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Best Sim-only Deals guide Discussion

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  • Dewpoint
    Dewpoint Posts: 155 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Why go for 8GB, unltd mins & texts: £9/mth on a 12 mth contract when Voxi (Vodaphone network) was doing a 8GB for £10/mth for the same unltd mins & texts & roaming on a one month, cancel anytime agreement? Also, where I was in Spain this year Three's partner (Movistar) only supported very slow 3G access while Vodaphone coverage supported 4G.
  • I am pleased to see that Smarty have been removed from the 'Best Sims Only' listings. At the beginning of the year I subscribed to Smarty as the amount of data offered and the price was exactly what I was looking for and the amount I needed when travelling around Europe in my camping-car. Unfortunately it was not to work out. The moment I left the channel tunnel in Calais it dropped all connections and data except SMS. On returning to the UK, and on exiting the channel tunnel at Folkestone, it was immediately live without my touching a thing. So it is clear that Smarty are not providing the service they offer and it would seem that they are actively switching off those travelling to Europe and wishing to use there sim card to maintain contact with the UK. I am once again in Europe and I am once again without the means to maintain contact with family and friends due entirely too listening to Smarty's help line who insist that there is nothing wrong and that I have full access. On the face of it the offer looks good and the price reasonable but after six months use at £7.50 per month and only five weeks of live use in the UK it is actually expensive.
  • buglawton
    buglawton Posts: 9,246 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Did you check that you had roaming enabled on your phone? it sounds like it's not enabled. That feature used to be used a lot by people lining on the coast near France to avoid huge bills.
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 5,186 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    finhumfrey wrote: »
    I am pleased to see that Smarty have been removed from the 'Best Sims Only' listings. At the beginning of the year I subscribed to Smarty as the amount of data offered and the price was exactly what I was looking for and the amount I needed when travelling around Europe in my camping-car. Unfortunately it was not to work out. The moment I left the channel tunnel in Calais it dropped all connections and data except SMS. On returning to the UK, and on exiting the channel tunnel at Folkestone, it was immediately live without my touching a thing. So it is clear that Smarty are not providing the service they offer and it would seem that they are actively switching off those travelling to Europe and wishing to use there sim card to maintain contact with the UK. I am once again in Europe and I am once again without the means to maintain contact with family and friends due entirely too listening to Smarty's help line who insist that there is nothing wrong and that I have full access. On the face of it the offer looks good and the price reasonable but after six months use at £7.50 per month and only five weeks of live use in the UK it is actually expensive.

    You're not eligible for 'Roam like at Home' anyway:-

    https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/consumers/internet-telecoms/mobile-roaming-costs/index_en.htm
    Conditions
    "Roam like at home" is intended for people who occasionally travel outside the country where they live or have stable links i.e. they work or study there. It's not meant to be used for permanent roaming. As long as you spend more time at home than abroad, or you use your mobile phone more at home than abroad, you can roam freely at domestic prices when travelling anywhere in the EU. This is considered a "fair use of roaming services".
  • buglawton
    buglawton Posts: 9,246 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    A lovely link, but could you explain why you think finhumfrey does not qualify for straightforward EU roaming with Smarty, specifically?
    (If of course he'd remembered to set his phone to allow roaming)
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 5,186 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    buglawton wrote: »
    A lovely link, but could you explain why you think finhumfrey does not qualify for straightforward EU roaming with Smarty, specifically?
    (If of course he'd remembered to set his phone to allow roaming)

    If you actually mean why wasn't it working then no, only Smarty could answer that. Doesn't change the fact that eventually they'd have probably turned it off.
  • brookhouse
    brookhouse Posts: 123 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    I ordered the MSE blagged Three £9 per month deal with 8GB 12 month contract (minimum term).

    The welcome letter is showing various monthly discounts to get from £23 to £9.

    Is there a danger that these monthly discounts disappear at the end of the 12 month contract, or if I just stay on the package will the price stay the same (apart from RPI increases)?
  • Jezzabell
    Jezzabell Posts: 138 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Name Dropper
    I'm thinking about getting a pay as you go data SIM for my tablet so it can be used whilst we are on holiday in france for a couple of weeks. The VOXI one looks like a good bet, just wondering if there were any other recommendations? I've got plenty of data on my phone but don't think I can tether when abroad (3 advance 1 month plan) and would like to be able to use my tablet too. Thanks.
  • buglawton
    buglawton Posts: 9,246 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    https://3g.co.uk/tethering
    Can I tether when abroad?
    Tethering is supported on all plans in Go Roam in Europe destinations. However, data usage in the EU is limited to 19GB per month on all Pay Monthly plans and 15GB per month on Pay As You Go plans.
  • philatio
    philatio Posts: 678 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Combo Breaker
    SMARTY being a bit 'del-boy' on USwitch it seems.

    Been checking every few days for a cheap sim-only deal.

    They appeared near the top today with 2GB Data for £5 a month.

    Clicked through to the site and its the standard SMARTY £7.50 a month with £2.50 back if you don't use the data.
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