Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Geeky stuff
Original poster

Is Tesco Mobile coverage/service good?

23 replies

maggiethecat · 04/01/2011 22:59

Thinking of using them but have no idea what I'd be in for (currently am with O2 which I have no problems with but want to upgrade)

OP posts:
Niceguy2 · 04/01/2011 23:08

Tesco Mobile use the O2 network. So coverage should be identical.

As for customer service I've no idea. Never had to call them. Ironically I will tomorrow as for some reason my son's SIM has been rejected. Will let you know how I get on.

Original poster
maggiethecat · 04/01/2011 23:11

Will look out for you Niceguy esp since I'm planning to call Tesco up soon to get phone. I suppose the good thing is that it's only a 12 month contract and I could always go back to O2 directly with a monthly contract if things were so bad with Tesco.

OP posts:
Niceguy2 · 05/01/2011 12:08

Called them up today and after listening to all the usual rubbish on their IVR (press 1, 2 etc) I got through to an agent without having to queue.

He was friendly and reckons my problem is due to a faulty sim card. He offered to either send me a replacement for free which would take a few days, or I could go to Tesco, buy a new one for 99p and they'd transfer everything over within 24 hours.

Given I wasn't planning on going to Tesco and the cost of petrol for the return trip would be more than the bloody sim card, i asked him to post it!

Overall my first experience with Tesco Mobile is a thumbs up.

Original poster
maggiethecat · 06/01/2011 17:43

O2 maintain that coverage is not identical. I suppose if Tesco buys bandwidth from O2 and Tesco customers can be differentiated by the sim card then there may be a difference in the coverage. O2 say that at busy times their direct customers have priority.

Do you know anything about Tesco coverage?

OP posts:
seb1 · 06/01/2011 17:54

I am with Tesco and only ever had coverage problems once (while in Tesco doing my shopping Grin) I do like their triple credit, favourite numbers and ping a pound.

Original poster
maggiethecat · 06/01/2011 22:07

Seb, that's probably reception problems which you can get anywhere I suppose (I find it often happens to me in supermarkets Smile)

I am more concerned about not being able to make/receive calls when the network is busy. Am minded to take a bet on Tesco tho.

OP posts:
Goober · 06/01/2011 22:11

East Anglia.
Rubbish signal here.

Niceguy2 · 06/01/2011 23:30

O2 maintain that coverage is not identical.

Niceguy2 · 06/01/2011 23:33

In fact, you can test this yourself incredibly easy. Go buy yourself a Tesco SIM for 99p. In fact, call them and they'd prob send you one for free.

As you are on O2, your phone will work with the Tesco SIM. See how many bars you have. Swap SIM and voila!

(Note, in case someone else is reading....this wont work the other way around. Ie. putting an O2 SIM in a phone locked to Tesco Mobile.)

gaelicsheep · 06/01/2011 23:36

It is rubbish here, but only marginally more rubbish than Vodafone and a lot cheaper. I am considering getting a Vodafone handset as an emergency backup though. By rubbish I mean no coverage at all at home and none from home to DS's school, about 6 miles away. Vodafone yields one bar occasionally.

gillybean2 · 07/01/2011 07:43

Tesco signal is rubbish here, but that's because it's O2 and O2 is rubbish here (struggled with a contract phone from them and wouldn't go back to it).

Only use tesco for ds's phone so he can call me from school or I can contact him if I'm held up at work as he does get a good signal at school. Have noticed though that when I text him it doesn't always get to him. Eg I text him as I'm leaving work and what time to expect me. Get to school text him to say i'm in car park only to find the first text hasn't arrived but the second has. Has happened more than once Hmm.

Have stuck with them as it's only an emergency phone really and works where he needs it (most) and we get the double top uop thing. So if I top up £10 he gets an extra £10 that month to spend.

If you have a good O2 service where you are though you'll probably be fine.

Catsmamma · 07/01/2011 07:59

I have no problems, except in all Tesco stores....very annoying when dh has wandered off!

As already mentioned, the triple top up is ace, they also do minutes/text deals, and for the children the Ping a Pound is fab for putting an end to the "I couldn't call you cos I have no credit" excuse from errant teens.

ProfYaffle · 07/01/2011 08:04

dh has one, coverage fine here in South Norfolk but went wonky in London.

Original poster
maggiethecat · 07/01/2011 08:42

Right, will get a sim card and check it out.

OP posts:
Original poster
maggiethecat · 07/01/2011 10:03

Niceguy, where can I get a Tesco sim for 99p? called them up and they said they could send me a £10 one altho I could cancel in cooling off period.

OP posts:
Niceguy2 · 07/01/2011 11:41

£10!?!?!?

I went into Tesco and just bought one for 99p!

gaelicsheep · 07/01/2011 11:47

I bought a phone package for a tenner. I'm pretty sure DH's sim only pack was very cheap.

Niceguy2 · 07/01/2011 11:48

Ultimately it all depends on the area you are in and who serves you the best.

A while back my company changed us all from O2 to Vodafone. I noticed a big drop in signal. O2 were great around here. 3G signal everything. Vodafone seem much worse.

Try using this site with your postcode:

www.sitefinder.ofcom.org.uk/

It should show you which base stations are in your area. Gives you a fairly good guess as to what signal strength should be like. So I can see that for me, I live next to an Orange mast but Vodafone is at the bottom of the hill (which explains a lot!).

Original poster
maggiethecat · 07/01/2011 12:14

went into tesco and they have 99p sim cards but you have to put money on (min £10) in order to make any calls. 99p will allow you to register.

OP posts:
Original poster
maggiethecat · 07/01/2011 12:17

went on and orange and O2 are very near me.

OP posts:
LadyOfTheFlowers · 07/01/2011 12:19

I found Tesco Mobile very good in Swindon, but as soon as you step inside a Tesco store, on any network, your moby goes dead as a do-do. :o

Original poster
maggiethecat · 14/01/2011 23:11

Just to report - I've had Tesco mobile for a couple of days now and it's been fine so far.

Service has been much better than expected and in fact I would say that their techie guys that have helped me have been fantastic! In stark contrast to apple support who were a complete waste of time - spent 55 mins on phone with them I decided that they were useless - didn't even identify my problem which Tesco did and solved in less than half the time.

OP posts:
cathandsteraff · 19/11/2013 18:44

can i just add, i have had tesco for a while now and our calls keep dropping. tesco piggyback off o2 its not as good as 02 at all. we have proved this as my partner had a work phone on 02 and his personal one on tesco and the tesco one couldnt be used in some places due to poor signal yet his work one could, and his work one was just a basic £10 nokia! i would personally go with 02 and pay a little extra its worth it, we are stuck with tesco for now but will deffo be changing as their service and call dropping is awful

New posts on this thread. Refresh page
Swipe left for the next trending thread