UK Trip - PAYG sim recommendation

[LMD75]

I'm about to order my Gevey Ultra right now!!

I don't think I'm going to get a SIM cutter, just try my luck with the sticker as the guide. So you would recommend Three then for your network?

Thanks for the update. I can't wait to leave for London on the 31st!

My father lives in an old style building made of thick mortar /bricks and I cannot get a signal with "Three" in his house. O2 /GiffGaff, Vodafone, Orange get a few bars of signal.

However where I am staying I can get a 4 bar 3G signal with 'Three' and 2 bar 3G signal with O2 /Giffgaff so it really depends where exactly you are. I am also at this moment tethering using myfi to the three network which appears to be working well.

I do recommend Three and GiffGaff as they offer good coverage and are very cheap.

Three will send you a free microsim to a UK address and you can also get a free CUTDOWN microsim from GiffGaff via one of the forum members. Three will have the phone number printed on the SIM card and with GiffGaff you need to activate it then wait for the phone number. Also with GiffGaff the phone number is not automatically populated to the Phone App contact list under "My number". It is automatic with Three as it is an official UK carrier.

One other good thing about GiffGaff is the User Support from the website. You can post a question and it will get answered within seconds by multiple people as they run a 'Kudos' system in which they get rewarded for participating on the forums and making referrals.

The one thing I did not like about the Gevey Ultra is the fact that you still need to take a chunk out of the corner of the microsim to allow clearance for the microchip. However I neatly cut the corner with nail clippers as I found that scissors can cut too deep and possibly damage the sim metal contacts.

 

[RickyB]

My father lives in an old style building made of thick mortar /bricks and I cannot get a signal with "Three" in his house. O2 /GiffGaff, Vodafone, Orange get a few bars of signal.

Three doesn't have a 2G network so your phone should roam on to Orange for 2G coverage. It will probably still show up as 3, however, as this is the name assigned to the Orange 2G network on 3 sim cards.

 

[LMD75]

Three doesn't have a 2G network so your phone should roam on to Orange for 2G coverage. It will probably still show up as 3, however, as this is the name assigned to the Orange 2G network on 3 sim cards.

Did not know this - thanks. Maybe this is where the FuriosMod comes into play on the Gevey Ultra as all I got was 'No Service'.

 

[sou1 so1di3r]

My father lives in an old style building made of thick mortar /bricks and I cannot get a signal with "Three" in his house. O2 /GiffGaff, Vodafone, Orange get a few bars of signal.

However where I am staying I can get a 4 bar 3G signal with 'Three' and 2 bar 3G signal with O2 /Giffgaff so it really depends where exactly you are. I am also at this moment tethering using myfi to the three network which appears to be working well.

I do recommend Three and GiffGaff as they offer good coverage and are very cheap.

Three will send you a free microsim to a UK address and you can also get a free CUTDOWN microsim from GiffGaff via one of the forum members. Three will have the phone number printed on the SIM card and with GiffGaff you need to activate it then wait for the phone number. Also with GiffGaff the phone number is not automatically populated to the Phone App contact list under "My number". It is automatic with Three as it is an official UK carrier.

One other good thing about GiffGaff is the User Support from the website. You can post a question and it will get answered within seconds by multiple people as they run a 'Kudos' system in which they get rewarded for participating on the forums and making referrals.

The one thing I did not like about the Gevey Ultra is the fact that you still need to take a chunk out of the corner of the microsim to allow clearance for the microchip. However I neatly cut the corner with nail clippers as I found that scissors can cut too deep and possibly damage the sim metal contacts.

Ok, so I don't have a UK address, I'm from the US.

What is your best recommendation for just getting a SIM as soon as I arrive my first day?

Could I just walk into an O2, vodafone, or three retail store and get one? (assume they have retail stores??)

Also, I don't want to mess up any of my contacts and stuff on my iPhone from my AT&T account, so how should I go about adding new numbers to my address book and such once I get a SIM and a UK number?

Thanks

 

[LMD75]

When I arrived at London Heathrow I noticed that they had a SIM card vending machine in the arrivals hall. I did not take a look but bet that they were marked up in price and unlikely that they had microsims.

You can walk into any of the mobile network shops on the high and pickup a SIM /microSIM card. Also you can get them in all the supermarkets for 99p. They are usually at the tobacco /Lotto counters but they will only have the normal SIM cards so they will require cutting for the iPhone 4.

Your contacts are on the actual phone and not the SIM card so you can add numbers as normal and your existing contacts will be retained when you put in a new SIM. Tip: Make sure you save your US numbers in the international format with country code.

 

[9822737]

Get the 3 plan you mentioned in the first post. I'm on it, and I have never experienced drop in signal (much better than O2/GiffGaff) and it's very cheap.

+1. Gotta agree here. I went from O2 to Three and have been very impressed. Three (3) has much quicker and more reliable service - well where I am anyway.

 

[ToniqR]

I'd highly recommend giffgaff too, its a great little company helped run by the customers hence why they can offer the cheapest deals around! You can actually order a pre cut micro sim to save the hassle as well, just sign up and follow this link: http://apps.giffgaff.com/microgaff/directrequest.php?r=essexmate
you'll also get £5 credit as well once activated.
Hope this helps!

 

[sou1 so1di3r]

I'd highly recommend giffgaff too, its a great little company helped run by the customers hence why they can offer the cheapest deals around! You can actually order a pre cut micro sim to save the hassle as well, just sign up and follow this link: http://apps.giffgaff.com/microgaff/directrequest.php?r=essexmate
you'll also get £5 credit as well once activated.
Hope this helps!

Hmm this looks promising. How do I specific that I want a micro-sim and not just a regular SIM?

Also not sure if I can use this as I don't have a UK address yet, and I don't know what mine will be until I most likely arrive.

I'd like to be able to just get a SIM card as soon as possible the day I land or maybe the day after. I might have to go with the other plan but this looks really nice... and cheap

 

[ToniqR]

Hmm this looks promising. How do I specific that I want a micro-sim and not just a regular SIM?

Also not sure if I can use this as I don't have a UK address yet, and I don't know what mine will be until I most likely arrive.

I'd like to be able to just get a SIM card as soon as possible the day I land or maybe the day after. I might have to go with the other plan but this looks really nice... and cheap

Rather than order a sim from the main home page, go into the community forums and search for iphone micro sim related threads. There are many members who specialise in handing them out. And because its all community run, you may be able to ask them to send it to you outside the uk, so you have it ready for when you arrive.

Hope this helps

 

[fat jez]

I've used Orange, 3, O2 and Vodafone. Of the four, 3 have been by the far the best in terms of value and reliability. I'd rate Orange and Vodafone on a par, both are pretty good, Orange is probably a bit expensive. O2 and any network that uses them, I wouldn't touch with a barge pole, they were shocking. In many places I couldn't get a 3G signal and where I could, the data rates were truly pathetic. I ended up buying myself out of my contract with them, they were so bad.

For what it's worth, I work in the industry. I used to be a Senior Systems Engineer for Orange, now I work for one of their suppliers.

 

[LMD75]

I was taking the biscuit and streaming TV shows and clocked up a whopping 1GB in just 2 days with the 'Three' network. It appears that they have reduced my bandwidth down to .33mbps and I can no longer stream any shows. I would like to point out that I was tethering. Therefore they either capped my bandwidth due to excessive usage or tethering. Not a problem though as I was just testing it.

Also a problem I encountered with 'Three' and the Gevey Ultra is that when it loses a 3G signal, it does not regain a signal and I just get the 'No Service' message. Maybe this is due to the fact that they do not have their own 2G networks and roam with Orange. I have not tested this with the FuriosMod tweak. However I do not get this issue with GiffGaff.

I therefore switched back to GiffGaff and so far have not had any issues.

 

[sou1 so1di3r]

I was taking the biscuit and streaming TV shows and clocked up a whopping 1GB in just 2 days with the 'Three' network. It appears that they have reduced my bandwidth down to .33mbps and I can no longer stream any shows. I would like to point out that I was tethering. Therefore they either capped my bandwidth due to excessive usage or tethering. Not a problem though as I was just testing it.

Also a problem I encountered with 'Three' and the Gevey Ultra is that when it loses a 3G signal, it does not regain a signal and I just get the 'No Service' message. Maybe this is due to the fact that they do not have their own 2G networks and roam with Orange. I have not tested this with the FuriosMod tweak. However I do not get this issue with GiffGaff.

I therefore switched back to GiffGaff and so far have not had any issues.

So with the "Three" do you just have to do the airplane mode thing and reconnect? I feel like this would only be a problem if in a elevator or subway or something right?

 

[Azzin]

vodafone UK are a bit flakey with their 3G coverage, im with them myself.

Three UK do have the better deal, their Data is truly unlimited, and allows tethering using personal hotspot included.

can order a micro sim from them too.

https://www.three.co.uk/Pay_As_You_Go/Free_SIM/Order

They don't allow tethering on PAYG.

 

[Azzin]

This.

I wouldn't touch 3 with yours.

You can get a micro SIM from a Vodafone store, so you wasted your money on SIM cutters, etc.

I've just moved to 3 from Vodafone and I'm really impressed.

The coverage (for me) is far superior to Vodafone, couple that with 2000 minutes, truly unlimited data and the ability to tether for £0 and I have a winner.

Network coverage is subjective and there simply is no "best" or "worst".

 

[fat jez]

Bloomin' 'eck, Azzin, are you on here as well? Assuming you're the same Azzin from AV Forums that is

I have to agree though, I moved from O2 to 3 and the difference was night and day. Suddenly I could use my iPhone the way it was intended and didn't have to worry about being caught tethering or usage limits.

 

[drpellypo]

I'll throw virgin into the mix. Similar prices and you can view your usage online.

 

[fat jez]

I'll throw virgin into the mix. Similar prices and you can view your usage online.

I know my friend uses an iPhone on their network and has been happy enough. I don't have personal experience of using them, so can't really say.

 

[Azzin]

Bloomin' 'eck, Azzin, are you on here as well? Assuming you're the same Azzin from AV Forums that is

I have to agree though, I moved from O2 to 3 and the difference was night and day. Suddenly I could use my iPhone the way it was intended and didn't have to worry about being caught tethering or usage limits.

C'est moi!

I know my friend uses an iPhone on their network and has been happy enough. I don't have personal experience of using them, so can't really say.

Virgin are another "virtual" operator.

They don't have their own network, they just piggyback the T-Mobile network (a la Giff Gaff/Tesco on O2).

Not that it really matters if you're in a strong TM signal area, but TM customers will invariably get a better signal than Virgin customers as direct customers will take priority.

 

[sou1 so1di3r]

Wait does Three ONLY work in the UK?

Or can I use it if I also travel to say Amsterdam, France, Ireland, Malta etc?

 

[sou1 so1di3r]

I just got a guy on the giffgaff community offer to send me a micro-SIM for free to my US address. And he even offered to top up the SIM for me so I can use it as soon as I land!

Hopefully this works out!

 

[fat jez]

Wait does Three ONLY work in the UK?

Or can I use it if I also travel to say Amsterdam, France, Ireland, Malta etc?

I've roamed in the Netherlands and Portugal whilst being a customer of 3.

 

[sou1 so1di3r]

just landed in London this morning. Using the Gevey Ultra and giffgaff SIM, it's working like a charm.

 

[BLondony]

An app for London

If you are travelling in London, then there's a good app that helps.

It is called the Riverside app.

It is free.

http://www.riversidelondonapp.com/

It is very handy when walking along the river to Tate modern, City Hall or Tower Bridge.

 

[sou1 so1di3r]

If you are travelling in London, then there's a good app that helps.

It is called the Riverside app.

It is free.

http://www.riversidelondonapp.com/

It is very handy when walking along the river to Tate modern, City Hall or Tower Bridge.

Thanks a lot, checking this out now

 

[tirk]

+1 for GiffGaff, got a few friends using them, no complaints and cheap.

And another GiffGaff recommendation from me.