told them I'm not using a laptop but a desktop with a dongle, so can't go elsewhere BUT, if mantenance work was truly the reason for my lack of connection, how would going elsewhere solve the problem?! The "customer service" woman today ignored everything I said. Just total silence. This is the second time this has happened. They want you to hang up. I was not ranting or being rude, so there was no excuse. They now say maintenanc e work will be finished in 2 days max. Yeah, right! I pointed out that 3 Mobile are are breaking the law as it's breach of contract to take a customer's money without providing the service paid for. I told them their license can be revoked by the government. I told them I would post an online review and suggest all the people who have had similar problems sign a petition to give to the government. (The government's website has a page where a petition can be started for people to sign). Why should 3Mobile get away with breach of contract? Why should they be allowed to advertise a service they cannot provide to try and attract more unsuspecting customers to rip off? Some people say we only give reviews for bad service, i.e. they must be ok some of the time. Well I've been with them for 18 months. At best, the service was mediocre. Very slow connection. Impossible to view UTube video clips. Impossible to do much at all. Only reason I have a mobile dongle is because I'm going overseas and cannot get stuck with a contract for a non mobile service. But even for mobile broadband, 3 Mobile at best is not good and not what is advertised. Barely useable. Plus it's a frequent occurrence for them to claim maintenance work, when they cannot provide the service they charge for. So, why not show our discontent by signing a government peition and also by individually contact Watchdog, because if they get enough complaints they check into things and hold these companies accountable. Complaints can be sent online throught the BBC website. So as long as a person can get online, it's simple and fast. So, come on guys, let's revolt! Let's make 3 Mobile accountable.... Update: Having had no internet access whatsoever for 24 hours, within 10 minutes of my call ending, I had access! Still cut out frequently, but access nonetheless. Coincidence?! I wonder.... The one star was forced on me. They deserve minus one thousand stars!
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Reviewed by Disgusted from UK on 26th Jul 2010
An ad I've just seen on Google from 3: 15GB Mobile Broadband from £15 pm Enjoy landline speeds 24/7 at 3. What a crock of you know what and talk about misleading, nevermind blatantly untrue. 3 cannot be trusted and this is just further evidence of that. One star scores are the most common and that tells the real story. I'm sure we would all give nought as a score if we could.
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Reviewed by Jay from UK on 26th Jul 2010
It was good for the first month. Then the speed started to deteriorate. Evenings are especially bad - to the point that you cannot actually use it. Glad I'm on a rolling contract - just submitted cancellation request. What is interesting though is that a number of friends reported similar pattern - fine for the first few weeks, then sharp decrease. Customer service, when they speak English, not of much use. I'd say think twice before signing for long contract, better test drive it for a few weeks first.
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Reviewed by N. S. from UK on 26th Jul 2010
Signal keeps dropping completely over the past few days and this happens every few minutes. The modem needs to be unplugged then plugged back in. Just another in a very long line of hiccups and problems with 3 - poor speeds, hanging connections, connection terminations, poor latency and throttling, which is the deliberate slowing down of connections during the busiest times. 3 are the only UK network to throttle speeds. And then there's the dreaded customer services. It's well documented online how bad they are. Arguably the worst of any UK service provider. Roll on August 16th when I have my day in court and fully expect my contract to be terminated. The only way to ensure you won't suffer the worst service imaginable is to choose any other network. I believe 3 will never get their act together. In this day and age, companies are bending over backwards for customer feedback so they can improve. Have you ever seen a questionnaire from 3 on how they can improve? Me neither and if ever a company needed a major overhaul and rapid reform, it's 3. Avoid!
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Reviewed by Simon from UK on 25th Jul 2010
Good coverage in my area Good Support, and they called me back to check ok. Speed varies between 1.5meg and 2.2meg. Only problem is the 3 dongle model MF627. Crashed my PC many times. I advise you all to get a Zoom 7.2 meg tri band dongle Network free, so can use any SIM card. Works with XP to Windows 7 and never crashes computer, also can be plugged into any usb port, without software install again.
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Reviewed by andy from UK on 23rd Jul 2010
No-one mentioned that If I am on a contract with 3 I cant use wifi or connect to the router at home. Therefore when I ran out of my 15 GB I had to pay at a arate of 10P a MB which is extortion. I used £10 just browsing for a holiday for less than an hour. I refuse to pay anymore and so it is going in the cupboard until my next usage start. [Reply by Paul from UK on 29th Jul 2010: Andy - what are you talking about? Of course you can. What device are you using?]
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Reviewed by Lisa from UK on 22nd Jul 2010
Have had a mobile dongle with 3G for 18 months. Supposedly in good area for signals. At best, it's not good. For weeks now it cuts out every 10-20 secs. Told it was maintenance work. Would be finished Jul 22. It is now JUL 22 and as antipated it is as DIRE as ever. I wasted several pounds speaking to useless people. All they do is LIE. If you dont accept that YOU are to blame and its your computer, you are told its maintenance work. Had just bought a new voucher but was getting no service, so they gave me a "free" top up and thought I should be grateful. If I paid £10 but have been unable to use my connection, how is giving me that money back something to be grateful for!!!! The reason these firms get away with it is because there are NO good alternatives. I have checked them all. It seems no mobile internet using a dongle has good reviews. I wish I could give them the score they deserve - MINUS 1000. Instead I am forced to rate them with 1 star, for what is ABYSMAL treatment. When I tried to explain the problems the Indian lady at the joke called customer service held the phone away and didnt listen. When I finished I said "hello", and nothing! I therefore hung up, only to be called back by this pathetic apology for a customer service person asking why I ended the call. I said you held the phone away and were not listening. She said oh I just wanted you to say what you had to say. Yeah right. Insults on top of abysmal lack of service. I would advise everyone to steer well clear of this apology for a broadband provider. And shame on our government for not revoking their license. Needless to say, I was cut off several times while typing this.
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Reviewed by Karen Taylor from uk on 21st Jul 2010
Bargain basement minus the bargain. Terrible and customer services are a joke.
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Reviewed by Kate from united kingdom on 21st Jul 2010
After a very upsetting 28 minutes to cancel the rolling contract, for a 3 dongle, which was used only for three weeks, i now have a massive bill of 56.43. it requires a 30 day notice for cancellation, a stupid 0843 to ring at 5p / minute. 19.99 to purchase the dongle in June, 21.43 for the current month (no internet used) inc VAT and admin charge, and 15.00 for the 30 day notice period!!!!! The internet connection was very poor, maybe down to my area, no signal one minute(crucial moments of course) & having to re-load page constantly. I spent at least 5 minutes of this phonecall today, to cancel, crying & trying to re-compose myself to answer his questions....this on top of the stress of a house move has been totally unneccesary...my advice "don't touch them with a barge pole" Oh and by the way, they are giving my time to think about cancelling....so it is still not cancelled even after this phonecall !!!!!
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Reviewed by Neil from UK on 21st Jul 2010
26 minutes to load a youtube video that lasts for 3 mins and 14 secs. This was at 10am on tuesday. That's been the norm for weeks now. Pathetic. Can only agree with the majority of others. Three are a disgrace!
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Reviewed by Smith from Staffs, UK on 21st Jul 2010
Well, I checked my coverage, it says it works indoors and outdoors. I don't count having my laptop and dongle halfway out the window as the only way of getting signal 'indoors'.
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Reviewed by Dan from UK on 20th Jul 2010
First of all I have full 3g (HSDPA) signal in my area. Awful speeds, I wonder why they bother call it broadband? It more like a dial up connection in terms of speed. Even images take ages to load! Speeds varies from 10-20kb/s and the ping is awful if anyone considering playing online games with it.
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Reviewed by Rachel from UK S/E on 20th Jul 2010
I've been with three nice nov now when my mum moved into rented accomodation. Talk talk messed up moving the phoneline and were were without net. I was seaching for jobs in essex so needed the net urgently as I was due to move the end of the month. Don'tt get me wrong it isn't like have normal BB but for a temporary fix it does the trick. I now live in Essex and the sig isn't as good(I used to get full all the time) part of this is to do with the laptop (I take it to my mums and can sit in next to their pc - they get full sig I get one bar less than them using the same stick) I don't want to get a landline at the moment as i get loads of free mins on my mobile. the pay monthly 30 day rolling £15 monthly for 5 gig is spot on for me and my boyfriend. Looking at the map we shouldn't get very good indoor signal but it really isn't too bad just depends what room i'm in. Only downside is calls from 3 india trying to sell me mobile phones!! you can get removed but you have to csll and press option whatever to be removed but you can always give a false no i guess. Just remeber you never get people writing about this sort of thing to say well done - only to complain when it goes wrong!!
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Reviewed by Kirsty from Uk on 20th Jul 2010
I have been with 3 since november 09. Up until janurary 10, it was great, no problems. I havent been able to use my internet for 6 months. 3 came up with the 1st excuse, its your pc, i told them my pc is fine, its your signal. The 2nd excuse, its because theres an upgrade in your area and wont get completed till 31st april. May comes, still no signal. 3rd excuse this mass needs a new part, i should get signal in a week. Week and a half comes and goes no signal. Im tied into a 24 month contract, i got the laptop deal. Because of this they refuse to let me out of the contract. Customer services are awful, they just havent got a clue. Avoid 3 at all costs. Im defo gonna take this higher! If i cud id give them -10 stars.
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Reviewed by Simon from Derby uk on 18th Jul 2010
3 mobile broadband 15gb £15 per Month. Supposedly in a very good connection area. Signal shows 3G always. Problems: Pages slow to load. Can not view full screen videos (you tube) Signal keeps breaking, have to reload pages often. Very poor customer service. The store staff have got a 'so what' attitude.. they could not care less! And they call centre is somewhere in Timbucktu where you cna not understand them, and they can not understand you. Was ok for the first week or so, now i have had it too long to return and i am fixed to a painful 18 month contract... Will never use mobile broadband again, not worth it! Simply pay the extra for landlines and be happy! AVOID 3 AT ALL COSTS!
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Reviewed by Alberto from Italy on 17th Jul 2010
The only thing I want to say is that never sign a contract with 3 !!!! No matter it is long term or even one month rolling contract. I had a very very bad experience with 3 mobile broadband. I signed a 3 mobile dongle with one month rolling contract. After 3 months, I want to cancel it so I gave them a call. It took me almost one hour to be able to convince them that I want to cancel it! And afterwards, they still took money from my bank account for the next month! Are they really too stupid to understand my require?
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Reviewed by Laura from UK on 16th Jul 2010
I tried one of 3's new PAYG dongles. The service was okay for the first 3 days, nothing special. Then it dropped like a stone, became erratic, unstable and extremely slow. Having read reviews here and elsewhere, I'm now convinced that 3 put me on a 'special' speed for those 3 days so that I wouldn't be able to claim a refund if I had bought in the shop. However, I bought it online and still had sufficient time to claim a refund, which I did. After 3 days the speeds were regularly throttled. This was picked up by NetMeter. 3 claimed the dongle was damaged and I wasn't entitled to a refund. I knew it wasn't damaged in any way, it was just them trying it on. I made it clear to 3 they would be hearing from Trading Standards if I didn't receive a refund. Needless to say, that did the trick. So Adam, in your review dated 3rd July. To be frank, you're spouting rubbish. Maybe you should spend your time as a Three employee more constructively - ie. doing your bit to see that customers aren't misled, ripped off and treated with utter contempt - instead of popping up on here and compiling fictional reviews blaming something else to get your employers off the hook. It doesn't wash and never will. I've since switched to Vodafone. No speed issues in 2 weeks, no throttling, no terminations, no hanging, great customer and online support. To put it simply, it runs rings round the pathetic service from 3 in every way.
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Reviewed by Rishenda Hirst from UK on 14th Jul 2010
I moved to the UK from Spain and had to wait for my landline to be connected. I saw an ad for 3 broadband PAYG and it seemed a good deal. I went to the 3 store and the sales person told me the pay as you go was just like my PAYG mobile phone and to get the deal I just needed to set up a Direct Debit and then after a month if I no longer wanted to pay by this method to just cancel the direct debit and then if I wished to use the dongle just top up as I did with my mobile phone. After a month I had a landline and decided to have broadband via this method. I did as the salesman told me and cancelled the direct Debit and assumed that was it. since then I have received bills month after month for a service i no longer use nor want. i phoned and was told i must cancel the contract 30 days before and so was still being charged. i told the woman to cancel the contract immediately and paid up to date, She assured me it was cancelled and I would receive no more bills. I returned from holiday last week and low and behold there was another bill from 3. I have now telephoned 3 times to be told she did not pass on the info to the correct dept. Everyone I speak to says they can see I requested cancellation but will have to speak to their manager and will call me back to tell me the contract is cancelled and I do not owe any money but no one ever calls me back so i have to phone once again and relay my story over and over again. This is driving me mad!!!!! Can anyone help me PLEASE?????!!!! My phone nad dongle worked really well so I have no issues with that just the false promises.
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Reviewed by D.F from UK on 13th Jul 2010
I really cannot see why there are so many negative reviews here. I have been in the past on PAYG with 3; And had NO problems with them at all. (Light use away from home braodband). Speed was constant and pretty fast. I have now moved over to a contract with them, and again, NO problems what-so-ever. Have had NO problems with there 'customer services' also. Perhaps some of the moaners leaving Neg' reviews are using them (3 dongle) as a main internet connection ?. Something i do not think they are ment to be. Anyway, to some up; EXCELLENT ALL ROUND. A++++++++++
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Reviewed by Lin from UK on 13th Jul 2010
Bought a Huawei stick just over a year ago and have to say i had no complaints with connection or speed UNTIL i bought a new laptop with Windows 7......i tried all upgrades without success only to finally be told that apparently the dongle i have isn't compatable with Windows 7, and the only option is to buy another one. So i asked .. are they saying everytime a new operating system is brought out we have to upgrade the dongles ??? Surprisingly no-one could reply to that !
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Reviewed by Simon B. from Wolverhampton, UK on 13th Jul 2010
On the whole I'm very happy with 3. I'm lucky enough to receive very good download speeds (regularly exceeding 3.5 - 4 mb/s) which seems to be quite high compared to some people. If it were not for occasional problems with disconnections I would give them 5 stars.
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Reviewed by claire from england on 12th Jul 2010
For 8 days my connection has cut out after 10 to 20 secs. Read reviews below. My service is as diabolical as everyone else's. 5-10 kps speeds at best WHEN it is working. Wanted to update people on just how pathetic this compnay is. I phoned them last week and asked for a refund, because I had just bought a top up voucher and they did it begruddingly. But what help is a refund if you can't get on the internet! So today, after reading lots of reviews, I phoned them again. Long story short. The people in customer service actually behaved nicely, after I explained that being without service for more than two weeks was unacceptable and after I made it clear I didnt believe any of their BS. I explained that if a company expected to cut off service for 2 weeks, they should expect not to have many customers waiting when service resumed, with the exception of those on contracts who couldnt go anywhere. I tried to see if they could indeed make an exception and make my service better, by telling them I would have no choice other than to go to another supplier. Bottom line is, they said nothing could be done. It is the decision makers of this company that are the problem. They know the majority are on contracts and they do as they please. They obviously don't give a hoot about mobile users who are free to go elsewhere. I agree we should all contact Watchdog and other consumer organisations as this firm acts like they have a captive market and their thinking is neanderthal, IMO. Again, would like to give zero stars and begrudge being forced into giving one. They are way below zero in their service. I would warn everyone to steer clear of them and heed the warnings of other posters.
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Reviewed by amy from england on 12th Jul 2010
I use a mobile dongle on a desktop pc. At best the service is slow but steady. Recently had a week of being cut off every 20 seconds 24.7. Spoke to 3Mobile after 4 days of this. Informed it will continue for at least 3 wks. It has cut me off non stop every 20 seconds for a week now. When I asked for a refund was given a £10 top up. BUT...what am I supposed to do during the 3 wks with virtually no internet access. They clearly do not care about customers at all.
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Reviewed by KB from UK Gillingham Dorset on 11th Jul 2010
I am a mile from 3 mast and the coverage map suggests that the signal should be good for outdoor use but I might struggle indoors. Happily it seems to work fine indoors (ZTE MF122 Dongle). Curious thing is the little indicator panel that pops up often says I have no signal? However, when browsing, Ive never been cut off or had to refresh a page. Even at its slowest a new page typically appears in under 10 seconds (3 to 4 seconds being the norm - often faster). I can only conclude (and concur with other reports) that the ZTE Dongle is a good device.
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Reviewed by a r from usa on 10th Jul 2010
The mobile broadband is awful. I use i for my school and so many assignments have been late because i cannot no connect to the inernet. I have good service three to four bars So i do not know why it is no good. i am very unhappy wih it and do not recommend it to anyone it is a waste of $60 a month!
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Reviewed by Nuflow from England on 9th Jul 2010
I have had 3 mobile broadband for approx 6 months now. I have spent most of this time on the phone to their support dept as initially service was good (although this was only a few weeks). Then reception was poor (for no apparent reason) and if I had internet access it was too slow to use ie 5 minutes to load a page. Eventually they agreed to check the dongle, then the router. This has taken so long, I have moved house - 6 weeks ago and informed them at the time. I have been chasing my repaired/replacement router to now be told by 3 that they have sent the replacement router to my old address as the initial problem was recorded at this address, even though I informed they I'd moved and also put a letter in with the router I returned!!
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Reviewed by Dom from UK on 9th Jul 2010
I bought a 3 dongle because I spend a lot of time in Ireland and was able to use my allowance in either UK or RoI. The stick itself (HUAWEI) was terrible, I never managed to get a consistent signal, so when my contract was due up, I rang to cancel. The cancellation department offered me a rate reduction and a free ZTE stick, which they promised was much better. This was true, the new stick was far better, but then 2 weeks after the start of the new contract, they informed me that rather than being able to use my allowance in either country, I would be charged £1.25/MB in RoI. When I rang to query this, I was told that I couldn't cancel the contract as I had signed up for 24 months - even though they had changed the terms and conditions. I am now stuck with a stick which is beyond useless.
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Reviewed by Adam from Uk on 3rd Jul 2010
For many people who say they always get no service...its not actually the faulf of the network, its the dongle its self, i had the standard dongle from 3 and i too always seemed to get no service, it was rare that i could infact get on the net at all..i have just bought the new ZTE dongle from the 3 store and it works fine..im using it as i write this. i currently have full signal and the speeds are good..my advice is take your HUAWEI modem and throw it in the bin and get the new ZTE. it worked for me, maybe it will for you too!
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Reviewed by Rochelle from London on 4th Jul 2010
I havent been able to connect for months. Have spent hours on the phone to the 'technical team' to resolve the matter but customer service very poor. I have no choice but to complete the 24 month contract. I cant wait to say a lovely GOODBYE! I Wouldn't take a contract from them if it were free!!
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Reviewed by Parker from England on 1st Jul 2010
My girlfriend has 3 Mobile broadband, she's paying £15 per month for 15GB, and it has to be the worst thing going! I installed the software onto my laptop (as this wouldn't work with my girlfriends Windows XP sp1), which took around 10 - 15 minutes. the dongle takes forever to find a signal and when it does, it still takes ages to load a simple web page, like the Google home page (and that's with an excellent signal). I would steer well clear of this network if you value your sanity and your hair. Unless you'd prefer to be bald!
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Reviewed by John from UK on 30th Jun 2010
Ten reasons why you should avoid 3: 1) Terrible speeds for many customers. The saying goes you get what you pay for. Not quite true with 3. The cheapest, but speeds are abysmal for many customers. It's been this way for over 2 years now and this is reflected in other reviews going back that far. Vodafone will build another mast if there is a speed issue in a particular area. 3 will probably lie and deny there's a problem. Speaking to 3 about speed is like running into a brick wall. 2) Customer Services are awful. Unsupportive, difficult to deal with and misleading. The latter refers to an inherent problem at 3 when it comes to admitting there is a problem or accepting responsibility for it. 3) Overseas Customer Services. Customer Services are based in India. 3 are the only mobile broadband network not to have a UK call centre. 4) Credited calls. It's common practice within the service industry to have a provision to credit customers who have to make a call for a problem that is not their fault. All of the other networks will credit the cost of a call in this instance. All except 3. And they have no plans to introduce this - I asked and that's what they told me. 5) No website support or notification of problems or upgrades. You're going to have to speak to customer services and that's not a good thing. Vodafone have a support forum. Keep dreaming if you want that from 3. 6) Awards. The major networks - 02, Orange and Vodafone have all been recognised in at least one form or another as providers of a quality service and all have received awards. 3 have never received an award. You'd know if they had as it would be plastered all over the website and advertisements. 3 love promoting themselves, despite being awful and being recognised as awful by so many of their customers. Irony is rife at 3. 7) A quick look at various sites like this will soon provide evidence that 3 are the poorest rated mobile broadband provider in the UK, as voted by customers. 8) Again, looking at various sites it's clear that the most critical reviews, in both tone and the sheer numbers, is 3. By some margin. 9) 3 are not a major network. They haven't been around as long as the major networks and do not have the attitude towards customers that the major networks have. If providers were football clubs, the major networks would be Premier League clubs and 3 would be a Sunday pub team. 10) Price. 3 are the cheapest and this is the root of the problem. The attractiveness of being the cheapest is crippling a network that cannot cope and a company who clearly don't care. If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys, so the saying goes. Comparing 3 to monkeys is unfair on monkeys. As with all reviews, this is an opinion. However, all of the points here have been made many many times before in customer reviews. If you don't believe, take a look for yourself :) Hundreds of dissatisfied customers can't all be wrong. Do the sensible thing and give this awful company an extremely wide berth.
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Reviewed by Julie from UK on 30th Jun 2010
I have the top package (cant even remember, or be bothered to). I am on my fourth dongle and second SIM for this broadband. Like the other, the speed varies erraticaly and the connection drops circa 20-30 times a day. I work from home, so am experiencing it all day. Customer services are useless. Every time it fails they do the same thing. Once the guy made me do all sorts of things to my PC, which now blue screens on boot up, and prompts to ask me if if I want to use XP OS ??!! WTF?? After all the changes, he just said "I'll send you a new dongle" and basically hung up - leaving me and my PC screwed. Avoid - at all costs. Shocking.
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Reviewed by Will from UK on 29th Jun 2010
I was talked into this 15GB deal for £15 by a salesperson and singed a 2 year contract. I must say this has come to be the biggest mistake ever. After not even a month of use I realised my account balance is £90, already gone over the 15 GB limed. The salesperson convinced me it’s currently the best deal available, that turns out not to be true. The broadband speed is pathetic and not at all what is advertised. There customer service in India will take years off your life. They really should change their name to 3 rip-offs. My advices do not ever get involve with this company or even think of getting the 15GB deal. If you already in a contract and want to get out stop your debit order and take them to court!
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Reviewed by jay from ireland on 29th Jun 2010
i must say 3 are the cheapest service in ireland at the moment 20GB for 35euro a month on 3pay.other networks vodafone o2 meteor have 5GB for 20-25 euro complete rip off.altough o2s network is the fastest 4.50mb/s most the time its 5GB usage is useless..vodafone must be the worst ive ever used and will never go near their network yet again no more than 0.60mb/s on their 3G network even at 4am in the morning!!and the mad thing is vf use the exact same mast as 3 where i live and the signal is dire from them while with 3 i get 5/5bars in my house speeds always 1mb/s + in lots of locations 3 seem to be the fastest..i live in a small town of 6,000 people whoever has broadand has DSL..to all the neagtive comments mobile broadband is only intended to be used if you are really stuck for internet access not to replace DSL it is not broadband its a mobile network and the upto 7.2mbps speed is shared around the whole area so the more people using their 3 dongles in the same location as you the slower it will get the 7.2mbps is a lie no-one will ever achieve that only if you are the only person on the mast and if your standing right next to it the further you get away from it the slower..over all in my exact location and the cell tower i use it performs great really happy with 3
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Reviewed by Robbie from UK on 28th Jun 2010
I keep reading how bad this is at peak times. It's true it is bad. Really bad and not just at peak times. Pages take an age to load and connections stop or cut out at all different times. I was browsing in the early hours of this morning at around 2am and had to wait ages for pages to load and kept getting errors as firefox timed out. And customer services are a joke and a waste of time. You won't find any of this in the fancy literature but it's obvious from all the bad reviews that 3 are useless. Avoid this company like the plague.
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Reviewed by Paul from UK on 27th Jun 2010
They cut my connection off saying I had no allowance left and needed to top up. I had just bought a 40 pound top up to watch the england game that had 3 GIGS in it! When I phoned them they said the servers for sorting out your allowances are down for up to 2 hours wonder if anyone else had this? I had only used 200MB and my allowance was still showing on site. SUSPICIOUS TO SAY THE LEAST
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Reviewed by A from england on 27th Jun 2010
Absolute piece of junk. It almost never works and when it does it is for no obvious reason at all. I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling god knows how many times, I use it in the same place in my house where I have had fastest connection speed when it does work (so it can't be that there's 'no service' as it constantly says). I've tried unplugging it, changing the settings, restarting, I've trawled tons of sites looking for solutions and all I find are hundreds of similarly frustrated and ripped-off customers. 3 are an absolute waste of time. You may be thinking of using them because they are cheap, but ask yourself WHY they are cheap? because they're selling a service that does not work. if you cannot connect, you cannot use your data allowance and you are costing 3 nothing at all.
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Reviewed by searth from united kingdom on 25th Jun 2010
well i'm "between" houses at the moment, my current house has no phoneline or internet connectability so i am forced to use internet broadband, we had heard 3 is the best and after looking around we noticed 3 is the cheapest, however i'm currently using my internet to play online games (world of warcraft) for a few months the only problem i've had is some frequent disconnecting, but recetly i've been suffering latancy of up to 28k ms.. that's rediculous.. is there a reason why my internet is now lagging heavily?
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Reviewed by Winston from UK on 25th Jun 2010
Pay As You Go for mobile dongle should really mean pay as you go as in mobile phone. Would anyone be happy if a £15 top up for mobile phone in PAYG lasts only for one month and one has to top up again to make a few calls in the next 30 days ? I will not get a mobile broadband dongle as long as this rip off tariff is being miss-sold, as I am already on cable broadband although I could do with a mobile dongle for occasional use when out of my house.
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Reviewed by Wes from UK on 25th Jun 2010
Very good. I consistantly see speeds of 2.5Mbps (download) and between 300Kbps-1Mbps upload. I live about a kilometer from the three basestation in a town of about 10,000.
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Reviewed by bridget from uk on 22nd Jun 2010
well where do i start i got my mobile with 3 in june 2009 along with my mobile broadband...since then ive had to have my phone fixed 3 times and then i refused and after many calls and conversations (me being rather angry at times as they areall completly thick and have no idea wats goin on) then convinced them to replace my phone...im constantly having problems with my broadband too and finally got them to replace it last month and they sent the new one to the wrong address...luckily i was able to retrieve it...when i rang up to complain at one point the next day coincidently my phone and broad band was not working at all which resulted in me phoning again to get it fixed which took a whole week!!! again my broadband is playing up but i have no energy to call them up any more but when i do like always i will be asking for compensation which i always get so i do recommed others make sure they are reimbursed for their inconveniences..def would NOT reccommend to any one this company are a rip off!!!!!!
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Reviewed by Andy P from Norwich UK on 21st Jun 2010
Pathetic.
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Reviewed by sam from Hong kong on 21st Jun 2010
I also have 24 months of contract with 3g. It was said that it connects form 2 mb to 7 mb but it even dosen't reach a speed of 200 kb, what a net work.Never buy any thing form this network.I hate 3g .What can I do guys?My rating for this network is 000000000.
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Reviewed by David Hipkiss from UK on 21st Jun 2010
Absolutely rubbish speeds - up to 7Mbps (what a joke!) - test your own speeds using 3 recommended site: speedtest.bbmax.co.uk
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Reviewed by Lisa R from UK on 17th Jun 2010
Same as Pete a few reviews down. It seems like every day at around 4pm 3 deliberately slow the speed right down and then it picks up after midnight. It's the same story with the signal strength. It increases during this time. Seems like the better the strength the worse the speed. Sounds a bit fishy if you ask me. And it isn't very good the rest of the time either. I gave up on customer services a long time ago and I notice they still haven't improved. I know from previous experience that a call can get you a better speed for anything between a few hours and a few days, but I really can't bring myself to have to speak to them again. They drive me up the wall. Very difficult to deal with. I have just downloaded a pdf file that I wanted to read. The size of the file is 2.3 megabytes and it took over 4 minutes to download. A few times it just stopped. It has been really bad since before xmas last year and it wasn't great then. I am 19 months into a 24 month contract and the highest speed I have ever seen was last xmas day afternoon when I got 250 kilobytes a second. Three are screwing us and it's a disgrace. So is the fact that the regulator doesn't act. There is no way on this earth I am ever going to touch them again. This can't be allowed to continue. It's getting worse and worse with time.
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Reviewed by Jizer from England on 16th Jun 2010
Well, here I am again! My 3 Mobile connection went off-line completely last Friday, 11th June 2010. The day after I had a forty minute(!) conversation with a 3 rep in India - lovely girl, but clueless - who had me doing all sorts of things, e.g., uninstalling and reinstalling the software and plugging the USB modem into different ports and different computers etc., all without result. I told her it wasn't my computer system or the modem itself but something to do with the 3 network. This morning, Wednesday, 16th June 2010, my 3 connection suddenly mysteriously restored itself and has been working ever since - although I had no internet access via 3 for FIVE DAYS! - without a "heads up" or warning of potential disruption. I call this shockingly poor service! I've now ordered a Vodofone "Top up and go" modem from Maplins for £24.99 with 3GB of data included. I've had it with 3 which surely must be one of the worst telecommunications companies in the country. Don't give 3 your business.
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Reviewed by Slip Digby from UK on 14th Jun 2010
Made the mistake of not checking out reviews before signing up with 3. Live in Manchester but get terrible signal strength - which is prone to disconnecting on a regular basis. Certainly won't be renewing with the contract runs out. Customer services are also pretty useless.
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Reviewed by John from uk on 13th Jun 2010
The more time that goes by since 3 did their upgrade, the slower and more unreliable it gets. The reviews praising 3 look very suspect to me. Most reviewers seem to share the same poor experiences that I do. What is it with these people? Why are they so bad?
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Reviewed by Pete from UK on 13th Jun 2010
I haven't seen a speed that exceeds dial-up for weeks. But this is an honest review from someone who doesn't work for Three. The last speed I saw was around 5 - 12 KB per second. This is very slow and simply not good enough. It's also worth pointing out that my signal strength was the full five bars. This is a classic sign that Three are manipulating connections because they can't cope and can't improve. Terrible company, terrible service. Do not touch with a barge pole.
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Reviewed by Marc from uk on 12th Jun 2010
i ordered a mobile dongle from 3 without looking at the reviews first. i started getting worried about what i saw bad connection slow internet speeds. When my dongle arrived i tested it because i was going to send it straight back. i'm so glad i didn't it is amazing faster then my home broadband so have cancelled that. i play alot of world of warcraft and it streams that no problem even when there is 40 players in a raid. all i can say to people thinking of joining 3 go ahead because the upgrade they have done is amazing and the deal i have is 15gb 15 month very good deal. keep it up 3!!!!!!!!
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Reviewed by Sunjay from UK on 11th Jun 2010
I am very suprise with some of the 3 network issues. I just done a mobile broadband speed best on my mobile phone with a speedtest app and the average download speed is about is between 2 to 3 mbps.
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Reviewed by Stephen from Northern Ireland on 9th Jun 2010
Signed up for 3 Mobile Broadband in Jan 2010 cos I was told by various sources that they had the best network in the UK. The UK maybe, Northern Ireland no way!! I live on the east coast and as yet I am still to receive a signal. I can only use it in some of the larger towns and cities and they are few and far between. So far the only benefit this has been to me is the free netbook which I use on my home wireless broadband. I had originally intended to do away with the home broadband in favour of mobile but it looks like I'm going to have to stick with it for the duration until the network providers decide that Northern Ireland IS a developed country and provide the appropriate services.
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Reviewed by John from Ireland on 9th Jun 2010
I'm using 3 mobile broadband here in Ireland and I'm in total agreement with all of these reviews from the UK customers. Its the most appalling excuse for broadband ever. I literally cannot use it for more than 2 minutes without itself disconnecting and reconnecting (sometimes it won't even do this). Stay well clear of this patethic excuse of a product. 3 have obviously hired a load of schoolboys to maintain their network and it certainly shows.
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Reviewed by Orange from UK on 6th Jun 2010
Really pleased with the mobile bb. I use the dongle in conjunction with a Huawei D100 Wi-Fi router to ensure I have the best signal possible (this is upstairs above the clutter (houses)) and then use the D100 to distribute it around my home using Wi-Fi. Unless you live next to a UMTS site, I think this is the best way to ensure you get the most out of the kit. Download speeds around 1-1.5M.
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Reviewed by David K from UK on 3rd Jun 2010
As a '3' mobile customer, I was offered a dongle with 1gb of monthly usage for only £5 per month. I thought "OK, even if it is terrible, it's only £90 to find it out". Well, I don't find it to be terrible at all. Without a modem in my house, this was the cheapest option available to me. I have always achieved a HSDPA connection, I've never lost a connection, and broadbandspeedchecker says I'm getting 2420kbps pretty much every day I check. (That's a fine speed for a Cumbrian...). I've had the odd look on youtube (just to test - I don't want to exceed 1gb so don't make a habit of it), and every time I've clicked on a video it has buffered twice as fast as 'real time'. I'm honestly very satisfied with 3 mobile broadband. I only use the internet for news, betting, emailing and looking the odd thing up on wikipedia, and it suits my needs perfectly. I do have join the posters below though on the customer service front. "3" don't want you to speak until your spoken to. Diabolical at times trying to get a problem solved.
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Reviewed by Paul Tait from UK on 3rd Jun 2010
Apparently 3 have completed the upgrade for my area. During the upgrade which took weeks despite 3 continually quoting 2 days, there was no high speed signal just a 3g signal with a constant speed around 40 kb per second. Not very good at all. It wasn't great before the upgrade either but better than it is now. Since the upgrade the high speed signal has returned and speed is always lower than that when I am online. Normally around 10 kb per second. This is incredibly slow and means that pages of just text take ages to load. If you want to see pictures, you're in for a long wait. Forget video. It's typical of 3 to go backwards. When I called they told me it must be my computer or where I live or the weather. It isn't my computer, it isn't where I live and it isn't the weather. It's YOU and your inability to provide a decent service. Stop lying and stop misleading people. I noticed your latest ad promoting yourselves in the form of a movie poster. I saw how you gave yourself 10 out of 10, but didn't name who had awarded you that score. How ironic that you give yourselves a score of 10/10 while most of your customers are giving you the lowest possible score and ripping you to pieces in customer reviews. Mobile broadband is far from the finished article and for it to work successfully, it needs a strong, resourceful, competent and customer-focused network to provide it. 3 are about as opposite to that as it's possible to be. The policy of cheap pricing (irresponsibly in my opinion) is backfiring big time. First of all you embarked on a huge (and expensive) advertising campaign to get noticed. All along you have been the cheapest to secure a large market share. And now - now we have a network that cannot cope with demand, is not customer focused, cannot deliver permanent connections that don't hang, cannot deliver anything like the speeds they advertise and is the poorest performing network according to online customer review sites. In one of the more dubious-looking 5 star reviews, it was claimed that 3 are 100 times better than Orange or Vodafone. Surely that's impossible? Being equally as bad would be some feat, nevermind any worse. I'll finish with a quote from a more realistic review - Avoid Hutchison Telecom at all costs.
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Reviewed by David Hipkiss from UK on 3rd Jun 2010
125kbps average download speed - I bet they are not advertising this speed! When I complain, just like one of the earlier reviewers, my speed increases (2000kbps) for a day or 2 and then returns to 125kbps - they must be able to "program" speed improvements, but they have a limited timescale - just like the traveller who does a good job on a new drive-way, only for it to deteriorate in no time at all! Virgin Media fix line broadband for me in the future.
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Reviewed by Chelsea from UK on 2nd Jun 2010
I need some advice. 3 mobile!!!!!! RUBBISH!!!! Problem after problem with everything! 1. So far they have cost me £150 in bank charges after taking money out of my account on the wrong dates, even after phone calls of rectifying. Also double the amount been taken in 1 month and reversing money on my account on 4 occasions!! 2. NO coverage!!! The only advice I was given from a customer service rep was to pay more money get better gadgets!!! I was sold the best I expect the best!! 3. Laptop not fit for purpose ... No longer any sound .. so slow ... Again I was offered a better deal but to shell out more money!!! 4. 2 complaint letters that have been ignored. Each have been between the 10 working day response they say they will reply!!! STILL NOTHING I am at the end of my tether and do not know what steps to take next. Can anyone help me please. I don't want to just cancel before I get the money they owe me and been left with a pile of debt for cancelling my contract. Any help would be totally appreciated. Thanks
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Reviewed by Graham Milner from Sussex UK on 1st Jun 2010
Apalling connection speed. Always lose signal strength when completing something important. I never have more than 2 bars signal. Bitterly regret signing up. Will never ever use 3 again. Useless Bangladesh / India call centre.
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Reviewed by Mr M. from England on 1st Jun 2010
EXTREMELY slow, Poor value, Poor customer service - Avoid Hutchison Telecom at all costs.
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Reviewed by Daryll from UK on 1st Jun 2010
PEOPLE you have to read this, i have been having problems for two months now, the s-l-o-w-e-s-t service, always disconnecting, i must have called customer service at least 20-30 times during this time, yesterday i called and completely fed them some rubbish about meeting some chap who lives in the same street and who has perfect connection etc and that i wasn't happy and wanted the same.. it was a complete lie! but get this.. WITHIN minutes my connection was back up and running again. i really think 3 can control peoples speeds!!! it cannot be a coincidence, surely??
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Reviewed by Jizer from UK on 31st May 2010
I live in Falmouth, Cornwall and have used 3 Mobile for about two years. Hereabouts it seemed adequate until about six weeks ago when I started to get very slow broadband speeds (never was fast) and disconnections irrespective of the time of day. The modem also reports that it is connected to the internet when it isn't, or, at least, when it fails to allow any transfer of data across the web from me or to me. Ver, very, very annoying. From adequate 3 Mobile has become very poor! The only thing I can say about it is that it is cheap (but not cheerful).
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Reviewed by Charlotte Moorhouse from uk on 28th May 2010
I got a 3 dongle contract and it has worked since i got it but when i got in contact with them they said they would send me the address by e-mail so i could send it back but as i couldn't get on the internet they said there was no other way to do it by the time i got through to them it was gone the 14 day period now they are trying to chage me £290 to cancel my contract which i think is outstanding as it was there fault.I can-not believe the customer service is so unhelpful and some of the people i try to speak to is difficult as they are in a different country than the uk.
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Reviewed by P. George Stewart from UK on 27th May 2010
I'm another chump who bought a 3 PAYG dongle. It's fully as bad as these reviews are saying - really, really, unbelievably, appallingly awful. The price is decent, sure, and the tech is decent - at around 3 am it's pretty fast. The interface and the website stuff is decent too. But the service? At the times you need it most (e.g. when you get home from work and want to use the internet) it just crawls. Basically you can forget about any streaming stuff like BBC or YouTube. Don't go anywhere near this dreadful so-called "broadband" service. Seriously, if you could give it negative stars I would give it -3. Grrrrr.
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Reviewed by philip from UK on 27th May 2010
I'm in Uk for 2 months on business and needed broadband for travelling. I spent £40 on a 3 month dongle and it is near useless. it disconnects more than it connects and takes about 20 30 mins to connect each time. It will probably disconnect by the time I write this note completely useless :-(
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Reviewed by Doug Oxley from UK on 27th May 2010
I am on a paygo and find it totally pathetic however the few days before the next 30 day payment is to be made the speed picks up and you get HSPDA connection then after paying for another month max 24 hours later its useless again until you get near to your next payment date then it starts to work well again this must surely be deliberate. Other times when I have been out of the country for 1 or 2 weeks not using that months subscription when I log into IE it always takes me to 3 website saying I have no allowance, left when checking my data allowance it shows the allowance I had the last time I used 3, and cant connect to anything unless I top up again. This is a ripoff.
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Reviewed by Kim from UK on 26th May 2010
Ok, the wording of this review will be a bit more measured than some of the more strident comments here - but the bottom line is about the same. I'm an existing Vodafone mobile broadband customer with just over two months to go before the expiry of the two-year minimum contract period. Six days ago - with eyes wide open as regards all the adverse reviews about 3 Mobile - I ordered a dongle from 3 Mobile, again on a two-year contract, at the current offer price of £15 per month for 15GB a month. I have been testing it today and the two previous days. As far as I can figure from www.sitefinder.ofcom.org.uk, my nearest Vodafone and 3 masts are within 100 yards or so of each other (you know how the darned things often tend to cluster together where there's a convenient location), and the straight-line distance from my house is a bit over half a mile. I believe that both basestations are 3.6 Megabit speed (or is it 3.2, not sure). The maximum download speed I would expect is around 2.8 Mbps. The main point of my review is that I've been able to carry out direct, side-by-side comparisons of 3 and Vodafone, and the result for me was that Vodafone won. Performance was monitored and measured using the real-time graph and Rates Recorder features of Hootech's NetMeter product (highly recommended, by the way). During yesterday afternoon, Vodafone chugged along at speeds seldom dropping below 1Mbps and often going above 2Mps whereas 3 spent most of its time at around the 500Kbps mark, with occasional forays up to and above 1 Mbps. The most conspicuous feature of 3's behaviour (with NetMeter's graph and recorded rates data, it stuck out like a sore thumb) was that, at a few seconds after 6 p.m., the real-time rate for some downloads I was running dropped like a stone from around 500 Kbps to 32Kbps, and stayed down there until I gave up several minutes later. As midnight approached, I tried these downloads again, and again saw 32 Kbps, but curiously, a few seconds after midnight the rate went back up to what it had been before 6 p.m. Is this evidence of traffic shaping, I wonder, with throttled downloads between 6 p.m. and midnight? Interestingly, ordinary browsing didn't seem to be affected, but as soon as I stopped browsing and let the downloads run, the rate settled back into the 32K speed range. In nearly two years with Vodafone, I've never seen anything like that before. To give a little credit where it's due, I did see one period of several minutes with sustained download speeds of around 2.5Mbps - but that was at 3 a.m. this morning. Go figure. Also to 3's credit, I note that their online records of usage seem to upate in near real-time, or at least the usage during any one connection session seems to be recognised as soon as the session is terminated. This is in sharp contrast to Vodafone's rather clunky usage tracking mechanism. I am aware that 3 may have 7.2Mbps coverage in my locality within the next month or so whereas Vodafone don't have any such plans for here any time soon, but notwithstanding that, I feel more comfortable staying with what I know. Therefore I've cancelled the contract with 3 today (still well within the cooling-off period), and have negotiated a contract extension with Vodafone at a discount of better than 40% on the price for the original two-year term.
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Reviewed by Andy Todd from UK on 26th May 2010
How the heck do they get away with being so bad? Terrible service, awful speeds, stress-inducing customer services, no website support that is of any use, no callbacks or email replies. You can't even top up with a voucher without waiting ages for it to register or make the dreaded call to customer services in the hope that this time you might get the truth or some useful assistance. Spending 20 minutes going round the houses only to be told that they don't do top ups over the phone is not useful or helpful. I have never written a review before, but I felt I had to say something. At first, I was quite surprised by the number of bad reviews, but then I realised that I shouldn't be surprised at all. And it't the same story on other sites too. 3 are terrible and the reviews reinforce that point. I can check my emails and search basic things much quicker with my phone which is on Orange than I can with this so-called mobile broadband from 3. I'm sick of them and will never have anything to do with them again. But I want more than that. I want them gone forever from the mobile communications market. They are an insult to customers and shouldn't be permitted to hold a licence. This is a developed nation, apparently, and it's the 21st century. So why are we having to put up with a neanderthal company and their caveman attitude to customers? If you take all the poor reviews and take away the one star awarded as there is no option for zero, then the average score would be below one and would either read as nothing or be rounded up to just one star. That says it all really. Awful!
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Reviewed by Pete from uk on 26th May 2010
181 reconnections... in one hour :( I was so fed up of the "ding" sound that I turned down the speakers :( What a piece of junk. I threw it at the wall and whacked it over the desk then I chucked the bits of modem away out of frustration! Utter waste of money.
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Reviewed by Stuart from UK on 25th May 2010
Dave is correct, they wouldn't have a leg to stand on in court.But better still would be if all dissatisfied customers wrote to BBC Watchdog.If enough people write to them, they'll do a piece on 3 and how awful they are. And with some luck, they will highlight how the so-called regulator, OFCOM, lets them get away with it. I wouldn't be surprised at all if 3 are messing around with connections. Last night, my speed never increased above 15kps at various times between 6.30pm and 1am. This is not acceptable and why I will go to court if necessary. For those not familiar with speeds - a download at running at 15kps equates to a speed that is just over a quarter of the old dial-up speed. This is slow in anyones's book. Except 3 of course. Speed at 9am was around 5-10 kps. 5kps represents 1/10 of dial-up speed or 1/1440 of the advertised speed for my area (7.2 mps) In percentage terms this is 0.069 percent. That's not even 0.1 percent. Scandalous!
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Reviewed by Margriet from UK on 24th May 2010
I have had three for 1,5 year now and it always worked fine untilI signed up for a new contract (15 Gb). At first, excellent..then since about 2 weeks I have either no connection, a very slow one, or automatic disconnection. I am working at home and fully depending on the three internet connection at and am absolutely frustrated to tears. I haven't been able to work and have been on the phone with the helpdesk for HOURS. No explanation, nothing is done, and all they say is that I should register download and upload speeds for them, which is mostly not possible because of the bad connection. DO NOT get involved!! Can we not together start a law case against this company? This is nothing but SWINDLE.
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Reviewed by Shaun from UK on 24th May 2010
What can I say...its been quite rubbish more or less the whole time i've had it Always slow speeds being the problem. Rang/emailed lots and to be fair they've always got back in touch but without being funny i'd much prefer a UK based call centre. Seen some AD on telly recently saying about some 3 Accelerator thing they are now using, I hope it does the trick as i'm on the verge of pulling out of my contract and trying a different one.
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Reviewed by dave from therave on 23rd May 2010
All you people stuck in contracts need to realise that 3 are breaking the contract by not providing anything near the service your paying them for. You can at least get it free until it's fixed or even cancelled. Get on the phone and stop being shafted! Explain your persistent problem with the service they are providing you with. Tell them about other times you've had to ring them up. Give them reasonable chance to fix it if it isn't fixed ring back up and tell them all this again and that you have given them ample opportunity to provide you with the service your paying for, they arn't doing this so the contract is invalid and you would like to cease doing business with them. Keep a log of your problems and any correspondance with them to prove you gave them chance, they wouldn't have a leg to stand on in court.
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Reviewed by Nick from UK on 23rd May 2010
The trouble with 3 mobile broadband is that its not consistent. There are periods when I've had advertised speeds, but then you get days when the speed drops to well below dialup speed. They seem to emphasise that the speed you get depends on the signal, but that cannot be the case. It must be that their network is way over subscribed and I suspect they can adjust peoples access speed, so new users probably get a better speed initially.
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Reviewed by Peter from UK on 23rd May 2010
I have a macbook pro running snow leopard, I have the latest pay and go dongle and it works very well, I live in the South west of England and I have had a better connection with three than what I had with Vodafone. I did find I had to make sure I deleted the Vodafone software and go into the network settings and remove all the Vodafone related connections before the three dongle worked properly.
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Reviewed by oddy from england on 22nd May 2010
tryed this on my tmobile modem and it worked, what a star
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Reviewed by Keith from UK on 19th May 2010
I have found 3 mobile broadband to offer a terrible service. It simply won't stay connected to the network for more than a minute or two at a time. 3 keep saying that there is a problem with the network and that they will have fixed it within 2 weeks but every two weeks i get another phone call saying that it is not fixed and will be done in the next to weeks. The only positive is that they are not charging me for the service that they are unable to offer. Their customer service people are a joke and have no idea what is happening and the network is a waste of time.
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Reviewed by Neil from Scotland on 19th May 2010
Always get a signal and mostly a good one too. The only problem i had with 3 is when I startded my contract they put me on the wrong price plan. The higher one and trying to sort it out with customer service was impossible. It was their fault but I was going round in circles with people giving me phone numbers that would put me back throught to them and they didn't know why. Basicly the product is good but if you have problems you may have a hard time resolving them. Was going to give it 4 stars but changed it to 3 when remebering the trouble i had at the start. Which nearly two years later i'm still on the wrong price plan. In fact it's down to 2.
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Reviewed by David from South Wales on 18th May 2010
When I first took out a 24 month contract in the summer of 2009, I could not have asked for anything better than the service 3 provided. Come the Winter though and the servce had degraded faster than Jensen Button on the home straight at Silverstone. Multiple calls to India resulted in being told that there was an upgrade going on on one of the cells and everyone in the area had to use a more distant cell so connections could be expected to degrade. Well, I thought I would give them the benefit of the doubt so I decided to be patient. It is now Summer 2010 and wow, the ability to connect to 3 is even worse. Glorious sunshine, blue skys and a lousy broadband connection which gives me at least two minutes of surfing fun before the dreaded "No Service". It really is pathetic. Please somebody at 3, please please sort it out for the love of sanity.
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Reviewed by cathy from n.ireland on 18th May 2010
i tried to download a movie last night and 3 mobile charged me 15 pounds usage. How can this be possible
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Reviewed by sam from UK on 16th May 2010
3 mobile broadband has been nothing but trouble right from the start! I would advice everyone AGAINST it because you'll just be wasting your money and you'll be getting yourself into alot of hassle I can't even get internet connection longer than 5 minutes these days and then it comes up with all sorts of error messages I got a replacement dongle but still having same trouble their support team isn't much help either DON'T EVER GET 3 BROADBAND!
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Reviewed by Kate from UK on 16th May 2010
Be very wary of the positive reviews for 3. The reality for most customers is diabolical speeds, hanging connections and many times where a connection isn't possible at all. The reality for all customers is terrible customer services based overseas (the only UK network to do this), no website support, no apologies or notification of upgrades. Nothing that aids the customer. Here's a prediction for you all: Three's reputation worsens. Vodafone sniff around considering a takeover. Vodafone eventually do take over Three. Service quality increases and so does cost. If you're considering Three mobile broadband, be very sure it works well in your area - in other words, you're in an area with few other users and a good signal. Unlikely... If you aren't... then avoid!
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Reviewed by Shubham from Bakshi on 13th May 2010
It is the worst network in UK. I am in London and I am getting extremely bad signal the download speed goes as low as 5kB/s. When I called the customer service they said they could not find the problem and could do nothing!!I would be lucky if I post this message whithout having to reconnect again!!!
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Reviewed by Katerina from UK on 11th May 2010
Hi, first sorry for my English, it is not my first language. I was with Three with 18 months and must admit never had Tech. problems with it. I would like to share my experience with "Three" Mobile Broadband provider, Cancellation Department in particular. Today I just had very bad expirience with Three Company. I phoned them, because I wanted to chnage my Monthly Broadband contract for Pay as You go system. I have been kept on the line for over an hour. When I was transferred to Cancellation Department, I mentioned many times, that I the reason I phoneis that I just want to chnage my contract. However Adviser just seemed to ignore me and offered me a new Monthly Contract. I explained politely 6 times, that I do not wish another monthly Contrct and I would like just to switch on Pay as You go. Each time, when I explained, what I do not really need new Monthly Contract, Adviser agreed with me, said it is ok and asked to wait couple of minutes while She will proceed new changes, and I was waiting another 10-15 minutes in silence; after a pause , when adviser were back, She said: "Ok, I know you want Pay as You go, but we will put you on Monthly Contract for now. We also going to send you new Broadband on Monthly Contract basis. We will post it with next 3 days...etc". Then again I had to thank them and explain politely, that all I want is simply to be switched to Pay as You go. It repeated aproximately 6 times. I found it very offensive, uncomfortable and ignorant experience. It ended up, that Adviser just said me that they going to post me new Broadband and put me on a new Montly Contracr, wich I can cancel with 14 days, if I want to. I gave up, because I didn't want it to be endless. It was very unpleasant pressure, lie ( while I was waiting for her to proceed changes Adviser seemes just was waiting, and after sometime offered me a new deal again and again). I wasted my time, I never got what I really wanted. In fact all I got is headache and upset. Sorry , that I had to write all this. I never wrote any comlain letters before. But I really was unsatisfied today with my experience. Hope it will help to make Comany services better. Kind regards, Katerina
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Reviewed by Chris McCloskey from UK on 11th May 2010
Love it... You lot should stop complaining and try t-mobile or orange. Three is 100X better than both companys. I had nothing but problems a few years back but everything is perfect now. They are making it better.
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Reviewed by Peter anonymous from UK on 11th May 2010
3 Broadband has been nothing but a nightmare for me a cheap zte dongle that didnt work and the amount of time wasted trying to get a replacement twice.. Lack of signal in areas where there was supposed to be one. Then at the end of my 2 year contract they tell me I have to give a months notice this was duly done and guess what contract NOT cancelled and I find my self on a new tarriff which I didnt agree to after all I did cancel. All I can say is tread very carefully if you have a broadband deal with 3.
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Reviewed by Andrew from UK on 10th May 2010
Got 3G mobile Broadband. Confirmed connectivity in my address was good. But, the connectivity is extremely poor. Support is not great either. Offer very typical suggestions and questions like upper floors give better connectivity, what operating system are you using and so on. I use a pretty new laptop (Dell-Intel i3 processor). After reminders they have stopped responding.
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Reviewed by Ash from UK on 8th May 2010
I disagree with most people here, while three may not be the best experience ever you only have to go to other companies such as t mobile to realize that three is a lot better for mobile broadband. Yesterday I bought a T mobile dongle after using three for six months, main reason is that I'm spending a lot of money on three a month and can't have a landline at my current location, the 15 pounds for a months "unlimited" internet seemed a good idea. The bad fact about t mobile though is that they lie, their internet is very limited. You can't access twitter and youtube because they are blocked by their so called over 18 content lock. To unblock them you need to pay 2 quid by a credit card. Also I live in an urbanized area, I get the three network pretty well but the t mobile keeps shifting into GPRS which is ridiculously slow and pointless as I might as well plug my orange phone in and use the GPRS on that. Three internet doesn't have any limits bar paying for what you use (no stupid fair usage policy), half decent signal (in my area anyway) and last but not least no crazy fascist content blocker. Price of mbb credit does need to come though in general, £15 for 3 gb is ridiculous by any company.
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Reviewed by Ian from UK on 6th May 2010
Can only echo what the majority say on here. Its utter garbage, and support is non existent. Dont touch it. not if like me, you like having some semblance of sanity
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Reviewed by Frank from England on 6th May 2010
Yes 3 mobile sucks. When it works here (and I am only 400 metres from the transmitter) it is good but now spends most of the time saying I am connected when nothing happens. Customer Services (?) in India is helpful and do ring back. I eventually got a Tech guy who rand back to say they had fixed the transmitter. Oh no they haven't! 3 need to get Customer Services relocated to England so that the people you talk to can actually try the damn thing on site.
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Reviewed by Ashley Sheridan from United Kingdom on 5th May 2010
I just recently purchased a 3 monthly contract and dongle, and am I sure regretting it. The customer service is condescending (at one point I was told to restart my computer to "restart the web settings", I mean seriously, there's no such thing by that name on any computer system I've ever used) I get frequent disconnects, extremely high latency and very slow speeds. I also get the occassional web page that now refuses to load, because their dumbass service gets stuck on a particular file that the page needs. I tried speaking to them about it and was fobbed off with the answer that it was due to their 'upgrading' the network and that it couldn't be resolved for another month. It's criminal that they can offer a service that hardly works and certainly doesn't work as advertised.
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Reviewed by sandy from sheffield,uk on 5th May 2010
I have been trying to top up a 3 PAYG voucher for the last 4 weeks & all their website,MY3 keeps telling me is that the top up service is unavailable,& to contact them by phone or call into a 3 shop,to top up. Is this a ploy to get us to sign up for a contract? If i ever do sign up for a contract, it will NOT be with this dreadful company.I just hope i can top up this voucher before the 90 day expiry period.
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Reviewed by Graham from UK on 5th May 2010
I've had a 3 broadband dongle for a couple of years now and echoing some of the other reviews here it has been rock solid until abou 3 weeks ago. Now it drops connection, or says it's connected but actually not, or sits there thinking about it for a minute before the connection starts allowing data to flow. Normally I only use it at work (Central London - perfect signal aparently). I tried using it at home a couple of days ago and hay presto it was rock solid there. Next day back in the office and it was back to it old ways again. I filled in a support form on the three web site (I know - lazy, but I coulnd't cope with 30 mins on the phone to Mumbai being told how to reboot my laptop). As yet I've not had a response. Yesterday I decided enough was enough and ordered an Orange dongle. I phoned 3 to cancel and had a 20 minute argument with the retentions department who was trying to tell me that all my problems were down to my 2 year old dongle being incompattible with the upgraded network (which maybe has some credence to it). Unfortunately I would have to sign up to a new contract in order to try out an up-to-date dongle. He breifly let slip that it might be an overcrowded cell that was the probelem, but then quickly reverted to the incompattible hardware line. I declined his kind offer of another 12 months with them and will be seeing how it goes with Orange.
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Reviewed by Mike from England on 5th May 2010
Like Ray, Adrian and others, recently my broadband frequently disconnects. I'm guessing like others that it's to do with the upgrade and hopefully normal service will resume soon.
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Reviewed by Ray from Merseyside on 1st May 2010
Since yesterday I've been getting disconnected constantly, and surfing speed is at a snail's pace. It's not usually this bad. I can usually stay connected for a few hours at a time. It may be due to some sort of maintenance being done by 3.
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Reviewed by Daniel from UK on 30th Apr 2010
I managed to connect to the internet today and email a file that was 3mb in size. When the message 'Email sent successfully' appeared on my screen, I started shaking uncontrollably and sobbing, I've dreamed about this day for almost a year now, my body went into a state of anaphylactic shock, I passed out and slumped off my chair onto the floor. I came around 2 hours later lying in a pool of my own tears. In the one year I've had this broadband, this is the first email i've been able to send that is over 1mb in size (Still VERY small) If you're thinking about getting a contract with 3, for the love of all that is good, Don't. God please, don't do it. imagine drowning in a ocean of syrup, surrounded by sharks in the shape of the 3 logo, with a very polite Asian man whispering in your ear that everything's going to be ok, over and over again... that is what it's like being with this companys broadband.
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Reviewed by des from chesterfield ,uk on 30th Apr 2010
i stopped using my PAYG 3 dongle last august, because it wouldn't connect anymore. then last month i thought i would give it a try,so i topped it up with £10 (1GB)& was really surprised at how well it was working. i've bought another £10 voucher, & for the last week i've been trying to top it up. their top up website (my3) doesn't seem to be working, i just hope they don't try to charge me for trying to access their top up service whilst my voucher is expired. same old 3!.
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Reviewed by Adrian from London-UK. on 30th Apr 2010
I am on a £15 for 15gb's on a 18 month contract. I have this dongle for about a year. At the start coverage was good. I was connected all day, everyday with no problems - then the dreaded 'network upgrade' began, the service as been hideous. I live in south London, and according to 3mobile I live in an area of good coverage. They say this without any sense of irony whatsoever whilst on the telephone, and as I am unable to get a connection! The Customer Service in India appears to work upon the principle of 'denial', and that of the assertion that 'the customer is always wrong.' And that sums-up 3mobile's official response to legitimate reports that there are very real problems with their products - the implication being that 3mobile is not providing the services it claims to do, and is therefore in violation of their own contracts, that we, the fee paying public are required to sign. Today, the dongle connects and disconnects with a monotonous regularity. Sometimes the signal is so weak that no connection is possible, at other times the 3mobile connection manager (the square thing that shows the connection status and quality of signal) often reads that there is a connection, when infact none exists. It is also difficult to watch videos on Youtube, as the download time is so slow. This has been the case since around Xmas 2009. So bad is the connection, that I have been forced to purchase an areial booster, which is attached to the dongle. The idea is that this area focuses and therefore boost the 3mobile signal. The strange thing about this is this. Despite showing an increased signal strength at times, it also suddenly, and without explanation, loses the signal completely. The same problems exist, EVEN with an improved signal strength where I live. 3mobile have nothing to say about this - other than the mantra that I am in a good signal area - and that the problems I am experiencing with their products are somehow created by myself, or some other outside agency. As I write, I have been cut-off three times and had to wait for reconnection. The signal has dropped and recovered numerous times. Prior to Xmas 2009, the signal was fine for me (without an areial booster), and I am very happy with the price I pay. At the moment, even with an areial booster (which usually work very well with a dongle), coverage is barely holding on. I hope that 3mobile will read these reports and act on them.
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Reviewed by Peter from South Wales on 28th Apr 2010
I've been on a Three contract since November and to be honest it was absolute rubbish until about six weeks ago but then it started to work perfectly,I don't know what they did but it worked.Just hope I don't put the mockers on it by writing this.
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Reviewed by Georgia from United Kingdom on 28th Apr 2010
Three mobile broadband absolutely sucks!!!!!!! Payed £40 a month for a service that hasnt worked for over 12 months. I constantly ring up to sort it when i get through to a call centre in India where the people dont have a clue and dont seem to understand that im slightly annoyed for paying for something that does NOT work!!! WORST COMPANY EVER!!!! DO NOT GET A MOBILE BROADBAND WITH THEM!!
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Reviewed by chrismc from england on 28th Apr 2010
same here for the last few weeks ive constant disconects frezze screen on my online games wich i must say is so annoying ive contact 3 they sent me a link wich does nt help but for 2yrs now ive gbigged this network up told my mates wich now they have 3 aswell maybe i should of kept quite lol maybe they stealing my signal na not realy i think the volcano may be to blame with the ash clouds also i did trace on my line appertanly its somthink to do with london as i time out there
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Reviewed by Robert from London on 27th Apr 2010
I WAS HAPPY WITH THREE FOR ABOUT 4 WEEKS, THEN JUST ONCE GETS DISCONNECTED, THEN 2 TIMES, THEN 3,4,5,6,7,8,9 AND NOW AFTER FEW MINUTES IT'S JUST NOT LOADING PAGE - WHAT A PAIN !!! BETTER GET DISCONNECTED SO YOU KNOW THEIR MOBILE INTERNET IS RUBBISH, BUT NO! ONLY YOU GET IS: LOAD FEW PAGES AND IT STOPS ! I HAVE 3 COMPUTER (2PC + MAC) SAME PROBLEM ON ALL OF THEM, AVOID THIS NETWORK LIKE PLAGUE !!!
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Reviewed by sean from uk on 27th Apr 2010
3 customer services are totally rubbish.i tried topping up my internet broadband on 3 website as directed and each of the 21 times i clicked i was told i had been unsuccessful. So imagine my horror when 2 days letter the freaks had charged 315 quid for absolutely nothing.yes its true..my bank did refund me but these freaks tried to do me for 315 notes,and customer service are condescending, stupid and live in Chennai.good luck
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Reviewed by Felicity from UK on 26th Apr 2010
I posted a favourable review on here last year, not because I work for 3 - if I did I would push expensive long term contracts not the prepaid starter kits - but because I was very happy with the service and wanted to spread the word about the dongles with the prepaid allowance. The service improved after the upgrade late last year, but has been bad for the last few weeks. It was interesting to see that other people have had the same problem - repeated disconnections. This happens both with the new software and Windows XP and an old dongle under Firefox.
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Reviewed by Daniel from UK on 25th Apr 2010
If I set up a business selling Laptops, and they only turned on 5% of the time. I would be thrown into Jail.. How this company can get away with this, I just don't know, it's made me lose faith in humanity. I would quite happily brutally murder the UK CEO of 3 who don't even seem to care or want to sort out this GODAWFUL service. I HATE THIS COMPANY WITH A PASSION. i'm a poor self employed designer, and this mobile broadband makes me unable to send files a COUPLE OF MEGS in size. it's completely hindering me making ANY money, and i have to go to an internet cafe to send files. it's a joke. if you're thinking about getting 3 broadband, please, don't you'd have a better experience ripping off your own face with a pair of plyers, and facebutting a pile of salt
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Reviewed by Lee Wilson from England on 25th Apr 2010
If I had any hair I'd pull it out... arrghhhhhh. I've had a 3 broadband dongle for a year, the first 11 months although slow would manage a constant link. However the last month has been horrendous to say the least. The last few days alone I could not manage more than 3 minutes without the signal dropping out. I spent more time disconnecting and reconnecting than I did browsing online. Despite the bar indicator showing full bars for no apparent reason my signal would disconnect / die. I am on pay as you go, so have just decided to call it a day. I had already tried vodaphone and t-mobile which would not even connect in my location (between bath and bristol). Today I have just purchased an orange dongle and wow - what a refreshing change - constant 3g signal. My 3 broadband dongle is now for sale on ebay. Good riddence!
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Reviewed by Vitor from UK on 23rd Apr 2010
I have it for 1 year and 3 months. Worked OK till like December, then exactly when they supposedly went on the improvements of the network the quality started declining. Since early March now it had been awful, with me just being able to log in and have smooth performance early in the morning. But last 10 days came to impossible, I can't stay connected more then 5 minutes even at 6 am. And most of the times I just open a webpage and when try to open the second page it disconnects. Not to mention that its totally down between 4 pm and 2 am. I had enough, with my contract ending I already ordered virgin media 20 Mbps cable connection to see how it goes.
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Reviewed by Stephen from UK on 23rd Apr 2010
I live in an HSDPA (high speed access) area and I haven't seen anything other than a 3G signal for 5 weeks now. Of course Three have tried blaming anything they can without admitting it's their problem which it is. I have written to them asking to be immediately released from my contract without any penalties. The alternative is I take them to court and reject any out of court settlement offers. I made this plain in the letter. It's up to them but I'm not accepting this shocking service anymore.
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Reviewed by Annie from UK on 22nd Apr 2010
I've had 3 Mobile Broadband for over a year now, and, just like the other reviewers below, in the last two or three weeks the connection has been nothing but erratic. I click on connect, and am told I'm connected, but when I try to open any webpage, be it in IE or Firefox, there's no access to the internet, and this is proven when I try to tracert or ping a website - no gateway. Just what is the problem?
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Reviewed by Sandra from UK on 22nd Apr 2010
Had mine for over almost 2 years and it's worked pretty much all over the UK - until the last week - when 3 'improvements to the service' seem to have brought down the system. Despite assurances from Customer Services that the outages would be for a max of 4 hours - I'm now into my 5th day without access!! Not good enough
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Reviewed by Dan from Worcester UK on 20th Apr 2010
Had it for four months, amazing till the last three days, now its terrible, no more iplayer for me, in fact it takes a age to even connect to facebook or email... maybe its the volcano, prob not tho :-)
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Reviewed by Olly from South Wales, uk on 16th Apr 2010
3G Pay-As-You-Go Dongle is possibly my worst internet access experience ever. Their ppgb (pounds per gigabyte) is an absolute con. The dongle has maximum signal in my area but the damn thing just disconnects and reconnects as it damn well pleases ..... really funny when I'm listening to an online radio station or putting my final bid in on eBay. The software is abysmal! signal strength tab on different tab to usage tab but no how much left info tab. You have to log on to their site to check your balance - only if the dongle is in a good mood and lets you though. Stupid setup. Awful service, back to a landline contract for me.
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Reviewed by eileen from uk on 14th Apr 2010
love it
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Reviewed by Mark Smith from Scotland on 13th Apr 2010
Such a rip off it's amazing they haven't been investigated by trade and standards!
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Reviewed by Adam from UK on 11th Apr 2010
I purchased a 3 pay as you go dongle about a month ago, and I've had nothing but problems with it up to now. All I ever seem to receive is the 'No service' or 'No network' message and even when I do finally get it connected, it isn't long before it loses the signal and falls off again! Then you've got the problem of reconnecting it, which is often like fighting a losing battle. I checked my coverage and it's supposed to be fine according to their checker. It's An absolute waste of money in my opinion. If you want the internet, go to a proper internet provider, don't get mobile broadband.
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Reviewed by Mike from England, London on 8th Apr 2010
3 is the worst provider of mobile broadband I could possible envisage. Totally useless. For faster speeds, more reliability and a better all round experience, use a carrier pigeon!
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Reviewed by Jimmy from Ireland on 7th Apr 2010
3 mobile is a joke. Indeed all mobile broadband providers are a joke. I know some providers allow you to switch from paying say E20/month irrespective of usage to paying for what you use only. I intend to switch, Once i switch i might post my destruction of my plug in modem on u - tube.
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Reviewed by Pat from UK on 6th Apr 2010
I got to the point of detesting Three customer services a long time ago. Technical questions usually result in a factory reset of the phone or broadband connection which typically resolves nothing in the long term. Account related enquiries are long winded and painful usually because they have to follow their telephone script and deviation from it results in panic! The quality of the broadband connection is totally arbitrary. I have sat in the same place more than a few times and seen totally different performance which suggests that Three are either incompetent and use third rate network technology, or worse they are throttling the available bandwidth based on cost to them! I have recently been using a MiFi device on a 7GB contract which has proven to be interesting. After some digging on the Internet I discovered that in someone's infinite wisdom it has been configured to disconnect every half hour! The only way to solve this was to download a firmware patch from the manufacturer and turn on all those useful features that allow the configuration and management of the broadband device. Its now usable albeit at times the performance continues to be terrible.
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Reviewed by Lindsay from UK on 5th Apr 2010
I don't usually write reviews but feel like we all need to speak out about the rubbish service from 3 in the hope that someone will actually listen. I have 3 broadband and at best it is absolutely rubbish. It regularly looses signal and I constantly have to try a few times before it will even connect because I get the 'no network' message. I regularly try to load a page and it can take anything up to 10 minutes for it to appear only for the connection then to be lost. On two occasions I have had no network for a week and when I contact 3 customer services they inform me that it will be back on within 48 hours, 48 hours later when it still isn't on I ring back again and they tell me it will be back on within 48 hours and that they are working on improving the network so I should then see an improvement. The service is an absolute disgrace and even after the week of no network it is no better. I have not met one person yet who has had a good thing to say about 3 broadband. Anyone looking to get broadband DO NOT GO WITH 3 even if it means paying a little bit more at least you will get something that works. Just wish there was something less than 1 star rating on here because I wouldn't give it any at all.
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Reviewed by Jay Scott from Uk on 5th Apr 2010
I am currently using the 3gb 1 month rolling contract for £15, today I noticed they are now offering 5gb for the same price and contract so I phoned up to see if I can get that too. I was offered 5 or 15gb still only £15 on 1 month rolling contract, of course I took the latter. This offer has been available for about a month to anyone threatening to leave or looking for a better deal. Now I wouldn't go as far as to say my connection is great, usually short of 50%, but 15gb for 15 quid with no lengthy tie in? Go on then, i'll have a bit of that . . I'd be a numpty not to.
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Reviewed by rabyburns from scotland on 4th Apr 2010
works better than T-Mobile, which i thought was impossible..
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Reviewed by 24 month contract from UK on 4th Apr 2010
Since my last post on 30 Sept 2009 the service improved considerably thus I've generally been pretty happy with it, so apart from a few weeks last autumn it's generally been quite good. However, a couple of days ago it downloaded new connection software and it's been a nightmare ever since, constantly dropping connections and very dificult to get connected again. Anyone else had problems with the new software??
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Reviewed by sam from UK on 30th Mar 2010
well I am in shock something has happened guys. I have just called three as just like you I am locked in for another 12 months of a 24 month contract on the laptop deal to cancel was even prepared to pay to stop begrudgingly. 3 months ago I contacted them and the said I had to pay to cancel today they have said because I am in a area with no coverage on the online map they will cancel the contract straight away no penalities and to cancel my dd. I dont know if the 12 months has anything to do with it or it shows that I have not used it but hey get on that phone and give it a try. I am now on virgin (tmobile) and its great.
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Reviewed by Steve from UK on 30th Mar 2010
At last my two year contract is nearly up! You can see my other comments on this blog (last one October 2009) in which I berated 3 Mobile. I think I was one of the first persons to get this product and review it on here. Unfortunately my opinion has little changed in all that time. As I stated earlier in my previous post's on here, the good reviews are almost certainly vested interests from 3 talking up their book. Mobile Broadband is a fantastic idea in principle but clearly due to lack of infrastructure investment it fails miserably in practice. Over contested bandwidth, lack of avenue for resolution of complaints, an apathy on the part of consumer watchdogs to actually take legal action against 3 for their awful service leave me feeling thoroughly depressed with this whole experience. In conclusion, I would still advise against using 3 Mobile Broadband and accept that this kind of Internet connection, in the UK at least, will get worse before it get's better due to massive underinvestment and a couldn't care less attitude my under policed corporations so sadly typical in this country.
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Reviewed by ANGRY from UK on 29th Mar 2010
took almost 5 hours to get a good connection just to read my email.
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Reviewed by FED UP from UK on 26th Mar 2010
rubbish service from a rubbish provider, enough said
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Reviewed by Anthony from England on 23rd Mar 2010
3 is useless and while im on here has anybody any ideas on what has happend to the free txts that u used to get wen u topt up ur broadband ? I ask my 3store but there adamant that u still get them ,but mine disappeard 2mths ago ......
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Reviewed by Irate Customer from Swansea UK on 18th Mar 2010
cant write a review as i keep getting disconnected, would be a very bad one
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Reviewed by Martin Sellers from UK on 17th Mar 2010
I can't prove anything, but these glowing reviews look very much like the work of Three employees. Have you noticed they all give a full name and all have immaculate spelling? Of all the mobile broadband review sites out there that provide average scores, Three rank the lowest on every single one. Orange and Vodafone proudly show their awards on their respective sites. These are industry awards given as recognition of a good service. Three don't do this because they have never won any awards and are not likely to. Three made an announcement last year warning customers that the service is geared to emails and basic browsing, rather than streaming and downloading. Why are they still selling 15GB packages then? Greed, of course. James is absolutely right a few reviews down. Three manipulate your service that you have paid for. And they do it poorly, which is typical Three. They don't have the infrastructure to support their current customer base, by a long way evidently. However, they are of course relentlessly looking to add new customers at every available opportunity. You still want Three mobile broadband? You must be mad. And if anybody from Three is reading this - when are you going to pull your finger out, do your job and provide the paying customer with a service that can be regularly used without constant issues? When are your customer services going to actually assist the paying customer rather than hinder and irritate them? You're a disgraceful company with an appalling level of contempt for your customers. It's no surprise whatsoever that so many are turning to the small claims court to rid themselves of useless contracts. And finally, if you don't like the nature of my review and others, improve the service. It's not rocket science. You're light years behind the major networks in every way.
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Reviewed by Mark from Wales, UK on 16th Mar 2010
Complete tosh! I was previously with Vodaphone, who dispite having a poor "fair usage policy" their uptime and speeds were pretty damn good. I am now emailing customer services at three to complain about their poor service. I have just finished downloading a 200mb file, the file took just over an hour to download. However the internet cut out 11 times during this hour. Which gives an average outage every 6 minutes. So, if you want your internet to drop signal, cut you off every 6 minutes. Then reconnect I suggest three is for you! When it all goes wrong, rest assured that you will be put through to India.
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Reviewed by Matt from England on 16th Mar 2010
Well - I was connecting my Xbox via the laptop and the dongle with no issues up to about a week ago.... no issues at all. Now the connection drops every 5 or 10 minutes. Sometimes it connects but has 0 transfer speed. Watchdog really need to be contacted about the service (or lack of it) that 3 are providing, its a breach of contract. Apalling. Letter sent to OFcom, Watchdog and 3, just to let them know...... two weeks ago it would have been 3 or 4 stars.... now I really am begrudgingly giving this useless equipment 1, wish they had a negative scale...
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Reviewed by Geraldine from Co. Down on 15th Mar 2010
Steve the same thing is happening to me for the past few weeks...i have been using it for over 2 years now with few problems until 2 weeks ago, like you im not sure whats happening. Whatever it is I hope they get it sorted or I will have to cancel contract as it will be of no use to me. As I live in the country i cant get BT broadband so this was a life saver for me.
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Reviewed by George from UK on 15th Mar 2010
Three Broadband has become almost unusable! I've had it for about a year and generelly it was very good - until about three weeks ago. Now it continually disconnects and is very unstable. Three customer services are hopeless. I am tied into my contract for another year - I would get out if I could! THREE, PLEASE SORT IT OUT!
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Reviewed by FED UP from UK on 14th Mar 2010
I have been using the 3 mobile prepaid dongle since January, so far the highest speed I have obtained (when I can get a connection) is .5 Mbps despite having a transmitter around the corner. When it does work it only works for about 10 mins at a time, but to be fair once it worked for 55 mins. I cannot understand why Ofcom lets 3 mobile get away with it (maybe they did some kind of deal). My mate has T-Mobile his speed is an average of 1.6 Mbps and he rarely gets disconnected. When you complain to 3 mobile they say they are doing upgrades in my area (the upgrades have been going on for the last 3 years I have learnt from other users). Come on Ofcom get your act together and show us you are not as spineless as your actions suggest.
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Reviewed by steve smith from england on 13th Mar 2010
got 3 mobile broadband and i have had no problem with it and its very fast
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Reviewed by Ste from UK on 11th Mar 2010
I've had 3 BB for about a year and its been ok. it hardly ever dropped out, until about 3 weeks ago. Now it hardly ever stays connected. I can't understand how it has gone from one extreme to another.
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Reviewed by james from england on 9th Mar 2010
good as a doorstopper, or a paper weight, not so good at connecting to the internet. Utter rubbish. Don't get one, I live in a city, and like everyone else had good data rate til 3 months ago and now it barely works, keeps disconnecting, every minute, will be cancelling next month. 3G are a disgrace.
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Reviewed by Dave Austen from England on 8th Mar 2010
I have a great deal with three (15gb /month for £15/month) and when it came to renewal i really didn't know what to do. My three USB dongle was problematic, i could not get a signal in my house and the service was pretty poor - but from what i read, this seems to apply to other networks too. After much deliberation i eventually renewed my contract and got a MiFi - now this is the best move i could have made. I now can get mobile BB everywhere in my house and best of all my speeds are around 2-3 Mb/s down and 1.5Mb/s up - sometimes hitting 4MB/s down! Really looking forward to using this when we go camping as i can connect all my wireless devices to it. I think the improvement is pretty good - to the point i have actually done a windows update using it and experienced no issues at all. Well done Three, nice to see the improvement and for once it's nice to have some good words to say about your service.
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Reviewed by Marc from Wales on 7th Mar 2010
3 mobile broadband are a disgrace. I spend 90% of my internet time conecting and disconecting. Im gutted i gave it one star because its not even worth that.
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Reviewed by annoyed from wales on 6th Mar 2010
I have found 3 mobile broadband absolutely useless. I got it as part of a "free" laptop contract which was a very expensive mistake. The coverage is terrible, and slow and unreliable once you do get a signal. Customer service is terrible.I would not recommend it to anyone.
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Reviewed by Des from uk on 3rd Mar 2010
got sweet talked in2 a 24month contract with 3.has 2 b the worst thing i have ever said yes 2.my dongle has not worked properly since i got it 2 weeks ago.indian call centre was a waste of time.pc world an the 3 mobile shop in my town all a waste of time.they all talk 2 me as if its me with the problem.rely on mobile broadband 4 my job.have lost a lot money already.i now have 2 spend 5 hours a nite using my sky broadband 2 finish my working day.if u want ur life ruined then go with 3,they r the best at it.shame i have 2 give it 1 star.
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Reviewed by Darryl Owen from England on 3rd Mar 2010
Why is it when i first connect my modem to the internet that i get transfer rates around 500kbps or even a cool 1500kbps(if i'm extremely lucky) then within minuets it reduces to such low transfer rates that i may as well get on public transport and visit the shop personally (PC World). The fact is that the rates fluctuate so much that it is becoming unbarable to logon to the internet. To me i am wasting my money. I have been a loyal customer and am currently in my second mobile internet contyract but losing patience fast with 3. Excuses which always point to coverage areas, although as i type this email(losing connection from time to time)I am suppose to be in a good, No Very Good coverage area (Aldershot)but that does not seem to be the case. stopped typing frustrations nearly out!!
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Reviewed by Ash Robertson from UK on 2nd Mar 2010
i am appalled at the service i have received from three and it has resulted in them having to pay bank charges for because of countless mistakes that they have made. and this rubbish about hdspa covering 91% of the uk is a load of tosh. it is slow and unreliable. and even tho ive put one star i had no choice but i wouldnt even give it that
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