Mobile phone and wifi for extended tour
There has been comments on various threads and other forum about the use of different mobile networks abroad. My mobile is on O2, but they charge £1.99 extra per day to use abroad. Which other network gives good coverage for a better price? I had been intending
to move to 3 but they have started cutting people off after two months roaming.
Which mobile wifi is best for tethering?
Thanks in anticipation.
Comments
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Meg, see my thread re Vodafone sim only....
unltd mins, unltd texts, 5gb uk data, 2gb europe data, tetherable and all plan mins portable so no extra charges abroad....£15 month.
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We are on 02 but we don't activate 02 Travel so we were on the new roaming charges which more reasonable than they used to be..A phone call home from Spain was 4p per minute, free to receive. In all we paid about £8 extra for the 2 months away. The main
thing is to hook up to wifi especially free wifi, if you are using the internet on your phone as that can cost a lot.0 -
We are on 02 but we don't activate 02 Travel so we were on the new roaming charges which more reasonable than they used to be..A phone call home from Spain was 4p per minute, free to receive. In all we paid about £8 extra for the 2 months away. The main thing is to hook up to wifi especially free wifi, if you are using the internet on your phone as that can cost a lot.
Thats useful to know. I wonder why O2 did not tell me that when I said I was thinking of leaving them because of the cost of using their service abroad?
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Meg, see my thread re Vodafone sim only....
unltd mins, unltd texts, 5gb uk data, 2gb europe data, tetherable and all plan mins portable so no extra charges abroad....£15 month.
Thanks BB. I'll have a wander into Vodaphone and see what they have to say. The staff in some of the phone shops are not very clued up on their products abroad.
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There are other options with O2, BM. Here are a few. I'd call in an O2 shop of contact the company to discuss what's best for you.
https://www.o2.co.uk/shop/tariffs/bolt-ons/ (scroll down)
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There are other options with O2, BM. Here are a few. I'd call in an O2 shop of contact the company to discuss what's best for you.
https://www.o2.co.uk/shop/tariffs/bolt-ons/ (scroll down)
Unless I'm reading them wrong their cheaper offers are from the UK to international numbers. It seems that the offer they have is to activate the £1.99 for each day used. If I get one call or use a tiny amount of data that will work out at £60 a month.
I have spoken to them and they are not offering anything cheaper.I need a supplier to whom my present number can be transferred. As it will be more than 2 months "3" is not an option. BBs suggestion of Vodaphone looks like the front runner, but my phone also needs replacing.
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There are other options with O2, BM. Here are a few. I'd call in an O2 shop of contact the company to discuss what's best for you.
https://www.o2.co.uk/shop/tariffs/bolt-ons/ (scroll down)
Unless I'm reading them wrong their cheaper offers are from the UK to international numbers. It seems that the offer they have is to activate the £1.99 for each day used. If I get one call or use a tiny amount of data that will work out at £60 a month.
I have spoken to them and they are not offering anything cheaper.I need a supplier to whom my present number can be transferred. As it will be more than 2 months "3" is not an option. BBs suggestion of Vodaphone looks like the front runner, but my phone also needs replacing.
Whoops! You're right, BM. Sorry to mislead.
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BM, i did do a bit of research with all the networks (and even considered replacing my iphone 4S in order to get the right deal) but all the other networks had one restriction or another...
no thethering (or not abroad), decent data allowance too expensive in uk, roaming data limit too small etc...
the 5gb sim from Vodafone is usually £20+ but its on sale now at £15, and even though my previous 4gb deal was great at £11.90, there was no inclusive roaming data, nor calls....so even a small usage would take me over the £15....so, for me, a no brainer.
ive just checked out the phome deals at VF but you have to pay plenty to get the same amount of data as above....
so, i would go monthly sim only and check out the PAYG phone...
now, [Deleted User User] has a great Huawei phone which is well kitted but doesnt have the extra cost of a 'brand' name like Apple or Samsung....
my old iphone 4S (while being only a 3g phone) seems to run two ipads easily enough when tethering....used it last week at Broadway and worked a treat.
you can keep your old number.
- 12 months , 5GB 4G UK Data, unlimited UK minutes, unlimited UK texts, 2GB inclusive roaming data, unlimited inclusive roaming minutes and texts
good luck.
0 - 12 months , 5GB 4G UK Data, unlimited UK minutes, unlimited UK texts, 2GB inclusive roaming data, unlimited inclusive roaming minutes and texts
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Have a look at Virgin. 4p to make calls, 1p for texts I think. Nothing to receive.
You use your package data but have to pay for a 30 day travel pass in addition to use this. I buy 250mb at a time about £7.50 (I think). Check in their web site.
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Like Crissy we use Virgin and use their 250MB travel passes which now cost £5. If you are just using your phone to access the internet it will last for ages. Uses more data if using Tethering. We find that using the travel passes coupled with local
WiFi generally works out quite well. Like all things value depends on how heavy a user you are of data.David
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Thanks David. Wasn't certain of the exact price.
You do need realise that the travel pass usage still chimes it if your monthly allowance. I ran out after downloading updates, (hadn't realised WiFi had gone down)). However when I telephoned Virgin they gave me 1 G free to be used within three months.
Not complaining!0 -
I must say that I'm a fan of Three.
You can simply use your phone or sim abroad in any of their 'feel at home' countries - about 40 countries including most of europe - without having to do anything or pay anything extra. You simply get to use all your curent data, voice and texts allowances, just as you would in the UK.
I'm not sure where this thing about a 2 month limit came from and haven't been able to see this on their web site (which I will admit, is not the easiest to navigate). They do say that the 'feel at home' deal isn't meant to be for people who live abroad, so maybe that's got something to do with it? I would ring them and ask if there is a limit and how to get around it for extended holidays.
We use our phones (both on 3) a lot abroad. The only slight problem is that you cannot use them to 'tether' another device, such as a tablet. To get around this, we bought a cheap mifi unit and just pop a Three sim in it. We found that the mifi got a far better signal than either of our phones anyway, so it worked better that way.
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Incidently, Amazon are currently doing a 24Gb Three sim for use in a mifi or tablet for £24.80.
They say it's an 'Amazon special' (Three only normally sell up to 12Gb and their price for that is £30).
The Amazon one lasts for 24 months.....a real bargain!
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Incidently, Amazon are currently doing a 24Gb Three sim for use in a mifi or tablet for £24.80.
They say it's an 'Amazon special' (Three only normally sell up to 12Gb and their price for that is £30).
The Amazon one lasts for 24 months.....a real bargain!
Write your comments here...I got one
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OH doesnt have a smartphone but has an ipad which she likes to use abroad, as do i, with mine.
for us, there is no point in paying for another data source and device (mifi and second sim) just to replicate what i already have....plenty of sharable roaming data.
when browsing the net for next site/aire or local info etc, we find it far better on the iPads than on a phone, hence a contract that allows the data to be shared....anywhere, without further equipment.
so, its just the same as Three's 'feel at home' except you can share your data abroad, which you cant with Three, and there is no 2 month expiry on use abroad.
two significant differences (improvements) in my view.
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I must say that I'm a fan of Three.
You can simply use your phone or sim abroad in any of their 'feel at home' countries - about 40 countries including most of europe - without having to do anything or pay anything extra. You simply get to use all your curent data, voice and texts allowances, just as you would in the UK.
I'm not sure where this thing about a 2 month limit came from and haven't been able to see this on their web site (which I will admit, is not the easiest to navigate). They do say that the 'feel at home' deal isn't meant to be for people who live abroad, so maybe that's got something to do with it? I would ring them and ask if there is a limit and how to get around it for extended holidays.
We use our phones (both on 3) a lot abroad. The only slight problem is that you cannot use them to 'tether' another device, such as a tablet. To get around this, we bought a cheap mifi unit and just pop a Three sim in it. We found that the mifi got a far better signal than either of our phones anyway, so
I had intended to change my phone to 3 and get a local mifi, but on checking with 3 the free roaming is only for two months at a time. According to the chap in the 3 shop the two month limit was not being applied. Now on other forum people have been posting that the two month limit is being applied. For people who come and go 3 will be fine, but unfortunatly not for me. Once I have done the 400+ miles to the ferry its better to stay away for a reasonable time.
The deals are changing all the time, and it is good to get the benefit of others experience.
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We are with 3 now for phones, only going to be away abroad 2 months next year, but we were discussing what to do should we plan a longer trip.
As we have 2 phones on 3, we decided the best plan would be to only use 1 phone at a time, thus giving us 4 months. The only people who would be ringing us are our children and the bank, they all have both numbers so that should hopefully work fine.
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Biggarmac, it all depends what you want a phone for.
I use wi-fi and a tablet to access the internet, send e mails, use Face time etc and I rarely pay anything for that. I use a phone for phone calls - at the prices Crissy gave earlier - 4p to make a call PAYG, nil to receive a call, no monthly charge at all. no rental, and no restrictions .
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Yes, we use only PAYG too for phones, we are low users, mainly other people are phoning us, I think we top up ony about £25 per year in total on average, £20 on mine , £5 on OH's. Sometimes less.
As I have mentioned both Margaret and I use Virgin. Before we went onto monthly plans we used to use their PAYG system which was quite clever in that in you paid by direct debit you were just charged for the calls you made during the month. Sometimes our bills were less than £1. I assume it is still available. The advantage being you didn't have to bother with topping up as essentially you were using it like a contract phone but only paying for what you used.
David
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Everyones family circumstances differ but we take a minimalist approach to comunication with ours. They are "trained to text and only call if its important in which case we just pay what it is, we use WiFi often free but pay
for it when we have to.We too have 'trained' our family to only ring when necessary, but we had a 'change in family circumstances' whlst we were away for three months, when our youngest son and his fiancee split up. They were planning their wedding, all seemed well, and he was
absolutely distraught. So there was a lot of phoning backwards and forward and some of these were very long calls.We didn't consider the extra on our bills was bad at all, and not worth taking out any special arrangements - all talking was just done on our normal phones, for as long as he wanted to talk.
Eventually I flew home whilst OH stayed in France - and it was then that our caravan was broken into. The few items stolen probably cost a lot more than the phone bills, and the return flight to France so this put things into perspective!
To us, costs are whatever they are, and in some circumstances it is worth any cost to be able to keep in touch. The reality is that phone charges for anyone are in this country are no longer anything like as high as they once used to be.
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OH has a smart phone and he is with 3, he uses his phone for calls, data etc. when away. He is on a monthly contract of £13pm when we were away earlier this year in Spain/Portugal and France for 11 weeks we had no problems with either Data or the phone so
not sure where the 2 months thing comes from, is it a new thing?. The only problem we had was that you can't use it to tether as IanH says but we have now bought a mifi and a 24Gb card that IanH mentioned above, this will allow me to use my tablet when we
are away if there is no free wifi available.0 -
The being cut off after two months by 3 was in their terms and conditions but had not been being applied. Some posters on other forums now say it is being applied. Like you I have bought the 24Gb sim that IanH mentioned. I will also change my phone to Virgin Media from O2. Cheaper, better local coverage at home. Also going to cancel my landline phone and use the MIFI here as well as abroad.
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Three's rules are very vage, badly set out and no where in the contract does it say you are only allowed to spend up to 2 months in one of their 'Feel at Home' countries. The really surprising thing is that they appear to say they can cut your phone off
totally if you do so, even from roaming and paying the roaming charges. This would leave you with no phone at all and that cannot be right, surely? But if you were roaming in a country other than one of their FAH destinations you could roam forever without
a problem. How crazy is that! I have a complaint registered with them at the moment on this very point and they are not dealing with it really so it looks like my questions and challenges are in the too difficult to deal with in tray. I expect I shall have
to go to the Ombudsman to get it resolved, but hope they will revisit the silly rules as they have re their Feel at Home use. On PAYG you dont get any inclusive content unless you buy an add on package but if you dont buy one it seems to still apply to you.
Regards, Roy0 -
Three's rules are very vage, badly set out and no where in the contract does it say you are only allowed to spend up to 2 months in one of their 'Feel at Home' countries. The really surprising thing is that they appear to say they can cut your phone off totally if you do so, even from roaming and paying the roaming charges. This would leave you with no phone at all and that cannot be right, surely? But if you were roaming in a country other than one of their FAH destinations you could roam forever without a problem. How crazy is that! I have a complaint registered with them at the moment on this very point and they are not dealing with it really so it looks like my questions and challenges are in the too difficult to deal with in tray. I expect I shall have to go to the Ombudsman to get it resolved, but hope they will revisit the silly rules as they have re their Feel at Home use. On PAYG you dont get any inclusive content unless you buy an add on package but if you dont buy one it seems to still apply to you. Regards, Roy
Roy, if you look in my other Vidafone thread, youll see i managed to find Three's T/C buried deep in their website, where the 1 month, 2 month 'rule' is explained....
i tried to copy/paste the specific section but the site wouldnt allow it on this ipad.
however, i can confirm that there definitely is a rule that will result in the service being withdrawn should calls continue to be made from a 'feel at home' country for more than 2 months.
the actual implied max preference for three, is one month, twice, in a year.
the two month limit is therefore Three allowing these two 'holidays' back to back.....after that, no service.
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