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Anyone recommend a mobile phone network for London?

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  • 09-05-2011 4:47pm
    #1
    movingtotheuk
    Closed Accounts Posts: 101 ✭✭


    Need to pick up a prepay phone this Thursday.

    Anybody recommend a phone network i should go with? Or are they pretty much all the same like in Ireland?


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    #2
    afatbollix
    Registered Users Posts: 4,046 ✭✭✭afatbollix


    If you ring Ireland a bit pick 3 as it costs the same to ring someone in Ireland..

    Id just go into carphone warehouse and just talk to a guy he will pick the best for you...


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    #3
    Fysh
    Moderators, Arts Moderators, Regional Abroad Moderators Posts: 11,022 Mod ✭✭✭✭Fysh


    If you're looking at sim-only PAYG, I think they're all much of a muchness. Some companies like Virgin do combined deals where you can get cheaper PAYG rates if you're also buying other services from them (eg broadband), but you can probably wait until you're a bit more established before digging into that.

    One thing worth checking out is the signal coverage in the area you're expecting to live - some networks can be absolute pants in certain parts of town, and while it's not too bad if you're just picking up a PAYG SIM, you can get screwed - if you buy a contract phone/SIM and don't check that you'll get decent coverage in your area, you won't be able to cancel without an expensive cancellation fee.


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    #4
    movingtotheuk
    Closed Accounts Posts: 101 ✭✭movingtotheuk


    Fysh wrote: »
    If you're looking at sim-only PAYG, I think they're all much of a muchness. Some companies like Virgin do combined deals where you can get cheaper PAYG rates if you're also buying other services from them (eg broadband), but you can probably wait until you're a bit more established before digging into that.

    One thing worth checking out is the signal coverage in the area you're expecting to live - some networks can be absolute pants in certain parts of town, and while it's not too bad if you're just picking up a PAYG SIM, you can get screwed - if you buy a contract phone/SIM and don't check that you'll get decent coverage in your area, you won't be able to cancel without an expensive cancellation fee.

    What is sim-only PAYG?? Just looking for the equivalent of an 02 prepay phone at home i suppose really.


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    #5
    Fysh
    Moderators, Arts Moderators, Regional Abroad Moderators Posts: 11,022 Mod ✭✭✭✭Fysh


    movingtotheuk wrote: »
    What is sim-only PAYG?? Just looking for the equivalent of an 02 prepay phone at home i suppose really.

    SIM-only PAYG would be just a Pay As You Go SIM card, without a phone - if you had a SIM-free/network-unlocked phone, you'd stick the SIM into it and away you go.

    It sounds like you'd actually need a phone as well though, so SIM-only probably isn't any good to you.


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    #6
    breadmonkey
    Registered Users Posts: 3,608 ✭✭✭breadmonkey


    As Fysh says, they're all pretty much the same for PAYG. My advice would be to get a bill phone as soon as you can. PAYG is an absolute rip-off in the UK.


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    #7
    Paddser
    Registered Users Posts: 2 ✭Paddser


    I use 3 PAYG. 2p per minute to Irish Landlines, 14p per minute to Irish Mobiles. Fair enough imo


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    #8
    kevinmcc
    Registered Users Posts: 682 ✭✭✭kevinmcc


    For pay as you go I'd recommend giffgaff

    I've tried 3 and O2 and all are pretty expensive.

    For 10 pounds on giffgaff I get a goodybag with 250 UK Minutes, Unlimited Texts and Unlimited Internet.

    To Ireland texts are 8p, Calls are 8p, and 16p to Mobiles.


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    #9
    Playboy
    Registered Users Posts: 2,923 ✭✭✭Playboy


    Reception wise they all suck. Ive been with orange, O2 and vodafone and for a city of Londons size the 3G reception on smartphones is terrible! I had better reception in Galway!

    O2 do a deal where if you top up £15 then you get a 100 minutes free international calls. If like me you phone and text home a lot then this is the way to go. You have to ask for the option though when buying the SIM. I have been on a bill phone with O2 for nearly 2 years .. I'm going to switch to this as soon as my contract is up as my bill has been consistently £70 - £100 every month for those two years! An absolute rip off!


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    #10
    srsly78
    Registered Users Posts: 7,157 ✭✭✭srsly78


    There are so many smartphone users in London the contention is very bad. It's actually much better in Dublin strangely! I have found that t-mobile/orange are useless in central London, but Vodafone is much better.


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    #11
    eth0_
    Registered Users Posts: 10,846 ✭✭✭✭eth0_


    breadmonkey wrote: »
    As Fysh says, they're all pretty much the same for PAYG. My advice would be to get a bill phone as soon as you can. PAYG is an absolute rip-off in the UK.

    I completely disagree with that. PAYG is much cheaper here than in Ireland because of the huge number of competing networks.

    However, I personally have the best of both words with a 30 day rolling contract. I would never sign up to an 18 or 24 month mobile network so it's a good option for me and for £15 a month (with Virgin) I get 500 minutes, Unlimited texts, 1GB Mobile Web. Virgin use T-Mobile and Orange so coverage is great.


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