Our only complaint has been the slightly shoddy reception in some parts of western switzerland. Otherwise its been smooth sailing so far.
So far my partner and I have had a pretty decent experience with Orange. For one thing they have a more flexible tarif model allowing you more fine grained access to what you want to pay for each month. Moreover they were VERY helpful and friendly in the shop (by the Zurich HB) when we first made the purchase. For example they unlocked the iPhone we purchased with the contract on the spot (something which is normally not allowed but which we had requested). Moreover they used a couple of tricks to reduce our monthly bill which we hadn't known or asked for.
Oh that is not bad. Not bad at all
I think I am going for Orange! Swisscom is just ridiculous to have a speed cap for a plan that is 59/month ... okay..
Thanks Castro. Hope you will have a nice experience with Sunrise
huh? aren't they afraid that people might run away with the phone if it is unlocked before the contract ends?
Don't do it, you'll regret it. This has nothing to do with Swisscom vs. the rest - I just got out of a Sunrise contract and will likely never again become a Sunrise customer. The network is surprisingly bad. Coverage is ok but very often, the network is packed and browsing the web is impossible, even though you get 5 bars of reception. Customer service is close to non-existent. They have outsourced their support to some company in Germany. The people there know zip about Sunrise and their products. Also, be prepared for an onslaught of ad calls by Sunrise - they called me day and night on all my phone lines, trying to sell me additional services (such as ADSL, Sunrise TV etc.). They use dial computers that don't work very well - often times the phone rings and when you answer the call, there's nobody on the other end. They have called me after 9 p.m., on weekends, on public holidays. Once they called me 12 times in a row because the dial computer malfunctioned (that's when I decided it's time to cancel my contract. I gave the ad calls as the main reason for my cancellation but never got an apology from Sunrise).
When I tried to cancel my contract, they upped the ante and called me with additional "offers". It took me 3 months to get a written confirmation that my cancellation was accepted. The contract will run until October (I decided not to pay the horrendous early-cancellation fees and sit it out instead) - the jury's out whether they'll actually cancel the contract according to my wishes by then.
Anyway - Sunrise has been a total nightmare for me. The network sucks, customers service sucks and they can be outright militant:
If you haven't done so, read this: http://albtraum-sunrise.com
Good luck :-/
I'm on a half price (flat 30) CHF 15 contract for 12 months. Worst case scenario I stick the sim in my iPad and use the 500MB for surfing.
VIVA SWISSCOM its the Best Sim in switzerland
My experience is Swisscom has better quality than Orange. I am working in Germany border and my operator is Orange. The signal of Orange is not stable. But with swisscom it is quite good.
Yeah, not much to lose then. Just make sure you pay all the bills, apparently I forgot to pay my May bill (June was paid) before my contract ran out. Was immediately hit with a 25 fr. fine for the 1st reminder.
Got my Samgsung Galaxy S3 with Orange yesterday (2 year contract). A few feelings:
1. Staff in the store was nice and friendly.
I got 30 CHF discount on the SIM card (40 CHF orginially) because they gave me a so called "prepay" SIM package but they claimed it is same as normal ones (Problem?? see below)
2. Mobile network was very slow last night, also the signal .
But at least i could text and surf. I was just 15 km from the Germany border though.
3. Today..... the whole phone is NOT working!!!!!!!!!
No internet, as I can not surf.
Just now I found out that phone calls can not be made (phone says "not registered on the network"). what?? It was activated already and it worked last night!
No text messages can be sent today
4. Contact with customer services reps
A . After noticing the mobile network does not work, I contacted the first rep, and he said he will send a ticket to the technical department. So wait....
I told him that texting and phone calls work fine, which was NOT true.
B . After finding out the texting and phone calls don't work either, I called CS again, and the lady told me:
" It is very normal that during the first 24 hours after activation, your phone can be switching back and forth: working and not working. So wait and I promise it will work tomorrow ! "
Okay. I wait... I hope it will work soon. Anyone experienced this kinda technical problems before? Or.. maybe the cheaper SIM card is faulty? T.T
sorry for my rant but it is an ominous start... sigh...
I think I had some similar problems at the start which disappeared very quickly.
Oh so it seems it is common for orange and not something serious ^^
Thank you for letting me know
By the way, I wonder how I can thank people for their posts
I've had internet problems (no data connectivity) for 2 days in the last 9 months I have been using Orange in zurich. Other than that and considering their Orane Young prices, I am very satisfied. If skyping while on the tram was possible I would be in love with them.
The only problem I have with orange network is when I try to use my phone on the train especially when the train was in tunnel. The signal got cut off every time. But I guess, it happens to every network.
If you plan to use your phone in a long time, then the contract with orange will be more flexible.
Hi all,
I was going to ask the same question as this thread, so thanks for everyones input.
But, i'm more interested in knowing the cheapest way to call the UK?? Any tips or experiences?
Cheers!
Since 2010 I have been using Sunrise and frankly, I'm very happy with it. I don't make many calls and only have moderate data usage. Since I had my own phone, for me the sunrise pre-paid option was ideal: typically I only paid a few francs per month plus 7.5 CHF for 250 MB of data.
I live in Zurich and travel to Lausanne every week. The reception including 3G has been great so far.
Now I'm thinking of retiring my old phone and getting a new one. I didn't like the pricing structure for the Swisscom as they have nothing for someone like me who basically needs data and very little amount of phone calls. I rarely if ever use SMS. I checked Sunrise and Orange and also considered the option of buying the phone online. Assuming costs for a 24 months contract, I prepared this table (phone prices are based on best offers on Toppreise.ch). All prices are for Surnise except for OrangeMe options where stated. I included the 50 or 40 CHF discounts offered by Orange and Sunrise if one orders online:
The phone that interests me the most is HTC One X. The option on Orange with 1000 GB + 0 minutes looks very interesting as it almost as cheap as prepaid but with a decent data plan. The only thing holding me back is the horror stories I'm hearing about Orange's coverage... Any suggestions?
If you travel by train a lot, avoid Orange! Coverage outside bigger cities sucks. Period.
As for the One X: good choice. Best camera available, best screen available, very pleasing GUI.
The One X may be the better phone, but the Galaxy SIII is definitely more desirable to your average consumer meaning better residuals. HTC don't usually help matters by releasing several models within a yearly cycle, which cannibalise existing sales and push the resale value down further. I appreciate this may not be important for everyone, but since I prefer yearly contracts and selling my previous handset to subsidise the next, it is for me.
I have an Orange Bill Iphone4.
I have unlimited calls, texts and internet. I ring back to ireland every week and my partner uses my phone also to call family and friends back home. So, i think about 3 hours per week calling mobiles in ireland. Also numerours texts to ireland. I also use whatsapp and Viber. Plus all calls and texts to mobiles here.
My bill comes to 124chf per month. My roaming is pretty decent. Pay 4chf and it cheapens the cost of roaming.
As i was going to Ireland for one month i had my phone unlocked. Orange did it for me. . it cost 100Chf.
My partnes has a pre pay phone using 10chf per 2 weeks or more. He doesnt need to buy much credit because he uses my phone.
So for us this works pretty well.
Hope you make the right choice!