Options
Best SIM deal with decent DATA speed and coverage?
Mark in Essex
Posts: 3,836
Forum Member
✭✭✭
Hi there,
The Vodafone contract runs out on my S3 (not LTE version) in about a month and am tempted to give one of the others a go (have always had O2 or Vodafone in the past as a lot of the time are out in the sticks for work).
I was wondering who had the best deal for speed with fairly good coverage?
I never really go over 1gb of DATA and only send say 100 texts a month and prob less than 300 mins of phobe calls.
I've always sworn by O2/Vodafone but fed up with getting just 2G or Edge.
Cheers, Mark.
The Vodafone contract runs out on my S3 (not LTE version) in about a month and am tempted to give one of the others a go (have always had O2 or Vodafone in the past as a lot of the time are out in the sticks for work).
I was wondering who had the best deal for speed with fairly good coverage?
I never really go over 1gb of DATA and only send say 100 texts a month and prob less than 300 mins of phobe calls.
I've always sworn by O2/Vodafone but fed up with getting just 2G or Edge.
Cheers, Mark.
0
Comments
Hasn't that been superceded by the 3-2-1 tariff.
No it still applies.
the 3-2-1 is for people who just want to top up and get great rates without any add ons. the all in one 10/15 add ons are still available for those heavier users.
3 is likely your best bet for overall 3G coverage and data speeds though.
Essential Internet SIM 600 seems good for you at £12.90 per month for 600 mins, 5000 texts and 1GB data or you could get 200 mins, 5000 texts and all-you-can-eat-data for the same price.
You could always stay on pay as you go aswell, top up £15 and get 300 mins, 3000 texts and all you can eat data.
http://store.three.co.uk/SIM_Only/Voice_Pay_Monthly
http://www.three.co.uk/Discover/Phones/Get_better_value_with_an_Add_on
May look into Three.
Cheers, Mark.
Dont have better coverage in my experience. Surely its relative.
OP: Get a free sim from Three and see about signal/coverage
I'm 99.8% sure that finbarr is talking about 2G coverage.
(get it! Because EE have 99.8% 2G coverage.... )
(I'll get me coat )
I would strongly recommend that (if you have access to an old iPhone or android phone) that you buy a £10 PAYG Three SIM card and put it in it.
Then install the Root Metrics app https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rootmetrics&hl=en-GB (or from iTunes) as recomended by the Countryside Alliance, and just see how the coverage compares to your existing provider.
I did this and compared Three coverage to EE in Northern Ireland for a month, and have now switched to a Three SIM only plan.
It's really a case of "Try before you buy" - your mileage may vary
Thanks for that (and all the other replies).
Mark.
What made it worse is they did not make it clear that I had to send a text to activate some bundle so I ate through the credit and the store said they could not give me another £10 and I would have to top up again - so it's gone in the bin.
Will probably try Three next and will hopefully get better reception at home (where you really need reception and crazy that there is really no reception in a major town.
i am actually thinking of selling my iphone and using the money to buy a phones handsfree
Surely it depends which locations(s) you're in?
I've been testing a Three SIM alongside T-Mobile and found T-Mobile's coverage better although Three was undoubtedly faster in those areas with a signal from both. There's no definitive answer - it depends on individual circumstances.
I think that's likely true of anywhere at the moment simply because T-Mobile Customers have a 2G backup and have access to old orange 3G masts. Three is probably faster because most of the masts it uses are MBNL ones. I think as 4G is rolled out and MBNL 3G upgrades finish late next year we will start to struggle to see a massive difference between either.
Did I hear somewhere that Three were going to do voice over wireless network (or did I dream it)?
Cheers Mark.
Guess it's off to O2 or Vodafone when my contract is up as God knows what it will be like in the sticks of Anglia when I can't even get any reception in Harlow.
Hahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!
OP, Do you get Three or T-Mobile signal at your work or regular locations that you visit where you normally just get 2G on Voda.
If so then it may be worth looking into one of Three's signal boxes. If not then it's probably worth sticking to a Voda/O2 network.
Not necessarily, particularly in areas that have been "optimised" - currently EE proudly provide 'outdoor only' 2G here, while Three provide strong 3G.
Yeah, that's the theory. In EE's case they'd need to switch masts back on here for that to work properly - easily done I'd guess, seeing as Three are using 3 former EE masts within a mile of me...
+1
Three don't offer unlimited texts on any of their packages, they offer 5,000 though on all their packages (except PAYG) I think which is more than enough.
Was this deal with a phone by any chance because anyone can get a deal with Three with 2,000 minutes, 5,000 3 to 3 minutes, 5,000 texts and unlimited data for £15 per month
Extra £5 of free credit if you order and activate a SIM from this link
The problem is I'm never at a normal location as I am a mobile engineer and can find myself one morning in Southend and then the afternoon in Cromer.
Will give it a few more days but will prob go across to Giff Gaff for a while with my S3 until there is a handset I really want out and then go back to Vodafone (as get 20% discount rough my work and then hopefully they might have sorted out the 3G and 4G a bit by then).
I'm not really worried about 4G speeds but would like to get at least 3meg download speed on 3G and it to be available in more places.