GiffGaff ?

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Hi all

I have an old Nokia 6000 series phone and for an upcoming brief hospital visit rather than take my smartphone (they do not recommend taking anything of value in as no lockable lockers) I thought I would get a SIM for it.

Looking at GiffGaff they do seem to get decent reviews and the rates are not extortionate for PAYG.

So the question is do you use them and/or would you recommend them or another provider bearing in mind this is a 2G phone and ideally I want the credit to last a very long time (certainly not to run out after 30 days) or even better never expire so that it will make a good emergency & backup phone???

TIA for the insights & feedback :)
 
Hi

Have used them, not had any issues. I think they use the O2 network so you may want to check their service in the local you are going to be.

Other to look at on PAYG is three, again check the coverage.
 
Sorry , most credit expire after 6 months if you have not used the phone. So if you buy credit make a call once in a 6 mth period.
 
Gif gaff do use O2 network and you can use O2 vouchers to top up, though I've not tried that as online is easier. Their web site/communications are the best I've used but I don't use my phone much!
 
sep9001 said:
Hi

Have used them, not had any issues. I think they use the O2 network so you may want to check their service in the local you are going to be.

Other to look at on PAYG is three, again check the coverage.
Click to expand...

Hi Kev, thanks for the post.

I use Three on my Smartphone and like their rates plus the credit never expires but their cards are not usable in a 2G phone.

sep9001 said:
Sorry , most credit expire after 6 months if you have not used the phone. So if you buy credit make a call once in a 6 mth period.
Click to expand...

That is my reading but I could not find anywhere in regard to GiffGaff as to the 2G usage and/or the PAYG expiry period???
 
The expiry period for GiffGaff is 6 months as I found to my cost last year when I lost £15 of credit on my 'emergency' phone
 
The giffgaff plans are p/month so that would assume 30 days or so. You can also purchase additional credit airtime on top of whatever bundle and that remains as long as you make/rec text or call every six months.

You can let your monthly lapse then reinstate few months later.

Plenty of info on their forum.
 
B1ts said:
The giffgaff plans are p/month so that would assume 30 days or so. You can also purchase additional credit airtime on top of whatever bundle and that remains as long as you make/rec text or call every six months.

You can let your monthly lapse then reinstate few months later.

Plenty of info on their forum.
Click to expand...
No, they do PAYG as well as bundles. +1 for the forums though.
 
I know a lot of people who use them quite happily. Particularly if you have the cash to buy a handset outright it works out cheaper than an equivalent contract.

Like most networks, it comes down to how good their coverage is in your local area. As already mentioned, they are a virtual network operating on O2 infastructure. If O2 is good in oyour area I would go for it.

I opted not to use them myself as my wife who was on tesco mobile (also the O2 newtwok) always had poor signal. But if that ever changes round here I would happily move to them.
 
For your purposes it should be fine. I researched them a while back and they seem to have received mostly positive reviews, particularly cost / use.

Sometimes you can ask someone to bring your 'normal' phone to you after any anaesthetic procedures etc. are complete and you can keep it discretely tucked away. But there is some risk associated... (e.g. when you are asleep)
 
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SWMBO| & I both use Giffgaff with no problems ... I can do each month on a £5 Goodybag with some left over.
 
gramps said:
SWMBO| & I both use Giffgaff with no problems ... I can do each month on a £5 Goodybag with some left over.
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More or less the same as this, and no problems after being with them for 4 years!
 
Thanks all for the insights and feedback.

I have had it confirmed that 2G working is fine and that the credit is valid for 6 months. FWIW not as good as my 3 service as far as the costs and credit expiry but as noted the upcoming circumstances lead the choice and it will be long term useful to have another "in case of need" phone & number.

FWIW I am having a bit of hand surgery all done under a local anaesthetic so rather than have to remember/write down numbers to call SWMBO, using the ward landline or requesting the staff to do it for me, to come and collect me. I wanted the freedom of choice to use a mobile phone one handed ;)
 
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wontolla said:
More or less the same as this, and no problems after being with them for 4 years!
Click to expand...
Again - no problems with 3g mobile. Mine is just an emergency phone and the PAYG credit has not expired (2 years or more)
 
I have been on giffgaff for years now. They had a few issues early on but can't fault them. I'm on a 4g package that costs £12 a month with 4GB data. My wife also uses them for her iPad.

I like the fact you can change your package to suit every month if you want too. Plus you can just cancel at any time.
 
I researched and chose Giffgaff based upon value and acceptable coverage. I use £15.00 goody bags mainly for the 5GB of data, and am a happy user.
 
Another GiffGaff user here too, normally a £10 or £12 goodybag gets me through a month, I've personally found them an excellent value/service combo.
 
I ditched giffgaff for 3 a while back as I was fed up with their appalling 3g data speeds.

They were fine for everything else and the majority of my family all still use the network with no problems.
 
Another 4 year GiffGaff customer here, no problems at all. A big saving is if you have family and friends who are also on GiffGaff, you can call them for FREE as long as you top up your credit every 3 months.
 
Keith W said:
I think it is all very subjective though

For instance GiffGaff coverage where I am is great whereas EE/plusnet is poor
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Agree with Keith on that, I changed from EE to GiffGaff when our contract finished and they couldn't offer a decent package (price hike)
Haven't noticed much of a difference in data speeds though.
 
I stream music in the car. With GG it would cut out constantly and would rarely manage more than 20 minutes at once. On plusnet it will stream for the entire journey without interruption.

Annoying thing about plusnet is that they don't support short codes so you can't donate to JustGiving or other charities or use any other service that uses them.
 
It may also depend on the phone - my son & I are both on GG - his phone (some Russian Android) has really poor reception, while my Lumia has the best reception of any phone I've ever owned. If, as many do, one changed phones at the same time as providers then it may be hard to say which was responsible for the change in reception quality.
 
it depends on your use case like everything.

one good thing for giffgaff is you can try it yourself and if you dont like it you can move on again.

threes 123 payg is good if your a light user.
 
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