Best network for prepaid 3G data?

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cgreenwood

201 posts

Master Geek

#96413 26-Jan-2012 17:54

I am making the leap into the smartphone world soon and want to know what peoples opinions are on whether tis best to go with Vodafone, XT, or 2 degrees.

I intend to be a very low data user when not in range of WiFi (I realise that this may not work out) and just want to give things a go on prepaid before deciding whether it is worth my time to get a plan.

I live in New Plymouth so this may have a bearing.

Thanks

old3eyes

9119 posts

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Subscriber

#573809 26-Jan-2012 19:42

My wife is on a 50Meg / month data plan and she averages about 1.2Meg / day. Mostly she is in a WiFi enviroment..

Regards,

Old3eyes

sbiddle

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#573810 26-Jan-2012 19:44

Choice of network could be limited to the type of device you want to buy - it might pay to decide that first if you haven't already.

cgreenwood

201 posts

Master Geek

#573813 26-Jan-2012 19:46

It will be a Samsung galaxy S hopefully

sbiddle

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#573818 26-Jan-2012 19:52

cgreenwood: It will be a Samsung galaxy S hopefully

You'll then have to decide if price determines your network. I know somebody who purchased one recently and based upon what they told me the 900MHz WCDMA models are significantly cheaper in the markerplace than the 850MHz model you'll need for XT.

gzt

17111 posts

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Lifetime subscriber

#573822 26-Jan-2012 19:57

I recently looked at this in Auckland for prepay. It depends a bit on the phone you will buy.

Nothing at the lower/ lower mid end will cover both XT (850MHZ-3G) and Voda/2Deg (900MHZ-3G).

Roaming may be a consideration - 900-3G is better for coverage in Europe, 850-3G is better for most of the US at present. The phone will be used occasionally in Europe - so that decided it was going to be a Vodafone or 2Degrees approved phone.

On the network side, Vodafone has more official (and native) roaming coverage. Vodafone won on the strength of the network. I was also concerned about possible issues arising from porting an existing Vodafone number to 2Degrees.

For low usage the price difference is hardly worth looking at. On the plan side, Vodafone's 'Smart' plans are excellent for low data usage avoiding all the hassles of prepay.

jeffnz

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#573838 26-Jan-2012 20:34

unless you are buying 2nd hand the Galaxy S I9000 is obsolete and still quite expensive for something nearly 2 years old. If you are going new better to maybe wait a couple of months as the S3 will be coming on market so S2 will drop in price dramatically. If you can't wait then maybe another brand in same price range as S would be better.

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kiwijunglist

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#574031 27-Jan-2012 12:13

2degrees Prepay packs:

$19 = 30 min + 100 txt + 300 mb / month (Coming next week)

$20 = 1024mb / 1 month

Skinny prepay packs:

$8/wk for 10 min + 750 txt + 130 mb = $32 for 40 min + 3000 txt + 520 mb

$8/wk for 40 min + 100 txt + 130 mb = $32 for 160 min + 400 txt + 520 mb

Telecom:

??

The Galaxy S was $380 on special at xmas time, unless you are paying that price or less for a new one I wouldn't buy it. The Huawei X5 was $250 on special at that time and probably a better deal.

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stevenz

2802 posts

Uber Geek

#574033 27-Jan-2012 12:21

I found the existing 2degrees 1gb for $20/month to be the cheapest for my needs.

@KnightNZ