Recommendation for short-term mobile plan?

tinycanadian

Hi, I'm a Canadian student spending a semester in Dublin, so I'm looking for a mobile phone plan for the next four-five months.

I have an LG Nexus 4, unlocked internationally so all I would need once I arrive is a microSIM and a month-to-month plan. My current plan at home is 250 local any-network minutes, unlimited international text/MMS, unlimited talk/text to 10 national numbers, and 250MB data. I'm paying about $55 CDN per month.

I'd be fine with something less thorough if it means it's cheaper, because travel expenses have set me back enough, and I'll still have internet at my apartment to keep in touch with people back home.

Here's what I've found:
Three, O2, Voda, and Tesco all offer SIM-only plans for around 100-300 mins and texts and 200-500MB averaging 20-30 euros/month. All about the same, really. Not bad.

THEN I FOUND 48! 20/month for unlimited talk and text and 3 whole gigs of data?! Nice! Only problem is I'm 21 now and will be turning 22 in April, and I'm leaving in June, so I would have to switch halfway through the semester anyway....unless there's a way...around these age limits? Hmm? I can't be the only person who's tried to do this?

And are there networks you'd advise against due to dropped calls, rude customer service, etc?

Thank you in advance!

68 lost souls

Prepaid plans are very good in Ireland. Personally I use 3 and for €20 I get unlimited data, free 3-3 calls, free text to any network and free weekend calls to any network. I tend to use whatsap, viber, facebook messanger or skype to make all my calls when possible. Their coverage isn't great outside Dublin but it works for me. Also if you travel to other countries with 3 networks they have 3 at home which means the costs are the same abroad as they would be at home.

http://www.three.ie/products_services/priceplans/prepay/index.html

tinycanadian

68 lost souls wrote: »

Prepaid plans are very good in Ireland. Personally I use 3 and for €20 I get unlimited data, free 3-3 calls, free text to any network and free weekend calls to any network. I tend to use whatsap, viber, facebook messanger or skype to make all my calls when possible. Their coverage isn't great outside Dublin but it works for me. Also if you travel to other countries with 3 networks they have 3 at home which means the costs are the same abroad as they would be at home.

http://www.three.ie/products_services/priceplans/prepay/index.html

Neat! I never really considered a prepaid plan. How does it work, exactly? When you "top up" for €20, you get unlimited text and weekend calls AND unlimited data? And then the actual €20 goes towards paying for weekday minutes? Because...that sounds awesome.

StaticNoise

You go into a local shop and simply ask for a €20 'Three' top-up.
You will be given a receipt with a 16 digit code on it. You dial the number, key in the code and you're topped up.

Instantly you will have:

Free unlimited mobile internet
Free unlimited SMS text messages to any Irish mobile network
Free unlimited 3 to 3 calls (to callers on the same network)
Free unlimited weekend calls (to any Irish mobile or landline, not premium rate numbers)

And, you can use your €20 (left in your account after topping up) to pay for calls not on the weekend and whatnot.
For example, calling a Dublin 01 number- not included in your bundle during the week.
You are charged the per minute rate from your €20. Do note, that 'tethering' your mobile to the laptop for internet is 'not permitted', but easily doable. Also, if you use more than 15GB of internet, you are throttled. However this is common on plans in Canada and the States, so that shouldn't be an issue. Also, you've got a maximum of 3000 weekend or 3 to 3 minutes, and SMS texts. Not unlimited, but very high.

It is, without a shadow of a doubt, the best plan for mobiles in Ireland.

ballooba

tinycanadian wrote: »

Neat! I never really considered a prepaid plan. How does it work, exactly? When you "top up" for €20, you get unlimited text and weekend calls AND unlimited data? And then the actual €20 goes towards paying for weekday minutes? Because...that sounds awesome.

I've found it the best low commitment plan, and hence have been using for a few months now. You can also use your free internet in UK, Italy, Sweden, Austria and a few other countries I can't recall right now.

cookie1977

Dont worry about the age limit on 48months. Go with it if you want. Just lie about your age there's no real penalty, it's just a marketing gimic.

StaticNoise

ballooba wrote: »

You can also use your free internet in UK, Italy, Sweden, Austria and a few other countries I can't recall right now.

On Prepay, you can use your Top-up and Add-ons on a Three sister network. It's free to receive calls and text messages on a Three sister network and your data usage will be charged just like in Ireland. Participating Networks on Prepay:

UK Italy Austria Denmark Sweden