Morning all.

I’m changing jobs, last day in current one is next Tuesday, and I need to port my mobile number out. I have a handset so I think a SIM only option is best, but past that I have no idea who to go for. I think they all provide about the same coverage (according to coverage maps) so it really comes down to the most suitable.

My current work number is on Vodafone and all paid by my company so I’ve no idea what my usage is like but would assume quite high – lots of email and voice calls, mainly to/from the UK.

I already have BT broadband so was looking at them as an option, but it looks like their claim of unlimited calls only covers 0870 type numbers, and the rest is 35p a minute!

Anyone gone through this recently? Any advice on the best provider to go for? The wife is on Giff Gaff and seems quite happy so that might be my fall back. At least with a one month contract I can assess my usage and change if there are better deals to be had.

Ta

I wouldn’t recommend Vodafone. Best for data is Three, their 3g is often better than what others give as a 4g service. EE can be hit and miss.

I recently moved from O2/Giff Gaff to Three.

I’ve also got a work phone on Vodafone.

Was a bit worried about Three after having heard some bad reports, but have actually been really impressed.

I moved because I needed tethering (which giffgaff don’t allow) and I was spending a fortune on data roaming and calls while outside of the UK. I’m paying £23 a month on a month notice contract.

Their international data/calls offering is incredible. If you need a lot of data, or use your phone outside of the UK, nothing comes close.

I chose O2 because of their International friends And Family thing. Also find their data roaming quite cheap. Surprisingly I hve also been very happy with their customer service

Thanks. I’ve not been overly impressed with Vodafone for the last 15 years! If I were paying the bills I’d have moved long ago.

Three sound promising. I realise it’s different for everyone but how much data/minutes do folks tend to go through each month? Three have 4GB data and all you can eat minutes for £24 per month SIM only. Is it easy to get through 4GB in a month with email, facebook, etc? I don’t download movies but there are always clips that seem to self load on facebook for example.

I’ll vouch for GiffGaff

Their £ 12 “Goodybag” gives me 500 mins,unlimited texts and 3GB of data.Importantly,they now DO allow tethering on this plan.I’m really happy with them.

Three get my vote too. Excellent service, brilliant 3G & 4G coverage & a very easy to use app to keep a track of your bills etc.
I switched to them because I work abroad & needed coverage both here & away. I pay £18 a month on a rolling charge, so no contract lock-in. Includes unlimited data & texts & I can use my uk tariff in France & Switzerland where I’m based for no extra charge.
The unlimited data really is unlimited too, no ‘fair use ‘clauses. Thoroughly recommended.

Three is great for me. Unlimited calls and data and I can use my allowance abroad (not all countries but most of Europe and US). Tethering is an extra £5 a month. Coverage is supposed to not be as good as some networks but I’ve had no problems.

It’s always worth getting a payg sim card to check the coverage in your area first but EE have the biggest, most reliable and fastest network.

This week EE have launched wifi calling which means if you are in an area with a poor / no signal you can just use wifi to make and receive calls / texts. It will work on the new Samsung and Nokia handsets, with iPhones 5c or later being activated over the next few weeks.

Three are fine until you actually need to talk to them. Or someone uses your direct debit to order a new iPhone to a completely new address.

Surely where you live/work is rather important in this?

Where I live (and work, its the same village), the only network provider worth thinking about is Vodafone because they are the only ones who provide coverage of any type that works indoors. Voda also seem to provide the best coverage for the bits of the highlands I spend time in when I’m there too. The pros and cons of specific providers are completely irrelevant if they don’t provide reasonable coverage where you need it.

I’d be starting by talking to people who live and work in the same geographic area as you first and see what works well before trying randoms from all over the country on an internet forum.

Give Orange/EE a miss unless you want plagued by cold callers “calling on behalf of ” or “partnered with” EE. There is no customer services email so if you ask them to stop, you have no written record so it’s hard to prove that you asked and they’ll just deny it. Google “most complained about mobile network” and see how often Orange/EE get mentioned.

I’d be starting by talking to people who live and work in the same geographic area as you first and see what works well before trying randoms from all over the country on an internet forum.

Thanks, but I think I covered that part already, from the OP:

I think they all provide about the same coverage (according to coverage maps)

I’m in the South East so while I realise coverage varies I should be able to get good enough reception from most providers. Work will mostly be in London so coverage is for the most part a non-issue.

Thanks all for the thoughts so far. just5minutes brings up a good point about the wifi calling (presumably just a VOIP client of somekind). One thing with BT is the access to their wifi network, while it will no doubt just be using peoples home devices, in a dense enough population this must become viable. Where I live there seem to be plenty of BT access points for example. Combining this with some kind of VOIP client, eg Skype, could mean I could take a minimal monthly contract and just use VOIP whereever possible. Probably more hassle than it’s worth at the moment, but at some point in the future perhaps.

Three have been great for me but coverage/data speeds are surprisingly crap in London IME.

I think they all provide about the same coverage (according to coverage maps)

And you believe them! 🙂

According to all the coverage maps our village (in Hampshire, so not the middle of no where) gets good 3G from all the providers. 500 people here ready to call them liars! Vodafone the only ones who provide adequate 2G, no one provides 3G.

Absolutely not Vodafone finally dumped them the other week. Now with EE and having travelled all around Northumberland over the last few days they have been great.

BT is you’re with them as an ISP have some cracking offers on, they use EE.

Forget O2 or anyone that uses them as they’re struggling to provide a descent network. Over a year since the town I live in lost connection due to a mast error. They’re still haven’t fixed it and lie constantly that they have.

My wife has been with Orange/EE for about 10 years and never had a dodgy call.

vodafone for me as they have the best coverage in the Highlands, though I’m only there a couple of weeks a year now.

looking to get a new phone and pretty tempted to stick with them.

convert – where abouts in Hampshire? I’m just over the border in Berkshire near Swinley and while data is sometimes an issue for some people (me included on Vodafone) I can always make/receive calls. That’s the important part, data is just a nice to have – I have broadband at home after all. It’s not like it’s the 1990s, I bought my sister a phone on Orange back then and she couldn’t use it as they didn’t cover that part of the country (Kent).

Drac – interesting thanks, I didn’t know BT were using EE. I might give them a call and confirm the free calls thing. Currently it’s between Three and BT, and I’m lazy so BT might be the easiest option.

If O2 meets your needs I don’t see how this SIM only deal can be beaten:

1000 mins
1GB data
Unlimited texts
Only
£3.99
Per month for 12 months

http://www.mobiles.co.uk/o2-o2-pay-monthly-sim.html?tid=4S82MAPR14

convert – where abouts in Hampshire?

It’s a village near Petersfield.

Three are brilliant. If you can get a good signal, their signal strength (like Orange isnt as powerful as Vodafone or O2,) but if you have a signal then they’re great.

I have 02 for work and spend most of the time using my own phone for the internet due to O2 not working.

I’m with Three3 and have been for several years and rate them, nearly always have better signal coverage than my works phone which is with EE.

Plus 3 have supposedly agreed to purchase O2 so I’d imagine they will get to you there network/signal masts too for increased coverage.

tonyd – nope, Wifi calling on EE isn’t via an app. The wifi calling is built into the firmware (iOS and Android both already support it) and just uses Wifi whenever a good connection is available – including BT wifi points without the need to authenticate / have a subscription.

The wifi calling will also handover to 4G when voice is enabled on that standard later in the year i.e. start a call at home on wifi, leave the front door and the call will be routed onto 4g without dropping. It works really well in practice as EE have spent the last 10 months working with most of the big wifi networks and home ISPs to make sure that the quality of service is ok.

just5minutes – that sounds very appealing. Do you happen to know if this is exclusive to EE (presumably so) or since BT use their network it could be something they also offer, if not now then in the not too distant future.

tonyd – EE will be first to offer it but vodafone will start to roll it out from the summer which is a good job given their shockingly bad coverage. o2 haven’t got any plans to offer it and three are likely to make it available much later in the year. Vodafone won’t be doing much handover to voice on 4g for a long time as they are now around 18 months behind EE on their 4G rollout.

What 4G, 3G, Edge or even GPRS that works is that then with Vodafone?

I ditched EE last year as they were getting expensive.

Unlocked my HTC One X (suquently bought a Nexus 5).

Tried Giff Gaff, great service, poor coverage at home and in the office. (They operate on the o2 network)

Tried The Peoples Operator, they were cheap, good coverage and give money to charity apparently. Until my data connection stopped working. Complete shower of proverbial! 7 calls to customer service in 7 days, no one bothered to call me back. PAC Code please!

Now with Three, customer service is untested, price is good, coverage is good and being able to use my mobile abroad in some countries for no extra cost is very handy for holidays and occasional business travel. Tested in France last week and even on PAYG service was seamless.

What 4G, 3G, Edge or even GPRS that works is that then with Vodafone?

After 15 years on Vodafone I have to agree with this! Data performance is extremely frustrating sometimes.

I was with them for about 17 years. It became pointless owning a smartphone with them.

Roll on september when i’ll be leaving vodafone after 15 years. Just spent the weekend in the Dales with two friends who have EE. Both had 4g all weekend, I didn’t even have enough signal to send a text message. Seems to be the case everywhere except town centres

vodafone for me as they have the best coverage in the Highlands, though I’m only there a couple of weeks a year now.

Vodafone share masts with O2 in most of the highlands. So should be much the same coverage. I use Giffgaff (which is O2), its usually fine.

Convert, which village is that ? I live in Clanfield 🙂

Steep 🙂

Three. Free 4G. £18 a month unlimited data/calls/texts and all the allowances I can use in Europe for no extra costs. It does depend on where you live signal strength wise, I tried a mobile wifi device for a year before confirming it was good for me.

As an aside Three (Hutchinson) have just bought O2, we shall have to wait and see whether than means Three will get a cr-p as O2 or O2 will get better.