Mobile signal without activating sim

17lbp

Hi
We recently moved home, my hubby was using giffgaff (o2) on his mobile but the signal is awful in our new home. I've checked mobile coverage and vodafone is showing as the best coverage so i've nipped out and got a sainsburys sim which i believe runs on vodafone. I've put the sim in but not activated it yet - its showing some signal but not 3G - do i need to activate and top up for 3G to show up? Obviously i realise i can't make a call etc but i'm not too keen on topping up if the signal isn't going to be that great.
Thanks

kingrulzuk

17lbp wrote: »

Hi
We recently moved home, my hubby was using giffgaff (o2) on his mobile but the signal is awful in our new home. I've checked mobile coverage and vodafone is showing as the best coverage so i've nipped out and got a sainsburys sim which i believe runs on vodafone. I've put the sim in but not activated it yet - its showing some signal but not 3G - do i need to activate and top up for 3G to show up? Obviously i realise i can't make a call etc but i'm not too keen on topping up if the signal isn't going to be that great.
Thanks

VF is one of the worst network for 3G. its good for 2G calls and text. This is the reason why i have bin my VF sim

axean

I'm guessing your phone is indicating it's making a connection to the Vodafone mast, but you not 'logged' in to the Vodafone internet service.

Before your phone can log into the 'mobile internet' it needs some info. This 'log in' info is called 'APN Settings'. The ability to enter this data varies with phone, but can ususally be obtained by text message sent to you mobile company. But your not registed yet so can't do this.

You can enter the APN Settings for Vodafone manually. Here is a link to the settings
http://www.geeksquad.co.uk/articles/vodafone-apn-settings

Once they're set up you might need to reboot, but you should then see the mobile strength and a letter indicating type of data connection. You will get access to neither data or phone calls until you register you sim and have some money for the service.

I agree with kingrulzuk that Vodafone is considered to have arguably the worst network coverage. So you need to visit their website and check you'll get coverage at places you'll commonly visit before committing yourself to their network

Scrounger

17lbp wrote: »

i've nipped out and got a sainsburys sim - its showing some signal but not 3G - do i need to activate and top up for 3G to show up?

Shouldn't need to top up, try going upstairs and holding the phone high up in front of a window and see if it switches over to 3G.

If not, try forcing the handset on to 3G only (in settings).

Also, before you top up, read my Sainsbury's saver tip here.

Scrounger