Mobile Phones

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Mobile Phones

Post by PanBiker »

I thought I would start this topic to discuss all things related to mobile phones. I originally posted this in "What Attracted Your Attention" but thought a new topic might be useful.

[hr]

The amount of time it takes to activate pre-paid credit and port my old mobile number to my new shiny Android phone. :surprised:

I have a brand new mobile, bought online on Wednesday, delivered on Friday, sim card activated on receipt but I cant use it until Monday. :sad:
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Mobile Phones

Post by Pluggy »

PanBiker wrote:The amount of time it takes to activate pre-paid credit and port my old mobile number to my new shiny Android phone. :surprised:

I have a brand new mobile, bought online on Wednesday, delivered on Friday, sim card activated on receipt but I cant use it until Monday. :sad:
Stick your old SIM card in it ?
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Mobile Phones

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I cant do that Stephen as the new phone has a micro sim, old Blackberry was a "big un".

Convoluted way of getting my contacts off the first generation Blackberry smartphone and onto the Android as well. Involved copying them into Blackberry desktop software via USB then importing them into MS Outlook, then exporting as a CSV, importing into a Gmail account and then syncing this via Google onto the phone. Long way round but better than having to retype.
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Mobile Phones

Post by Moh »

Glad mine is a simple Samsung phone with keyboard!!
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Mobile Phones

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Onward and upward Moh. I have existed on my kids cast off's for about the last ten years but the Blackberry is on it's last legs battery wise and there were no impending hand me downs to be had. Needs must, bit the bullet and now on a new learning curve, Android Kit Kat 4.4.4. Feel a bit like Dorothy "this sure ain't Kansas". :grin:
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I wouldn't be without a smartphone, but they are a necessary evil. Just like Windows computers, its just a matter of time before they drown in the c**p of their own making. I've started uninstalling stuff before I put something else on, because it was running like a slug on valium. Maybe I need an Octo-core processor, 8 GB of RAM and 200GB storage....
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Mobile Phones

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Mines the Motorola Moto G 4G, cited on a number of review sites as the best budget Android phone of 2014. It has a Qualcomm Quad Core CPU running at 1.2GHz with 8 Gb built in Ram. I have stuck in a 16Gb Micro SD card to give a bit more capacity once the OS has had it's way with the built in memory. The Micro SD came with a card caddy so I can shove it in the laptop for easy organisation and loading of files.
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Has anybody got convincing 4G into Barlick yet ?. Convincing 3G would be a start... Three is OK usually, but it slows down to a standstil sometimes.

I'll stick with my old Samsung until it gives up the ghost. My last one packed up just after I'd splashed out on a new battery for it, as always the old battery woudn't fit the new phone. I'll start to believe some of the green hype put out by companies when old spares fit the new model. Sometimes I think I've been earning a living in IT for too long, I'm way too cynical. :grin:
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Mobile Phones

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No 4G in Barlick yet but backwardly compatible and no doubt it will arrive at some point. The PAYG package I'm on gives me added data allowance on top of the norm for any given top up for having the 4G device. It's ploy of course but as I was buying I couldn't see the point of investing in 3G. I will use it long past it's intended life, I don't swap just for the sake of it. My usage will only scratch the surface of what Kit Kat can offer and from playing with it so far there are some pretty neat features. The speech recognition is very accurate negating the use of the touch keyboard in many cases. Ill be quite happy to dictate my texts.
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Mobile Phones

Post by Bodger »

I have a £50.00 Aldi builders phone, makes calls & recieves calls, what more do you want from a phone ?
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I mainly use mine for calls and texts which are cheaper (or free) depending on your tariff. The versatility of modern devices though mean that they can do a lot more than just that. I additionally use mine with a sports tracking app utilising the built in GPS facilities of the device to track cycling and walking activities. This feature was invaluable when we were training for our coast to coast bike ride which we completed at the August Bank Holiday. Over the six months or so of our training it allowed us to see our improvements in performance on our various rides. They will do a whole lot more than that but I suppose it depends what you need it for. Not many basic devices around now as the technology is so cheap to incorporate all the bells and whistles anyway. Whether you take advantage of this though is down to the individual. If you just need to make calls that's fine. I'm not paying a regular arm and a leg for this functionality it's all built into the operating system on the phone, I usually put about £10 worth of credit on my phone about every 3 months or so on PAYG.
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Sat nav, network scanner, camera, torch, internet connetion for a laptop, alarm clock, email checker. web browser if I'm desperate. I rarely send texts and maybe make 80-100 minutes of calls a month. A fiver usually lasts around 5 or 6 weeks on PAYG.
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Re: Mobile Phones

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I would still like to know why it should take days rather than minutes (or the odd hour at most) to port a number from one system to another. As far as I am aware the procedure is fairly automatic once set in action, it's not unique after all. I also fail to see why the weekend should have any impact on an automated procedure.

In my situation I am essentially a new customer. I have bought a new phone with a new tariff from a new supplier. No really a new supplier as I have only moved from Orange to EE. EE own and run both Orange and T-Mobile its all the same organisation. You can only buy from EE now as they have merged all the online sales and contract stuff. They will no doubt maintain the old contracts on Orange and T-Mobile until they expire.

From a technical point of view all that should be happening is the copying of my account details from one server to another and the association of my old number within that account to the IMEI number of the new device. It's basic database stuff and there are automated procedures to do it. Even if it was a manual job it should not take four or five days to do it.
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Re: Mobile Phones

Post by Pluggy »

I had a similar delay when I moved from Orange contract to Three PAYG and wanted to keep the number. Although I could use the phone whilst it was happening. (i think there was a few hours in limbo just before it happened). Then I had to ring up Three, because I couldn''t log in to my account.
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Re: Mobile Phones

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My new phone has just downloaded and installed updates to just about every Google app on the device. Nothing is happening account wise as I have just received a text on my old phone offering me the Orange start of the month PAYG offers.

EE forum would indicate that a simple number transfer is fraught with danger, we'll have to see tomorrow, I'll give them while dinnertime to sort it then attack a second or third line technician on support if I can get hold of one.
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Re: Mobile Phones

Post by Moh »

It all sounds very complicated. Like you Stanley my last two phones have been hand me downs from our daughter.
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Much simpler if you can live with whatever number you get with the SIM/ Phone. Not a realistic option sometimes especially if your livlihood depends on the damn thing to any extent.
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Re: Mobile Phones

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After discussions and advice on here about PAYG smartphones I never did get around to buying one. But one thing still puzzles me. When I read the companies' web pages about their phones I got the impression that even a PAYG phone would tie me in to some extent - it sounded as if I would have to buy more time regularly each month or else the phone would die. Or have I got the wrong impression?
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Re: Mobile Phones

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Depends on the provider and PAYG package. Mine is a £10 Everything deal form EE which gives me 150 minutes of free calls 500Mb Data and free Text messages when I top up £10. The deal runs for 30 days then you switch back to normal tariff for calls, texts and data usage. The free deal starts again whenever you top up with your next tenner. Sometimes I don't use all of my tenner as the free stuff keeps me going, I only top up when my credit gets low (they send a reminder text when that happens). No contract but the T&C's of most companies hold you to 6 months or so once you have signed up before you can switch providers. No real problem in most cases. I spend £40 or £50 a year tops which is fine by me and no comparison to any of the monthly contracts. You can get PAYG packs down to £1 but I don't know what they give you.
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Re: Mobile Phones

Post by Whyperion »

Eventually EE do pick up the details from Orange - it seems to take time - maybe something to do with the underlying network frequencies used. They were supposed to let me see what was happening on on-line accounts, but that was switched off one and started on another before they emailed me. Sometimes you have to switch both old and new phones off, then the new one back on, then it finds the network. I got a cheaper monthly rate with a ?better? phone (its back to being bigger and thinner - afraid of snapping it ) and it has been a more reliable network so no overall grumbles for me.
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Post by Stanley »

You're right Moh, far too complicated for me and yes my phone is one that Doc had as a hand me down from Amy and then he gave it to me. I got a Pay as you go card and after I'd had it a year or two a new battery because the old one was dying. Can't remember when I last used it....
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Re: Mobile Phones

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I'm not really changing providers as Orange, T-Mobile and EE all come under the banner of EE and use the same network.

I received a letter today from Orange saying they were sad to see me go and would I reconsider staying with them? It had a couple of telephone numbers on, one for the PAYG tariff team and another for the PAYG mobile number porting team along with confirmation of the PAC code I had been given over the telephone last week. I thought it might be a good idea to ring the Orange number porting lot to see what was going on.

I rang the number given on the letter and after the pre-recorded message telling me that I could get answers to most problems online I was eventually connected to a lady somewhere on the Indian sub continent after about five minutes of hold music. After all the normal security checks to prove I was who I said I was, I explained my problem and after she had noted the number of my sim card, my temporary number, the number I wanted to keep and the PAC code I had used on my online application she decided I was in the wrong department! As I was moving from Orange to EE I needed to speak with the EE team. Back onto the hold music for another 5 minutes then passed to a gent, probably on the other side of the desk or at least in the same call centre.

He knew my name but had none of the details I had just related in the previous 15 minutes. I repeated all to him and then off he went to consult a colleague as he said the PAC code I had given him was invalid. Five more minutes of music and then he came back on to tell me that I needed to get a new PAC code from Orange. I explained that the one I had been given over the phone matched the one stated in the letter from Orange received today which seemed to stop him in his tracks, after a short pause he decided I needed to be transferred again to another colleague who he assured would be able to resolve my problem.

Five more minutes of hold music and I was put through to another guy, still over in India by the accent, he had a nice clear voice but the connection was rubbish, fading and dropping out altogether in parts. I thought I had better hang on to him so I asked him to ring me back to try and get a better line. I put the phone down wondering if after the 50 minutes I had already been on the phone that was the best decision. Fortunately he did ring me back, the connection was perfectly clear so I relayed all my information for a third time. He put me on hold for about a minute and then came back on to say that my transfer would be completed by midnight tonight. The credit on my account that I had paid for would be applied after the number porting had completed.

Total time on telephone, one hour and ten minutes. I'll have to wait and see if he is good to his word.
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Re: Mobile Phones

Post by Stanley »

I know nothing about the technicalities of the problem but clearly recognise the call centre morass. This is the reason why I decided long ago that the way all these companies work, including banks etc is that as long as nothing is changed the system can cope and all goes smoothly. As soon as you vary any of the parameters the opportunity for error and hassle creeps in. Talktalk rang me the other day and the 'agent' hung up on me when I asked him if the call was a ploy to get me to change my service for a small improvement simply to get me locked into a new contract as I am outside the original contract date now and theoretically free to go where I want. They are transparent...... (and devious!).
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Re: Mobile Phones

Post by PanBiker »

Status quo this morning, nothing has changed. My old phone still holds onto its number. New phone still has temporary number and no credit. Seems like I am in the bullshit trap. I'll have another go when I knock off from work this afternoon. What get me is the fact that I'm not asking for anything out of the ordinary, thousands of people must swap phones everyday. I realise that this might be part of the problem but surely it is compounded many times over by the pillar to post system and downright lies.

Good job I don't have to rely on it for emergencies.
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Re: Mobile Phones

Post by Stanley »

Why not tell them that the phone isn't fit for purpose and you want your money back. Wave Sue Grabbit and Run at them! I'll bet that concentrates their minds!
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