Best PAYG deal with internet access.

geoffW

Stompa wrote: »

I assume you mean 50MB in total over 7 days? I see that here:

http://www.tesco.com/mobilenetwork/content.aspx?page=100

they say:

Fair Usage Policy

1. We may impose an upper limit on the amount of browsing that can be used as part of the Unlimited Browsing Pass. Any such limit will be clearly set out on www.tescomobile.com or in any marketing materials and will only be imposed to prevent atypical use and/or abuse.

not sure I can see where that limit is "clearly set out" though.

Yes it's only 50 MB per week. They sent me a text when I had used 90% of the 50MB.

geoffW

rikesh wrote: »

Get an O2 iphone sim. It will give free 3G and wifi for 1 year. Doesnt matter if it isnt used in an iphone. Otherwise, £10/month unlimited texts and 3G on T-Mobile.

You wont get the free internet if it's not an iphone. I tried it and O2 stopped it after 3 months, they can tell if it's not an iphone.

d123

geoffW wrote: »

You wont get the free internet if it's not an iphone. I tried it and O2 stopped it after 3 months, they can tell if it's not an iphone.

I can confirm this, I had my iPhone unlocked mid-November and started using it on T-Mobile, I put the o2 iPhone sim into another phone and even though I didnt use the data bundle at all I got a text from o2 after about 2 weeks saying if I didnt put the sim back into my iPhone they would cancel the data bundle.

spongebrain

philnicandamy wrote: »

Interesting....look forward to updates sponge

OK, first here's their response (finally)

Asda_Mobile wrote: »

Thanks for your email, our internet charges and charges advertised are
accurately recorded and monitored by our regulator body OFCOM, they are
independent mobile analysers, if you feel you are being charged extra for
this service then please contact ofcom.

I thought I'd run some more tests just to be sure and sure enough, trying 2 different types of network usage monitor, netmonitor and 3g watchdog, have shown the same overcharging compared to the 20p per Mb they claim to be charging. Bearing in mind I've now tried 4-5 different types of monitor and they all read the same so I'm quite happy that they are recording correct network usage. I've even tried limiting the network traffic to 2G only just in case they charged extra for higher speed but seems the same. Here's my latest test for instance on 2G;
Started mobile network with a balance of £13.94
Used 649.4kb of 2G network and no texts or calls
Stopped mobile network and checked balance - £13.52

So, 42p for 0.649 Mb or perhaps an ever so slight difference if they are using the correct figures of 1,024kb per Mb but it won't make THAT much difference.

alias123

robpiggott wrote: »

Three give you 150mb over 3 months with a top up of £10.....so top up £10 per 3 months and get the free web, plus free mins/texts ETC.

I second '3' for £10 you get your credit, 600 texts, unlimited 3 to 3 mins, and 150mb data.

Stompa

spongebrain wrote: »

Here's my latest test for instance on 2G;
Started mobile network with a balance of £13.94
Used 649.4kb of 2G network and no texts or calls
Stopped mobile network and checked balance - £13.52

So, 42p for 0.649 Mb or perhaps an ever so slight difference if they are using the correct figures of 1,024kb per Mb but it won't make THAT much difference.

Hmmm, I just tried an experiment, doing just a bit of surfing:

Bytes sent = 17536
Bytes received = 445059
Cost = 9p

which seems about right to me.....

JSF

If you got a good signal on 3 I suspect 3 may be the best way to go if its for the internet. Calls are 20p a min though. However you need a phone thats 3g and unlocked to use on 3. Also get £10 free top up if you port a number to them.

The free amount they give you may not be enough if you use the internet a lot and it then works out expensive outside this limit however I got a feeling they have internet add-ons. There used to be 1gb for £5 (internet max?) for a month. I think you need to log-on to MY3 to do this, but I dont have a 3 mobile account to check how this is done or if it can be done - maybe someone can confirm this who has a 3 pay as you go phone account?. I know it was an add-on for contract phones not sure about pay as you go but I suspect it would be available for both.

geoffW

Giffgaff has free internet until end of May,calls are 8p,texts 4p. They are on the O2 network.

spongebrain

Stompa wrote: »

Hmmm, I just tried an experiment, doing just a bit of surfing:

Bytes sent = 17536
Bytes received = 445059
Cost = 9p

which seems about right to me.....

Hmmm.. cheers Stompa. So it must be my phone mis-reporting network usage then for some strange reason. As mentioned, I've tried several different network monitors but I guess they can only work with the byte count that the phone gives them -they can't all be duff.

Got me completely puzzled now... need to find another phone I can whack this sim in, and then figure out how mine (HTC Hero) is chewing up so much) cheers

Stompa

spongebrain wrote: »

Hmmm.. cheers Stompa. So it must be my phone mis-reporting network usage then for some strange reason. As mentioned, I've tried several different network monitors but I guess they can only work with the byte count that the phone gives them -they can't all be duff.

I was using the built-in data counter in my phone, rather than a separate app. Does your phone have something similar?