Which phone package (1 Viewer)

BillandHelen

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Nov 17, 2013
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My existing mobile contract with vodaphone is now up for renewal, currently have unlimited calls and text with 10gb of data. Own the phone so looking for a sim only deal.
Three seem to offer the best data deals, 30gb data for £18 or 100gb data for£25. Vodaphone best price is 20gb for £20, not too bad.
As we live in Scotland, travel in uk and europe, can anyone give first hand experience of the 3 network for reception, download etc, comparator sites seem to say all ok?
All advice welcome!!

thanks
Bill
 
Jun 25, 2013
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Used 3 on 7 wk trip to Nordic countries would give it 9 out of 10 worked a treat in Finland/ Sweden /Norway and inside the artic circle ! The worse connection / signal was in northern Germany I got 30gb ( 12gb a month in Europe limit , but take 2 sims ) 200 mins texts for £15 a month .
 
Jan 3, 2008
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I dont believe you can tether with 3 and your data is capped at a fair usage amount so you may be restricted depending on how long you stay away. 3 also throttle data speeds, or at least thats what I found when I was with them.

Thats why I switched to Vodafone and have had no issues, they don't throttle, don't cut roaming after a set time and there are no restrictions on tethering. I suggest as you are coming toward the end of your contract you are in a strong position and should have no difficulty in getting a discount so go for the £22 monthly unlimited calls and texts and 20 GB of data. Negotiating might get it down to £18 or so and the red plans give entertainment packages. I have Spotify music which is normally £10 a month so that makes your monthly fee even more reasonable.

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Jun 25, 2013
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Correct you can’t tether with 3 , I didn’t have problem with speed on trip
 
Jan 19, 2014
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We use plusnet which uses the EE network. Very pleased with it, Faster than three in France and Spain very often 4G. Cheap packages too.
 

kelpie

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RE check Three. there simonly deals allowed tethering which came out of your internet allowance. The 30gb deal allows up to 30 gb tehtering I think. I'v egot an old Three sim which gives me 200 mins , unlimited texts, and unlimited data , but only 4gb tethering. they changed there deals a couple of months ago . When you highlight one of their sims you should see a "see deal" option . the tethering is detailed in there.
Just had Ne'erday dinner so hopefully this makes sense.
John

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Oct 30, 2016
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On 3rd van so not a total newbie....
I use Vodafone for work, and have to say generally it is very good, rarely get a poor signal for calls, and data is usually usable. They are very open to haggling as well which always helps!
 

DBK

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I've just swapped from Three to Vodafone. Three has been the "go to" choice for a couple of years but I think Vodafone has the edge now but both will do the job. Just choose the package which gives you the data you need. I've got a 50Gb a month sim only contract but for many that would be overkill. :)
 
Apr 27, 2008
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Can't understand how so many use huge amounts of data. I've never used even 1Gb a month on my phone, or more than 2Gb on the MiFi.

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May 31, 2015
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My existing mobile contract with vodaphone is now up for renewal, currently have unlimited calls and text with 10gb of data. Own the phone so looking for a sim only deal.
Three seem to offer the best data deals, 30gb data for £18 or 100gb data for£25. Vodaphone best price is 20gb for £20, not too bad.
As we live in Scotland, travel in uk and europe, can anyone give first hand experience of the 3 network for reception, download etc, comparator sites seem to say all ok?
All advice welcome!!

thanks
Bill

How much do you use...? Both me and Mrs on 3 pay as you go and as my phone is more of a camera and have no friends i use about £10 every 6-8mths, whereas Mrs uses hers a lot more (she has friends) and for roaming but still only manages to top up with £10 per 6-8 weeks... she was on £25 contract before..:cool:
 

Lenny HB

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Oct 18, 2007
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If you use most of your data abroad don't spend too much on loads of data, most networks limit data to 15GB outside of the UK, there are some Vodafone contracts don't limit.
 
Mar 11, 2014
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Can't understand how so many use huge amounts of data. I've never used even 1Gb a month on my phone, or more than 2Gb on the MiFi.

Streaming/downloading video content can use up large quantities of data. I get through about 10Gb per month and I wouldn't say that I stream/download a huge amount either.

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Jan 19, 2014
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It's watching videos that uses big data. I don't usually bother unless something looks interesting posted on here or FB.
Google Maps has started using a lot of data recently too. I only use 3GB per month when away thanks to Mini Opera browser that compresses the data before sending it (y)
 
Jan 28, 2008
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I've just got 10 gb 2500 of calls and unlimited texts from virgin for 13 pounds a month and unused data rolls over each month
Wife has got unlimited calls and texts with 4 gb data for the same price with three which includes go binge so a lot of streaming is free
 

Bart

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Jun 4, 2016
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I have two contracts with three
They are both 30gb data
One has unlimited phone calls and texts.
The other has 200 mins phone calls and unlimited texts

Both are the advanced plans and can teather all 30gb in the UK , but is limited to 12gb in Europe
I pay £15 & £18 PM ( sim only )
The 100gb offer from three sounds no good though as after 9gb it is the capped at stupid speeds from like 8am till midnight , so for me that's crap

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Oct 30, 2016
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On 3rd van so not a total newbie....
It depends on what you use it for of course. If you tether a laptop to research Aires etc and use maps as well as steaming uk radio it’s easy to use 15/39 GB in a month
Tethering the laptop for browsing will be negligle, it is the streaming of radio that will eat the data.
 
D

Deleted member 29692

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Can't understand how so many use huge amounts of data. I've never used even 1Gb a month on my phone, or more than 2Gb on the MiFi.

Easily, especially if it’s your only source of internet.

I’ll give you one example. Streaming video or live TV will use between 600MB and 1.4GB per hour depending on the source and the quality.

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SMB

Apr 26, 2013
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I have a 30 day contract sim with 3 which gives me unlimited data in the UK and 200 minutes, 1000 texts which is £27 a month. The gf has a plusnet 30 day contract with 2.5gb data, 1000 minutes and unlimited texts which is £8 a month. Both have worked well in Spain and Portugul including tethering even though I believe its not supposed to work. We've been abroad since the middle of September and haven't had any 60 day warnings yet. I have found that in most locations the plusnet data worked best, achieving 4g where the 3 simcard didn't :Smile:
 
Apr 27, 2008
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Fortunately swmbo does not know you can stream radio so at least if we're abroad I get a break from the appalling Chris Evans. In some of northern France you can get radio 4 on the long wave.

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BillandHelen

BillandHelen

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Thanks all for your experience and advice. Decided to stick with Vodaphone for next 12 months, great coverage here in Scotland, but double my data to 20gb and, as others have advised, see how we go!
Thanks again to all.
Bill
 
Nov 24, 2008
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Vodafone very time for us now. Had 8gb on each phone and tethered with no problem using that over 6 weeks traveling back to UK in oct/Nov. Brought a 30gb sim for the mifi before we left to come back and used that with no problems all the way back, never had a problem with signal or strength.

We can easily use 1gb a day if both using our pads, if we get close we just teather from the phone.

When we were in Scotland on Mull over the 5 years Vodafone was the best provider.
 
Jul 18, 2009
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I Have tried them all.

VODAPHONE For mobile costs was stupid (2014-2016).

I am currently on PlusNet (very poor signal even when working around Manchester).

I am going Back to THREE, 3 who are best overall and have WiFi Calling. This is a bonus as I also have a 50gb Vodaphone mobile router.

TM

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Apr 29, 2014
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Ive been with three for years and can't get better covers us through Europe one or two bad spots in uk have mobile dongle for I pad 20 gas for £10 pm if you want data on your phone I've just taken 2 contracts for my grand daughters 12 month unlimited mins unlimited texts unlimited data £26 PM
 
Jan 8, 2013
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Thanks for this thread - Just upgraded my 3 package. From 600 minutes call time to a 'all you can eat call minutes' and from 1gb to 4gb data all for the same £10 per month. :cheers::clap2:
 
Sep 12, 2016
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Just had to get a new phone after one I bought decided to go faulty so got a Huwuei Honor
The deal I got was simple pay for 4GB data get 12GB unlimited calls unlimited text and Go Binge which means that certain streaming sites can be used without affecting your data usage so I am paying for the phone BUT

Stephanie has the same contract as Sim only for £10 a month

We used it all over France and Spain for 4 months last year without being cut off by their Fair use policy and had enough data to download a few Game of Thrones episodes though we are planning on a mifi unit this year as as has been said before you can't tether when roaming

We only really had problems when we were out of the back of beyond where there were no masts around but they are going mad putting new ones in

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