Who is the best UK PAYG 3G data provider?

[Guest Simon O]

giffgaff - try to keep costs low by DIY customer support; I'm suspicious that as they are new, they are selling at a loss now to rope people in, then prices will go up and they will rely on inertia.

No need to be suspicious. giffgaff is owned by O2 so they have sufficient cash to keep going. By not having shops, call centres and relying on forum based support it cuts costs hugely.

[Guest That-Guy]

No need to be suspicious. giffgaff is owned by O2 so they have sufficient cash to keep going. By not having shops, call centres and relying on forum based support it cuts costs hugely.

^^ What he said ;)

[Guest Dan Diplo]

GiffGaff are also very good at getting other people to do their promotion for them in return for referral benefits... ;)

[Guest mark2410]

indeed, and given what most networks payout in subsidies to acquire new customers its a bargain all round

[Guest misterLjay]

giffgaff

[Guest Lee Black]

Im on Virginmedia £12 per month

Unlimited Internet (yes unlimited!)

500 texts (although i use Google Talk more)

150 minutes calls (usually have 120mins left each month:s )

Unlimted calls to a Virginmedia phone (landline OR mobile)

Package did come with Blackberry 8520, but ditched it for San Fran (JJ9)

[Guest Ralph Martin]

No need to be suspicious. giffgaff is owned by O2

Sounds like an oxymoron to me. I'm suspicious of all of the large companies. They are there to make a profit, after all.

[Guest Ralph Martin]

Still the best deal is T-Mobile.

FREE limited data (3GB atm, will be dropping to 500MB in near future)

FREE crapload of text messages (they describie it as "unlimited")

Zero minutes

All you have to do is put £10 or more of credit on a month that you can use for calls or leave in the account.

For me £5 a month on Three is better than £10 on T-mobile for

500Mb data

No text messages (use gmail instead)

No calls (use Linphone instead / Skype / etc)

But I will admit my (approximately) 0 calls, 0 SMS usage may not be too typical.

[Guest beljim]

If you top up on giffgaff goody bags they expire after the month. so say for £10 you get 250 mins unlimited net and texts but after the month is up you have no credit and must top up again so remember that.

If you are not a big phone talker or texter then it doesn't make sense to go down that route.

I don't use my phone much for taking, mainly for emergency's. I text a little but not massively and use the net a bit but again not tethered so no a massive amount so giffgaff was not for me.

[Guest Dan Diplo]

Does anyone know of a provider who allows you to pay for data allowance in advance on PAYG? In other words, you buy an amount of data and then can use it up at your own rate and it doesn't expire after a short time. Most of the deals I've seen are rolling monthly contracts, and once the month is up you need to pay again, no matter how little you use.

[Guest Ralph Martin]

Does anyone know of a provider who allows you to pay for data allowance in advance on PAYG? In other words, you buy an amount of data and then can use it up at your own rate and it doesn't expire after a short time. Most of the deals I've seen are rolling monthly contracts, and once the month is up you need to pay again, no matter how little you use.

I'd love to see a service of this kind too, but I as far as I know it doesn't exist (in the UK). Perhaps a group of us should write to OFCOM and complain about the current approach based on expiry after a month. But the flip side if it came in might be higher data charges in general, as the companies would find a way of getting the money back somehow.

[Guest PReDiToR]

Because on GiffGaff and all the other providers, that data/text/calls costs you £5, £10, etc.

T-Mobile give you texts and data for free.

The £10 stays in your account, on others it leaves your account to buy the package.

I don't care about it enough to argue, I don't work for T-Mobile, I have nothing against GiffGaff or anyone else. I just believe that free beats paid for in my usage scenario. If I don't make calls and can live with 500MB I get my data and texts for free. That suits me.

Edited February 2, 2011 by PReDiToR

[Guest rbbrslmn]

For me £5 a month on Three is better than £10 on T-mobile for

500Mb data

No text messages (use gmail instead)

No calls (use Linphone instead / Skype / etc)

But I will admit my (approximately) 0 calls, 0 SMS usage may not be too typical.

that would be putting it mildly!

looks like free giffgaff net is really ending on the 28th

[Guest lordofangels]

that would be putting it mildly!

looks like free giffgaff net is really ending on the 28th

correct,

but for £10 a month for 150mins, unlimited texts and unlimited data, it takes some beating still

[Guest peejay2000]

I'm surprised no-one has mentioned talkmobile's £5 a month deal, which gives you 100 mins, 100 texts and 100Mb of data. Perhaps no-one has mentioned it because it's pay monthly and the thread's about payg, or because 100Mb is pretty tight for a smartphone?

Anyway, it seems to be the only thing available for less than a tenner, so I'm happy with it so far. I need to keep a close watch on my data usage, and I'm careful not to have lots of autorefreshing widgets, and I use Opera Mini rather than the regular browser as it compresses the data... But with those compromises, it seems to me to be a good deal.

It's the simpletalker £5 deal specifically. Talkmobile is basically Carphone Warehouse.

[Guest Matty-p]

I'm surprised no-one has mentioned talkmobile's £5 a month deal, which gives you 100 mins, 100 texts and 100Mb of data. Perhaps no-one has mentioned it because it's pay monthly and the thread's about payg, or because 100Mb is pretty tight for a smartphone?

Anyway, it seems to be the only thing available for less than a tenner, so I'm happy with it so far. I need to keep a close watch on my data usage, and I'm careful not to have lots of autorefreshing widgets, and I use Opera Mini rather than the regular browser as it compresses the data... But with those compromises, it seems to me to be a good deal.

It's the simpletalker £5 deal specifically. Talkmobile is basically Carphone Warehouse.

3 do data only 1gb for a fiver or for a tenner almost unlimited everything

[Guest gmc007]

Im on Virginmedia £12 per month

Unlimited Internet (yes unlimited!)

500 texts (although i use Google Talk more)

150 minutes calls (usually have 120mins left each month:s )

Unlimted calls to a Virginmedia phone (landline OR mobile)

Package did come with Blackberry 8520, but ditched it for San Fran (JJ9)

i think you will find that your unlimited internet has a fair use policy of 1gb a month the only true unlimited network is giffgaff

[Guest lixcab]

Just finished porting my service from Orange to O2 - OMG, the difference is shocking. It's like changing from dial-up to a broadband service. And 5x more data allowance at £10. I'm very happy.

[Guest Ralph Martin]

i think you will find that your unlimited internet has a fair use policy of 1gb a month the only true unlimited network is giffgaff

Some Three plans are really unlimited.

[Guest Matty-p]

Some Three plans are really unlimited.

some are yes

[Guest Chuzzwuzzer]

With giff gaff when the free internet ends after 28th and you only have normal credit instead of goody bags can u still use data so that it just comes off your credit and if so how much is it ?

[Guest lordofangels]

With giff gaff when the free internet ends after 28th and you only have normal credit instead of goody bags can u still use data so that it just comes off your credit and if so how much is it ?

see here...giffgaff data pricing

[Guest rbbrslmn]

With giff gaff when the free internet ends after 28th and you only have normal credit instead of goody bags can u still use data so that it just comes off your credit and if so how much is it ?

if you are using 3g every day for anything more than checking your email you'll almost certainly be better of getting the £10 goodybag

[Guest rxexdxbxaxnxd]

GiffGaff Free Mobile Internet mobile internet has been extended until 1st April...

or is it an early April fools joke ;-)

"Mobile internet free until 1st of April

Free mobile internet has been extended for the final time. For those that aren't on a goodybag that includes unlimited data, we'll be starting to charge for mobile internet use from the 1st April 2011."

[Guest Fou-lu]

hey, giffgaff gonna make a £5 internet goodybag ever? cause I only top up £5 every 3-4weeks with T-Mobile, they don't seem to stop how much I use, downloaded rom's and all sorts, atleast 700mb in 3weeks, with giffgaff will be gigs..

btw upon signing up to giffgaff, £10 for activation is minimum? :huh: