Three review: a high-speed, reliable network

All through my teenage years, Three was the telephone community I used to be tethered to, because of my dad and mom wanting a telephone plan that was moderately priced and provided loads of information. Since then, I’ve swapped round from community to community and tried out numerous suppliers, most just lately opting to go together with the SIM-only community, Smarty – additionally owned by Hutchinson 3G, the corporate that operates Three.

I made a decision to change to Three after realizing that my outdated iPhone 13 was on its final legs and it is likely to be time for an improve. Three is without doubt one of the huge 4 telephone networks within the UK, and top-of-the-line UK telephone suppliers providing nice community protection and a very good vary of offers, from system and SIM combos to SIM-only plans.

In line with Three, it affords widespread 4G protection and has additionally rolled out 5G in over 650 cities and cities, for 60% protection throughout the UK. In the event you’re considering of swapping to Three, I’ve shared my first-hand experiences of the community, together with its protection, roaming, and repair.

Plans and Costs

Three was all the time often called the one community providing limitless information plans at low costs, whereas different community suppliers tended to cost exceptionally excessive costs for this perk. Nonetheless, Three’s low-cost limitless information plans are not distinctive to the community.

Three’s plans vary from 1GB to limitless information, with contracts starting from one month as much as 12 months, 24 months, and even 36 months, to assist unfold the price additional and guarantee decrease funds.

All Three contracts are 5G prepared with out an added price, and you’ll create private hotspots and supply entry to Three’s Go Roam service, which turns out to be useful in the event you’re planning on touring.

Three SIM-Solely Plans 2024

Three’s system contracts cowl a variety of knowledge allowances, and three plan varieties: Lite, Worth, and Full. The Lite plan affords 5G at no additional price, Three+ Rewards, and limitless calls and texts, the Worth plan affords all of that, plus an prolonged system guarantee and 28 1-day roaming passes, and the Full plan affords the addition of a free display screen restore and 56 1-day roaming passes.

Protection and Velocity

Three was beforehand often called a community with barely poor protection and velocity, however that’s not true. Over the previous few years, Three has considerably enhanced and improved its community protection and velocity, remodeling the as soon as unreliable community. At present, its 5G providers attain over 60% of the UK, to compete with community big EE. You may verify its protection in your space before you purchase.

By way of sign power, it tends to be pretty dependable; I’ve but to come across a location the place I don’t have at the least some sign. What I’ve seen although is that typically the sign has dropped out fully, which has resulted in me needing to change my system on and off once more to reconnect. Nonetheless, this concern is frequent throughout all networks every now and then.

Roaming

Free roaming is included in some Three plans, relying on whether or not you’ve opted for a Lite, Worth, or Full. For Lite plans no roaming is obtainable, whereas for Worth plans prospects profit from 28 1-day roaming passes, and Full plan holders profit from 56 1-day roaming passes.

Go Roam permits prospects to name, textual content, and use information in over 160 international locations. There are three bands to the service; Go Europe, Go Roam Across the World, and Go Roam Across the World Additional. In case your plan comes with free information roaming passes, you should use these to entry your information overseas.

In case your plan doesn’t include roaming passes, you have to buy further passes. Three operates a good utilization restrict per 24-hour interval, which differs relying on how a lot information your plan comes with. In the event you exceed this restrict, you get charged a further payment.

Customer support and perks

Three’s strategy to customer support is centered round a well-designed on-line customer support system and Dwell Chat. Whereas you too can name Three between 8 am and eight pm Monday to Friday, and 9 am to six pm on the weekend, the Dwell Chat system is the community’s most well-liked technique to join with prospects. You too can contact Three by way of social media, utilizing Fb or Twitter.

Earlier than I moved to Three I had heard rumors that the customer support was poor, and to this point I haven’t been that impressed. I requested to swap my cell quantity to my new Three SIM and was given a change date of two days later, however that date got here and went and no change was made. Once I reached out to the customer support crew I discovered it very troublesome to contact them for a solution. The supplier scores simply 1.2 out of 5 from buyer evaluations on Trustpilot (65% being 1 star), however it’s value noting that O2 has the identical low score.

Verdict

Three is without doubt one of the finest UK telephone suppliers, significantly in the event you worth velocity. Its costs are consistent with or higher than rivals, significantly when there’s a particular deal, however in uncommon circumstances, contracts are costlier by comparability. Three affords a wide array of plans and telephone or SIM-only contracts, and its bodily excessive avenue retailers is likely to be a dealbreaker for some. General, its protection is quick and dependable, however the community is let down by its customer support.

Options