Blatant non boaty question re mobile phone provider

[ghostlymoron]

I've had BT mobile for quite a while but the coverage is poor or non existent at home so I'm about to change to giffgaff as it uses the O2 network. Any comments for or against?

 

[pvb]

I use giffgaff, seems to offer good coverage generally.

 

[Red Panda]

Giffgaff is excellent, keenly priced and coverage is as O2.
I'm on their £7.50 a month tariff and never exceed it, clearly I'm no longer a youth!
Giffgaff-giffgaff calls are free, and calling abroad is very cheap too.

 

[anoccasionalyachtsman]

Use the results checker halfway down the page at this link. Everyone I've suggested it to has found it accurate.

https://www.which.co.uk/reviews/mobile-phone-providers/article/mobile-phone-coverage-map

 

[[70521]]

Really depends where you are.

I am on EE for my personal phone, works OK
I am on O2 for work and it depends if the wind is blowing in the right direction, if you are facing a mast with your left arm out while shaking it all about.

 

[ex-Gladys]

BT Mobile is EE

 

[Quandary]

Also a (very light) Giffgaff user. good value and coverage (O2) seems good as any out here. Free calls to other Giffgaff phones (basically just the wife as there are not many of us) as long as you keep using that facility, I auto top up (£10 a time) which seems to work fine

 

[Slowtack]

The service providers should have a coverage map

 

[ghostlymoron]

I'm aware that BT bought EE so that they could piggy back their network.

BT Mobile is EE

 

[ghostlymoron]

I'm considering the £7.50 tariff. This is higher than BTs basic but the data allowance is 1GB at Giffgaff, 500 MB with BT. I sometimes overran the 500 MB which cost me dear.

 

[ShinyShoe]

With GiffGaff if you use all your data or minutes say by day 20, you can start your next month then. I'm not sure you can do that with all providers.

They are pay as you go, but you can set it up to run exactly like a contract...

Auto top-ups when credit gets to certain level, Auto "goody bag renewal" (think bundle).

If find the website etc packaged a little bit cheesy... ...but I will tolerate cheesiness for the simplicity.

 

[Dantp]

I've been with giffgaff for a while and fins them very good. Whole family is using them now and free calls are great. I change the plan if I'm going to be using more data and you can start a goodybag early if you suddenly find you've used more than expected.
We are now on the boat full time in Europe and still using them, it's the same cost as if we were in the UK.

 

[bobgarrett]

Giffgaff is good for all the reasons above plus, while sailing abroad and beyond EU you can turn off the monthly charge. Furthermore, if you don't like them you can move on again as no minimum contract period. Only disadvantage is that the Channel Islands is not considered as part of EU as with some suppliers.

 

[pvb]

Just a cautionary note about auto top-ups. I had my giffgaff account set to top up by £20, with a max of 3 top ups per month. I use a Windows laptop on the boat, tethered to my mobile. In the middle of the night, Windows decided to download a massive update, which I think kept stalling and restarting. In the morning, all my goodybag data had been swallowed by Windows, and my account then went on to PAYG data, which had then automatically topped up by £20 no fewer than 3 times! I have now disabled virtually every Windows background action I can find, and I've set my phone as a Windows "metered connection" which should stop it downloading big updates. I've also disabled auto top-up with giffgaff (although I turn it back on whenever I go abroad, in case of emergency use).

 

[Tam Lin]

Another vote for giffgaff. All the family use it. It costs me £5 a month, good value!

 

[ghostlymoron]

How does it cost you only a fiver.
The cheapest goody bag is £7.50?

Another vote for giffgaff. All the family use it. It costs me £5 a month, good value!

 

[pvb]

How does it cost you only a fiver.
The cheapest goody bag is £7.50?

No, there's a £5 goodybag, with 100MB, 150 minutes and 500 texts. Note that very light users don't even need to buy a goodybag, simply use the PAYG credit.

 

[ghostlymoron]

Thanks Pete, I hadn't seen the 100 mb option but it wouldn't suit me as I used most of my 500mb with BT.

 

[Tam Lin]

No, there's a £5 goodybag, with 100MB, 150 minutes and 500 texts. Note that very light users don't even need to buy a goodybag, simply use the PAYG credit.

You are right.

 

[ghostlymoron]

Got my new SIM but not going to activate until the BT one runs out. Also got PAC from BT so all ready. The PAC is only valid for a month so that's something to bear in mind next time I swap.
GiffGaff have no customer service I understand but that's no great loss as BTs (if you can get hold of them) isn't great anyway. (BTW the best number is 151, this seems to connect to a UK operative).