Can you still get sim cards with £1 credit?

dot111

I'm looking to change from Vodafone, I'm not in a good reception area, internet, TV not the best.
I know Vodafone and 02 are ok, but how do I test the rest, all family and friends are on VF or 02. I know you can check coverage but not happy porting number and committing to anything unless I'm 100% sure and obviously want to get best deal.

Thanks

Money_Grabber13579

No, you can't. However, you can get SIM cards with no credit which will get a signal - you just won't be able to make a call or send texts.

They're available from all the main providers on their website under Free SIM. Having said that, I'm still waiting for Orange to Deliver mine.

dot111

So if I just put various sim cards in my unlocked phone it will show signal....that simple?

dot111

So if I just put various sim cards in my unlocked phone it will show signal....that simple?

Money_Grabber13579

dot111 wrote: »

So if I just put various sim cards in my unlocked phone it will show signal....that simple?

Yep, should work. As long as they haven't been cancelled in the meantime of course! But even if there's no credit on the SIM cards, they should still connect to the network.

lozzaman

I think all SIMS except for o2 ones accept incoming calls too with no credit on, so you could see if the voice is breaking up or anything too. Definitely the best way to check out a network locally.

lozzaman

Money_Grabber13579 wrote: »

No, you can't. However, you can get SIM cards with no credit which will get a signal - you just won't be able to make a call or send texts.

They're available from all the main providers on their website under Free SIM. Having said that, I'm still waiting for Orange to Deliver mine.

Get a T-Mobile one instead, register to use it on Orange and try that way?

You do need a T-Mobile signal in the first place to be able to register though.

dot111

Thanks for your help, I've got a couple of sim cards I'll give them a "test"

Money_Grabber13579

lozzaman wrote: »

Get a T-Mobile one instead, register to use it on Orange and try that way?

You do need a T-Mobile signal in the first place to be able to register though.

Yep, I should have added I don't actually need it anymore because I gave up waiting on Orange to deliver! I went with T-Mobile for a contract, and found the reception was rubbish! (Even though it was reasonable on the phone I tested it in!) Happily, I've now got Orange reception and it's excellent. Maybe I should just have waited a bit longer for those Orange SIMs to arrive...:p

lozzaman

Money_Grabber13579 wrote: »

Yep, I should have added I don't actually need it anymore because I gave up waiting on Orange to deliver! I went with T-Mobile for a contract, and found the reception was rubbish! (Even though it was reasonable on the phone I tested it in!) Happily, I've now got Orange reception and it's excellent. Maybe I should just have waited a bit longer for those Orange SIMs to arrive...:p

Good job there's the Orange roaming then

On the T-Mobile phone you were using it, was that 3G and the phone you were testing it in 2G perhaps? The 3G in my house is weak (will often show no bars, but still sit on standby) The 2G is pretty strong though.

Money_Grabber13579

They were both 3G capable phones and used it when available. It just seemed to be overall reception was poor, and when I held the new phone, reception disappeared from 2 bars to nothing at all. The only way I could use it was on loud speaker! So it would seem that the antenna just wasn't as good. Thankfully no such problems with Orange roaming!