| Reviewer Name | Rating out of 10 | Review Details | Review Date / Time |
| Amy Semple | 9 |
As a current user of Three Mobile Boadband i find ther connection and service fantastic. Im in an area well out of glasgow city centre but with there new ZTE MF112 modem is it faster that what my expected speeds are with sky and compared to a friends virgin.
recently checked out a YOU GOV Survey and to be fair three won most of the awrds comapred to other networks. The now have around 11000 active masts in the uk for mobile broadband and a 95.18 percent 3g which is more than any other network in the uk.
Mobile broadband is the way forward with speeds of anything upt to 7.2mbps location dependent its competes with fixed line by a mile. Bt exchages are over crowed with the amount of broadband providers out there. you have to live right beside an exchange to get a decent enough conntection if your at the end of the llu loop your speeds will be like a hamster in a wheel.
Thanks, Amy
| 28/07/2010 15:43:10 |
| Neil Saville | 1 |
During the past 4 months I have used this all over the north of England, but mostly in West Yorkshire.
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!
[Admin Says - Neil, thanks for your review. It is true to say that mobile broadband does not usually give speeds as good as home broadband, and perhaps a better description would be mobile internet rather than mobile broadband.
With regard to 3 Customer Services, so far I have phoned them 4 times. Whilst I realise this is a small sample size, every time the staff were helpful and had a reasonable level of understanding, so there are certainly some good 3 Customer Service staff. Also, I had an automated call back from 3 which asked me to give feedback on the level of customer service I received, so 3 evidently is now using feedback to improve. Rgds.]
| 26/07/2010 15:25:33 |
| Mel B | 1 |
keep clear of 3!!
i bought mine for my laptop when i go caravanning and i have traveled throughout England and feel very fortunate if i can achieve modem speeds (56k-100k) even when i have a good signal strength (very rare).
Passing this off as broadband is against the trade description act.
[Admin Says - Mel, sorry to hear your mobile broadband experience when caravanning has not been what you hoped for. If you are out in the countryside, you are unlikely to be in a 3G coverage area, and connection speed will be rather slow. However, we've done a bit of testing of 3 Mobile Broadband in towns and cities, and found it to give reasonable speeds, see our review at:
http://www.bestmobilebroadband.co.uk/3-mobile-broadband-review.aspx
Rgds.]
| 25/07/2010 23:25:02 |
| Amy | 1 |
Area if use is London N9. DIABOLICAL service. At best it is awful. S L O W in the extreme. Currently its been cutting out every 10 to 20 secs 24/7. DIRE. Customer "Service" claim maintenance is being carried out for a few weeks. They expect people to have no internet service but still be waiting when service resumes. They are not sure if it will even be completed in three weeks. Skeptical as to whether maintenance is an excuse. APPALLING in every sense. Spent £3 on calls lasting an hour this week AND twice they hung up me. Not because I was impolite, I might add. And the last CS person I spoke to held the phone away from their ear as I was telling them things...after I finished speaking there was nothing...I said hello are you there...nothing. I hung up. They called me back saying we must have been cut off. I said no, you were not listening to a word I said so I ended the call. DIABOLICAL! Am looking for another mobile broadband service that is decent in North London. I won't be waiting for 3 to resume "service"!!! Steer clear at all costs. You have been warned!
[Admin Says - Thanks for your review. The fact that you have a bad service 24/7 suggests that radio reception at your exact location is poor, rather than the network being overloaded, where speed would vary with time of day. May I also add that I have phoned 3 Customer Services three times so far, and they have been polite and helpful, but I guess it can vary.]
| 14/07/2010 09:35:16 |
| Andy Smith | 8 |
I'm into my third year of using 3 mobile broadband.I've never expected it to be as fast as normal(cable) broadband so I've never been dissapointed.It is what it is!!! It has got better over the years but it varies due to the time of use.This morning(Sunday) I've been watching youtube and other videos no problem, but once everybody gets out of bed and on to their mobiles it will slow down a touch. I have a caravan on the Yorkshire coast(YO12) but live in West Yorks(WF9) so with 3 mobile I've always got access to the net!
| 06/06/2010 10:33:17 |
| davide zanin | 1 |
Horrible service: in SE8 this absurd dongle never works. Is it 3 one of the biggest company? They should be less phony and more efficient.
[Admin Says - Yes, 3 is one of the biggest providers of mobile broadband. In highly populated areas, network overload can become a problem. I would suggest taking this up with 3 to see if they can increase network resources in your area.]
| 02/06/2010 23:18:08 |
| david | 10 |
3 is fantastic live in margate kent not had any problems connection is good
| 02/06/2010 01:48:39 |
| LEIGH HASTINGS | 1 |
BB4
I AM DISGUSTED WITH THE SERVICE FROM 3. I AM A NIGHT WORKER AND REQUIRED THE MOBILE BROADBAND SERICE WHILST WORKING. I WAS ASSURED THERE WOULD BE NO PROBLEM WITH COVERAGE IN MY AREA. THIS I FOUND TO BE TRUE ND WAS VERY HAPPY WITH IT FOR TWO DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!! CUSTOMER SERVICES ARE USELESS THEY TOLD ME THAT MAINTANENCE WORK WAS BEING DONE AND ALL WOULD BE FINE IN 24 HOURS ...................THAT WAS A WEEK AGO AND STILL NOTHING !! I FEEL THIS PRODUCT IS A CON AND WILL NEVER AND WILL TELL EVERYONE I KNOW NEVER USE THREE AGAIN
[Admin Says - It is true that service can be affected by local mast maintenance issues. Hopefully you will be able to chase this up with three to regain service in your area. If you are using the service at night at least you are less likely to suffer from network overload issues.]
| 28/05/2010 17:28:25 |
| P. George Stewart | 1 |
I feel it my duty to review this appalling service whenever and wherever I can to steer people away from it. It should be obvious from all the poor reviews all over the web, but I can only reinforce it: this company offers a terrible mobile broadband service.
To be absolutely fair, the problem doesn't seem to be the technology in and of itself. If you are an insomniac who browses the web in the wee small hours (between 2 and 3 am, say), then you will find the service is actually quite impressive - fast, no disconnects.
The trouble seems to be that this company is greedily biting off more customers than it can chew, so if you're an average person who wants to browse the web in the early evening, say, you will find that it's almost useless - even in areas where the coverage is supposed to be good. You can't even view YouTube videos without constant hitching.
Steer clear if you want to minimise stress in your life.
[Admin Says - Thanks for your review. It would have been good to know where you are using the service. My impression is that there can be problems with network capacity in highly populated areas, so even though you have good signal quality, you don't get a good service. If you can, try and bring this to 3's attention and see if they can raise network resources in your area. I have tried 3 mobile broadband in smaller cities and its been fine, but my guess is that it's the densely populated larger cities where this type of problem can arise.]
| 25/05/2010 22:26:39 |
| Phillip Whitehead | 1 |
Hi I live near the centre of Bury near Manchester... I am New to mobile broadband it is really really really bad always loseing connection sometimes doesn't even connect at all... The tec support is rubish... say no more... wish I'd gone onto T-mobile or Vodafone... I am an Computer tec... and also a radio ham so I understand the way radio signals work etc and also understnd the way a computer works... so no matter what the tec support say's it won't always work as 3 spread the signals out so if theres lots of people on u could be kicked off line... there systems are overloaded... so 3 sort yourself out! I have a simple equation (better service + better customer support = more customers and money) simple eh!
[Admin Says - Thanks for your review. The symptoms you describe sound like there are capacity issues at your location. If you can write to 3 and suggest increased network resources then all the better.]
| 25/05/2010 22:07:28 |
| Dave Gartland | 1 |
I am surprised 3 are allowed to market this product/service as it is clearly unfit for purpose! I bought this as I travel a lot but have yet to find anywhere it works satisfactorily despite coverage claims on 3's website. I'm currently in PE15 on the very flat fens and can see the mast from where I'm sitting, yet the modem cuts out every two minutes. I can only access webpages when there is an HSDPA signal; a 3G signal (which 3 laughingly call "fast"!) simply comes up "problem loading page/server not found". I could not even get a signal in the centre of Portsmouth! The service provided by this company is a positive disgrace and they should have their operating license withdrawn until such time as they can demonstrate their competence in meeting their advertising claims.
| 13/05/2010 19:23:50 |
| Lee Sim | 1 |
Very poor service, we are in central London and there is no signal, it's been cutting on and off for the last two months. I rang the so called three customer support totally useless and had to tell a member of their staff what a very common word in English meant. Avoid three mobile broadband.
[Admin Says - It sounds as though you have been unlucky with your area. Whilst this does happen, it is still the experience of a minority of customers. Nevertheless we can understand your disappointment and it does sound as though you have not received the level of customer service you expected.]
| 01/05/2010 15:14:09 |
| Keith | 1 |
It doesn't matter if you have good, bad or indifferent speeds, or whether you work for three and write reviews or not. You're still going to be with the network that has the poorest level of customer service, the lowest scores and worst reviews of any network, a website page dedicated to network upgrades which is NEVER used, a strong likelihood that bandwidth from your local mast will be taken and shared around and your connection manipulated and tampered with. This is three and this is the result of low prices and knowingly overselling to too many customers. If nobody at three had the faintest idea that selling too many dongles on prepay or contract would cripple the network and make it vittually unusable for a large number of customers, then fair enough. But do you honestly believe that was the case? Me neither.
If you've never been a three customer before, keep it that way ;) and if you are and you're not happy, write to Watchdog. If enough of us do it, they'll highlight just how poor three are.
[Admin Says - Yes, the performance you get on the 3 Network is dependent on where you use it, and there are problems in some areas. The issue is that 3 also offers the cheapest service, and it does also have many customers experiencing good performance and a good price, but others can be unlucky.]
| 29/04/2010 19:05:00 |
| Nicola Thompson | 9 |
Feel I need to say something to balance out all the "1"s three seems to be getting. I've used 3 mobile broadband for 2 years now and have never had any problems with it. I've moved house twice in this period and the reception has always been fine. The speed is pretty good - just slightly slower than my old broadband and I'm very happy with it!
| 21/04/2010 20:23:05 |
| nari | 1 |
have had 3 since 2008, got the laptop and dongle 'deal' at £40 per month. specifically asked about coverage in our home area, as reception can be poor for mobile phones, was assured in the 3 shop it was fine. Upshot is that we have NEVER had proper connection or speed. Connection in particular is dreadful. Disconnecting every few minutes, or speed suddenly drops to virtually zero every few minutes, so we have to disconnect the dongle and reconnect. Have called 3 'help' centre several times, which is in India, so end up speaking to an advisor with an accent you can barely understand, and 3 charge for the calls. Although they try their best to talk you through various things you can do to alter/ improve performance, if there is an improvement, its always very temporary and within a couple of days at best it returns to the very very very poor norm already described. What a joke, £20 per month for late 90's style dial up internet. Our deal ends this september and we will never use 3 again. I'd advise anyone reading this to avoid like the plague.
[Admin Says - I'm sorry to hear about your poor experience, you evidently have had to use the service in an area with poor mobile signal. For those considering signing up, if you can borrow a phone on the network you are considering, it can at least give an indication of the quality of signal you can hope for. If you can borrow a USB stick from a friend for testing all the better.]
| 29/03/2010 13:39:21 |
| Neil tn23 | 1 |
I purchased my dongle from 3 in December. It cost around £79 and was pre-loaded with up to 12 gig. Customer service told me it would work in France and Spain and so, fool that I am,I believed them and I bought it. I could sometimes just about get on their website ok whilst abroad but that was it. I could not get any further. A COMPLETE WASTE OF TIME. I've just returned to Uk and can in fact use it from home (not too bad a signal acually) but I didn't buy it for this purpose. I CAUTION ANYONE THINKING OF BUYING ONE ONE OF THESE DONGLES FOR USE ABROAD TO THINK AGAIN. Don't waste your money.
| 24/03/2010 07:19:53 |
| Martin Sellers | 1 |
I can't prove anything, but these scores of '10' look very fishy indeed, especially amongst so many scores of '1'. There is no option to give zero as a score.
[Admin Says - Yes, sorry there is no option to give 0, it was an oversight by us when we coded the reviews facility. Some high score reviews on the sight could be suspect, but equally some low score ones could be a competitor trying to discredit their rival. Site visitors should use their own discretion when assessing the fairness of reviews.]
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.
Incidentally, I live in Leeds and I have just successfully won a case against Three and I am no longer tied to a contract. My case was based on Three mobile broadband being unfit for purpose. They didn't challenge that.
[Admin Says - In the interests of fairness we must say that 3 mobile broadband also has some happy customers, and can say that the 3 mobile broadband service does work well in many areas. However, in areas of poor mobile broadband signal quality, as you have experienced, it looks as though the customer service experience needs some improvement.]
| 17/03/2010 11:07:56 |
| jason c | 1 |
I used this service in NOrth London and IN Brighton, has MANY problems with the connection throughout the 18 month period in all locations. at best it was slow at worst it would just not work.
I have just got off the phone to cancel my contract and had the longest (20 minute!!) argument with the extremely rude person on the other end. When I asked who i could complain to, he told me they didn't have a complaint department, I'm guessing that their whole operation is one big complaints department.
Not only is the service pretty shoddy, but if you actually want to speak to somebody you better make sure you pour yourself a strong drink.
I am not sure how three think that treating people like this can possibly be good for business. there is so much competition out there.
While I cant comment on whether all other mobile broadband services are just as slow and patchy, I am sure that none have the complete lack of customer service that three has decided upon.
| 08/03/2010 12:38:21 |
| Mr M Peart | 1 |
I bought in to a contract last year on 03. For a few weeks I was as pleased as punch, even recommended it to my friends who are now cursing me. Connection continually dropping, off for 7 days because of no signal, eventually they admitted a cell was down!!! My data ran out, so I removed the dongle, the following day was horrified to see I was now being charged £6-75 for data usage when the dongle wasn't even in the laptop. I now can't access my data usage because it says wrong certificate for the website!!! I am now going to trading standards, completely dissulusioned with 03
| 08/03/2010 09:40:22 |
| Chris | 10 |
This is the only broadband that supports scype. For me that makes a huge difference. Anyway I haven't noticed anything wrong with my connection so far. Speed is excellent and skype calls are perfect. Moreover it hasn't content lock and you can view youtube videos(in my previous broadband connection with another company, which takes a better rating in your website, this had been impossible).
| 01/03/2010 18:47:50 |