PAYG SIM deals - 1 month only now?

ancient_mariner

ancient_mariner

Messages
23,527
Name
Toni
Edit My Images
No
There was a time when you could get a SIM only deal where you put credit on the SIM and then continue to use it until the credit was gone. Does anyone do a deal like that still?

The reason is that we want to leave a phone in a car just for android auto navigation - one of our cars won't work with our Xiaomi POCO phones, but it will work with an older Huawei - and because that won't use up much data I don't want to spend £5/month = £60/year when we'd only use a couple of hundred megabytes in the year.

Any ideas?
 
FWIW

I use a dual SIM phone.
My oldest SIM is 3 PAYG but about 3 years ago they increased their charges markedly.......so I added a GiffGaff PAYG as it was cheaper.......then switched the Giffgaff to PlusNet Mobile rolling monthly contract.......just switched as Plusnet are shutting down their mobile service, to EE monthly.

So, the 3 PAYG has the system where the credit never runs out.....I top it up as my standby urgent needs phone about once every 3 to 4 or more months.
 
ancient_mariner said:
There was a time when you could get a SIM only deal where you put credit on the SIM and then continue to use it until the credit was gone. Does anyone do a deal like that still?

The reason is that we want to leave a phone in a car just for android auto navigation - one of our cars won't work with our Xiaomi POCO phones, but it will work with an older Huawei - and because that won't use up much data I don't want to spend £5/month = £60/year when we'd only use a couple of hundred megabytes in the year.

Any ideas?
Click to expand...

I'm with EE and that is how my PAYG works. I top up and the credit lasts as long it takes to use it, whether that be three months or three years. Calls are charged at 15ppm. However I'm not sure if that deal is still available as I have been with them for years.
 
Thanks Gents - I'll look at 1p and EE. I did come across a Lebara deal for £4.50/month on a contract, but that's not what I need.
 
3 do a prepaid sim that gives 24GB of data and lasts for upto 24 months and is dual 3/4 G - they may have 5G by now. They're available on Amazon and Argos for about £35 (so £1.50 per month) but I can't find them on the 3 web site.

I use one of these in my car's Android head unit and am averaging just under 1GB per month. My sat nav app starts automatically and runs whenever the ignition is on and I also use it for streaming music from my Synology NAS or Internet radio whilst I'm driving.
 
Can you just use the Poco as a wireless hotspot to connect the huwaia to while on the go then it can get its data via that for free
assuming you don't need the sim/phone number side of life, just nav data.
 
Last edited:
Bristolian said:
3 do a prepaid sim that gives 24GB of data and lasts for upto 24 months and is dual 3/4 G
Click to expand...

Just ordered for £35 from Amazon.

Mr Bump said:
Can you just use the Poco as a wireless hotspot to connect the huwaia to while on the go then it can get its data via that for free
assuming you don't need the sim/phone number side of life, just nav data.
Click to expand...

We could, but it's for my wife and isn't exactly hassle free - she's not dim, but also isn't a technophile. Good idea though.
 
RGW Mobile. They use EE.

Scroll down to bottom left. PAYG lasts for ever.

Rates & Plans | RWG Mobile

RWG Mobile is powered by the Now/EE mobile network and operates as a Pay-as-you-go and pay monthly mobile provider that gives you total flexibility
www.rwgmobile.wales
 
shapeshifter said:
RGW Mobile. They use EE.
Click to expand...
That's interesting.
As I'm now a very light user I'm looking to swap to a PAYG sim.
Teaser plus is less than half the price I'm paying for the same thing with BT.

Strangely I mentioned to the kids yesterday I was thinking of a PAYG sim, and they couldn't believe PAYG was still a thing.
 
Last edited:
ecoleman said:
I with 1p mobile which has a minimum top up of £10 every 90 days so not too bad.

Calls / Texts and Data per Mb is 1p

1pMobile piggyback off the EE network
Click to expand...
I've just been looking at that and their site says
Top up by £10 and your next top-up won’t be due for another 120 days
Top up by £15 and your next top-up won’t be due for another 180 days
Top up by £20 and your next top-up won’t be due for another 240 days
Top up by £30 and your next top-up won’t be due for another 360 days
Top up by £40 and your next top-up won’t be due for another 480 days
Top up by £50 and your next top-up won’t be due for another 600 days

I guess they make their money from wasted / not use credit
from light users.

Still from my point of view £10 ~ 4 months is better than ~ 30 quid for the same.
or even £30 / year is better than ~£86 / year.
 
Cobra said:
I've just been looking at that and their site says
Top up by £10 and your next top-up won’t be due for another 120 days
Top up by £15 and your next top-up won’t be due for another 180 days
Top up by £20 and your next top-up won’t be due for another 240 days
Top up by £30 and your next top-up won’t be due for another 360 days
Top up by £40 and your next top-up won’t be due for another 480 days
Top up by £50 and your next top-up won’t be due for another 600 days

I guess they make their money from wasted / not use credit
from light users.

Still from my point of view £10 ~ 4 months is better than ~ 30 quid for the same.
or even £30 / year is better than ~£86 / year.
Click to expand...

I'm sure it was every quarter but perhaps they have changed it now. I'm not sure if it was staggered before as I only top up by a tenner which usually lasts sees me through until the next topup.

I bought a £50 data sim for my campervan last year. 120Gb for 12 months. It's expires next month and I've only used 5Gb :(
 
ecoleman said:
I bought a £50 data sim for my campervan last year. 120Gb for 12 months. It's expires next month and I've only used 5Gb :(
Click to expand...
I use virtually nothing in the way of data.
My current plan is 2gb.
I don't even get close to 1GB if at all in any given month.
ecoleman said:
I only top up by a tenner which usually lasts sees me through until the next topup.
Click to expand...
I bet I won't even use a tenner hence my comment about "wasted" data / credit.
But It's still looking favourite at the moment (y)
 
I will be looking to change my main mobile account fairly soon, and the RGW packages looking interesting. What I'd like is EE (because that's the only carrier with signal were I work) with full data allowance included for roaming in Europe (because 5GB isn't enough for 2 weeks). I'm happy to pay each month as I do right now with giffgaff.
 
I like my O2 mobile which was with Virgin. £0 plan, I do not pay anything at all for calls and text, no top etc but I do have to pay for any data I use. Since going over to O2 they have said that it is now a monthly contract plan but otherwise no change at all.
Until January 2024 when there may be some changes to the contract :confused:

At present I use my £3.88 / month O2 plan on my newer phone for data 2GB / month. As I am retired that is sufficient for me as I link via the internet for most stuff.
 
As BT has failed again, ( no signal) for 24 hours, same as last week,
I signed up with one 1p.
It seems you have to sign up, with a min of £10, but that's ok, its pre loaded for the 120 days ( other longer options are available).

The next fight will be when I get the PAC code from BT.
I've been with them years, on a month by month contract, when I checked the sim only deals it seems its a 2 year contract.
I feel that's likly to be an email, to the CEO in due course if they are expecting an end of contract fee...
 
To add its 100% BT at fault I got a free sim on another network, and obviously I couldn't use it, but there was a signal immediately,
I put it in.
Still no signal on the BT sim :(
 
I had PAYG for years but then my money started disappearing even if I was making a short chargeable call and then it got worse as my provider said my phone may not work after the next upgrade so I bought a new phone and went for a rolling one month contract with unlimited calls and texts and some data (I forget how much) for £4 a month. It's actually cheaper to use my mobile now instead of the land line but sadly I can't ditch the landline as it comes as part of a package with Virgin.

So that's my recommendation, a cheap rolling one month contact for about £4, actually the first three months are £1 odd.
 
Try ASDA Mobile. I have an ASDA sim in my PIR alarm at the garage which is even more difficult because I can't actually 'use' it!!

It was about the only one i could find at the time which didn't need a monthly? 'bundle' to be purchased.
 
LeeRatters said:
It was about the only one i could find at the time which didn't need a monthly? 'bundle' to be purchased.
Click to expand...
That's a bit of a con, isn't it, once you look into the "cheap deals"
They mostly come with a bundle, pushing the price up :(
 
I pay £5 a month on ID mobile. Saves all the hassle credit running out, forgetting to top up etc.
 
Just to complete things, popped the 2 years 20GB SIM from 3 into the phone. It self-registered, then 'just worked' as Apple would claim. Navigation now available. I will be 'extremely' surprised if she can use 1GB/month - the phone is set not to allow OTA updates and mobile data for navigation only. I also bought a lightly padded zippable black case for the phone that will allow it to be effectively hidden in the (black) console storage in order to reduce external 'interest' in a phone that's always left in the car.
 
ancient_mariner said:
Just to complete things, popped the 2 years 20GB SIM from 3 into the phone. It self-registered, then 'just worked' as Apple would claim. Navigation now available. I will be 'extremely' surprised if she can use 1GB/month - the phone is set not to allow OTA updates and mobile data for navigation only. I also bought a lightly padded zippable black case for the phone that will allow it to be effectively hidden in the (black) console storage in order to reduce external 'interest' in a phone that's always left in the car.
Click to expand...

also make sure you create offline maps over WIFI on the phone that will save a heap o data
 
Mr Bump said:
also make sure you create offline maps over WIFI on the phone that will save a heap o data
Click to expand...

The phone will just live in the car full-time. You're absolutely right that downloading over WiFi will save a lot of data, but TBH the navigation will be used so little I suspect we'll finish the 2 years before 20GB.
 
ancient_mariner said:
The phone will just live in the car full-time. You're absolutely right that downloading over WiFi will save a lot of data, but TBH the navigation will be used so little I suspect we'll finish the 2 years before 20GB.
Click to expand...

fair play but all you need to do is pop the phone on WIFI select a map download that covers youe area which doesn't take a lot of space then its good for about a year.
Also because the phone will not need to download much when out battery will last longer and its much better for the device
 
The phone is connected to the car software to enable navigation through android auto and the car screen. It's permanently plugged in and will stay in the car. A local map isn't needed, but rather one of other parts of the UK. I did try using downloaded maps on the WiFi first, but they don't seem to work with AA, and aren't searchable on this system.

Thanks for trying to help.
 
ancient_mariner said:
The phone is connected to the car software to enable navigation through android auto and the car screen. It's permanently plugged in and will stay in the car. A local map isn't needed, but rather one of other parts of the UK. I did try using downloaded maps on the WiFi first, but they don't seem to work with AA, and aren't searchable on this system.

Thanks for trying to help.
Click to expand...

Ah fair enough the offline map thing is for google maps/navigation.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top