May 30, 2013, 7:52 pm
Last edit by: Silver Fox
This is a stub Wiki for this thread - the idea is that any member can edit it to keep it up to date as a distillation of the best info from the thread.
3 - 200MB Free data SIM
3 - 15 pounds for 300 minutes, 3000 texts, and unlimited 3G data for a month (http://store.three.co.uk/view/searchSimOnly?tariff=112) The deal might not be dead but to buy the addon you need to switch WiFi off (!!) and open http://three.co.uk/my3 on your device as this unlinked support page says. Three customer service and store both says this doesn't work with tablets -- however customer service are idiots and doesn't know what is a tablet only knows phones and iPads (both phone and chat -- this is apparently company level). Tread carefully. Anyways, this method still worked on January 13, 2015.
Note the GBP15 all you can eat deal has now been pulled(Note 8/3/16: All in one with All you can eat data is now GBP25): http://www.threemicrosites.co.uk/AIO20B
If you don't want to buy a bundle or a plan, Three's flat rate for calls is now 3p per minute. The expiry time of one month or three months for topups has now been removed. So you pay only 3p per call minute for what you use.
Three's data is only 1p per MB, and you can buy packages (eg 500MB for 5 pounds). The packages ("add-ons") may not save money directly, but those data packages are eligible for use in "Feel at Home" countries (Australia, Austria, Denmark, Hong Kong, Italy, Indonesia, Macau, Ireland, Sri Lanka, Sweden, USA) at no extra charge. See http://support.three.co.uk/SRVS/CGI-...se=EXT(EM11925)
EE: http://shop.ee.co.uk/price-plans/free-sim
Vodafone: https://freesim.vodafone.co.uk
O2: https://www.o2.co.uk/freesim/
giffgaff: www.giffgaff.com/orders/affiliate/nfh (£5 free credit) or www.giffgaff.com/orders/free-sim (no free credit)
Three: https://www.three.co.uk/Support/Free_SIM/Order
How do I top up with an overseas card, or can I use PayPal?
Strangely, some firms insist that you must use a UK issued credit card to topup. Some do take PayPal:
Giffgaff
Vodafone
But it is not as prevalent as it should bein this day and age admittedly. There is a firm that some people have reported success with and they are:
https://www.mobiletopup.co.uk/
What frequencies are used in the UK?
There are a total of 5 different frequencies used in the UK used by the mobile networks to deliver their 2G, 3G and 4G mobile services.
800MHz (Band 20)
900MHz (Band 8)
1800MHz (Band 3)
2100MHz (Band 1)
2600MHz (Band 7)
Here's a chart for iPhones and which bands each model can use. http://www.apple.com/iphone/LTE/
If you're not sure which model you have, look on the back of your iPhone or go into Settings-->General-->About-->Legal-->Regulatory
iphone 5 users note that: iPhone 5 cannot get 4G/LTE on the 800MHz or 2600MHz frequencies but it can on the 1800 frequency.
For other users there are a number of resources to check the frequency your phone supports including:
Global Certification Forum
As an example this is the data for a Samsung J1 Ace SM-J111F
GSMARENA
What frequencies do the different operators use?
Each operator in the UK utilises different frequencies to deliver their mobile networks with the core networks being EE, O2, Vodafone and Three. Then there are also operators, called mobile virtual network operators (MVNO), who utilise the backend of the core networks to offer their own services.
The frequencies used by the major UK networks are:
EE (2G) 1800MHz (3G) 2100MHz (4G LTE) 1800MHz & 2600MHz
O2 (2G) 900MHz & 1800MHz (3G) 900MHz & 2100MHz (4G LTE) 800MHz
Vodafone (2G) 900MHz & 1800MHz (3G) 900MHz & 2100MHz (4G LTE) 800MHz & 2600MHz
Three (2G) N/A (3G) 2100MHz (4G LTE) 800MHz & 1800MHZ
The frequencies used by UK’s MVNO’s are listed below:
Asda Mobile (2G) 1800MHz (3G) 2100MHz (4G LTE) N/A
BT Mobile (2G) 1800MHz (3G) 2100MHz (4G LTE) 800MHz, 1800MHz & 2100MHz
iD Mobile (2G) N/A (3G) 2100MHz (4G LTE) 1800MHz
Freedom Pop (2G) N/A (3G) 2100MHz (4G LTE) 800MHz & 1800MHz
GiffGaff (2G) 900MHz (3G) 900MHz & 2100MHz (4G LTE) 800MHz
Lebara Mobile (2G) 900MHz (3G) 900MHz & 2100MHz (4G LTE) N/A
LycaMobile (2G) 900MHz (3G) 900MHz & 2100MHz (4G LTE) 800MHz
TalkMobile (2G) 900MHz (3G) 900MHz & 2100MHz (4G LTE) N/A
TalkTalk (2G) 900MHz (3G) 900MHz & 2100MHz (4G LTE) 800MHz
Tesco Mobile (2G) 900MHz (3G) 900MHz & 2100MHz (4G LTE) 800MHz
The People’s Operator (2G) 1800MHz (3G) 2100MHz (4G LTE) 800MHz, 1800MHz & 2100MHz
Virgin Mobile (2G) 1800MHz (3G) 2100MHz (4G LTE) 800MHz, 1800MHz, & 2600MHz
Please add and edit!
3 - 200MB Free data SIM
3 - 15 pounds for 300 minutes, 3000 texts, and unlimited 3G data for a month (http://store.three.co.uk/view/searchSimOnly?tariff=112) The deal might not be dead but to buy the addon you need to switch WiFi off (!!) and open http://three.co.uk/my3 on your device as this unlinked support page says. Three customer service and store both says this doesn't work with tablets -- however customer service are idiots and doesn't know what is a tablet only knows phones and iPads (both phone and chat -- this is apparently company level). Tread carefully. Anyways, this method still worked on January 13, 2015.
Note the GBP15 all you can eat deal has now been pulled(Note 8/3/16: All in one with All you can eat data is now GBP25): http://www.threemicrosites.co.uk/AIO20B
If you don't want to buy a bundle or a plan, Three's flat rate for calls is now 3p per minute. The expiry time of one month or three months for topups has now been removed. So you pay only 3p per call minute for what you use.
Three's data is only 1p per MB, and you can buy packages (eg 500MB for 5 pounds). The packages ("add-ons") may not save money directly, but those data packages are eligible for use in "Feel at Home" countries (Australia, Austria, Denmark, Hong Kong, Italy, Indonesia, Macau, Ireland, Sri Lanka, Sweden, USA) at no extra charge. See http://support.three.co.uk/SRVS/CGI-...se=EXT(EM11925)
EE: http://shop.ee.co.uk/price-plans/free-sim
Vodafone: https://freesim.vodafone.co.uk
O2: https://www.o2.co.uk/freesim/
giffgaff: www.giffgaff.com/orders/affiliate/nfh (£5 free credit) or www.giffgaff.com/orders/free-sim (no free credit)
Three: https://www.three.co.uk/Support/Free_SIM/Order
How do I top up with an overseas card, or can I use PayPal?
Strangely, some firms insist that you must use a UK issued credit card to topup. Some do take PayPal:
Giffgaff
Vodafone
But it is not as prevalent as it should bein this day and age admittedly. There is a firm that some people have reported success with and they are:
https://www.mobiletopup.co.uk/
What frequencies are used in the UK?
There are a total of 5 different frequencies used in the UK used by the mobile networks to deliver their 2G, 3G and 4G mobile services.
800MHz (Band 20)
900MHz (Band 8)
1800MHz (Band 3)
2100MHz (Band 1)
2600MHz (Band 7)
Here's a chart for iPhones and which bands each model can use. http://www.apple.com/iphone/LTE/
If you're not sure which model you have, look on the back of your iPhone or go into Settings-->General-->About-->Legal-->Regulatory
iphone 5 users note that: iPhone 5 cannot get 4G/LTE on the 800MHz or 2600MHz frequencies but it can on the 1800 frequency.
For other users there are a number of resources to check the frequency your phone supports including:
Global Certification Forum
As an example this is the data for a Samsung J1 Ace SM-J111F
GSMARENA
What frequencies do the different operators use?
Each operator in the UK utilises different frequencies to deliver their mobile networks with the core networks being EE, O2, Vodafone and Three. Then there are also operators, called mobile virtual network operators (MVNO), who utilise the backend of the core networks to offer their own services.
The frequencies used by the major UK networks are:
EE (2G) 1800MHz (3G) 2100MHz (4G LTE) 1800MHz & 2600MHz
O2 (2G) 900MHz & 1800MHz (3G) 900MHz & 2100MHz (4G LTE) 800MHz
Vodafone (2G) 900MHz & 1800MHz (3G) 900MHz & 2100MHz (4G LTE) 800MHz & 2600MHz
Three (2G) N/A (3G) 2100MHz (4G LTE) 800MHz & 1800MHZ
The frequencies used by UK’s MVNO’s are listed below:
Asda Mobile (2G) 1800MHz (3G) 2100MHz (4G LTE) N/A
BT Mobile (2G) 1800MHz (3G) 2100MHz (4G LTE) 800MHz, 1800MHz & 2100MHz
iD Mobile (2G) N/A (3G) 2100MHz (4G LTE) 1800MHz
Freedom Pop (2G) N/A (3G) 2100MHz (4G LTE) 800MHz & 1800MHz
GiffGaff (2G) 900MHz (3G) 900MHz & 2100MHz (4G LTE) 800MHz
Lebara Mobile (2G) 900MHz (3G) 900MHz & 2100MHz (4G LTE) N/A
LycaMobile (2G) 900MHz (3G) 900MHz & 2100MHz (4G LTE) 800MHz
TalkMobile (2G) 900MHz (3G) 900MHz & 2100MHz (4G LTE) N/A
TalkTalk (2G) 900MHz (3G) 900MHz & 2100MHz (4G LTE) 800MHz
Tesco Mobile (2G) 900MHz (3G) 900MHz & 2100MHz (4G LTE) 800MHz
The People’s Operator (2G) 1800MHz (3G) 2100MHz (4G LTE) 800MHz, 1800MHz & 2100MHz
Virgin Mobile (2G) 1800MHz (3G) 2100MHz (4G LTE) 800MHz, 1800MHz, & 2600MHz
Please add and edit!
Prepaid SIM - UK/Great Britain/England/Scotland/Wales
Sep 2, 2013, 2:13 am
#61
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: London & Sonoma CA
Programs: UA 1K, MM *G for life, BAEC Gold
Posts: 10,224
Strangely, I had the opposite experience with EE in London. It barely worked at all in many locations, including outside the Orange store on the King's Road (they had a booster in-store so it worked there). No more EE for me - I've found 3 to be much more reliable.
Sep 4, 2013, 9:08 am
#62
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Northern Italian Lakes
Programs: BA, *A, Hertz Goldstar, Mucci wannabee, Waitrose, safari Oleg
Posts: 1,545
Three / 3 / Hutchison network in the UK recently revised their pricing for PAYG and plans.
Calls within the UK on PAYG are now 3p flat rate. Key: PAYG topups do not expire each month or threemonths anymore. So none of your money is wasted and you get the best call rate for calls outside of bundles or plans. They can also give you dialling codes that make many international calls 3p per minute, or other low rates, to call other countries from the UK with your same Three PAYG SIM. Phone Three 3333 free from your Three SIM to get the codes.
Next best I have found is GiffGaff. Excellent 'bundles' of a certain number of minutes for a fixed amount that you pay upfront, if you want to make lots of calls. BUT the bundles expire after 1 month. Outside of bundles their call rate can now be beaten (including by Three above).
Tesco is apparently not bad.
Tesco and GiffGaff are MVNO's currently running on O2 network.
IMHO Three currently has the best price performance for data too. Some defects in coverage, and some current network issues which I am sure will be fixed very quickly. Note Three allows Skype, most other mobile networks in UK block this. For performance TMobile/EE/Everything Everywhere is pretty good most places, but requires you to buy bundles that expire.
Just my view of the current best options in the UK market, from someone who has watched it for many years.
Calls within the UK on PAYG are now 3p flat rate. Key: PAYG topups do not expire each month or threemonths anymore. So none of your money is wasted and you get the best call rate for calls outside of bundles or plans. They can also give you dialling codes that make many international calls 3p per minute, or other low rates, to call other countries from the UK with your same Three PAYG SIM. Phone Three 3333 free from your Three SIM to get the codes.
Next best I have found is GiffGaff. Excellent 'bundles' of a certain number of minutes for a fixed amount that you pay upfront, if you want to make lots of calls. BUT the bundles expire after 1 month. Outside of bundles their call rate can now be beaten (including by Three above).
Tesco is apparently not bad.
Tesco and GiffGaff are MVNO's currently running on O2 network.
IMHO Three currently has the best price performance for data too. Some defects in coverage, and some current network issues which I am sure will be fixed very quickly. Note Three allows Skype, most other mobile networks in UK block this. For performance TMobile/EE/Everything Everywhere is pretty good most places, but requires you to buy bundles that expire.
Just my view of the current best options in the UK market, from someone who has watched it for many years.
Last edited by h15t0r1an; Sep 4, 2013 at 9:19 am
Sep 4, 2013, 9:41 am
#63
Join Date: May 2005
Location: PHX
Programs: AA Gold, WN A+ & CP, HH Diamond, Hyatt Platinum, National Executive Elite
Posts: 3,246
Just got back from a week in London. I used giffgaff and was pretty happy with it.
I ordered a SIM from one of the agents rather than directly from giffgaff and that got me an additional £5 when I topped up. I found lots of links to agents that will send out SIM cards at no charge.
The SIM was shipped to my US address so I had it before I left. Activated it online with no issues and added £10 using my US credit card. I think I put in a UK postal code for my ZIP and it went through just fine. The extra £5 showed up immediately and then I converted the £10 top up to a £10 goodybag which gave me 500 UK minutes, unlimited UK texts, and 1GB of data. This was really more than I needed but wasn't sure how much data I would use.
The nice thing about the extra £5 was that calls to the US were just 3p a minute so I didn't need to worry about using Skype, etc.
Giffgaff also has a app that lets you see how many minutes, etc that you've used.
Didn't really look at how this would have worked if I had been traveling in Europe but if you are just in London then I would definitely recommend this.
I ordered a SIM from one of the agents rather than directly from giffgaff and that got me an additional £5 when I topped up. I found lots of links to agents that will send out SIM cards at no charge.
The SIM was shipped to my US address so I had it before I left. Activated it online with no issues and added £10 using my US credit card. I think I put in a UK postal code for my ZIP and it went through just fine. The extra £5 showed up immediately and then I converted the £10 top up to a £10 goodybag which gave me 500 UK minutes, unlimited UK texts, and 1GB of data. This was really more than I needed but wasn't sure how much data I would use.
The nice thing about the extra £5 was that calls to the US were just 3p a minute so I didn't need to worry about using Skype, etc.
Giffgaff also has a app that lets you see how many minutes, etc that you've used.
Didn't really look at how this would have worked if I had been traveling in Europe but if you are just in London then I would definitely recommend this.
Sep 25, 2013, 9:49 am
#64
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: MCO
Posts: 92
IMHO Three currently has the best price performance for data too. Some defects in coverage, and some current network issues which I am sure will be fixed very quickly. Note Three allows Skype, most other mobile networks in UK block this. For performance TMobile/EE/Everything Everywhere is pretty good most places, but requires you to buy bundles that expire.
Just my view of the current best options in the UK market, from someone who has watched it for many years.
We are flying into Gatwick, taking the train to Victoria Station and then the tube to Earls Court. I'm looking for a Three store anywhere those locations and the nearest ones are over 1-2 km away. Are there third party stores selling the SIMS and do I need to worry about them being sketchy?
Thanks for the help.
Sep 25, 2013, 9:53 am
#65
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: ORD
Posts: 14,231
Forgive the obvious newbie question. I couldn't find the answer searching the thread. I'm looking to get a SIM for our iPhone 3G or 4S (depends if AT&T will let us unlock the 4S before we go). We are most interested in using for data and some texts for the 2 weeks we will be in the UK. The Three plans look like the least expensive for unlimited data. Do we just walk into a store and buy a SIM? Online the Three site says that you need to give 30 days notice to cancel even for the 1 month prepaid plan? Am I reading too much into this?
Sep 25, 2013, 8:10 pm
#67
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: MCO
Posts: 92
Check out Giffgaff - I posted about them in this thread earlier. You'll have your card activated and UK number all setup before you leave the US.
Sep 26, 2013, 7:35 am
#68
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: DAY/CMH
Programs: UA MileagePlus
Posts: 2,474
Nano-sized SIMs are thinner as well as smaller. The SIM cutter I got comes with a little square of sandpaper to take care of that problem.
Sep 26, 2013, 10:11 am
#69
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: London & Sonoma CA
Programs: UA 1K, MM *G for life, BAEC Gold
Posts: 10,224
We are flying into Gatwick, taking the train to Victoria Station and then the tube to Earls Court. I'm looking for a Three store anywhere those locations and the nearest ones are over 1-2 km away. Are there third party stores selling the SIMS and do I need to worry about them being sketchy?
Thanks for the help.
I'm on 3 and find it to be excellent - and I live near there. Personally I'd go with 3 over GiffGaff because you have proper support options - 3 stores, Carphone Warehouses and support numbers that are properly staffed. I'm sure Giff Gaff are ok but, as a virtual operator rather than a network, it's simply higher risk. You are on a network rather than a virtual operator at home presumably for similar reasons.
Sep 26, 2013, 11:35 am
#70
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: ORD
Posts: 14,231
Get the biggest option. The only difference in SIM card types is the amount of plastic around the chip. You can buy a cutter for a few dollars on Amazon.com.
Nano-sized SIMs are thinner as well as smaller. The SIM cutter I got comes with a little square of sandpaper to take care of that problem.
Nano-sized SIMs are thinner as well as smaller. The SIM cutter I got comes with a little square of sandpaper to take care of that problem.
Sep 27, 2013, 9:47 am
#72
Join Date: Nov 2005
Programs: BA, AA, FB
Posts: 556
Has anybody had any success recently with ordering a sim card from toggle mobile? I keep getting a "payment error" message when using a US address an credit card.
Why not just order both? Once you know which phone you'll be using, only activate the sim card for that one.
Why not just order both? Once you know which phone you'll be using, only activate the sim card for that one.
Sep 27, 2013, 10:28 am
#73
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: DAY/CMH
Programs: UA MileagePlus
Posts: 2,474
I see they've increased the minimum starting credit to £25, which seems like a lot to me. I bought two Toggle SIMs from the eBay vendor gosimcard with just £5 credit for less than $15 each (though I see that vendor has raised the price a little). They arrived promptly, cut to the size I requested. I had to top up one of them twice at ten pounds+significant aggravation, so that one would have been cheaper direct from Toggle. The other one still has a little less than two pounds' credit on it after a week in France and three weeks in the UK.
-Andy
Sep 27, 2013, 10:36 am
#74
Join Date: Nov 2005
Programs: BA, AA, FB
Posts: 556
Thanks Andy. Unfortunately PayPal is not showing as an option for me on the order page. I've sent an email to customer support, but if I don't hear back soon, I'll go the ebay route. It looks like cost will be practically the same - $7 is just under the 5gbp that toggle charges on their website. Top ups start at 20gbp too so I'll be paying roughly 25gbp either way.
Were you happy with their voice coverage in the UK? I'll mainly be in central London.
Were you happy with their voice coverage in the UK? I'll mainly be in central London.
Sep 27, 2013, 10:50 am
#75
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: DAY/CMH
Programs: UA MileagePlus
Posts: 2,474
Thanks Andy. Unfortunately PayPal is not showing as an option for me on the order page. I've sent an email to customer support, but if I don't hear back soon, I'll go the ebay route. It looks like cost will be practically the same - $7 is just under the 5gbp that toggle charges on their website. Top ups start at 20gbp too so I'll be paying roughly 25gbp either way.
Were you happy with their voice coverage in the UK? I'll mainly be in central London.
Were you happy with their voice coverage in the UK? I'll mainly be in central London.
You may be looking at a different offer from gosimcard. The one I see is US$17 for a card with £5 on it.