# SIM only: deal or no deal



## London_Calling (Feb 23, 2011)

Year contract
300  mins talkie time per month
1 GB per month internuts
Texts unlimited
£10 direct debit

What say yee?


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## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Feb 23, 2011)

Would be shit for me as there is no way I was going to make £10 worth of calls a month. Plus I hate contracts. 

I currently have 100 mpm 
Unlimited texts
£5
No contract.


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## London_Calling (Feb 23, 2011)

No internet?

Got to say I like the range of SIM deals - pretty flexible.


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## Oswaldtwistle (Feb 23, 2011)

Not bad. Who is that with?

Tesco were doing '500 mins,500 megs, unlimited texts' for a tenner at one point.

But you had to ring up, it's not available online.

Maybe worth a free phone call to them to see if they are still doing it.. 0800 022 4030


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## Oswaldtwistle (Feb 23, 2011)

Also note that PAYG network GiffGaff are currently offering 250 minutes, unlimited texts and unlimited web for a tenner- with no contract. But it's not clear how long that price will last for. It's been extended again, but it's not clear if this is a permanent deal. 

That's one good thing about a contract-they work both ways so you are guarenteed the deal for a minimum of a year/

However on the flip side Giff Gaff claim their internet is truly 'unlimited'


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## London_Calling (Feb 23, 2011)

Oswaldtwistle said:


> Not bad. Who is that with?
> 
> Tesco were doing '500 mins,500 megs, unlimited texts' for a tenner at one point.
> 
> ...


 
Yep, that deal finished on the last Sun in Jan, I believe. 500 megs prob wasn't enough though, at the time, I regretted not taking that deal. 

This one (in the OP) is also a Tesco deal - 1 GB feels better. Allegedly that's about 11 hours of normal browsing (non-streaming) a month.


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## Oswaldtwistle (Feb 23, 2011)

I thought 1 gig was more like 30 hours?


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## teuchter (Feb 28, 2011)

I've just taken a SIM only deal from 3 who I've been with for a while. It took a bit of haggling but:

400 minutes
250 texts
25 MMS
2gig internet
A few other bits & bobs I never use
Rolling contract

£5.75/month

It's always worth doing a bit of bargaining (threaten to leave, tell them what offers you're looking at from other operators etc).

It's good to see that SIM-only deals are becoming more widely offered - most contracts including a handset are a bit of a scam really.


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## London_Calling (Mar 1, 2011)

That's a great deal. I did notice yesterday some are willing to haggle but I'm not sure I could get that deal from in-off-the-street.


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## teuchter (Mar 1, 2011)

Don't bother with high st phone shops - all the decent deals are online. Check out cashback deals on sites like Quidco. There was a sim-only deal from Vodafone with £100+ cashback via Quidco that worked out at about £10 a month for a decent amount of minutes, text and data. Check it out quick though because I think it was soon to expire when I was looking the other day.


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## teuchter (Mar 1, 2011)

Haggling really only works with your current operator because they are keen to keep your custom (and have a record of your actual usage).


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## London_Calling (Mar 1, 2011)

The deal in the OP seems ok, could just do with it being a monthly rolling contract but it's not the end of the world.

I'll take a look online.


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## teuchter (Mar 1, 2011)

One of the attractions of the vodafone one was that you could have calls to 0800 numbers etc included in your allowance. Worth thinking about if you don't have a landline or often need to call those kinds of numbers on the go.


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## usertech (Mar 4, 2011)

The deal the OP has posted £10 sim only cant be beat, unless he goes for a £15 deal, in which more minutes will be available.


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## hash tag (Aug 6, 2021)

Funnily enough, after lots of negotiation, 10 years later and I have just been offered 10gb, unlimited calls etc for £10 per month by on 5g by current provider. Am looking at 15gb for £8 a month by Vodaphone. Is this average or good I wonder.


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## skyscraper101 (Aug 6, 2021)

15gb for £8/month is decent on Vodafone, as long as you’re sure you won’t use more than that allowance. 

Obvs there are other factors to consider like how long you’re locked in for and whether you get a good signal etc. The best data deals on paper are usually from the ones who piggyback off the main networks (voxi, smarty, giffgaff etc) but IME the data speed can be unreliable and customer service lacking.


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## BristolEcho (Aug 6, 2021)

I just switched to 3 and got £50 cashback, 30GB, unlimited calls and texts for £10 per month. Worth checking out topcashback if you're switching as all the providers usually have something on.


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## MBV (Aug 6, 2021)

That Voda deal sounds decent. I'm on Virgin - £8/month for 8GB. Hardly use any data now I work from home full time.


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## Throbbing Angel (Aug 6, 2021)

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## hash tag (Aug 6, 2021)

BristolEcho said:


> I just switched to 3 and got £50 cashback, 30GB, unlimited calls and texts for £10 per month. Worth checking out topcashback if you're switching as all the providers usually have something on.


Im finding 30GB for £15 PM at 3?


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## BristolEcho (Aug 6, 2021)

Yeah think it was a short term deal linked to topcashback so possibly expired now.


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## BristolEcho (Aug 6, 2021)

Showing on topcashback  at £12 with cashback


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## Throbbing Angel (Aug 6, 2021)

12gb for £7pm from three


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## Throbbing Angel (Aug 7, 2021)

Whopper, dunno if30 day, or what but 160gb


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## platinumsage (Aug 7, 2021)

I'm paying £20 for 80GB from EE and locked into a 24 month contract. I use about 500MB a month.


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## UnderAnOpenSky (Aug 7, 2021)

Throbbing Angel said:


> 12gb for £7pm from three
> 
> View attachment 282406



I recently switched to them when my EE contract ran out. Get 30gb for a tenner a month which is plenty. 12 month contract. 

Fustratingly the network isn't as good as EE. Get what you pay for I guess


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## Throbbing Angel (Aug 7, 2021)

UnderAnOpenSky said:


> I recently switched to them when my EE contract ran out. Get 30gb for a tenner a month which is plenty. 12 month contract.
> 
> Fustratingly the network isn't as good as EE. Get what you pay for I guess


I'm thinking of leaving EE because the signal has become shittier where i live and work.
My work SIM in that same phone is Voda and is always at full or fullish strength.
Still have 9 months left on EE, though.
Horses for courses innit.

Can a different phone make a difference to reception? I'm sure EE seemed stronger in my previous Samsung phone.


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## UnderAnOpenSky (Aug 7, 2021)

Throbbing Angel said:


> I'm thinking of leaving EE because the signal has become Whittier where i live and work.
> My work SIM in that same phone is Voda and is always at full or fullish strength.
> Still have 9 months left on EE, though.
> Horses for courses innit.
> ...



Of course its area specific. There's a few places I've noticed 3 is better, but across the board EE wins. No good to you though if its not where you need it! 

I think the phone can make a difference, but I'd expect it to be pretty marginal if your dealing with half decent modern phones.


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## MBV (Aug 7, 2021)

Annoyingly when I switched from Three to Virgin I lost WiFi calling. I did think the underlying network was EE but this looks like it is now VodaFone.


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## spudulike (Aug 7, 2021)

London_Calling said:


> Year contract
> 300  mins talkie time per month
> 1 GB per month internuts
> Texts unlimited
> ...



Nah.

An idea of what you need would help clued-up people point you in the right direction.

As a non clued-up person I can beat that. 1p Mobile with a £3 unlimited calls and text boost and a £6 2GB data boost = £9pm. No contract. We use them for our house mobile. £30 per year for our outgoing calls and a few texts. They also do 10GB data boost for £10 and 50GB for £15.


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## High Voltage (Aug 7, 2021)

Question for all you tech savvy yoot!

Do you keep your number on these 12 month sim only deals or is that not an option


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## ruffneck23 (Aug 7, 2021)

as long as you have the PAC code there shouldnt be a problem with keeping / transferring numbers


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## hash tag (Aug 7, 2021)

I'm currently with EE and thinking of leaving and I am feeling tight. There is often free WiFi in many places you go, so data shouldn't be an issue. As Mrs tag is with Vodafone, one of us should always have coverage. I'm targeting sub £10 per month, probably with 3 or even 02.


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## miss direct (Aug 7, 2021)

I pay £10 a month on o2 for 6gb free calls and texts. And a free breakfast roll or sausage roll from Greggs every Friday and Saturday 😆


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## hash tag (Aug 7, 2021)

Free sausage rolls from Greggs; seriously? Im in.


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## On Fire (Aug 7, 2021)

I pay £12 a month for 12GB on Voxi (Vodafone). It comes with unlimited social media and video streaming. Works well for me. 
www.voxi.co.uk


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## hash tag (Aug 7, 2021)

I thought streaming would be part of your data allowance as opposed to being outside it and free


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## On Fire (Aug 7, 2021)

hash tag said:


> I thought streaming would be part of your data allowance as opposed to being outside it and free



Unlimited streaming is Voxi's unique selling proposition on their £12, £15, and £20 plans.
Three used to offer Go Binge, but have scrapped it.


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## On Fire (Aug 7, 2021)

hash tag said:


> I thought streaming would be part of your data allowance as opposed to being outside it and free



I do agree that as part of net neutrality, streaming should be part of data allowance and not outside it.
I used to be on Giffgaff, but their lack of VoLTE and VoWiFi annoyed me, so I moved to Voxi.


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## skyscraper101 (Aug 9, 2021)

High Voltage said:


> Question for all you tech savvy yoot!
> 
> Do you keep your number on these 12 month sim only deals or is that not an option



Yes you can keep your number no matter what type of deal you're on, 12 month, 1 month PAYG. You just need the PAC from the previous contract.


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## skyscraper101 (Aug 9, 2021)

On Fire said:


> I do agree that as part of net neutrality, streaming should be part of data allowance and not outside it.
> I used to be on Giffgaff, but their lack of VoLTE and VoWiFi annoyed me, so I moved to Voxi.



Voxi is the only MVNO which I haven't tried which might have been tempted by because of the unlimited data - as they run on Vodafone which IME was always fairly reliable in most areas of the country.

I've stuck with EE though these days because although not the cheapest they have been pretty solid everywhere, fast data compared to Three/Smarty, and the addons are good, VoLTE, VoWiFi, and visual voicemail.


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