cheap SIM for pnting phone

[Gordo987]

Hello fellow punters, I've just bought a T-Mobile PAYG SIM on Ebay. It cost 99p and has 5.00 credit on it. Ideal for punting as you can just throw it away when its used up and buy another one. Only thing is you're stuck with whatever number it comes with, because T-Mobile won't accept a PAC (unless somebody knows a work-around) Cheers - 

[LL]

3 sims are much cheaper in the long run as it's only 3p a minute for calls and 2p per text. Your £5 free credit on T-Mobile won't last long as you have to pay 35p per minute to make a call.

[sharpshoes78]

Is Tesco any good?
They offer double credit

[LL]

Is Tesco any good?
They offer double credit

I think I'm gonna need to post this link again...
External Link/Members Only
 

[sharpshoes78]

Thank you for the info

[CoolTiger]

Is Tesco any good?
They offer double credit

It was triple at one point!! Has this now changed?

[sharpshoes78]

I was posting from my memory. its not reliable

[Gordo987]

Is Tesco any good?
They offer double credit

Tesco's 'free' stuff only applies for calls to other Tesco phones. They also insist on filling your phone directory up with loads of Tesco folders and numbers. Crap IMHO

[Gordo987]

I think I'm gonna need to post this link again...
External Link/Members Only
 

Thanks for this, but I'm more confused than ever   

My mobile phone actually costs next to bugger all anyway, but I'm always a sucker for a freeby 

[PuntingPete]

I pay 59p for a Vodafone sim & top it up with £5. When the credit runs out I text Vodafone and they give me a £3 IOU which gets deducted from the next top up.

Of course after I've used the £8 credit I bin the sim and start again. £8 credit for £5.59 

[Gordo987]

I pay 59p for a Vodafone sim & top it up with £5. When the credit runs out I text Vodafone and they give me a £3 IOU which gets deducted from the next top up.

Of course after I've used the £8 credit I bin the sim and start again. £8 credit for £5.59 

Do you bother keeping the same number (and can you) Pete? Its just that the girls know your number which makes it a bit easier for them to know you're not messing around. 

[CoolTiger]

I pay 59p for a Vodafone sim & top it up with £5. When the credit runs out I text Vodafone and they give me a £3 IOU which gets deducted from the next top up.

Of course after I've used the £8 credit I bin the sim and start again. £8 credit for £5.59 

Can you still top up for £5? Minimum for O2 has been £10 for aeons!!

I like your style of getting an extra £3 worth of top-up. About time someone stood up to them.

Do you bother keeping the same number (and can you) Pete? Its just that the girls know your number which makes it a bit easier for them to know you're not messing around. 

Can't see Vodafone letting him retain his number. It's like running up a £500 overdraft with Barclays, not pay for it, and still expect to use the same account number for daily banking requirements.

Agree about continuity of your number, as repeat visits are usually given priority, in terms of answering their calls or replying back by text, as they already know you.

[LL]

I pay 59p for a Vodafone sim & top it up with £5. When the credit runs out I text Vodafone and they give me a £3 IOU which gets deducted from the next top up.

Of course after I've used the £8 credit I bin the sim and start again. £8 credit for £5.59 

OK so then you can make 26 minutes worth of calls for £5.59.
If you had a 3 Sim, you pay £1 for it plus £10 top of = £11 and you could then make calls for 366 minutes.  Still think you're making a good saving by only paying £5.59 for "£8 credit"?  Vodafone's pay as you go prices are inflated!
I don't work for 3!  Toggle is the same price at 3p/min for calls.  Look at the link I posted - lots of other companies are much cheaper than Vodafone, regardless of whatever freebies, IOUs they market to us.

[PuntingPete]

No I can't keep the same no. I don't think Vodafone would allow it 

I see where you are coming from about WGs recognising your no. but £8 lasts me for ages. When I change my no. a quick AW msg to let them know & bingo 

As for the minimum top up, for some reason it's always been minimum £10 for O2 but all the others are lower. Eg: Orange, minimum top up in corner shop is only 10p 

[Gordo987]

I used to use O2 but I travel a bit and found that in parts of the continent - Germany for example - they had no coverage. Has anyone had similar experiences? Are any of the cheaper service providers any good outside the UK?

[Freddybigstuff1983]

3 tariffs may be the cheaper but be aware that 3 sims only work with a 3G phone. Many cheap 99p phones do not support 3G. Caught me out.

[Steve2]

Sainsburys mobile is good. 4p a text and 8p a minute

[infoseeker]

3 tariffs may be the cheaper but be aware that 3 sims only work with a 3G phone.

What I was going to say, only recently switched to an iPhone from a cheap Nokia.

Also in my flat the best reception by far is O2 and that is a significant practical consideration.

Obviously the the best tariff depends on your usage which depends on your punting frequency.... my usage is high.

I NOW use O2 and £20 per month big bundle...... now capitalised out of regret.

I was topping up £120/month on O2 Pay As You Go for punting purposes for a few months.
I never stopped to think that O2 have decent tarriffs for unregistered Pay As You Go, I just assumed they didn't.

When I did I got the O2 Big Bundle £20/month and more then enough call time and texts to keep me going for the month.

Wasted a few £100s of punting money before setting up that tarriff!

[Tricky Dickie]

I use Tesco mobile on their PAYG Lite tariff. 8p/min for calls and 4p/text.

They do triple credit on top--ups but really there's no value to that for me. As a punting phone £10 lasts for months and the free credit only lasts one month.

[Gordo987]

I use Tesco mobile on their PAYG Lite tariff. 8p/min for calls and 4p/text.

They do triple credit on top--ups but really there's no value to that for me. As a punting phone £10 lasts for months and the free credit only lasts one month.

I use Tesco for my 'normal' phone and I used them for my punting phone until I changed to T-Mobile a few days ago. The 'free credit' is pants, and like Dickie, a tenner lasts me for months on either phone. The only thing about Tesco Mobile is the crap phone numbers they insist on loading your phone directory with. Cheeky fuckers. 

[Tricky Dickie]

I use Tesco for my 'normal' phone and I used them for my punting phone until I changed to T-Mobile a few days ago. The 'free credit' is pants, and like Dickie, a tenner lasts me for months on either phone. The only thing about Tesco Mobile is the crap phone numbers they insist on loading your phone directory with. Cheeky fuckers. 

Maybe that's a phone thing. I got a few numbers for Tesco services added when I first installed the SIM which I then deleted. I haven't seen anything since (in fact I had to look up the number to check my credit the other day on the internet as I'd deleted that number as well).

[Gordo987]

Maybe that's a phone thing. I got a few numbers for Tesco services added when I first installed the SIM which I then deleted. I haven't seen anything since (in fact I had to look up the number to check my credit the other day on the internet as I'd deleted that number as well).

Every time you turn your phone off, the numbers all reappear. Cheeky fuckers

[attack]

Asda mobile you get 10 mins/10 texts/10 mb free with everything sim card. Sim is free on their site or 50p i think in store.

[El Jefe]

I think I'm gonna need to post this link again...
External Link/Members Only
 

I'm gonna buy this phone but it says it's Vodafone which I don't want, do I just buy a seperate Three SIM card and I'm good to go?

External Link/Members Only

[Steve2]

I'm gonna buy this phone but it says it's Vodafone which I don't want, do I just buy a seperate Three SIM card and I'm good to go?

External Link/Members Only

If it is locked to Vodafone I doubt it will work on 3

[El Jefe]

If it is locked to Vodafone I doubt it will work on 3

So I should just buy the SIM free version,  why does it cost £6 more?

[berksboy]

Vodafone sub the cost of the phone to get you on to there network.

[jj-mac]

Sorry guys can I ask for some tech advice (sorry if I'm slightly off topic but it is regarding payg sims)
I've currently got an iPhone on t-mob monthly contract. I bought a payg sim and top up voucher thinking I could just swap the sims over, but when I put in the new sim in the phone I get NO SERVICE
Is it because the phone is under contract or something else??
Any advice welcome or it looks like I'm stuck with a sim and top up voucher. Luckily it's only a fiver, but if I can't use it I'll post the code on here and someone can use it instead.

Cheers

[iPad3]

Sorry guys can I ask for some tech advice (sorry if I'm slightly off topic but it is regarding payg sims)
I've currently got an iPhone on t-mob monthly contract. I bought a payg sim and top up voucher thinking I could just swap the sims over, but when I put in the new sim in the phone I get NO SERVICE
Is it because the phone is under contract or something else??
Any advice welcome or it looks like I'm stuck with a sim and top up voucher. Luckily it's only a fiver, but if I can't use it I'll post the code on here and someone can use it instead.

Cheers

You can't put any old sim into an iphone, it needs to be an iphone sim so it copes with data exchange etc, this is my understanding but no doubt there is someone more clued up that can give you more detail

[PuntingPete]

Sorry guys can I ask for some tech advice (sorry if I'm slightly off topic but it is regarding payg sims)
I've currently got an iPhone on t-mob monthly contract. I bought a payg sim and top up voucher thinking I could just swap the sims over, but when I put in the new sim in the phone I get NO SERVICE
Is it because the phone is under contract or something else??
Any advice welcome or it looks like I'm stuck with a sim and top up voucher. Luckily it's only a fiver, but if I can't use it I'll post the code on here and someone can use it instead.

Cheers

You must have the correct size sim (normal. micro or nano) but you must have the right one as you say you've already put it in.
AFAIA a payg sim should be ok in a contract phone of the same network (I am happy to be corrected).

Where did you buy the sim from? - I think if a sim is not used within a certain length of time then it is deactivated and the no. allocated to another sim. Maybe the shop has had the sim lying around for months?

Your best bet is probably phone T Mobile and ask them, they should be able to tell you if the sim is valid or not

[Gordo987]

You must have the correct size sim (normal. micro or nano) but you must have the right one as you say you've already put it in.
AFAIA a payg sim should be ok in a contract phone of the same network (I am happy to be corrected).

Where did you buy the sim from? - I think if a sim is not used within a certain length of time then it is deactivated and the no. allocated to another sim. Maybe the shop has had the sim lying around for months?

Your best bet is probably phone T Mobile and ask them, they should be able to tell you if the sim is valid or not

Yes, and good luck with that. There are fucking useless. And by the way, its EE now. 

[El Jefe]

I bought this phone for £15 - External Link/Members Only

I asked the bloke in the store if I could use Three PAYG SIM in it and he said no because that phone doesn't support 3G, so he said choose from any of the other ones so in a rush I picked T-Mobile EE SIM pack, I asked him how much is the minutes/texts etc and he didn't have a clue. The SIM pack was actually free so I only payed for the phone.  Is T-Mobile EE a good choice or should I find another provider, I haven't put the SIM in the phone yet.

[PuntingPete]

I bought this phone for £15 - External Link/Members Only

I asked the bloke in the store if I could use Three PAYG SIM in it and he said no because that phone doesn't support 3G, so he said choose from any of the other ones so in a rush I picked T-Mobile EE SIM pack, I asked him how much is the minutes/texts etc and he didn't have a clue. The SIM pack was actually free so I only payed for the phone.  Is T-Mobile EE a good choice or should I find another provider, I haven't put the SIM in the phone yet.

I'm so confused about this EE, T-Mobile, Orange thing. Why don't they call it all the same name?? 

[El Jefe]

I'm so confused about this EE, T-Mobile, Orange thing. Why don't they call it all the same name?? 

I must admit this is a bit confusing to me.

I'm gonna chuck the T-Mobile SIM and get a co-op, ASDA or Sainsburys's one.

[Gordo987]

I must admit this is a bit confusing to me.

I'm gonna chuck the T-Mobile SIM and get a co-op, ASDA or Sainsburys's one.

Trouble is these co-op, asda etc use one of the other networks like O2, EE & co. Even Giffgaff are O2 (I believe) but are supposed to be the cheapest. I was with Virgin a few years ago, but I think they use T-Mobile. Resigned to using any kind of cheap sim deal for punting and forgetting about keeping the number 

[smiths]

Trouble is these co-op, asda etc use one of the other networks like O2, EE & co. Even Giffgaff are O2 (I believe) but are supposed to be the cheapest. I was with Virgin a few years ago, but I think they use T-Mobile. Resigned to using any kind of cheap sim deal for punting and forgetting about keeping the number 

Giff Gaff were on O2 when i looked into their deals a couple of years ago. They offered better deals than O2 itself but not as good as Virgin then for me.

[smiths]

I'm so confused about this EE, T-Mobile, Orange thing. Why don't they call it all the same name?? 

Their intention is to confuse in the hope people will buy their products especially tying themselves into 12-18 month minimum contracts. The regulators in this country are absolutely rubbish, i wouldnt be at all surprised if a future major scandal is about backhanders the regulators get from those they are supposed to regulate.

[Simon S]

I use Giff Gaff. Reasonable rates, no expiry of credit as long as it's not inactive for 6 months.

[kenw1]

I'm gonna buy this phone but it says it's Vodafone which I don't want, do I just buy a seperate Three SIM card and I'm good to go?

External Link/Members Only

Sainsburysmobile use the Vodafone network so coverage is good.

External Link/Members Only is 8p per min and 4p text, you can order a free SIM if you order it on their web site External Link/Members Only

[Gordo987]

I'm gonna buy this phone but it says it's Vodafone which I don't want, do I just buy a seperate Three SIM card and I'm good to go?

External Link/Members Only

This phone is 'locked' but I've seen places that can 'unlock' them. I've always used 'sim free' phones myself, and I can use any sim. 

[Gordo987]

Their intention is to confuse in the hope people will buy their products especially tying themselves into 12-18 month minimum contracts. The regulators in this country are absolutely rubbish, i wouldnt be at all surprised if a future major scandal is about backhanders the regulators get from those they are supposed to regulate.

True. A few years ago I had a Virgin land line. When the contact ran out I told them I wouldn't be renewing it. They came back with all sorts of BS crap basically claiming that I couldn't cancel. I told them to fuck off and cancelled the DD. They kept sending me bills for years after, and even handed me over to a debt collection agency (which I think was bogus). I had a similar, but not so extreme, experience with a broadband dongle for my laptop from T-Mobile. I invited both of them to take me to court and then I started sending them bills for 'storage facilities' for the kit they left at my home (Virgin's router and T-Mobile's dongle) so that my claim against them was always higher that their claim against me. Fuck signing contracts with mobile phone companies