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I've heard a rumour that on 4th March Three will be abolishing unlimited tethering for new contracts and upgrades and replacing with a 2gb limit.
All along Three have been advertising that their network can handle large amounts of data thrown at it, but if this is true it seems that is not the case.
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This is after all Three's only selling point. Their support is terrible and so is indoor coverage.
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Where did you hear this?
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Register (or login) on our website and you will not see this ad.
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Would also like to know where this comes from, as said above it is 3s only plus point, stopping this would lose them a large part of their customer base.
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I've heard a rumour that on 4th March Three will be abolishing unlimited tethering for new contracts and upgrades and replacing with a 2gb limit.
All along Three have been advertising that their network can handle large amounts of data thrown at it, but if this is true it seems that is not the case.
I hope not, I just did that in 7 mins on 4G - it will mean their 4G will just be as [censored] as the rest. If they do this with all the other benefits andmoney saving they can give me I will just move to EE. Im on 30 days rolling
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If this is just for tethering I would favour it if it would help congestion in my area with people using it instead of using adsl or fiber for a home connection
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I hope not, I just did that in 7 mins on 4G - it will mean their 4G will just be as [censored] as the rest. If they do this with all the other benefits andmoney saving they can give me I will just move to EE. Im on 30 days rolling
I suspect Three have noticed people buying their unlimited plan phone accounts, using a cheap-ish handset, and tethering, to replace home broadband. I doubt they intended people to use 100 to 300 GB a month, that's where FTTC or even ADSL, or Virgin Cable is designed.
James BT Infinity 2 19/09/2012 - Sold 42/6 - Getting 49/8.5 - Sync 53 / 9.5 Mbps @ 470m approx
14 years of broadband (ntl: cable to BT FTTC) - Router: Asus RT-N66U - Modem: Huawei HG612 speedtest
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I agree. Ive got access to my neighbours internet too now for a nominal £5 a month. On 3G I do about 2-3GB a month but round here 4G speeds on EE are low. If they do this I will end my contract with 3 because it's part of the contract and would be seen as detrimental I think.
On the plus side 4G on three is ferocious. I'm going back to the same spot tomorrow if it's sunny (Nice bit of grass in the park)
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I asked their twitter team and they have no knowledge of this
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so it is probably just a rumour I am sure they would be the first to know
Edit. It is Not a rumour. I've just spoken to a guy in products and he tells me that there are new tariffs coming in on the 4th of March. The all you can eat is remaining but tethering will have the 2GB limit. He advised if possible to upgrade early to keep it for another 2 years. So at end of contract unless upgraded early it be removed
He also said he was not sure what the pricing was yet for the 4G. So I suspect it won't be free after all. Time will tell but with the inclusive minutes and music and other stuff EE is looking like an alternative
Edited by deleted (Fri 14-Feb-14 09:41:27)
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I asked Three and here's what they've said - "not something we've heard of but our price plans do change from time to time."
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Well will wait and see, but if this is true i will be off, i'm not putting up with rubbish reception, useless CS for just 2GB when out and about with iPad, and as 3 are the only one to allow tethering will do without, with someone who can offer better, reception and CS, will probably go Tesco or GiffGaff.
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neither allow tethering apart from on their 1GB tariff ive looked. they also have a habit of cutting people off for using too much.
he's adiment it's happening and because he's in the right department I would be inclined to believe him. Also I popped into my store afterwards which is a few miles away from this guys office and one woman said the same.
giffgaff is good to get contract like stuff without the contract.
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They have just recently increased their monthly price by 25% for The One Plan on new contracts too (even bigger increase if you go for a monthly contract)! Seems 4G will cost new customers more on The One Plan!
January prices:
https://web.archive.org/web/20140109032903/http://st...
Current prices:
http://store.three.co.uk/SIM_Only/Voice_Pay_Monthly
That said, having the unlimited tethering still makes it a good deal, even with the price increase. However if they take away the unlimited tethering, hmmmm, I'm not so sure...
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Well thats not really a problem with me am near the end of the month and have used less than a GB, but in the summer, when the weather is nice( remember summer, its that few dry days, normally in the middle of the year) i can push 2-4GB on the iPad. The only problem i have is i will have to forget 4G because my iPhone 5, will only get this from 3, will just have to use the S4 more often.
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I fear as with good things this must come to an end.
I don't use much I can see 4G being large for me but personally I use Deezer all day every day. I am told by EE that whilst Deezer is an inclusive option it does not use up any data allowance - so I could live on 2-4GB easily.
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If it turned out the limit was only on 4G and 3G remained unlimited, i could live with that, as i think 4G will be a long time before it reaches this area if at all, and 3G is plenty fast enough, but if not might move over to EE, specially if the cap is all BB and is accompanied by a price increase.
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the guy said to me that " our 3G is better than EE's 4G" which I would have to agree
The 3G is staying AYCE but it won't be for tethering. This is reasonable for most people apart from those who use their phone as their landline (like me)
I'm not sure how it will affect me already being able to get their 4G but I can get the same on EE as i went into the store which is not far from me and I got 60mbps down - and as we know EE has been out a year.
I guess all we can do is see what happens in a few weeks.
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and as 3 are the only one to allow tethering will do without
All EE, Orange and T-Mobile plans allow tethering now that I've seen, but 3 are the only ones with unlimited tethering.
James BT Infinity 2 19/09/2012 - Sold 42/6 - Getting 49/8.5 - Sync 53 / 9.5 Mbps @ 470m approx
14 years of broadband (ntl: cable to BT FTTC) - Router: Asus RT-N66U - Modem: Huawei HG612 speedtest
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until 4th march for new customers and upgrades
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well we will see what happens on the 4th of march, but the only thing that has kept me with 3 has been unlimited tethering, though i don't use a great deal, and the fact that with an iphone5, it was only 3 or ee for 4G but as 4G is not coming soon, i think i will be off to pastures new, as when the iPhone gets replaced later this year, most of the reasons for staying will be gone.
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All i want is enough allowance on my phone to play my music and stream my radio at work every night I think 3 will still do that if not I will be off somewhere else too.
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I can confirm there will be no unlimited tethering for new contracts after March. That was told to me by Three shop staff when I went to upgrade £18/month 1 month SIM only One Plan contract to £15/month 12 month contract. Price had gone up to £20. My maths says that's a 33% increase, not 25%.
I was waiting for 4G before getting a new phone but now I can't as that would mean taking a new contract and limited tethering data. If Three are becoming like all the other mobile companies I might as well look around. Shame. We shall see how long it takes for all data to be limited.
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So if I remain on the same contract after the one year minimum term ends I still get unlimited tethering, am I right, or wrong.
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So if I remain on the same contract after the one year minimum term ends I still get unlimited tethering, am I right, or wrong.
I think that's correct. I'm relying on it! The problem comes when you want/need a new phone. Then you have to take a new contract and lose the tethering data. And I guess there's nothing to stop Three changing current contracts if they really want to.
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Well I never get a phone from a network anyway, don't like locked phones, so always buy sim free, but as you say nothing to stop 3 taking it away anyway.
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but surely if you do a 30 day contract then you will only get it for 30 days? you are right 12 months is better to lock it in My contract is up in september and so I don't think I will be upgrading. I'd rather go to somewhere life gifgaff and then I can vary my package on what I use, right now I use about 200 mins a month on the one plan and 3 wont let me change it .
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So if I remain on the same contract after the one year minimum term ends I still get unlimited tethering, am I right, or wrong.
No it will run out i believe. as the contract has ended and you go onto basically 30 days. So if they did it for you they would have to do it for everyone on sim only 1 month plans
my contract is up in September, if i upgrade before then I will get another 24 months of it and that's it. I may or may not dothat I don't know. I would want a cheaper tariff and I recently got an S4 so I could get a new iphone 5 and then sell the s4 to pay for some of it but not sure I can be bothered with so many others out there.
don't forget there are new plans coming out on the 4th of march also. As I have said before when I tried it 3 4G was off the scale. (well as you can see)
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not so bad, my S4 was got 2 months ago from 3 and it cost me £9 to get unlocked online ( send in IMEI get a code etc) and it's worked fine I've tried EE in it too
Then jailbreak to remove all the gumph and it's ok.
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So if I remain on the same contract after the one year minimum term ends I still get unlimited tethering, am I right, or wrong.
No it will run out i believe. as the contract has ended and you go onto basically 30 days. So if they did it for you they would have to do it
No, that's not right. It is a 12 month minimum term. The contract continues after the initial 12 months with no change.
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The problem is that the current unlimited is causing severe congestion due to a tiny minority. If that tiny minority (say 1%) could be encouraged to move elsewhere, it would be much better for the rest of us (99%).
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Agreed,
I think unlimited data is feasible and practical when used on the device it was sold for but 3G just can't keep up with the demand people place on it using it as a primary internet connection.
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I've checked this out. If you are on an old plan like me with AYCE data you have unlimited tethering. A one plan since last year I think, unlimited tethering. Next monday 11th there will be a price rise and tethering will be limited to 2GB per month for new contracts. Old contracts will keep their grandfather rights of downloading.
I found this out as I could never figure out why I never got the redirect page when connecting my laptop to the tethering. Think I'll be hanging on to my £15 contract!
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Edited by deleted (Tue 04-Mar-14 19:12:53)
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Think the price rise and restrictions will only apply to new contracts, existing contracts will be honoured. I was on a site which I can't find again where one of the posters was in the UK call handling centre and was coming up with a lot of good info. I was waiting to see how long it would be until my home broadband was improved and if it wasn't to be soon, get a one plan to use at home. I think i'll just go ahead and sign up this week! At least if they do increase across the board i'll have a get out clause. I've been with three for years too and they couldn't wait to get me off my plan that included video minutes and picture messages for free!
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Edited by deleted (Tue 04-Mar-14 22:06:58)
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Seems like the price increase has kicked in already for new users, looking on site yesterday, 1month 1 plan now £23 was £18, 12 month 1 plan £20 was £15 so prices have increased already.
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In early January I changed my 3 contract from a two year with 'phone to a one month rolling SIM Only One Plan. I was told that the £18 a month price was a discounted one for new customers. However I was given the same offer via a loyalty discount. My bills now show the price at £25/month with a £7 reduction.
It seems to me that the price reduction was brought in to keep a competitive offering after O2 and Vodafone launched their LTE services. Now 3 has started their roll out the discount has been reduced.
As for the change in tethering I have yet to see anything official. The terms downloadable on the 3 web site haven't changed and nor has the price list. There are no press releases mentioning the change. I have not received any notification of a change. So far all we've really had is rumour.
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Well 4th March has been and gone. Nothing, as far as I know, has changed on the 3 web site. No mention of limits on One Plan tethering. Even, or so it seems, the "guy in products" was wrong.
Perhaps someone thought a bit of rumour, get it now before it's gone, would help keep the customers coming or even staying.
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Don't know about Tesco, but GiffGaff do not allow tethering on their unlimited usage services. It is classed as illegitimate usage.
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In July last year I read a post on the GiffGaff forum that 3 were doing the one plan for £15, so I checked the web site and they were doing £15 for 12 month contract or £18 for one month rolling contract, rang them up said I'm still paying old price, they gave me the option of going for one month or 12 months at the above prices, went 12 months at £15 which is what I pay. Checked web site Monday and it now shows £20 and £23, see what happens when minimum term ends.
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Well tesco is out as they don't allow tethering, and CS seems as useless as 3, giffgaff have some new offers on the horizon, so will keep my eye on them, as my usage is quite low I could probably make it work with a limited goodybag, if needs must, will have to wait and see what happens with the one plan.
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My minimum term was one month and I've recently had my second bill. It was still at £18. I had thought it might have gone up, but it hasn't so far. I would expect the loyalty discount to last a little while though. Whatever they do I expect an official notification before making any price change.
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Where is the official announcement?
Where is the new documentation showing the tethering quota?
Why has the date so widely mentioned on this thread, 4th March, come and gone and nothing happened?
The article I was told about on ISPReview was dated 24th February and says March. Well it is still March. That article claims people will keep uncapped tethering until they sign a new contract. Even after their current contract term has expired. Apparently they were told this in a shop. The PR department wouldn't comment as there has been no official announcement. We won't actually know what's happening for sure until there is. At the very least the Price Guide and Terms documents will need updating. They haven't been.
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Hi all,
I went and got a second contract today, the £20 One plan 12mth sim. It was confirmed both on the phone this morning and in the 3 store without my prompts that in the next week or so there will be a rejig of price plans and tethering will be limited to 2gb
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I would not mind betting this is down to the usual problem of a few people abusing it and spoiling it for everybody else.
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My minimum term was one month and I've recently had my second bill. It was still at £18. I had thought it might have gone up, but it hasn't so far. I would expect the loyalty discount to last a little while though. Whatever they do I expect an official notification before making any price change. They could remove the loyalty discount at any time once out of the min. term contract but in my experience they don't. I still get a loyalty discount on my 5GB mobile broadband contract that started in 2008 and is now well beyond the 12 month minimum term. They have increased the price, in 2008 I paid £7.50 and now I pay £8.00 (with discount) but for a long time the price for new customers was £15.
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Even past the minimum term it is still the same contract with all the terms as agreed, eg loyalty discount.
I wasn't sure what they could do so I've been looking at the terms. They can make a variation to the contract with a 30 day notice. This applies even during the minimum term, but would then allow a disconnection without cancellation fee, unless the removed discount was trivial, so they're unlikely to do that. After the minimum term one can leave anyway. It seems to me that the discounted price would have to become totally impractical for them to take this course.
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I can only speak from experience...I took out a one plan a month ago taking a chance that the mobile offering at £28 a month would be better than my existing £70 a month comms bill for absolute pants broadband and calls and the answer is "HELL YEAH!"
I can tether my laptop, tablet and TV to the phone and get better speeds than my previous BT/Zen lash up. I have so many minutes and texts left that I'll probably have to get some friends in order to use them. I can sit in the caff at lunchtime and watch Top Gear or whatever on the phone (Nokia 925).
I had one very slight issue at the off and a really nice bloke in India sorted it out for me. So far being a Three customer has been a dream.
I'm not trolling or shilling, I'm just really happy. I'd heard bad things about 3 but so far I think they're the dog's nads. The only hoo-ha I've had is with the 4oD app which won't play on the phone as it demands wi-fi so you have to tether a device to the phone in order to watch anything, which is stupid. Hardly 3's fault.
I wish world+dog telco would offer this type of broadband service rather than most having to rely on 19th century BT Wholesale's underpinings. Example, at my girlfriend's house in the country, she toils to get 2Mb off BT and my phone beats the pants off her hard broadband.
I don't have a problem if they limit tethering because I can do most things on the phone, but I'm lovin' the service I've got.
Anyway, just thought I'd share.
Sent from my laptop tethered to my phone, as they say.
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Now Engadget are reporting on it though they're still waiting for confirmation.
http://engt.co/1lK6nRx
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Yep the three.co.uk has been down all morning, wait and see what it reveals when it is back up.
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There is also a press release titled "Brits shell out over half a billion pounds on 08 calls each year". No mention of tethering there, but it does say that "Three�s new plans make calling 0800 free and 084 and 087 calls 5p per minute". We'll have to wait for the main site to come back online before we find out if there is anything more.
Just had a more careful look and here it is.....
Personal Hotspot
All data allowances will allow customers to use Personal Hotspot. With 500MB, 1GB and 2GB data allowance, the entire allowance is available for Personal Hotspot use. With all-you-can-eat data, a maximum of 2GB can be used for Personal Hotspot. If AYCE data customers want to use more data when their allowance has run out they can choose to buy a 1G Personal Hotspot.
Customers will receive an alert when they hit 80% and 100% of their 2GB Personal Hotspot allowance within AYCE.
Edited by Kronos2001 (Tue 18-Mar-14 12:47:21)
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I have read that, but am still unsure as to whether as an existing one plan customer we are affected or not.
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To affect existing customers it'd mean a change of contract. That's the case even if the contract is past minimum term. Either way it could lead to people leaving.
However there seems to be enough of a plus side that many, people on plans other than One Plan getting tethering, free calls to 0800 along with cheaper calls to 084 and 087 numbers, may actually see an improvement. So far the only loss I can see is unlimited tethering on One Plan for new customers.
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An important comment from Nicki, a moderator, on the Three Blog Moderator: Nicki 19/03/2014
@Gareth � Just to confirm there have been absolutely no changes to any of the sim plans. The new 2GB limit only affects new contract handset plans. So no change to SIM only plans at all. If you look at the Three Price Guide page then you see SIM plans are still using the old price list.
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I think you're misreading. It is stating that the 2GB limit only applies to new contracts which include a 'phone. Not the SIM only plans. They are unchanged.
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After being on the £15 sim 300 one month plan for the past 2+ years, which had ayce data and seemed to offer unlimited tethering since day one, i saw this thread and thought, damn it, what do i need to do.
I also saw the prices started to rise on the one plan.
Anyway, i thought id bury my head in the sand as my tariff will go untouched and i will be ok.
Jump forward to yesterday, i turned my tethering on and i got a message saying that my plan does not offer tethering and i should upgrade or something similar to that.
I've just upgraded to a sim only one plan for £20 with unlimited tethering.
The writing was on the wall, and i chose to ignore it. I am now paying an extra £5 a month for basically what i was already getting. I wont be using the extra calls or texts.
Just sharing.
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Interesting. What kind of phone were you using? I've seen tethering denied before, but that was an iPhone on O2.
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An iphone 5. The message was very similar to the o2 message that you have mentioned.
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LOL, don't say that.
I was kinda hoping that it would stay at £20 for a few years and the allowances would remain the same. I've not seen the £29 deal. I'm gonna take a look now.
My mate signed up for an iphone 4s probably about 12 months ago with 3 and is paying £28 on the one plan.
I bought my iphone 5 direct from apple unlocked and was hoping to pick & choose the best tariff for the money.
I am not up to date with the current price plans when buying a phone, but it seems like you may be able to get last years phone with the one plan & 2GB tethering at the same sort of price as an all inclusive tariff.
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I don't think it's a SIM only plan he's on about. They only go up to £23
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Even when what runs out at next renewal, the sim only one plan remains the same,if you look at the answers on the 3 blog its only the 24 month plans that have changed, sim only plans remain the same, you don't get the free 0800 and cheap 0845 numbers but that may change when OFCOM stop dithering.
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Out of interest why did you take the £29 deal if you didn't get a new handset? Those are handset plans, would it not have been better to take a SIM only plan if keeping your existing phone?
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I was going to ask the same question, but then i thought i was being a bit nosey, but i'm now glad you've asked.
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You're right, I am being a little nosey. Apologies PCoventry!
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Edited by deleted (Sun 23-Mar-14 20:36:05)
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Cheaper as well 
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this rumour has led to misleading people.
Only the phone inclusive contracts have it removed.
existing customers and sim only keeps the unlimited tethering.
Edited by Chrysalis (Tue 15-Apr-14 16:00:11)
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