• The first stage of the forum upgrades has now been completed but they remain in a degraded state and are still being worked on.
    Please read this thread for more details.
    New user registrations are currently disabled.

Best sim-only deals


Scimmy said:
Thanks all. I've been looking at Lebara but lots of negative reviews about blackspots: tbh we never hardly leave Fulwell area as we're extremely old and boring😉.
Click to expand...
Got 2 phones with Lebara,basic £4.95 month includes roaming abroad. Ideal for light use like me. No problems in 2 years.
 
I have used Sim only with ASda Mobile for years. £5 a month - unlimited calls and texts, 3GB data - no contract. Use Vodafone network
 
InsomniacAttack said:
Lebara's partner network is Vodafone, so the signal strength/quality would have been the same as someone on Vodafone.

The radio network is exactly the same.
Click to expand...
Lebara are a mobile virtual network. When the provider network is busy the provider prioritises it's own customers. I found Lebara at times, a lot of times, to be shockingly bad, so I left them.

  • Lower priority:
    MVNOs like Lebara have lower network priority than the network's own customers. When the network is busy, the infrastructure is allocated first to the primary customers (Vodafone).
  • Performance difference:
    This priority difference can lead to lower data speeds on Lebara, especially in crowded areas.
  • Congestion issues:
    Users have reported that in very congested areas, Lebara SIMs may experience data not working or show "no service," whereas the Vodafone equivalent would still work.
 
John Steed said:
Lebara are a mobile virtual network. When the provider network is busy the provider prioritises it's own customers. I found Lebara at times, a lot of times, to be shockingly bad, so I left them.

Click to expand...
They're pretty shit mind, I've been with them for a couple of years and had loads of times when the signal is crap. Never been arsed to change it mind so obviously not that bad. The 30gb of roaming data is excellent as well
 
OOOSH YEAH said:
People come up with all these smarty, giff gaff and all them African firms. Load of old rubbish. You can never get a signal. Crap, go with EE or Vodafone where you can actually use your phone
Click to expand...
There's only actually 4 network providers in the UK.

EE, O2, Three, Vodafone.

They are the only companies running the actual networks, so every other mobile company you see is simply piggybacking off the network from one of those four.

Logon or register to see this image


Figure out which network works well in your area, and then find the cheapest sim deal from any of the piggybacking firms.
 
James said:
They're pretty shit mind, I've been with them for a couple of years and had loads of times when the signal is crap. Never been arsed to change it mind so obviously not that bad. The 30gb of roaming data is excellent as well
Click to expand...
When I first got them they were ok. Not as good as Three that I'd previously had but I put that down to Vodafone's signal not being as good as Three.
But then I found that at times it was terrible to use so went back to Three. The Mrs also had Lebara and experienced the same problems. With Lebara being so cheap I didn't expect perfection but I also didn't expect at times unusable either.
 
OOOSH YEAH said:
People come up with all these smarty, giff gaff and all them African firms. Load of old rubbish. You can never get a signal. Crap, go with EE or Vodafone where you can actually use your phone
Click to expand...
Bullshit, I've used nothing but Giffgaff, Lyca, Spusu for about 12 years baring going back to O2 a d there's no difference.

Intact I have better coverage now with spusu than I did with O2, can get a signal wherever I go camping unlike O2 (and other O2 piggy backers) and can stream football or F1 no problem from my phone to tablet.

Mozilliin is supposed to be better than EE as it does not cap speeds like EE does for its users, however customer support isn't supposed to be very good.
 
32nd of December said:
Bullshit, I've used nothing but Giffgaff, Lyca, Spusu for about 12 years baring going back to O2 a d there's no difference.

Intact I have better coverage now with spusu than I did with O2, can get a signal wherever I go camping unlike O2 (and other O2 piggy backers) and can stream football or F1 no problem from my phone to tablet.

Mozilliin is supposed to be better than EE as it does not cap speeds like EE does for its users, however customer support isn't supposed to be very good.
Click to expand...
You’re trying to save a few quid mate. I’ve tried the cheap ones and they’re crap. I couldn’t get a signal at work in NE1 on giffgaff when I’m on my office toilet overlooking the quayside. Changed to EE and I can post on here in 5G toilet comfort.
 
OOOSH YEAH said:
You’re trying to save a few quid mate. I’ve tried the cheap ones and they’re crap. I couldn’t get a signal at work in NE1 on giffgaff when I’m on my office toilet overlooking the quayside. Changed to EE and I can post on here in 5G toilet comfort.
Click to expand...
"The first thing we do when reviewing new networks is test their SIM card vs the network they piggyback on. Mozillion use the EE network completely off the shelf. We’re confident there are no differences (including band 20)."

"The next check we do with any virtual provider like Mozillion is check their data speeds vs the network they use.
Mozillion claim there are no speed caps vs EE and our own testing backs that up.

We took our SIM to known locations with high speed 4G and 5G and comfortably got over 100 Mbps. We’re confident that Mozillion’s claim of uncapped speeds is perfectly true."


I know because you've been suckered into a rip off contract you have to try and justify to yourself that it's loads better 😆

While I agree, Giff gaff and O2 weren't as good for me for camping compared to an EE equivalent, I found 3 shit, but any EE piggbackers I've used are top notch
 
Last edited:
After 27 years with One2One/T-Mobile/EE I finally switched to ID Mobile last year. £15 for unlimited data, calls and texts. Think it uses the O2 network but being a bit wary I got a cheap Lebara one as a back up which is on the Vodafone network but never needed it.
ID is an eSim and when I changed phones yesterday it switched over no bother.
 
RestlessNatives said:
After 27 years with One2One/T-Mobile/EE I finally switched to ID Mobile last year. £15 for unlimited data, calls and texts. Think it uses the O2 network but being a bit wary I got a cheap Lebara one as a back up which is on the Vodafone network but never needed it.
ID is an eSim and when I changed phones yesterday it switched over no bother.
Click to expand...
ID use three network. When I went direct with three I thought they were crap, massive data limits but the signal was crap so couldn't really use it.
 
32nd of December said:
"The first thing we do when reviewing new networks is test their SIM card vs the network they piggyback on. Mozillion use the EE network completely off the shelf. We’re confident there are no differences (including band 20)."

"The next check we do with any virtual provider like Mozillion is check their data speeds vs the network they use.
Mozillion claim there are no speed caps vs EE and our own testing backs that up.

We took our SIM to known locations with high speed 4G and 5G and comfortably got over 100 Mbps. We’re confident that Mozillion’s claim of uncapped speeds is perfectly true."


I know because you've been suckered into a rip off contract you have to try and justify to yourself that it's loads better 😆

While I agree, Giff gaff and O2 weren't as good for me for camping compared to an EE equivalent, I found 3 shit, but any EE piggbackers I've used are top notch
Click to expand...
RIP off? Think I pay about a tenner a month mate. Think about it. How much time do you rely on your phone or use it? For the sake of £2 just get the best.

That whole stuff there is lies. I’ve had all the cheap ones. None work the same. It’s 2 quid man.
 
John Steed said:
I was with Lebara and it was terrible. Quickly went back to Three. These small companies might use the big players networks but they are nowhere near as good.
Click to expand...
Identical to Vodafone in my experience. Can get 500mb/s+ data in strong signal areas.
InsomniacAttack said:
Lebara's partner network is Vodafone, so the signal strength/quality would have been the same as someone on Vodafone.

The radio network is exactly the same.
Click to expand...

Exactly this. It's possible for them to put you bottom of the pile for bandwidth etc, but that's not my experience with Lebara.
OOOSH YEAH said:
RIP off? Think I pay about a tenner a month mate. Think about it. How much time do you rely on your phone or use it? For the sake of £2 just get the best.

That whole stuff there is lies. I’ve had all the cheap ones. None work the same. It’s 2 quid man.
Click to expand...
What's the best?
OOOSH YEAH said:
You’re trying to save a few quid mate. I’ve tried the cheap ones and they’re crap. I couldn’t get a signal at work in NE1 on giffgaff when I’m on my office toilet overlooking the quayside. Changed to EE and I can post on here in 5G toilet comfort.
Click to expand...
Two different networks entirely, no surprises there. You'd have equally bad signal on 02.

If your office was in a different location you could have the opposite experience.
 
Last edited:
Been with Giffgaff for years and never had any bother whatsoever.
Costs me £10 a month for 20GB of data, unlimited calls and texts.
Never had a problem with a signal wherever I've been
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top