Mobile Network Comparison

Customers of O₂ (as well as virtual operator Giffgaff and Tesco Mobile which rely on their network) were left furious as the company was hit by another in a long list of major outages. The latest issue hit last Friday and is said to have affected about 10% of users – that equates to millions of customers. The fault left them infuriated and unable to make or receive calls or SMS messages for hours. As people tend to rely more and more on their mobile phones, people are becoming increasingly unforgiving about avoidable problems such as this.

Most affected users suffered intermittent coverage for much of Friday afternoon and evening but some were still left with problems over the weekend and we’ve even heard of customers who were still having issues four days later on Monday morning. Another kick in the teeth for users was O₂‘s quick confirmation that they didn’t consider the issue serious enough to deserve any sort of compensation.

The issue was shown not to be geographically isolated – customers across the UK suffered from the outage. And although many users had ongoing problems related to a backlog of people trying to reconnect, the company claimed that the root issue was fixed within three and a half hours. In some cases, users had to reboot their phones to enable a connection.

What happened was that the part of the network that manages traffic failed on Friday morning. This caused issues with connecting to the network which cascaded by the afternoon and caused major problems for several hours. While O₂ claim the final fix was in place by 15:30 and service should have been restored by the evening, the backlog continued to produce errors for several hours afterwards. There’s no word about what level of redundancy was available.

An O₂ spokesperson said that the outage was regrettable but that they would not be offering any compensation and only a half-hearted apology. They also seemed to try to deflect the blame onto their suppliers rather than taking responsibility themselves which is a shame. Even more worrying, even though we don’t yet have full details of what happened, it sounds remarkably similar to the story of the last outage.

That previous widespread O₂ outage was in July and lasted 24 hours. It was caused by issues with the Home Location Register which holds information about each subscriber and within the network’s backbone, connects to the Mobile Switching Centre.

It’s even worse for Giffgaff customers as they were not only affected by July’s O₂ outage but also had their own problems to deal with back in March. But hey, at least they didn’t recently make this tweet:

19% of Brits would rather go without water than their mobile for 24hrs. What can’t you #livewithout? Tell us & win: j.mp/WW6bm6

— O2 in the UK (@O2) October 11, 2012

So were you affected by the outage? How long did you have without signal? Was it fixed when they said it was? And do you think that O₂ are right not to offer compensation? As always, let us know in the comments below 🙂

Earlier this year Google and Asus released the revolutionary Nexus 7. With a small price range and powerful capabilities, purchasing the tablet was a no brainer for Android users, and a big incentive for iPad users to switch over to Android. With the release of the well-priced device, we’ve seen many third party accessories to accompany it, but what stands out from the crowd, and why?

Navitech Brown Leather Case

£9.99

The Navitech case looks like an old fashioned notebook, with a brown leather design consistent all across the case. Although it’s not genuine leather, the case looks smart, and feels comfortable to hold. Surprisingly the elastic strips do a good job at keeping the Nexus firmly in place, and because the product is made entirely of fabric, it adds little weight to the device, and keeps the width down. However, the fabric strips are somewhat invading of space, especially the top right one, which gets in the way of both the power and volume buttons.

The Navitech case feels durable and, for its price, you’ll get a satisfactory life out of the product. The case also has pockets on the side, which can be accessed when opened up, but it’s up to you if you feel comfortable putting any objects in here that could potentially damage the screen. Another thing to note is that this case cannot be transformed into a stand, so it’s a little lacking in functionality.

 

MOFRED Luxury Multi-Function Case

Was £24.99 Now £7.79

Although MOFRED’s case does not include a keyboard, the case is of a decent quality and is on sale at an affordable price. The Nexus 7 fits perfectly in the MOFRED case, and the snug fit, along with the strong build does make it feel luxury as the name aims to suggests.

The case has been cut and fit perfectly to line up with all the buttons and slots on the Nexus 7, and it’s not difficult to use the tablet whilst in the case. The case can be flipped over and used as a stand, and can be positioned at two different angles.

The MOFRED case comes with a stylus and a screen protector as well, which makes the product as a very worthy bargain. You can also choose the colour if you’re interested in matching the style of your tablet.

 

IVSO Slim

Was £24.99 Now £9.99

The IVSO Slim is one of the best keyboard cases available, the overall case design has been well implemented, using faux leather as the main material, held together with a neat line of stitching. The keyboard connects to the Nexus via an included micro USB connector. This removes the potential connectivity problems and battery drain from using Bluetooth and makes it a handy option for prolonged periods of use. The clips and elastic straps provided cling tightly to the Nexus tablet and hold it in place. The case then stands firmly at a comfortable height and angle, and can be closed tightly with a magnetic clasp.

Having said that, calling the case “slim” is perhaps a little misleading, as although the keyboard feels small and manageable, the case as a whole adds a lot of bulk to the tablet. The keyboard is attached firmly to the case and, without a Bluetooth option, portability options are a little low. It must be said that the keyboard itself is excellent quality and works really well.

 

Zagg Keys Flex

£54.99

The Zagg Keys Flex is something a little more pricy. Like the IVSO Slim, it comes with a keyboard which is probably the best one we’ve seen. For the price it’s unusual to find that it does not include a separate protective case for the Tablet, but it does fold up on itself with the tablet to provide a comfortable and sturdy carry case. The keyboard itself is surprisingly light for its size and connects via Bluetooth to the Nexus in seconds without any latency issues. As well as the full QWERTY keys available, there are also Android specific keys to mimic on screen controls, and they work just as expected. If you’re looking for a quick and high functional typing experience over portability, the Zagg is definitely to be considered. The keys work extremely well and mimic many high build keyboards available for PC and Mac, whilst maintaining a light, manageable weight. The battery life is superb and can charge through a USB connection keeping it available for use whilst charging.

Although the price is a little on the high side, Zagg Keys shines with a premium finish, ready to be used comfortably at home.

 

Poetic Keybook

Was £69.95 Now £19.95

This is a super-cool looking case. The Nexus 7 slips into the Poetic Keybook without any hassle and can be placed safely in the pocket of the case holder. The flap that keeps the case shut can then be flipped out and used as a stand to keep the Nexus tablet from falling over, which seems to hold up well whilst using the Nexus’ touch screen.

Aa for the keyboard, the tablet’s screen is easy to view when in the case and with the keyboard, the case feels very much like using a laptop. The keyboard itself is attached to the case using four magnets and can be removed, making the case and keyboard both easily portable. However, the keys are not of the best quality; they will sometimes stick, making unwanted keys print more times than needed, but other than that occasional occurrence, the keyboard works tremendously well alongside both the Nexus and the case, using a strong Bluetooth connection to work with the tablet.

The case is made from faux leather, and the stitching on the case has been neatly done,and it feels like a lot of care has gone into the design. Although the case may not hold as long as more durable equipment, the Poetic Keyboard does its job sparingly in its life time, which is at least three years according to Poetic, and just to prove it, the case comes with a free 3-year warranty. This product is also at a huge 70% off right now, so if you’re planning to get the Poetic Keyboard, now would be a good time.

 

Amazing news! We now offer Giffgaff nano-SIMs completely free.

After hearing that Giffgaff wouldn’t be offering official nano-SIMs (for the new iPhone 5) for some months, we decided to take matters in our own hands so everyone can use Giffgaff if they want to. We did our research about the new 4FF SIM card standard and worked out a way to produce our own nano-SIMs using specialist cutting and trimming equipment.

Having extensively tested our nano-SIMs with the iPhone 5, we started sending them out to eager Giffgaffers last weekend with great success. Now we’ve even set up an automated order form that allows you to order as many nano-SIMs as you need as well as additional micro-SIMs and regular-sized SIM cards for other phones. All SIMs are professionally produced and are guaranteed to work perfectly. Best of all, not only do you get the amazing offers and rates from Giffgaff, you also get £5 free credit with every SIM ordered through us and we are offering them completely free. You can request your own pre-cut Giffgaff nano-SIM card right now.