Goodbye TalkTalk ... Goodbye Three 5G ... Hello Smarty 5G

[BanditsHigh]

I've been with TalkTalk forever (about 17 years), finally getting into the heady download/upload speeds of around 56/18 over the last few years ... a friend talked about Smarty (which uses the Three network) the other day, specifically about 5G broadband.

Went and had a look on Three and ordered a 5G broadband package from them and it arrived today ... 30 day trial and if you don't like it you chuck it back to them with no charge.

Unlimited data is £19 until April, then £21 until the next April, then £23 ... cheaper than TalkTalk at £25/£28/£31.

After an hour and a half banging my head against a brick wall trying to get the router to work I gave up ... it just wouldn't connect, I couldn't login to Three because I hadn't registered and I couldn't register because the router wasn't working.

A few hours later, looked at router and it was all up and running ... it seems to be that it can take anywhere from a few minutes to many many hours to connect itself to the network, after which you can then register and login ... would be nice if it had mentioned this!

Anyway, now getting around 173/37 which is quite an improvement and at a cheaper price than TalkTalk.

I'm also changing my phone over from GiffGaff (O2) £6/2GB month to Smarty (Three) £6/5GB a month (20GB if you switch via USwitch).

It's a two year contract with Three (for the 5G), after which I can get the Smarty broadband deal, which is currently offering unlimited broadband for £20 a month, with no yearly rise (for now).

All the best ... Barry

[st3v3]

I've been on Smarty for a couple of years, £20 a month unlimited everything, with unchecked tethering and the ability to torrent.

It's brilliant.

I moved from 3 (who I'd been with for about 10 yrs) when they were doing something like £15 a month unlimited but started increasing the prices until it was £40 a month, then allowed Smarty to piggyback at ½ the price which made no sense
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Roger wrote: Women don't get damp for clingy puppies. Get some better happy pills, hit the gym & buy a medallion the size of a dinner plate. Job done

[BanditsHigh]

That's exactly what I'll be doing once the Three contract ends

Spent an hour typing questions and getting stupid responses from Smarty this morning, trying to cancel the 5GB/£6 per month for the 20GB/£6 a month (for my phone) ... eventually closed the first account and opened another!

All the best ... Barry

[P.]

I'd have that as a backup if I could get anything signal wise here

I've got like 8-10 Mbps or Starlink so it's Starlink!

[blurredman]

Zen
____________________
CBT: 12/06/10, Theory: 22/09/10, Module 1: 09/11/10, Module 2: 19/01/11
Past: 1991 Honda CG125BR-J, 1992 (1980) Honda XL125S, 1996 Kawasaki GPZ500S, 1979 MZ TS150.
Current: 1973 MZ ES250/2 - 18k, 1979 Suzuki TS185ER - 10k, 1981 Honda CX500B - 91k, 1987 MZ ETZ250 (295cc) - 39k, 1989 MZ ETZ251 - 50k.

[doggone]

What's this scancom all about its even on amazon.
Various dodgy deal like pay £300 for the year but you get a huge repayment later and it's really only £13/month.
I'm looking at options since we are supposed to finally get 4G at home next month

[BanditsHigh]

[BanditsHigh]

Took my router over to a friend for him to try out, and this led to a trip to the local Three store so he could get a 5G package.

Strangely he got a different type of router to me, I'd got a ZTE MC888A, whereas he got a Zyxel NR5103E-V2 ... I asked about a combined deal and ended up cancelling my current Three contract for broadband and started a new deal for mobile/broadband.

After a lot of waiting about they finally managed to get the first one cancelled and they brought out my new router, which was a lot larger than his (ooer), I pointed this out and they said that they were both the same.

The first router I got (ZTE MC888A) was no longer being sold (so why was I given one) and the second router I got was the Zyxel NR5103E, instead of the V2 version which the contract listed!

So back to Three again and to switch to the correct router I've had to cancel for the second time and order a new one, not only that but my mobile is being switched over tomorrow and after that's done it'll be cancelled and I'll get another one!!

Hopefully I'll end up with a better router, the first was giving around 150Mbps at my friends house, his new V2 was giving him around the 450Mbps ... a slight improvement.

I don't need the speed, but I'd rather have the faster version

All the best ... Barry

[kawakid]

Been on Smarty for about 2 years.

I'm overseas in Europe a lot and the roam anywhere add on for £7 for 3 days is an absolute steal, I've literally done 100s of gbs.
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I've a twin and a 4.

[BanditsHigh]

Woohoo, new router arrived last night .......... they've sent me the same one that I returned on Thursday, the Zyxel NR5103E

So, yet another journey to the Three store today to get it sorted ... the contract states Zyxel NR5103E-V2 ... how hard can it be

All the best ... Barry

[BanditsHigh]

Back into store today as they'd received a new batch of the router I was supposed to get, another hour of waiting on them serving me and getting stuff set up.

They then said my application was unsuccessful, based on information from our credit referencing partner (Experian) ... I checked my credit status with Experian and I have a score of 999 out of 999 ... I can't get any better!

So looks like because they fecked up giving me the wrong router a few times, having to delete/create accounts (for each router) they now think I'm trying to scan them or something.

I've put a complaint in, but I'm now looking at just buying the bloody router and going with Smarty for both phone/broadband ... cost over two years is Three £742.40, Smarty £624, so £118 less!

I can get a router for around the £140-£160 mark so for a few extra quid I'll own the router and Smarty says they won't increase prices (we'll see) so it looks like the way to go.

All the best ... Barry

[BanditsHigh]

So Three have been told where to go after their inability to give me the correct router (the NR5103EV2 stated in the contract)!

The two year contract with Three, for mobile/broadband, started at £26.80, rising to £29.90 April'25, then to £33.00 April'26 ... so a grand total of £742.40

I bought my own Zyxel NR5103EV2 router for £160.50, which is a Three branded router

Smarty ... mobile is 20GB (dropping to 5GB in 15 months) for £6 a month ... broadband should be £20 a month, but adding it as an extra SIM reduces it to £18 a month.

Two years at £24 a month + £160.50 for the router comes out at £736.50

Not only do I now own the router, but over two years I'll have saved a grand total of £5.90 ... while being Three network with Smarty

All the best ... Barry

[st3v3]

[Easy-X]