3G or GPRS service in UK - Pay as you go

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In Spain and Italy we use local sim cards in our Vodafone PCMCIA card and usually get a good fast service for not too much money (in Italy it is about €6 per month).

We are going to the UK soon and won't have access to a decent phone link or broadband connection. Can anyone recommend an operator who will sell me a PAYG sim for a reasonable price and give me fair value for time used. Contract is not an option as we are only in the UK for a few weeks a year.

Many thanks /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Re-reading this I had an odd thought..... what would any of us have made of this post back in the 1970s??? How our world and our language have changed!
 
I think the cheapest, for a very few days usage is T-mobile at £2 per day, plus £50-60 for the modem itself.

However, because I couldn't accurately assess how many days I would need such a device I bought a '3' pay as you go modem.

This cost £60 plus a top-up of a selected amount of Gig download- another £10 for 3 gig valid for 3 months, or in my case 12 gig valid for 12 months. I paid £100 in all.

It has been great , no contract, loads of download and even after the initial first week of downloading new software I've only used 1.5 Gig, and I reckon this will see me through to the first anniversary before I have to top up again (at a minimum of £10- per 3 Gig)

I hope this makes sense- a few sherberts may have made it incomprehensible- in which case ask me again tomorrow to clarify!
 
[ QUOTE ]
I hope this makes sense- a few sherberts may have made it incomprehensible...

[/ QUOTE ]Coo, you start early! Impressive! /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif
 
Can you please let me know where you are getting these deals........I'm paying £10 for 1 gig, £15 for 3 Gig and they only last for 1 month /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif
 
Vodafone

have just introduced a contract - you will not find a UK supplier to give you true pre-paid for data - which is a rolling 30-day contract (ie you have to give 30-days notice you are ending it)

£10 - month for 75 calls and 500 texts + £5/month for 5Mb of data traffic.

It appears to be the best value for money with 3 coming in on a very similar basis
 
[ QUOTE ]
T-Mobile sounds good, then. Many thanks.

[/ QUOTE ]I've looked at this before, as far as I recall, the cheap T-Mobile offer excluded modem access for a computer.
 
T-Mobile are offering a PAYG rate http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/shop/mobile-broadband/pay-per-day-options/ but they talk about using their own modem at £50. I don't really want to blow £50 when I have a perfectly good PCMCIA one. The other thing I notice is a "fair use limit" of 3GB in a MONTH. Since they call it 'broadband' could anyone imagine that a monthly limit of 3GB was 'fair'?

Still, they are responding to the need for a daily rate for people who can't or won't get tied into contracts, so good for them. Maybe their sims would work in the Vodafone card (mine is unlocked).
 
Yes, that made sense /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif I am looking at the T-Mobile deal vs the 3. A key thing for us is Skype.... with 3 are you able to Skype?
 
If you want that deal, you have to buy their £50 modem. The 3GB monthly limit equates to (according to T-Mobile) 24,000 web pages or a million emails. How busy are you likely to be?
 
Have now found that where we will be staying the T-Mobile coverage for date is zero whereas the 3 coverage is their fastest service. So that answers that! I don't want to order the modem online -- is it something I can buy over the counter in a 3 shop when we arrive in the UK, do you know?
 
I have a NetMeter running on my desktop at all times and can see what we actually use. We download the newspaper every day, Skype, watch low-res video on professional websites as well as forums, etc. It all adds up. The number of emails doesn't affect it, bit of a red herring, that, and the number of web pages is hugely dependant on content and update. For example, Bloomberg's page updates every few minutes and is fairly content-rich.
 
I use 3-Mobile on their PAYG 1GB/£10/30day tarrif (no contract or even any details required). Good reception everywhere except really in the wilds. I'm not aware of a SIM only deal. Usually £49 for the modem+SIM (though you could of course take the SIM out of the USB dongle /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif ) Typical download speed is around 1.5Mbs depending on time of day.

Yes, you can access SKYPE (they even promote the fact!) .... but I have never yet been able to achieve a satisfactory 2-way call. I suspect this is related to the very slow upload speed (max 56kbs) in most South Coast areas (I had 300kbs in North Wales recently, but didn't have a headset to try SKYPE). Yes, 56kbs should be quite adequate for speech I know......but......

Vic
 
That's very encouraging, Vic, thank you.

Do you think that I might get away with just buying the sim? If I have to buy the dongle I might as well use the dongle /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif I think we might just buy the package as soon as we land....unless anyone else has a better suggestion?
 
3 mobile, are doing a sim only deal for £9.99 inc £10 credit,but according to their site its a "net" only deal.

Their cheapest dongle is now £39.99. Its the one I bought and it works very well.
Plug and play and have not failed to get some sort of useable signal in UK and ROI. Even worked in the depths of Wales where according to coverage charts there is no signal.

http://threestore.three.co.uk/payg/?modem=1

I bought the one with a usb lead as with an extension the dongle can be positioned for maximum signal, ie dangled out of hotel window.

Loads of 3 mobile shops littering the high streets.
 
I returned to UK 3 weeks ago. Paid £69 for a 3 thingy with lots of megabyte bitties from Carphone Warehouse and have been online every day since.Very impressed. I also use a 2mtr USB extension lead.
When you come home, can you not buy a vodaphone 3G sim for use in your PCMIA card.

Dave
 
Yes, you can buy the modem and first top-up in 3G shops. You can buy top ups anywhere in the UK .... supermarkets, corner shops e.t.c.
Yes, you can use Skype no problem.

Alan.
 
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