Prepaid SIM - UK/Great Britain/England/Scotland/Wales
 

Some UK airport WH Smith stores have started selling the UK version of Toggle - a Lyca Mobile brand. The main differentiatior is multi-IMSI capabilities. There is a group of countries which attract lower call/data rates and for which local numbers can be acquired. These "Toggle" countries currently include: Australia, France, Denmark, Ireland, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Germany & Poland.

Local numbers free for 30 days or 5 GBP/year to keep.

Details at: www.togglemobile.co.uk

Web site is currently offering a free Toggle SIM card to UK addresses:

https://account.togglemobile.co.uk/f...t.aspx?lang=EN

There is also a Netherlands version of the product at http://www.togglemobile.nl

At 15p/Mb the data isn't the cheapest but the list of countries that attract the low rate is good so not bad for city hopping with a smartphone. The UK version of the product has also started offering data bundles for use in the UK.

In some ways Toggle seems to be delivering what Truphone teased for so long....

UK numbers are 07438 Lyca numbers so may be chargeable from T-Mobile UK lines due to their longstanding disagreement.

They'll also mail the SIM to the USA. I requested it via their contact page. There's a free sim offer without credit going on until Jan 30 which was already extended a few times.

Topup minimum is 10 GBP and they also take PayPal now. It does seem handy for city hopping with a smartphone.

Can anyone using the Toggle service let us know as to call quality and roaming outside the major cities? Also, reading their T&C's says that your info also goes to India and you agree that by activating the sim that your information would then be available to third parties, including your birthdate. Doesn't that invite lots of spam mail and possibly security issues?

bj-21.

Thanks for the head's up on T&C. I haven't received mine to activate, so I didn't look there, yet. They might outsource some of their customer service to India but I'll be sure to read the details before activating.

Hey guys
 

I used to live in the UK and had a UK phone so didn't have to deal with SIMs. Here's what I'm wondering:

I'm on AT&T with a Galaxy S3 phone:

Can I just get off the plane, buy a pre-paid SIM (probably O2) with messages and data, switch it out with my US SIM - and I'm all set? I'm worried my US phone is gonna not work with the SIM or not be compatible.

Is there anything else I need to do?

Sorry for being a noob - heh.

thanks!

If your Galaxy S3 is SIM-locked, which it likely is if you purchased it from AT&T in the U.S., then you will not be able to use a non-AT&T SIM in it.

If you have had your phone for more than two years (not likely, as the S3 is not that old), you can ask AT&T to SIM-unlock it for you, in which case you can then use a non-AT&T SIM in it. If it is not yet two years old, you can search for some services online who may be able to help you (not quite legitimately) SIM-unlock the phone for you.

Hey thanks! What a quick response.

So what would be my options then? I have an iPhone 4 that I no longer use (it's what I had before the S3) and that one is more than two years old. Would I be able to buy a UK Sim and use it in that one? It's a normal sized SIM (not mini or micro).

Does it seem like that would work? Otherwise I might have to buy a whole phone over there and I don't fancy it.

How about Holiday Phone? Would that work in either case?

Thanks SO Much.

To use a UK SIM, you need a phone that is not SIM locked to a US carrier.

Your iPhone 4 should work if it's an AT&T phone (I did the same with my old iPhone 4, which I then used with a Claro SIM in Peru). However, you'll need to get AT&T to unlock it before you leave. You might be able to do that by going to an AT&T or Apple store; otherwise, you may need to do some research online to see how to get it unlocked by AT&T over the phone since it's no longer your active phone. Those instructions are probably a bit beyond the scope of this thread, but it should be doable.

I'm sorry, I don't know what a Holiday Phone is.

Okay - cool. Called AT&T and got my old iPhone4 unlocked. Just connected to iTunes and backed it up.

By all counts - I should now be able to put a prepaid UK micro-SIM into it and use it while I'm in the UK? Hope so!

Congratulations! Yes, it should work. If you have access to a friend with a non-AT&T SIM card, it might be worth testing, but it should work. (It did for me.)

It should work

Great - so it should even work if I pop my buddy's US Sprint SIM Card in it, yeah? And it would effectively be like his phone since it has his SIM in it, yeah? If that works, then I'm golden.

thanks for all the help!

It should, although keep in mind that Sprint (and Verizon, for that matter) is a CDMA carrier, which uses a completely different technology and frequency band than AT&T's and T-Mobile's GSM phones (GSM is also used by the rest of the world--Sprint and Verizon are the outliers). Don't be surprised if you put your buddy's Sprint card in in and you don't get a signal. However, if you put the SIM card in and you do not get an error (i.e. it looks like the phone works fine except it can't get a signal), you should be good. If you put the SIM card in and get an error about the SIM not being for the right network (I don't recall the exact text of the error), then it likely won't work in the UK.

Great - so it should even work if I pop my buddy's US Sprint SIM Card in it, yeah? And it would effectively be like his phone since it has his SIM in it, yeah? If that works, then I'm golden.

thanks for all the help!

I'll add my standard plug here that Three is a great deal: 20 pounds for 3000 texts, 3000 UK minutes, and unlimited 3G data for a month.

In LHR Terminal 5 there's a vending machine for prepaid SIM Cards in the baggage claim area. I didn't take a long look but I noticed they had Three SIM cards which generally offer a decent amount of data.

iPhone 4S Unlocked & SIM Card
 

Thanks again to those who suggested I simply start with AT&T. Having met their criteria (contract fulfilled, didn't stiff them, etc.) they implemented whatever need to be done on their end. I then did a backup and restore to the original settings which was sans AT&T. Unlocked.
Next question. Again, I will be in UK and want to purchase a SIM card for both digital use (2 Gb over a two week stay) and cellphone calls to US with nominal charges. Hopefully SIM is good for travel within Europe and unused allotment carries over to next visit 4 - 5 months later.
What SIM card do I get and can I buy this ahead of time on Amazon or ??

First of all for information about UK SIMs go to http://www.prepaidgsm.net where you'll find information on the various operators and MVNOs in the UK. As for getting a SIM if you cannot wait til you get to the UK if you feel comfortable dealing with eBay you might go there either to the US eBay site or to ebay.co.uk where you might be able to find someone selling a UK SIM with some data if you're wanting to get something ahead of time. You could go to telestial.com and get a SIM there but you'll pay a hefty price for the convenience of using them. Going to ebay.co.uk and putting in the search term "pay as you go SIM card" I get several hits and on the first page someone with a buy it now is selling a 3GB "3" card for just over £10. You'd probably pay whatever "P&P" is from the UK but I'd imagine it wouldn't be much. I see lots of other PAYG SIMs there as well with pricing as little as 99P. I assume that the cards being sold for 99P are not loaded with any credit and you'd have to "top up" from someone who sells top up cards or vouchers (available most anywhere in the UK.) And just so you know the lingo prepaid is generally referred to as "pay as you go" abbreviated as PAYG in the UK.

Check out GiffGaff; pretty inexpensive plans with lots of data (using one of their "GoodyBags"). I ordered a precut nano SIM for my iPhone 5 from this guy along with a top-up voucher, received it within a week and was able to activate and charge it up before leaving the US.

+1 for giffgaff and Khairul. He sent 2 SIMs to me for free and I had them within 5 business days. Got everything activated before I left and hit the ground running when we landed. Had no coverage issues and data speeds were great.

Also considered 3, O2 and Toggle (Toggle was in consideration as we also visited DUB on this trip) but giffgaff seemed to be the best value overall.

I've heard conflicting things about Giffgaff's data speeds (but everyone reports their coverage is awesome). Did you do any VOIP calling over 3G (with Google Voice, etc.)? Any issues with streaming video or music?

T-MO UK Flash Sale: Full Monty Sim at £16, down from £26! 5000 texts, 2000 mins talk & unlimited data & free tmobile to tmobile calls. - possible £20 Quidco cashback - 30 day contract!

http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/25th...aign=Daily+Hot

I'll give a thumbs up for Three also. Their data network, where I've used it, has been nothing short of superb. I use a prepaid MiFi device to provide data for my Nexus 7 (and extra allowance on my contract phone) when on the move.

The Lyca product looks great for moving around Europe though.

Do the Heathrow vending machines have micro SIMs? I know I can buy a SIM cutter but want to see if that can be avoided for my Nexus 4. I figure they are pretty common since iPhones use them.

From what I hear, it's best to avoid the SIM card machines at Heathrow and just walk into a mobile store somewhere in London. Not sure if it's true, but I've heard the vending machines charge you several pounds just for the SIM card, which you would get for free if you got it in a store.

I know the vending machine at T1 has micro SIMs on Vodaphone. I was traveling with friend and he bought one for his iPhone. Not sure about other networks wasn't looking that hard.

Personally have been using a t-mobile PAYGO for last 5 yrs. Only make the odd call and text, primarily VOIP and email 2.50 GBP for 5 days or 5 GBP for the month.

To answer my own question, there are ample SIM machines around the airport and I was able to buy one right after I made it through Customs in terminal 3.

What about Vodafone? I plan on visiting a few other countries in Europe (though London is the first) and figured I would get better rates from a company that operates everywhere I'm going. Seems they have free SIM cards, too, and I assume I'll have to hunt down a vodafone store once I arrive. (my phone is unlocked)

I dont need data - mostly local calls and maybe a few texts back to the States.

I had no issues with giffgaff speeds or coverage. I recall making a couple VOIP calls over 3G with Talkatone/GV and call quality was so-so (though acceptable), but I think that was more an issue with Talkatone than 3G speed as I had similar call quality on wifi.

I've tried buying from these guys twice a month apart, with different cards. Get "payment failure" each time.

I'm looking at going to UK for a month in July. I was just wondering if there's much variation in network coverage, particularly in Scotland.

Advertising I've seen has EE saying they have the biggest 3G network in UK, but considering that they've just merged 2 networks, that could either mean that they cover the largest geographical area, or they could have twice as many base stations in a small area

From memory they are charging ~ 10 pound for the SIM plus a 10 pound recharge - which is the same as you'll get anywhere else.

WH Smith shops at the airport also sell some SIM cards as well as recharge vouchers for many providers.

Is there a way to get the SIM mailed to the USA? I need something for an upcoming trip to the UK for a family member and would rather set it up in advance.

You could buy a SIM on eBay and ask an English friend to buy a 20 pound topup and email you the code.

It's hassle free to do it in the airport, though. I went to the Boots pharmacy to top up.

is calling back to the states really only 3p a minute? Sounds like a pretty nice deal, 15pounds for unlimited data, 300 UK minutes, 3000 texts, and 3p calling to the usa? I'd buy that for 25$ if I could somehow get the card in advance. Might try ebay.

I'm not sure where you get the 3p/min for calls to the USA. I don't think that's the case.

right 'chere..

http://support.three.co.uk/srvs/cgi-...ional0calling*'

I've had the confused moments before where it was cheaper to buy mobile minutes to call the US from from foreign mobiles than domestic ones. In Hong Kong, I once purchased 1000 minutes to call the US for about US$6.50.

I switched to Ovivo 6 months back who provide advertisement supported free monthly allowance of 150min, 200 texts and 500MB Internet. £15 for the sim which is then credited to your account for PAYG.

http://ovivomobile.com/

I took a shot with them given it feels too much like a good deal knowing worst case was losing £15 but it has worked perfectly.