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Re: Cheap payg phone tariff

Posted: March 13th, 2021, 12:02 pm
by CliffEdge
DiviLuvva wrote: when I'm away for several weeks in Tenerife).


It used to think it was in England when I was in Tenerife, which worked well, but has Brexit changed that?

Re: Cheap payg phone tariff

Posted: March 14th, 2021, 9:59 am
by didds
JohnB wrote:I never understand why when people ask questions about payg, the answers include monthly tariffs. The reason I stick with Three's 3-2-1 is while 1p/Mb for data is now very high compared with bundles, I find my £5 top-ups last nearly a month, so my costs really are low.



because i have a 2nd hand phone that would be useful to have "online" for calls ... at least to receive them (and possibly emergency use but its not the only perceived use). Im not interested in spending £60 a year every year to enable that - YMMV.

IF there is a way to spend the barest minium to enable that - that's what Im interested in. If the answer is "cant be done" then Ill chuck the phone in the bin.

didds

Re: Cheap payg phone tariff

Posted: March 15th, 2021, 6:19 pm
by CatcheeMonkee
didds wrote:
JohnB wrote:I never understand why when people ask questions about payg, the answers include monthly tariffs. The reason I stick with Three's 3-2-1 is while 1p/Mb for data is now very high compared with bundles, I find my £5 top-ups last nearly a month, so my costs really are low.



because i have a 2nd hand phone that would be useful to have "online" for calls ... at least to receive them (and possibly emergency use but its not the only perceived use). Im not interested in spending £60 a year every year to enable that - YMMV.

IF there is a way to spend the barest minium to enable that - that's what Im interested in. If the answer is "cant be done" then Ill chuck the phone in the bin.

didds


JohnB, any tariff where you pay upfront, i.e. no credit check and a monthly bill to settle, is a kind of PAYG.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/mobile ... sim-cards/

didds, I have 3 x PAYG SIMs. My Three Data Reward SIM still runs on the 3-2-1 pricing and I've not had a text to say that'll change:

http://www.three.co.uk/Free_SIM_MBB/Order

The minimum top-up is just £2 so not much to have a try yourself. To register for the 200Mb free monthly data the SIM will need to be in a device other than a phone; though I suspect that popping it in a phone, turning on the hotspot and registering on a connected laptop etc. would do the trick.

For £1 a month CMLink's offer (on ee) is working fine in another phone. 100 mins, 500Mb data and 100 texts per month for £1.

http://www.cmlink.com/uk/en/mobile-monthly-plans

Again it's £2 to get a SIM - a £ for the first month and the other £ for the second. I've had no problems setting up and using.

My third PAYG SIM is in my main phone and on Lebara's £5 tariff (on Vodafone). 2Gb data, 1000 UK minutes 100 international minutes and 1000 texts per month. The app works very well and there's a £10 credit for other stuff applied if you port in your number.

Here's a referral link for any Lebara deal: I get a credit and there's something for you, too: http://aklam.io/A90yXh

Hope that helps!

CM

Re: Cheap payg phone tariff

Posted: March 23rd, 2021, 11:26 am
by Stompa
FWIW Asda seem to have reduced their PAYG rates from 845 to 444.

Re: Cheap payg phone tariff

Posted: April 14th, 2021, 6:31 pm
by GeoffF100
I have moved from 3 to 1p. It was better than I expected. I ported my number without any hitch. I did not even have to ring 3. I can get my credit by ringing 150. I had to login to do that with 3, and even then I did not get an itemised bill. I do get one with 1p. I have been able to turn voicemail off. They text me two weeks before 120 days is up. Crediting another £10 extends the deadline by another 120 days. I have been able to turn off "top up by text". As far as I am concerned, one on the benefits of PAYG is that my liability is limited if someone hacks into my phone. Topping up via the website on another device is much more confidence inspiring. 1p is not just the cheapest. It is on the best network, and so far the customer experience has been very good.

Re: Cheap payg phone tariff

Posted: April 14th, 2021, 11:50 pm
by Redmires
GeoffF100 wrote:I have moved from 3 to 1p. It was better than I expected. I ported my number without any hitch. I did not even have to ring 3. I can get my credit by ringing 150. I had to login to do that with 3, and even then I did not get an itemised bill. I do get one with 1p. I have been able to turn voicemail off. They text me two weeks before 120 days is up. Crediting another £10 extends the deadline by another 120 days. I have been able to turn off "top up by text". As far as I am concerned, one on the benefits of PAYG is that my liability is limited if someone hacks into my phone. Topping up via the website on another device is much more confidence inspiring. 1p is not just the cheapest. It is on the best network, and so far the customer experience has been very good.


Thanks for the heads up. I'll be making the move myself shortly and you've eased any concerns I had.

Re: Cheap payg phone tariff

Posted: April 15th, 2021, 7:54 am
by mutantpoodle
Stompa wrote:FWIW Asda seem to have reduced their PAYG rates from 845 to 444.


many thanks for that info
ASDA havent told me any info but seems daft to stay on the 845 when 444 is on offer
and web pages warn i would lose everything in September if I dont move over

but fitting the new SIM will be a repeat of the grief I had when moved to ASDA
its so small!

Re: Cheap payg phone tariff

Posted: April 15th, 2021, 3:02 pm
by jaizan
I moved from Vodafone to Giff Gaff (O2) to get a better signal where I live & lower prices.

Then some new houses were built between my house and the O2 transmitter which resulted in a degraded & intermittent signal downstairs in my house.

So I moved to Asda in order to get the EE network, which has the nearest transmitter to my house. Very happy with this !

All was well until Asda decided to move network to Vodafone :cry: .
I'll hang on with the Asda EE service as long as possible, but would ideally like to find a professional company using the EE network as a replacement.

Re: Cheap payg phone tariff

Posted: April 15th, 2021, 3:07 pm
by JohnB
1pmobile use EE

Re: Cheap payg phone tariff

Posted: April 16th, 2021, 10:53 am
by CatcheeMonkee
Is the mast shared with Three, by any chance??

https://www.fiercewireless.com/europe/e ... s-contract

Smarty, owned by Three, has no contract PAYG options, I am trying the £6 pm for 4Gb, unlimited mins and texts. Works as well as Three where I live.

There's Freedata SIMs, mentioned earlier in the thread, are still on 3 2 1 as far as I'm aware.

Re: Cheap payg phone tariff

Posted: April 27th, 2021, 11:32 pm
by Stompa
Just stumbled across this outfit:

https://rwgmobile.wales/rates/

I'm not quite sure what to make of them, but supposedly '50 mins or SMS & 250MB' for free.

Re: Cheap payg phone tariff

Posted: April 28th, 2021, 12:38 pm
by 88V8
Which magazine give Giffgaff top spot as a mobile provider.
My payg account is with them.

V8

Re: Cheap payg phone tariff

Posted: April 29th, 2021, 3:38 pm
by 1nvest
swill453 wrote:Giffgaff has 3GB for £10 I think.

Just a few weeks ago with a spare phone in a draw I online ordered a giffgaff sim for that and it arrived the next day. Plugged it in and after adding £10 credit for a month of unlimited calls and texts it also said I had 9GB of data allowance also. Was a phone for mum, primarily so she can phone me at home and chat after having recently moved into a care home and being 89 she wont be using any of the text/data. So far, a few weeks later and a couple of hour long type calls each day, mid morning, and evening, and connection quality has been excellent. I did tick the option to not auto-topup after a month on the basis of just giving it a try to see how well or not it worked and given the satisfaction I do intend to roll it after the month is up.

Setup online was easy once the sim arrived, it has a code number you enter and I used a credit card to credit the £10 at which time it generated a telephone number associated to that account. I believe another option would be to buy £10 credit from a local shop, but suspect you still will have to enter a debit/credit card details as part of activation. Traceability I guess. The phone is a older style phone, none of the touch/slide type options, and it all setup/worked without any changes or unlocking being involved.

After a couple of weeks another sim dropped through the letterbox without having asked for such. 'One for a friend' type offer where if they activate you get additional credit.

For my own personal phone, which I use infrequently, I've had a Virgin sim for years now. Pay as you go where I put on £5 and that remains available until used, even if months later. Each day it is used the first x minutes are charged at a higher rate, not sure what that rate is nowadays, guess perhaps 25p/minute, and then it drops down to a lower per minute rate. Mostly its off, but I leave it in the car for times it may be required, or as my 'verification' telephone number for online accounts that sent textual "activation codes". i.e. handy as a low cost longer term 'fixed' mobile number.

Re: Cheap payg phone tariff

Posted: September 3rd, 2021, 2:04 pm
by JohnB
1pmobile are changing their minimum usage model from a £10 topup every 120 days to £2.50 usage per month. This is clearly a disadvantage for users with variable usage, as low usage one month does not compensate for high the next. Still, I can't see anyone offering less than £2.50 a month at the moment.

Re: Cheap payg phone tariff

Posted: September 3rd, 2021, 2:12 pm
by Stompa
I'm just trying out a free SIM from RWG Mobile (on EE network):

https://rwgmobile.wales/rates/

Only 50mins or SMS & 250MB, but probably sufficient for my purposes. So far so good.

Re: Cheap payg phone tariff

Posted: September 3rd, 2021, 2:12 pm
by CliffEdge
JohnB wrote:1pmobile are changing their minimum usage model from a £10 topup every 120 days to £2.50 usage per month. This is clearly a disadvantage for users with variable usage, as low usage one month does not compensate for high the next. Still, I can't see anyone offering less than £2.50 a month at the moment.


I got the email from them but didn't understand it. I paid £30 for a year's usage. Not sure what happens after October.

Be a pain to find an alternative but might have to.

Re: Cheap payg phone tariff

Posted: September 3rd, 2021, 3:32 pm
by pje16
been with plusnet for years
current offer
Unlimited Mins and texts and 12gb for £8
https://www.plus.net/mobile
and if you have their broadband its 14gb

Re: Cheap payg phone tariff

Posted: September 3rd, 2021, 6:24 pm
by JohnB
£8 >> £2.50. My usage in a quiet month can be £1.50, or £4 if on holiday

Re: Cheap payg phone tariff

Posted: September 6th, 2021, 3:04 pm
by xeny
Cheapest options I can see at https://www.uswitch.com/mobiles/compare ... _deals/are £3.95 for 200 minutes a month (with 1GB of data), or £4.95 for unlimited minutes (with 3GB of data).

Essentially from the networks PoV, voice calls have no value (and I'd guess very low cost to implement), they want to charge for data and give voice calls away for free.

Re: Cheap payg phone tariff

Posted: September 27th, 2021, 8:59 pm
by NomoneyNohoney
The thing is, these aren't payg deals. PAYG, you buy a lump of credit and then - unsurprisingly - Pay as you Go. If you're parsimonious, and/or like me, have a Yorkshire Mother, then a £10.00 top-up lasts anything approaching a year. These sweet monthly deals that are discussed though, are based on your credit disappearing at the end of the month. £3.95/month may sound cheap, but that's nearly an unavoidable £48.00 a year. Far better to have a proper PAYG tariff, and use Skype/ Messenger / Viber /WhatsApp etc. on free Wi-fi wherever possible to make and receive calls, do your downloads etc.

Eh, why do I blather on? My missus spent and hour and a half video-chatting today with a friend in America, I managed 40 minutes talking to someone in the Middle East, and my most expensive call (in fact, the only one that was paid for) was when she phoned me from outside our front door to remind me of something, as she went out. A whole 3p minimum call charge! Pah. Such an annoying waste of money.