Testing Pay-As-You-Go SIMs (1 Viewer)

[MyrtleGuru]

During our latest tour of Spain (and a little bit of Portugal) I decided to test some easily obtainable UK pay-as-you-go SIMs. I offer up the results in case they are of use to anyone.

I'm sure many people will have a SIM on contract, which will likely offer better rates, but I have no need of a mobile connection on a regular basis in the UK: I use a fixed fibre connection at home and an employer-supplied mobile, so it's only when I get the chance to go travelling in the van that I need mobile data, hence a PAYG SIM.

In the bad old days that would mean buying a Spanish SIM when I arrived in the country to save being fleeced by roaming charges. Then the EU banned the rip-off roaming rates within the EU, so I could use UK SIMS.

For this test I used three different PAYG SIMs:

Three -- 30GB data valid for three years; bought a long time ago for around £40 -- not sure you can get them any more. I can find 24GB valid for two years.
Giffgaff (runs on O2 network in UK) -- bought a £15 bundle valid for 30 days giving 8GB of data
ASDA (runs on EE network in UK) -- bought a £15 bundle valid for 30 days giving 6GB of data

Equipment

We used a Huawei E5577C mifi which has twin external aerial sockets that were connected to an external MIMO 4G aerial on the metal roof of the cab.

Coverage

The Three SIM lived up to its name and only gave us a 3G connection while abroad, even when the other SIMS gave us 4G while connecting to the same roaming partner in the same location. The same Three SIM gives a good 4G connection in the UK.

Both the Giffgaff and ASDA SIM gave us a 4G connection pretty much everywhere -- due in no small part to the impressive infrastructure in Spain. Only in a couple of very remote mountain locations did they drop to 3G.

Roaming Partners

The Giffgaff SIM always went for Movistar in Spain -- no surprise, as O2 and Movistar share the same owner.
The ASDA SIM favoured Orange and Yoigo.
The Three SIM went mostly for Yoigo.

Streaming

All three were fine for streaming BBC radio, both while static and on the move.

The Giffgaff and ASDA SIM both worked well for streaming BBC TV via iPlayer (no VPN required, the BBC accepted them as being valid UK ISPs). Streaming TV really burns up the data though, as we found out from the 3-hour Strictly final! Streaming TV was not really feasible with the Three SIM.

Topping Up While Abroad

Three -- Not applicable in this case
Giffgaff -- easily done via their website, to which access was still available even when no credit left
ASDA -- you need to register a credit card by phone first, then top up by text message

Prices

Giffgaff Goodybags (valid for 30 days)

£7.50
2GB data
250 mins calls
unlimited texts

£10
3GB data
unlimited mins calls
unlimited texts

£12
4GB data
unlimited mins calls
unlimited texts

£15
8GB
unlimited mins calls
unlimited texts

£20
20GB data
unlimited mins calls
unlimited texts

£25
Always on data. "After 20GB of data used you'll experience a reduced data speed of 384kbps from 8am to midnight. You may notice that activities which require high amounts of data, like HD video streaming, will be slower. Traffic flow applies."
unlimited mins calls
unlimited texts

ASDA Bundles (valid for 30 days)

£10
3GB data
600 minutes calls
unlimited texts

£12
4GB data
800 minutes calls
unlimited texts

£15
6GB data
1,000 minutes calls
unlimited texts

£20
9GB data
unlimited minutes calls
unlimited texts

£25
15GB data
unlimited minutes calls
unlimited texts

Summary

When going to Spain/Portugal, I would definitely use Giffgaff again. It was convenient in terms of buying and topping up, gave good coverage everywhere and was a little cheaper than the ASDA competitor. I did look for an equivalent Vodafone PAYG SIM, but couldn't find one: they seem to be very much focussed on flogging monthly contracts these days.

The Three SIM is good value for light users of data, it is fine for browsing, email, etc. and has the big advantage of a long expiry date.

 

[SuperMike]

Vodaphone do a PAYG sim, but only from its shops. £25 buys you 15g, you can buy less, and is valid for 90days.

 

[MyrtleGuru]

Vodaphone do a PAYG sim, but only from its shops. £25 buys you 15g, you can buy less, and is valid for 90days.

Only from shops -- how quaintly retro

Obviously doing their bit to save the British high street.

 

[Landy Andy]

Thanks for your research and review.

You say streaming was not really feasible on Three.

Is that due to 3G or other reason. We are new to data sims and mifi, but have just returned from France and Germany, getting all our tv from Three PAYG sim.

 

[JockandRita]

@Dave and Ginny. This thread might be of help to you.

Cheers,

Jock.

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[filopastry]

For those with an address in France try Broken Link Removed
9.95e per month for 40Gb
Phone calls and texts unlimited
sim only.

 

[chrisinplymouth]

As an alternative you can get a 30 day contract with vodaphone 50gb data sim £30/ month

 

[peterc10]

Did any of the SIMs have restrictions on roaming use? I think the 3 one restricts the amount of Gb you can use in a month. Do any of the others restrict the amount or time or amount you can use?

 

[Landy Andy]

Vodafone don’t you can use as much as you want where ever you are.

Three limit EU use to 15Gb, no uk limit


Unfortunately I just can’t justify £360 to Vodafone per year to have a contract. I’m planning on buying 3 or 4 pay as you go sims. That way I can swap them about as I wish. I just have to use data within the limit (1 or 2 years) and not leave them unused for more than 6 months.

 

[peterc10]

Vodafone don’t you can use as much as you want where ever you are.

Three limit EU use to 15Gb, no uk limit


Unfortunately I just can’t justify £360 to Vodafone per year to have a contract. I’m planning on buying 3 or 4 pay as you go sims. That way I can swap them about as I wish. I just have to use data within the limit (1 or 2 years) and not leave them unused for more than 6 months.

Most interested in Giff Gaff, because their system allows you to opt in and out on a monthly basis.

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[Hils and Glenns]

We use Giff Gaff in the uk and have used it abroad too. Its fine and as said by @MyrtleGuru easy to top up. The big down side for us is they only allow 2 months abroad on a goodybag. After that you are charged per minute.
I also have a data only contract with 3. £10 a month for 15gb. I got a reduced rate because I complained a lot which is another story. 3 allows you 3 months usage abroad but have a fair usage policy, which I find difficult to understand and monitor. If you have a 15gb contract you can used Go Binge for watching TV (there are rules though). It doesn't use data as long as you have some left.
As we usually go abroad for 3 months at a time the last few days are always a bit dodgy. and I'm looking for ways round that.

 

[Lenny HB]

Unfortunately I just can’t justify £360 to Vodafone per year to have a contract. I’m planning on buying 3 or 4 pay as you go sims. That way I can swap them about as I wish. I just have to use data within the limit (1 or 2 years) and not leave them unused for more than 6 months.

You sign up and then cancel so it only costs you £30 for the month.

 

[Lenny HB]

On our last trip to Spain and Portugal, my phone is on Plusnet which uses EE, and I bought a couple of 6GB EE data sims on ebay for £14.50 (£30 direct from EE). In Portugal bought a NOS Data sim, unlimited data for 15 days for €18 (used over 30GB).
Found the EE coverage very good, only once up in a remote mountain village we couldn't get a signal on our phones or the mifi but with the external aerial by changing networks on the mifi pulled in a 3G signal.
Needn't have bothered buying two of the data sims when we ran out the top up charges were very reasonable, when the data ran out web page came up saying you are in France (on our way home) asking if you want to top up and the rates.

 

[Reallyretired]

I found 3 would only get 3G in Europe I now use Vodafone which gets 4G mostly.

 

[Landy Andy]

Yes. Three is only 3G in Europe. Although we found that fine for live tv and films in France and Germany.

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[tonyl]

Good info @MyrtleGuru and others - I'd been looking at alternatives for this year's trip. Last year, I took the Vodafone 50GB 30 day contract one and cancelled it when we came home.

I looked at the GiffGaff one a few days ago but your confirmation that it worked well abroad in a MiFi is welcome. Did you have to do any APN settings changes in your MiFi or did it just work (we have the same one)? I wonder whether I could get round their fair usage policy by taking another GiffGaff SIM in my wife's name and not using it until after the first stops at the end of month 2. I suppose I'd have to pay for the minimum Goodybag to keep it alive in the interim.

Whatever I do, I'll probably take a 3 one as an emergency backup and I do have a few GB on my 'phone contract but that generally keep that for use when we are out and about during the day.

 

[Manic]

I wonder whether I could get round their fair usage policy by taking another GiffGaff SIM in my wife's name and not using it until after the first stops at the end of month 2. I suppose I'd have to pay for the minimum Goodybag to keep it alive in the interim.

That’s what my wife got, another Giffgaff sim in another name, which she will use after 2 months.

 

[elamessa]

For those with an address in France try Broken Link Removed
9.95e per month for 40Gb
Phone calls and texts unlimited
sim only.

FYI That package only gives you 1 HR of calls, 100 SMS, 10 MMS and 4GB data a month outside France.

 

[MyrtleGuru]

Thanks for your research and review.

You say streaming was not really feasible on Three.

Is that due to 3G or other reason. We are new to data sims and mifi, but have just returned from France and Germany, getting all our tv from Three PAYG sim.

Sorry, been offline for a while. It was just down to the slow speed.

 

[MyrtleGuru]

Good info @MyrtleGuru Did you have to do any APN settings changes in your MiFi or did it just work (we have the same one)? I wonder whether I could get round their fair usage policy by taking another GiffGaff SIM in my wife's name and not using it until after the first stops at the end of month 2. I suppose I'd have to pay for the minimum Goodybag to keep it alive in the interim.

Here are the APN settings we used for the mifi (all manually set).

Provider APN name Username Password
ASDA everywhere eesecure secure
Giffgaff giffgaff.com giffgaff [blank]
Three three.co.uk [blank] [blank]

The weird thing is we also use a Giffgaff SIM in a tracker and that seems to default to O2 settings in the UK whch works fine. But on day two outside of the UK it stopped working and I had to manually reset the APN settings to the above Giffgaff ones, at which point it started working again.

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