Spec me a PAYG sim..

Rich_L · 5 Jun 2014 at 23:25

Hi all,

Heading over to the UK for 3 months this summer and have been away for 4 years so no idea who are the decent operaters in the UK these days.

Wife and I both have global phones so SIM-only deals are great, although LTE compatible only with the US as far as I can tell so 4G availability isn't relevant. Good rural coverage would be nice too as we'll be in Cornwall for a fair amount of time.

Preference would be data over minutes/texts as I'll just use Whatsapp wherever possible. Tethering would be a plus point too although not strictly necessary.

3 All in One 15 quid a month seems good? (and makes me die inside when compared to my absurd US phone bill)

Come at me bros

lsg1r · 6 Jun 2014 at 00:38

Honestly I'd go and check which has the best coverage in the area you'll be visiting.
o2, vodafone, 3, t-mobile/orange (aka ee) are your main providers to check. Then let us know which give the strongest signals and we might have better options

Where I live (not cornwall) I can't get 3 until I travel about 5 miles, but I can get t-mobile with poor phone signal strength but good 3g data (yes odd I know) or vodafone with top notch phone signal but poor data.. not a chance of anything faster than 3g either.

And yes I feel for you lot in America, forever reading how you get shafted over anything like mobile/internet etc.... but now you get to experience the 'UK tax' (ie the markup not vat) if you buy anything while here lol

Warp279 · 6 Jun 2014 at 01:20

3 or EE sim.
3 gives you unlimited data - £12.90.
EE gives you 10gb of free data if you top up £15.

http://store.three.co.uk/view/searchSimOnly?tariff=29150100

http://shop.ee.co.uk/price-plans/pay-as-you-go/sim-only-plans

Rich_L · 6 Jun 2014 at 01:46

Ah nice that EE Sim looks good, didn't see that on first glance for some reason so much appreciated!

10gb is plenty of data and probably gives the best coverage overall, seem to remember that Orange was always good in Cornwall about a decade ago so I'm sure that'll only have got better i.e.

Looking at the coverage maps my house and surrounding area is:

EE - 2G Calls and Text (Outdoors)
O2 - 2G Calls and Text (Outdoors)
Voda - 2G Calls and Text (Limited)
3 - No coverage

FML - thank god for WiFi

Rroff · 6 Jun 2014 at 02:00

Your best bet down here in the South West is probably O2, Voda seems to have slightly higher coverage from what I've seen but the actual quality of calls and data connectivity often don't seem to match what you'd think you get from the signal. O2 a little harder to get signal but when you do you usually get good service.

Don't really have much experience with EE but the rest tend to be fairly hit and miss.

lsg1r · 6 Jun 2014 at 02:13

Rich_L said:
Looking at the coverage maps my house and surrounding area is:

EE - 2G Calls and Text (Outdoors)
O2 - 2G Calls and Text (Outdoors)
Voda - 2G Calls and Text (Limited)
3 - No coverage

FML - thank god for WiFi

PMSL and I thought mine was bad lol

snitcher · 6 Jun 2014 at 11:04

three gives you cheap calls and texts. data too is not too dear.

tom_e · 6 Jun 2014 at 11:08

I definitely wouldn't go with three, I use them and they're great in my usual places which is around cities but I went down to Weymouth last month for a wedding and the signal was atrocious so I can't imagine it would be much cop in deepest Cornwall either.

Myshra · 6 Jun 2014 at 11:37

3 will be a write off down there, it doesn't matter what package you get if you can't use it. O2 has the TU Go App so you can take calls over Wifi assuming your place of resting has it, and the advantage of 800Mhz 2G GSM (which I think is honestly what you should be hoping for). I'd recommend them over the rest based on the location.

EDIT: I'm an idiot, Tu is only for PAYM. Voda/O2 are still your best bets or consider maybe a rolling paym SIM depending on duration.

Orcvader · 6 Jun 2014 at 12:02

I suppose there's giffgaff: http://giffgaff.com/index/pricing

Or perhaps their 30-day goodybag might be better suited: http://giffgaff.com/goodybags

giffgaff uses the O2 network, I have a friend who lives around that area and finds giffgaff to be fine, although he uses wifi most of the time.

Scope · 6 Jun 2014 at 15:36

I would just get a Giffgaff card (get it from a friend and you both get £5) and an appropriate goodybag.. O2 is by far the best provider for South West..

Rich_L · 6 Jun 2014 at 18:04

Thanks, that 15/per month goodybag from Giffgaff looks ideal - 500 minutes, unlimited text and unlimited data. Think I had an O2 contract for the last few years when I was in the UK and had decent coverage in most places and managed to receive texts from the upstairs bedroom holding the phone out of the window so that's definitely an option

Anyone on giffgaff want to post up a referral link for when I get the first SIM?

RJC · 6 Jun 2014 at 18:09

Have a look at Tesco mobile, I am currently using them without issue and offer reasonable bundles.

Scope · 6 Jun 2014 at 18:15

Rich_L: Email in trust.

Jake 657 · 7 Jun 2014 at 02:36

lsg1r said:
I feel for you lot in America, forever reading how you get shafted over anything like mobile/internet etc.... but now you get to experience the 'UK tax' (ie the markup not vat) if you buy anything while here lol

I'd love to see his face if he has to put fuel in a car over here !

Jamesbcd · 8 Jun 2014 at 00:42

Lycamobile is pretty good for me. Think they run on O2 too.

They do a £15 bundle which is 500 minutes, unlimited texts and data.

mightymouse · 8 Jun 2014 at 10:24

Lyca and lebara are both decent especially if you want to make international calls. Three is great as you can use.voip however as others have said they are only good in big towns. You get almost nothing in the country side or where there isn't 3G network.