Opinions on the BT anywhere package?

I asked this question in general chatter and was advised it may be worth posting the same question here in the BT section, so at the risk of getting told off by the mods for double posting...

Im thinking about upgrading from option 3 to the new "Anywhere" package. My main concern is the quality of the mobile signal where I live in the Colwyn Bay/ Llandudno area. Can anyone enlighten me on what mobile service provider BT use for the phone supplied?
What do users think of the free HTC S710 or is it worth upgrading to the HTC S620?
Any other general feedback on the package would be appreciated
Cheers

I've been told BT use vodafone since I posted that (who arent bad where I live) so I would be interested to hear of experiences with the phones etc
OP here if a mod wants to remove it
http://bbs.adslguide.org.uk/showthreaded.php?Cat=&Board=general&Number=3406102&page=0&view=&sb=&o=

As I said in the other thread, I think it is a good package, it is pretty new, so I doubt there will be that many people on here that is suing it.

You paying a extra fiver a month for the phone, 50 te4xt ad 50 mins talk, you can upgrade if you want.

I vowed never to go back to BT when I left a few years back, but this package made me think twice, so I only came back to Bt for this Bt anywhere.


If you want to know what people think, then try the BT Forums, you may get better luck



http://www.beta.bt.com/bta/forums/index.jspa

Thanks

I got BB anywhere about 3 or 4 weeks ago now.
Yes, you are right re the mobile network. BT Mobile uses the Vodafone network.

If it interests you, here is what I have found out so far.
I got it mainly because it is a mobile phone for a fiver a month..yes you only get 50 texts & 50 call minutes for that price which I'm sure won't be adequate for many but maybe others will manage. Yes you can get more mins/texts for more money but IMO it still isn't all that competitive looking a deal.
Also, with my previous mobiles, if you went on the net you get charged for ALL data transfer. I tried not to use it but even if I opened my browser in error for a few seconds I saw 40p or thereabouts added to my next bill...very frustrating.
The BT BBanywhere gives you up to 10MB data transfer a month included in your �5 (using GPRS) so if you use it moderately you shouldn't go over, and you won't see these little extra amounts on your bills.

The other thing they push is the BT Openzone and BT Fon wi-fi access when out and about.
Also included in your �5 is 500 minutes a month access to BTO hotspots and unlimited surfing/emailing and access to your BT Broadband Talk phone line when connected using BT Fon.
All sounds good but my experience is that I have great difficulty finding any BTO or Fon hotspots in my area. There is supposed to be a BTO hotspot in my town (Alexandria in Scotland) and one in Dumbarton close by, but I can't see either of them.
Also, there are meant to be 7 Fon hotspots according to the (wildly inaccurate) FON webpage map, and I only managed to find ONE, and even at that it was a poor connection.
So in summary they have a long way to go before BTO and Fon is in any way useful.

Re the phones, it is the HTC S620 which is the default offering and you get it free if you order BT anywhere. It looks similar to a PDA/Blackberry type device, a wee bit broad looking, but quite slim I believe (Haven't seen one to verify), the HTC S710 is the 'upgraded' model that you pay �29.99 for if you order the cheaper Anywhere plans. I paid the money for the S710 and I quite like it.
There are some wee 'buggy' things that happen, like when you are logging in to BT Fon and input your password, it doesn't recognise the first character, which can be a pain if you type it all in only to have to retype it all again when it rejects it first time around.
I'm hoping that this and other little foibles get ironed out in future software updates.
It appears BT seem to be painfully slow in getting things sorted out, especially when there are many people on forums constantly moaning to them about things.

I don't mean to paint a bad picture, but just let you know what I've found so far.
I'm happy I got it, even if only for the cheap mobile as I said up a bit..and you can port your present mobile number too if you want.

HTH

Thanks for that.
Im currently on option 3 paying �24.99 and just out of contract. The offer is that if I renew for 18 months I get free BB for 6 months then 12 months@ �22.99 (works at out �15/month)
They wont do the "anywhere" package cheaper than �29.99 so it effectively means im paying �15 month for the mobile.

My mate have got the s620, it is ok, but as you said it is a bit wide. I have the s710, which as you said have a couple of bugs, the one about the text entry can be a pain, but I am getting used to it now and make sure tha what I am typing is on the screen. I also find Voice tags don't work, can record them, but the phone seems tbeep too quick when I try to use them.

Oh yes and the zoom on the camera don't work, I presume that is a Bt software problem as I know someone who have the same phone but not on Bt and the zoom works.

The camera is pretty good for a 2Mp and takes some pretty good pictures, just a shame it won't zoom. the sliding keyboard is a godsend, takes a bit of getting used to because of its size, but far faster than using the phone keypad to enter text, well it is for me anyway.


I think the extra mins/text packages are pretty good. 250 minutes + 150 texts for an additional �15.00 a month, so you get that for �20 a month. 3 is doing 30 text or minutes for �20 a month, ok so they give you a Nokia N95 which is a good phone.
Vodafone offers 100 mins of talk time and 50 text for �20.

Orange is 200 mins chat time and unlimited text for the same price, that is fine if you text a lot, I doubt I would even use the 50 I got.

T-mobile 200 mins, 400 text, again very few people would use 400 text, I do know a a couple who would mind you.

So Bt is pretty good in that respect, which is a change for B.T.



BT openzone hot spots are normally in coffee bars or cafes, I went out on Saturday and found a hot spot, I was able to use my internat talk service from my mobile, pretty good. Not sure how much I will use the feature as fiddling arpound with a mobile phone when I am out is not good manners.

fon is another thing, it is good that I can go to my mates place and use his fon or up to my brothers., not sure how useful it will be in every day life unless someone got a fon service in town.


There are a few problems, but very few and to be honest so far it have been good, I am happy with it so far.