What's best SIM only deal Jan 2023?

[filthypig]

If you are with 3 already and don't have issue with coverage etc I'd strongly recommend Smarty. Moved from 3 to Smarty in Nov after years of being a 3 customer.
Opted in on £10 for 50GB and kept overseas EU roaming (something 3 have removed). They have a new offer of £10 for 60GB at the moment on so I got on the text chat and they've moved me straight onto it.

[Saleen836]

Dingu said:

Saleen836 said:

Had an email from Virgin today informing me of the change over to O2 this apparently comes with some added extras one of which is the following....



The reason I went for a low ampunt of data is because I never use it all every month,no chance at all of that now

Are you actually complaining because you got extra for free?

Yes as it is useless to me so what is the point? They can see how much data I use every month so why not offer me something usefull like free roaming in the USA which would be very usefull to me.

[mikey_b]

I just ported from Virgin to Talkmobile. I had been a satisfied customer of Vodafone for several years but their prices were only going one way, so I jumped ship in January as I've always found the Virgin Media cable we get at home to be a good service (though expensive).

What a mistake that was. The O2 network performance was terrible - signal strength was as good as Vodafone but the bandwidth available is shocking. Even in the centre of my town (Tonbridge, Kent) and with full signal strength showing, I would have to change from 4G to 3G just to use the parking app. The O2 network is heavily overloaded in many places, and the comments on the Virgin Media forums back that up, as do various 'which network is best' type reviews. Dumping 3 million Virgin customers onto it over the last year or so (Virgin moved from Vodafone to O2 last year) won't have helped. The ones I feel sorry for are those users on full price O2 contracts who now have to put up with the worst performance of any network, at some of the highest prices.

Before hitting 'go' on the number port request, I did a couple of speedtests sat at my home office. Same iPhone, same location, 2 minutes time difference:

Virgin (using the O2 network)
3 out of 4 signal strength
45ms ping time
2.09Mbps down
2.38Mpbs up

Talkmobile (using Vodafone network)
2 out of 4 signal strength
48ms ping
39.3Mbps down
3.32 up

Not only is it's performance quite markedly better, but Talkmobile want a pound a month less for the same sort of package. Curiously, Talkmobile are fully owned by Vodafone and share a head office, but give free Europe roaming and much lower prices.

[silentbrown]

mikey_b said:

Not only is it's performance quite markedly better, but Talkmobile want a pound a month less for the same sort of package. Curiously, Talkmobile are fully owned by Vodafone and share a head office, but give free Europe roaming and much lower prices.

If you need to use vodafone network, then ASDA Mobile offers good unlimited data deals. We were using this with a 5G router for £30/month until gigaclear finally got here..

[paulrockliffe]

Bear in mind that just because it's on the network that doesn't mean you have the same quality of access. If you have a Vodafone supplied mobile and a mobile on the Vodafone network that wasn't supplied by Vodafone and do a side by side test you used to see huge throttling on the non-Vodafone device.

I wouldn't be surprised if O2 are throttling their partner networks, given the coments on here don't match my experience going to O2 directly, I get really good speeds everywhere.

[mikey_b]

paulrockliffe said:

Bear in mind that just because it's on the network that doesn't mean you have the same quality of access. If you have a Vodafone supplied mobile and a mobile on the Vodafone network that wasn't supplied by Vodafone and do a side by side test you used to see huge throttling on the non-Vodafone device.

I wouldn't be surprised if O2 are throttling their partner networks, given the coments on here don't match my experience going to O2 directly, I get really good speeds everywhere.

Virgin support in their forums (which are quite good, BTW) have never suggested throttling is in play in response to multiple complaints, and TBH I think that 3Mbps or lower is way below what might be a reasonable throttle speed.

Talkmobile/Vodafone definitely aren’t though - the pic below is a Speedtest I did yesterday whilst waiting for my daughter at her dance class. Line of sight to the mobile tower, 4G signal at full strength obviously:

[paulrockliffe]

mikey_b said:

paulrockliffe said:

Bear in mind that just because it's on the network that doesn't mean you have the same quality of access. If you have a Vodafone supplied mobile and a mobile on the Vodafone network that wasn't supplied by Vodafone and do a side by side test you used to see huge throttling on the non-Vodafone device.

I wouldn't be surprised if O2 are throttling their partner networks, given the coments on here don't match my experience going to O2 directly, I get really good speeds everywhere.

Virgin support in their forums (which are quite good, BTW) have never suggested throttling is in play in response to multiple complaints, and TBH I think that 3Mbps or lower is way below what might be a reasonable throttle speed.

Talkmobile/Vodafone definitely aren’t though - the pic below is a Speedtest I did yesterday whilst waiting for my daughter at her dance class. Line of sight to the mobile tower, 4G signal at full strength obviously:

I obviously don't know what's gonig on now, but is it not likely that throttling happens as a percentage of total capacity - say they allocate 80% of the bandwidth to direct customers and 20% to the rest, throttling will only be evident when there's saturation of that 20% and the more saturation, the more throttling.

And of course they wouldn't even tell their Customer Support about it, let alone let them write about it on their forums.

[gr1340]

How about RWG Mobile?

Uses EE network although don’t expect 5G.

I have just transferred a number to them and it all went well and the signal/download speed is as expected. There are other bundles available and also some light usage 12/24 month packages.

[ccr32]

mikey_b said:

Curiously, Talkmobile are fully owned by Vodafone and share a head office, but give free Europe roaming and much lower prices.

They do, but be careful where in continental Europe you are... most of it is covered by the standard Talkmobile minutes/data etc., but venture into Switzerland, Guernsey, Jersey or the Isle of Man, and you'll be paying "Zone 3" rates which are basically the same as what you would in the USA!

And Talkmobile don't offer a "use your minutes/data for £x a day" type add on that Vodafone or the other main networks do, you'll just rack up a huge bill instead (until you hit your roaming cap, which I have now set at zero because of this!)

[mikey_b]

ccr32 said:

mikey_b said:

Curiously, Talkmobile are fully owned by Vodafone and share a head office, but give free Europe roaming and much lower prices.

They do, but be careful where in continental Europe you are... most of it is covered by the standard Talkmobile minutes/data etc., but venture into Switzerland, Guernsey, Jersey or the Isle of Man, and you'll be paying "Zone 3" rates which are basically the same as what you would in the USA!

And Talkmobile don't offer a "use your minutes/data for £x a day" type add on that Vodafone or the other main networks do, you'll just rack up a huge bill instead (until you hit your roaming cap, which I have now set at zero because of this!)

Sensible advice. I'm actually off to the US in a couple of weeks, my plan is to use an Airalo eSIM for data, which gives 1GB for $4.50 and valid for a week. There's obviously wifi in the office over there and I will be (firmly) instructing my wife and kids to only contact me via WhatsApp calling, iMessage or Facetime, which will hopefully avoid heavy charges if we speak during non-office hours. I'll set the roaming cap to £10 though, as a 'just in case' measure so I can still receive emergency calls.

[Skodapondy]

The lot of us have swapped to Lebara this week via Money Saving Expert. 99p for 6 months then £5 month for 3GB, unlimited calls and texts and 100mins International.

[s2kjock]

I started to use a Lebara sim for 4g data in a mobile router last year when working in at my parents' house which I do sometimes (BT is only show in town for landline/fixed broadband and is ancient and unreliable). Worked OK the first few times, but gradually got slower for no particular reason and I gave up in the end as it was largely useless.

I can see 4 Vodafone masts from the upstairs windows of the house all within a mile, and my own phone on Vodafone worked OK tethering, but Lebara just seemed to go to st.

Now trialling Smarty after discovering there is a three 5g signal there now and worked OK for last week when I was there. 2-5Gb was fine for me for 9 hrs or so a day on remote desktop with maybe a couple of hours a day on Teams meetings. Can't argue with the £10 for 60GB deal for 30 days I was using for the week I needed it.

[ant1973]

Talkmobile are now charging for Euro roaming - £15 per fortnight.

Lebara is inclusive of roaming and have 21gb for £7-95. First three months half price. 1mth contract

Talkmobile are 30gb for £8.95, so cheaper per GB.

Both use Vodafone and offer wifi calling (albeit there are some noises about Talkmobile being a bit problematic on that front).

Can't find any better deals using Vodafone network.

Currently with vodafone and sick of them bumping up costs for the same thing.

Voxi are doing 30gb for £12 with unlimited social media and video. Not sure it is worth the extra unless you are a teenager....

Would consider EE via plusnet, but no wifi calling.

[superpp]

Money Saving Expert deal on Smarty mobile until Sunday:
50gb for £8 a month, rolling 1 month contract with EU roaming (12GB), 5G supported runs on the 3 network

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cheap-mobile-fin...

[bodhi]

After the complete shambles that was her experience with Smarty, the wife picked up a SIM Only deal from Utility Warehouse - Unlimited everything for £18 a month, including EU Roaming. It uses the EE network so coverage is good - they took a while to activate her SIM (24 hours) but after that it's been fine - similar coverage and data speeds to me on EE but half the price.

Must admit I may look into one of these myself considering how much cheaper they get when you order more.

https://uw.co.uk/services/mobile

[ant1973]

bodhi said:

After the complete shambles that was her experience with Smarty, the wife picked up a SIM Only deal from Utility Warehouse - Unlimited everything for £18 a month, including EU Roaming. It uses the EE network so coverage is good - they took a while to activate her SIM (24 hours) but after that it's been fine - similar coverage and data speeds to me on EE but half the price.

Must admit I may look into one of these myself considering how much cheaper they get when you order more.

https://uw.co.uk/services/mobile

Good deal.

Goes to £20 a month after the first month.

However, additional unlimited sims for only £13.

No 5G if that matters, but does seem to have wifi calling.