Have they moved Dover? (1 Viewer)

[motorhomer]

There we were, my wife and I, walking in the National Trust White Cliffs area above the Dover ferry port (killing time before catching a ferry to Calais), when my mobile bleeps with a new text>

"Welcome to France" - from Vodafone France, with all the pricing info for international mobile use.

This speaks volumes about coverage in the UK compared to France!

Presumably, if I had used my phone at that point, even though I was in Dover, the call would have been routed via france and I would have been charged accordingly!

Or perhaps if I had been in Calais it would have connected to Vodafone UK???? (Somehow I doubt it!)

 

[pappajohn]

watch which network you are connected to !!!!

they got you early and the chances are if you'd made a call from dover you would be charged at the international roaming rates.

change your phone settings to manualy select a network, if its set to auto network select which it appears to be, or you will still be connected to vodafone france on your return.

best thing is to turn off your phone on the ferry and when you turn it back on when you get there it will find all local networks available then manualy choose the one you want.
same applies coming home...turn it off in france and on in dover then change to voda uk.

 

[Wintonian]

As a careful reading of the post will reveal, he was on the cliffs above Dover - not on the ferry. As he is an ex computer man I think we can be comfortable in the knowledge that he knows what he is doing with high tech gadgets!

You are right to point out the hazards of allowing your phone to automatically connect to a provider. Like you, I choose mine manually. If you have the phone switched on as you pass the Channel Islands and receive a roaming call, you will get a big charge from the Cable and Wireless service. And, if you connect to the ship-board mobile network (which will connect automatically if you are out of range of other networks), you may be surprised how much that will cost you, too.

Switch the phone off, when travelling. Why spoil a fun journey?

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[motorhomer]

As wintonian said I am comfortable with hi-tech gadgets.

I just though being connected to vodafone france whilst actually in Dover was a bit amusing!

The more serious point was a bit of a dig at coverage from mobile phone companies in the UK, a bit of a hobbyhorse of mine.

I travel quite extensively (currently I am just outside Budapest) and phone coverage is pretty reliable almost anywhere, including some pretty remote parts of (on this trip) slovakia, Czech republic and Poland.

But in the UK it is not. In my home (6 miles south of Shrewsbury) there is no signal. Lots of places one and a half miles from the M6 have no signal. And if you are in remoter parts of wales, etc, the forget it!

Why the UK public tolerate such rotten service compared to other countries amazes me!

 

[54mud]

Perhaps it is because everytime the phone companies apply to put a new mast up all the locals object.NIMBYs .oh:

 

[atakd]

Or perhaps if I had been in Calais it would have connected to Vodafone UK???? (Somehow I doubt it!)

Well, to be fair I have done exactly that. If you choose manual network selection at Cap Griz Nez you can get Orange UK and make calls at UK rates.:thumb:

PS If you're on Orange, of course.

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[pappajohn]

As i dont read everyone's profile i was unaware motorhomer was a 'techy type' oh: and was just pointing out the pitfalls of taking your mobile phone abroad.