I've been a Vodafone customer for well over ten years without issue, but since I've moved up to these parts the phone coverage is less than ideal, and for 3G coverage, well thats only an option if I stand in the loft. I've had enough. This is the last in a line of issues including:

1. Being forced into a 24 month contract with a phone who's battery only has a lifespan of about 16-18 months.

2. Camera failed on the phone within six months, its a known issue for which there is no workaround, I let it go at the time but now its annoying me.

3. Tried to log into the website today to complain, to find it took over 10 minutes to successfully log in, the site was soooo slow.

4. Got into the site to find I'm allowed only 600 characters in an email to them.

5. Called support. Got half way to explaining, and was then cut off.

So my question - what is the generally accepted best mobile phone provider around here? Who's the best signal!? The other half is on Tesco (with is the O2 network), and she never has any issues - are O2 the way to go?

www.giffgaff.com best network ive been on. They giving me £80 for givin out sims. No customer service number,very quick replys to help in there forum or they ring u! Unlimited txts internet and cheap calls or free to other giff users.

Thanks stephen, thats another vote for O2 then as GiffGaff use the O2 infrastructure

aslong as you dont go to o2 tho! I get a full signal and 3.5g pretty much everywhere except cherry tree centre lol

Am on O2, get a signal in 99% of places on Wirral, dont get one in my local which is good as cant get disturbed when having fun.

Today ordered a Blackberry Curve, Free O2 to O2 calls, Unlimited Texts, 300 mins and 500MB of Data for £25 per month, pretty good I feel.

500mb of internet wont last long! I use that in 2days lol

I'm with 3 and have been since I left Vodafone about 6 years ago. I was due to renew a couple of weeks ago but wasn't keen on the 24 month contract. The guy in the shop suggested I rang 3 and made it their problem. Result - 18 month contract, 500 mix & Match + 2 GB internet + Nokia E5 (which I love!)for £24 month. I'm happy with that!

o2, signal-wise, is absolute shit nowadays im afraid. Ive been with them for circa 12 years now, and its gradually getting worse and worse, the 3g coverage is piss-poor around Birkenhead and indeed many parts of the Wirral, no matter if they are urban or sub-urban etc...

I only use regular GSM now, and GPRS/EDGE for internet, because the UTMS coverage is so erratic, sometimes its there, sometimes its not. When on UTMS it can be touch and go, when on GSM its pretty good. Ive found quite a few o2 blackspots in recent months as well.

Id change, but T-Mobile (pre-Everything Everywhere) are wank, the same downward spiral seems to be affecting Vodafone nowadays, and Three are getting better but still not quite there. It leaves Orange, but their support is best avoided, im not sure if they are network sharing T-Mobile yet as Everything Everywhere has been in business for some time now, but if they are, id suggest Orange or T-Mobile for the long-term.

And as for o2's mobile internet speed, it is seriously shite at peak time, far too many iPhone users handshank the net all the time, the reason they bought in the 500MB allowance.

It says a lot when o2's own Chief Executive actually critisizes his own network for terrible coverage and piss-poor internet speeds, and publically apologises to his customers and says things must improve.

And GifGaff is owned by Telefonica o2 (forget all these wonderful stories and the image they like to portray about it being owned by its customers), and thus it runs on the o2 network, so network wise, your no better off than o2.

Thanks for the input folks. I've heard mixed reviews for 3, but love the fact their network is "meant" to be for the more connected world.

Matt, thank you for a comprehensive reply, I am sure I read somewhere that T-Mob/Orange are now sharing. From a subscriber stand they are now the largest network in the UK, with Vodafone trailing second.

Definitely some food for thought there, I will check out the coverage maps for the networks and see what pans out. Then I'll go to Vodafone with the leaving threats and see if they'll chuck in one of their home-beacon boxes for free.

Thanks for the replies folks

Just had it out with Vodafone, who are only interested in one resolution - for me to pay £80 upgrade, and add ANOTHER 24 months to the 157 days left on my contract. This isn't an acceptable solution for me, so I asked to end the contract early. At this point I of course got put through to the people that don't bargain, don't answer questions, don't listen, and don't care. It was futile. But I tried. I was offered the cancellation ... at a cost of £175. I was livid.

Despite making the point that I'd been a customer for over 10 years, and during that time have put over £5,000 down them (I computerised my personal finances many years ago - proved handy many times), they have no interest in problem resolution. A repair of my existing handset was offered, but only covered up to £100, any extra comes out of my pocket. And of course during that time I loose my handset (and email etc).

So here is my personal recommendation, don't touch Vodafone with a barge pole, they have no interest in solving the problems of their most loyal and long standing customers. A-Holes.

Sounds similar to my experience with them before I swapped. Unbelievably, I did get a call from them before they gave me my PUK (sp?)code to see if they could talk me out of leaving. I suggested that they should show their loyalty to their exisitng customers not any new ones they may entice and no I would not be changing my mind and staying with them!

O2 never had any trouble whatsoever with them

Good work Softy - its a mass Vodafone boycott!

I got passed between three call centres and had to explain all of the problems from the beginning each time (which shows poor organisation for a start) - sick of it, I'm going to follow Matts advice, cancel and move to Orange or T-Mobile.

With Vodafone it'll cost be £240 in contract fees if I stay, or £175 to cancel. Now its worth £175 to spite them. Who do these corporations think they are?

they are sharing now. coverage is now great.
i'm with t-mob, only went with them for the deal i got.
was with vodaturd, coverage was good but customer service was bloody dire to say the least.

last time i looked t-mob were doing some cracking deals.

Awesome - thank you for confirming that MrHanky, I was pretty sure they were now sharing, the coverage map from the Orange website is the most dense of any network at the moment. I have 30 days left with Voda, then I'll hit the Carphone Warehouse and see what they have with either T-Mob or Orange

no problem.

if you go into the t-mob shop in birkenhead and ask for drew, tell him carl told you to see him and he will sort you out. (if he doesn't remember me by name he did me a htc hd2) or i can pass your name onto him if you do want to give them a try.

one thing you can do is pay a small ammount off the cost of the phone and that can bring your monthly rental costs down. did this with a phone i got for my lad, paid £20 towards the cost of his phone and got £5.00 per month off the line rental.

Av had o2 for three years and never had a prob with signal ever, best network av had..ye phones must be the problem... Tmobile is a brill signal for Wirral to..

i`m with vodafone, my bill is never over £55 a month, this works out cheap as i now use internet tethering rather than paying £50 a month to virgin.
Laptop and an iphone 4 is all i use now for my internet connection.
Only problem i`ve had was the billing which has now been sorted (they took the money from someone elses account which was their mistake then they billed me twice)

I've retired from contract phones! I just use asda sim payg.
4p a text and 8p calls to any mobiles or land line cost for me
£5:00 a month lol ;-))

To finish up this tale:

Did a little research on the T-Mobile/Orange merger, then went to Carphone Warehouse and got the new Samsung Google Nexus S (I hate iPhones, and all Apple products!) on Orange, job done. Moved my number over, which finalises tomorrow.

Now, I can actually call from inside my house, without having to go into the loft, and I get a good strong 3G signal indoors too! Finally!

Nexus S well recommended BTW - Android 2.3

I also use my phone to connect to xbox live and have had no problems with lagging when playing against others online and at no extra cost!
Funnily enough when I connect to a pc or the 360 I get no signal problems but do get the odd signal problems when not connected.
I find that strange.

In the end it wasn't so much the signal issue (which I suspect was the handset) as Vodafone's way of dealing with it, I fancied a change of network, so they just pushed the last few buttons to make it happen.

Prior to living here, I'd been a Vodafone advocate, as down south the coverage was awesome, as I say, I suspect it was actually my handset in all honesty.

would have to agree with all the o2 knockers , especially in Wallasey , it just doesnt work , also , i was the only one in work ( Ellesmere Port ) who couldnt get any signal either.It could of been my phone , but 3 different phones i had on o2 had crap or no signal.I ve since gone to Virgin , i think they use t-mobile , and i have to say that i get a great signal at all times at home and work .

ive been with virgin for years had 5 different phones never had any problems with getting a signal.

Virgin is T-Mobile yes, which is good news for me as an Orange customer I have access to T-Mobile beacons as well as Orange Looks like the network of choice for now.

Things will improve for all networks soon, as they will be allowed to use their 2G part of the spectrum for 3G coverage over the coming months, thanks to Ofcom relaxing the legislation (EU-enforced mind - when do Ofcom ever do anything in the public interest lol) with regards the 2G spectrum.

I did read about that the other day Matt, sounds like excellent news for everyone - its good that they are now putting a priority onto 3G coverage, as its definitely got more congested and slower since I first took it up a few years back.

I have been with O2 for a while now, But recently I have noticed that the signal level in CH63 is piss poor,I have reported this on a number of occasions. However whilst at work the signal is brill (CH44-7)!

Hmm. There definitely seem to be some really localised black-spots around here, I blame the concentration of very dense Georgian and Victorian buildings!

So whose the over all Winner?

Well I'm getting an awesome signal everywhere now by being able to share both the Orange and T-Mobile beacons, so for me its either of those two