Is 3 UK blocking internet access for all non-3 phones?

[baroncelli]

I have been a 3 user for the last 2 years and a half. Originally I used the N95 that came with the 3 contract, but lately I've been using two android phones, a G1 first and a Nexus one later.

Everything worked as expected until approximately one month ago, when I started noticing that in some specific areas in London I couldn't get almost any data. I downloaded a network monitor and verified that the connection works, it's just incredibly slow (4-500bit/s max). So, for example, if I try to get to http://bbc.co.uk my browser (slowly) receives the data for various HTTP redirects which point me to http://www.bbc.co.uk/mobile but then the page loading fails because the connection is too slow and it times out.

The strange things are:
- this happens when I'm in the Victoria area and in other zones in London (Chiswick, parts of Islington, etc.), but not for example in Oxford Circus or Covent Garden. If I'm on a taxi from Oxford Circus to Victoria the connection initially works and then starts crawling approximately halfway through the road.
- it happens all the time, that is there's no way to get decent data speeds in the Victoria area (web pages don't load, map tiles do not get shown, etc.)
- it's not related to 3G bars (it's happening regardless of me having 0 or 4 bars, and in the areas where it doesn't happen I get data even with weak 3G connection)
- when it's happening, if I switch to 2G the connection works at a reasonable pace (for a GPRS connection)
- the problem happens on *both* my Nexus one and my G1, but NOT if I put the SIM into the N95 that I originally had bought from three
- if I try to access directly the 3 support site using the same url I have on the N95, it works even on the Nexus one or the G1, so there clearly is some throttling happening after that.

Now, given that
- three keeps calling me asking me to upgrade and sign up for a new 18 months contract (which I don't want to do)
- the customer care refuses to give *any kind of support* for problems on the Nexus one (or any phone not issued by 3)
I'm starting to think that 3 boycotts the Nexus one (or at least all non-3 phones).

Is anyone else experiencing this?

And also: is there any way to have support? How can they have SIM-only contracts and PAYG cards, if they refuse to give support to non 3 phones?

[Seeus2save]

I'm using a branding free phone and can use all three's services.