Hi guys, so it getting near that time where I get a chance to get my hands on some new tech, contracts nearly up and im going shopping tomorrow.

I was thinking iphone 5 as I have had a few iphones over the years, looking at all the deals it seems prices are definatly up since last contract I took out. Seems the best price I have found is at Carphone warehouse with o2 for £36ppm over 24 months (imo way too long to stick with one mobile, even 18 months) Anyone dealt with Carphone warehouse, going through them will save me the £179 handset cost at the same tarrif level roughly.

How about the o2 network, am I better looking at others, really only ever considered orange but thats because I have dealt with them previously. No to Vodaphone so that leaves t-mobile and three, maybe EE

Or to sum up where should I be looking to get the best deals and what tactics should I employ when out looking at contracts tomorrow.

Before you go shopping, have a look on topcashback or quidco to see if there's any offers on. Could get a fair few quid back

Before you go shopping, have a look on topcashback or quidco to see if there's any offers on. Could get a fair few quid back

This.

Plus reception in your area.. no point switching to a network that doest have signal where you need it.

Beyond that theres data speed - O2 and Three have DC-HSPA in most major cities for "sub 4g" internet, Three have also recently announced that 4g will be free of charge when they enable it.

Personally i first narrowed down the network by getting a free sim for each and using it for a week or so at home and work to get an idea of data/call performance. then looked at the offers and cashback sites and worked out the best deal.

In the end i chose three, the sim-only offer available (special from hotukdeals) plus quidco cashback basically meant 300 mins, 5000 txt and unlimited net... £50 line rental for the whole year..

I also have to say that the internet performance on three has also been much better than O2 that i was on previously, and ive never had issues with reception or calls.

It seems that since Orange and T Mobile became EE that their customer service and signal have gone down the pan. My wife has been with Orange for years and then when it became EE she started having trouble with her signal at home. Firstly the handset was blamed (twice) then when they finally investigated their answer was that due to the merger they had switched off a number of transmitters that overlapped and the one nearest our house was one of them. They simply said they could no longer provide service and cancelled her contract.

This has happened to 3 of my colleagues at work too. And by all accounts customer service seems to have gone out the window too. Not just in relation to this but in general.

I'm on EE network and am fining it absolutely fine.

Not had cause to call customer services so I'm unable to comment on that side of things.

I'm paying £36 a month and getting 2000 texts, unlimited date and2000 FREE minutes calling fixed geographical numbers (not 0844, 09071, etc....) and includes calls to all UK based mobiles on ANY network.

Ilthough I asked for this tariff (called the Full Monty 36) I also asked specifically if It was the right tariff to be on when EE launches their 4G network in my home area and was told it will work on my iPhone5.

I since found out that this was not the case, so I raised an issue with their Head Office, and was awarded a tidy compensation sum. :p

O2 is very good in my area, Vodaphone complete rubbish, t mobile not bad, EE not good.

Also i looked at the complete cost of a contract over the locked in contract period & compared it to using a £10 sim with all the calls / text/ data that i actually need and buying a phone.

The iphone contracts along with the latest models available usually start from £30 p.m. & have as has been found that the person wastes most of the call mins / texts & data so is giving money to the phone provider.

if youre lucky & can get an 18 month contract on the latest phone will probably be on a £40 contract

Thats £720 for the duration of the contract

My Galaxy S3 was £350 new + the £10pm for the equivalent contract term is a total of £530 plus i am getting the text/mins & data that I need.

well guys thanks for all you interest. I walked into Carphone warehouse today and signed up for a 24 month contract (on o2) and a white iphone 5 for £31 a month unlimited calls and texts and 1GB data which is double what I had so plenty. Free handset too, well happy!

Edited 9 February, 201313 yr by abarth_1200

Before switching networks, see if an app by rootmetrics.com has data for other networks in your area and anywhere you usually go.

There are some great sim only deals on 12 months or 30day contracts for £20 or less with better minutes, data and texts than 24 month contracts.

Downside is the large upfront cost of a handset, but nearly always works out cheaper overall

OK thanks, have used o2 for years in my location and cant fault it.

Also had to go contract because of the price of new handsets.

Sorry Just seen this though the link may be useful to anyone else after an iphone 5 if they don't make many calls

http://www.uswitch.com/mobiles/yourdeal/?_cid=70966728

£80 up fromnt for the phone then £26 a month.