I’ve managed to get to the end of my contract, well end of september my contract runs out, without breaking my iphone. How cheap can you get SIM only if I’m not bothered about upgrading? Anyone got good experiences?

I have sim-only with BT. Unlimited texts, 500 minutes, 2GB data for £9/month. They do an even cheaper one at £5/month, but it’s not enough data for me.
Coverage is excellent, and I live in deepest darkest Fife.

https://www.giffgaff.com/sim-only-plans

Start at a fiver. Depends how much allowance you need.

Virgin mobile do some cracking sim only. They use EEs network so usually a good signal for me.

I can’t speak highly enough of Giff Gaff (O2 network). Obviously depends on how good a signal you get where you are, but Giff Gaff has been faultless. I get away with the £7.50 goody bag plan most months, so cheap as chips. I really can’t see the point of contracts now. They’re around the same price as buying the phone up front and going PAYG. I guess as a cash flow mechanism they’re useful.

I’m in Stockport so not in the sticks. I’ll have a mooch at giff gaff. Cheaper to get a SIM only and get good insurance in case I bust my phone.

Will I be able to keep my number on giffgaff?

Yes you will. I transferred a number from EE to Giff Gaff with no probs.
http://ask.ofcom.org.uk/help/telephone/keep_mobile_number

Cheers mate.

expect handset to start playing up shortly after contract is finished : Planned Obsolescence ..

I know what you mean mate, it’s happened to me before.

OP I have Three unlimited for £18 (note sure if they still do rhis price) calls, text, data at 4G also all calls/data in most of Europe. With Three you do need to check that signal is good in your normal usage areas.

If you have a relatively high priced contract including a phone you should definitely get a sim only. Your provider will offer you a deal if you call them. As abve you can go monthly rolling or say 12m contract

Another giffgaff user here and have been for a minimum of the last two years at least. Always been faultless and any service issues I’ve had have been resolved online very quickly. I wouldn’t go contract now and I just buy new phones up front so I can go new whenever I like without double paying. On the other hand I also have a 3 pay as you go SIM that I top up whenever I go away so that I can use their feel at home benefit. One of these days Ill weigh up whether it makes sense to use one of their sims all year round but last time I tried three their coverage wasn’t as good and I ended up having a row with their customer service when I tried to end the service. (Apparently they offer the fastest service of all the providers, surprisingly if I can get 3g a mile down the road I dont care, i want coverage where Im actually standing!)

When my O2 contract ended, I just stopped paying for the phone and stuck with the same contract just for the talk / data plan. Probably not the cheapest way, but it was the least faff.

I’m with giffgaff. Occaisonally have connection problems and struggle to get 4G outside of very central london. I don’t know whether the problem lies with my phone (one plus 1) or the network.

I ordered a SIM from their website three times without delivery. In the end, I ordered one from Amazon and it came within a couple of days. It cost £0.01, IIRC. A penny well spent.

Besides the connection issues, their packages are very cheap.

OP I have Three unlimited for £18 (note sure if they still do rhis price) calls, text, data at 4G also all calls/data in most of Europe. With Three you do need to check that signal is good in your normal usage areas.

I have the same but it’s £17 a month. I prefer to have unlimited data as I use iTunes music so play a lot of music over 3g, although 5gb would probably be enough a month.

I’m with EE as I was on contract with them before and converted to sim only.

Double speed 4G about 5 Gb a month and unlimited calls and texts for £20.