MSE guide discussion - 'Piggybacking' and which network provides your mobile service

kyle234

Heng_Leng wrote: »

Yes, except the virtual networks don't always have access to the newer 4G LTE network.

EE and Vodafone currently regard 4G as premium.
O2 and 3 mostly offer 4G as standard.

If only that were true though. It certainly isn't for BT & EE, we've undergone extensive trials at work where people have carried around the same handsets; one with a BT sim and the other with EE, they don't get the same signal.

Despite BT telling us it should be exactly the same, it isn't - or at least it hasn't been in our testing (we've tested this nationally) and we've found that the EE sim always gets better coverage.

I can't speak for any other MVNOs; but that's been our experience with BT (which I know sounds odd since they own EE now)

Futuristic

Same with Virgin. Before I use to see EE on my iPhone and now it's always says Virgin and signal is really bad.

Using EE sim, of course full signal and I am close to the city centre.

But I have a good deal and i'd like to move but no one can beat the deal from Virgin for £5/mo

SoggyMoggy

Just found out that Mobile by Sainsburys will no longer be available after 15th January.


http://www.phoneshopbysainsburys.co.uk/mbs


Brilliant, thanks for that, Sainsburys!

Supatramp

I've been with Virgin/EE for over a year now, and have no complaints. Streets ahead of the service/coverage I was getting with Vodafone.

janeyxxxxx

hello, can anyone advise me please? I have terrible signal where I live with vodafone beong the best of a bad lot so I have a sure signal box but really want to leave vodafone because of repeated appalling customer service . My question is if I use a piggy back service will my sure signal still work ?

janeyxxxxx

hello, can anyone advise me please? I have terrible signal where I live with vodafone beong the best of a bad lot so I have a sure signal box but really want to leave vodafone because of repeated appalling customer service . My question is if I use a piggy back service will my sure signal still work ?

MikeWhite

No, it won't. Only with Vodafone.

Kimbo

A company called Freedompop have been operating in the USA for some time. Last Summer they launched a beta service in the UK, piggybacking off of Three. Their basic service offers a free package of 200 mins, 200 texts and 200Mb of data. I have been using them since Sept 2015 and, as a low user, have found their service fine. In particular, their customer support, via a UK landline number, is excellent.
I am amazed that they are not included in MSE's Mobile piggybacking list. Equally amazing, I have not been able to find any coverage of them on MSE. FreedomPop runs on the Three network, so coverage and data speeds is great. For heavier users, extra amounts of talk, text and data can be purchased.
Their business model may result in them going the same way as other "free" providers in the past but they have been around for some time in the US. The word needs spreading in the UK!!!!

MikeWhite

Kimbo wrote: »

A company called Freedompop have been operating in the USA for some time. Last Summer they launched a beta service in the UK, piggybacking off of Three. Their basic service offers a free package of 200 mins, 200 texts and 200Mb of data. I have been using them since Sept 2015 and, as a low user, have found their service fine. In particular, their customer support, via a UK landline number, is excellent.
I am amazed that they are not included in MSE's Mobile piggybacking list. Equally amazing, I have not been able to find any coverage of them on MSE. FreedomPop runs on the Three network, so coverage and data speeds is great. For heavier users, extra amounts of talk, text and data can be purchased.
Their business model may result in them going the same way as other "free" providers in the past but they have been around for some time in the US. The word needs spreading in the UK!!!!

I'm trying them, too. Cannot resist "free"!
Two things to add to the above:

1. You can up your data to 400 meg a month by "connecting" to "friends" - in reality these are people already using the service, you can find lists on the forum.
2. Voice is VOIP so not always very good quality - you get what you (don't) pay for, I guess!

Roger1

Kimbo wrote: »

... Equally amazing, I have not been able to find any coverage of them on MSE.

Have you tried Search?

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5239775 in this very forum with 125 posts to date.