Best Sim-only Deals guide Discussion

gser

Beware of extortionate Lebara charges when going to the Isle of Man.

On MSE advice, I opted for the Lebara Sim Only deal when moving from my, soon to close, Plusnet Sim Only contract. I made the switch just prior to departing for this years' Isle of Man TT racing.
When nearing the Isle of Man aboard the Liverpool - Douglas ferry, I received a text stating that I would be charged £14.99 per mb for data usage. That is £14.99 per mb NOT per GB! Plus call charges of £3.49 per minute. Similarly expensive charges for sending/receiving calls & texts. 
On reading the small print, the Isle of Man appears in Lebara's Zone 2 for Call Charges, in the same group as the most distant far flung countries imaginable and not in your free 100 International minutes package! This is despite the Isle of Man being only 60 miles (as the crow flies) from my home in North Wales!
Needless to say, I ditched the Lebara Sim Card and purchased a local Sure, pay as you go for the duration of the TT.
On my return home, I have now changed service provider to Tesco who are currently offering a much more user friendly package.

JSmithy45AD

Has anyone tried any of the O2 deals via MSE? I getting a "something went wrong" message at O2's end.

JSmithy45AD

JSmithy45AD said:

Has anyone tried any of the O2 deals via MSE? I getting a "something went wrong" message at O2's end.

Never mind, it seems that O2 doesn't like the Brave browser (shields down) but is happy with Chrome.

loops298

I have just moved to Lebara from Plusnet (as I don't like the offerings from EE now that PN is closing its mobile service). It was advertised that my service would include 'wifi calling'.The setting showed under Plusnet (even though it wasn't enabled on their service) but the setting is no longer there now I am on Lebara. I have contacted an agent and on querying how long it would be before it was available to me I got the answer... "It could be days or weeks or months."

Sounds like mis-advertising to me as it was one of the selling points for their deals. 

I am putting this out there as a warning to users who like me, live in a generaly poor mobile area (all networks) and was opting for wifi calling to make the signal better.

bemused77

loops298 said:

I have just moved to Lebara from Plusnet (as I don't like the offerings from EE now that PN is closing its mobile service). It was advertised that my service would include 'wifi calling'.The setting showed under Plusnet (even though it wasn't enabled on their service) but the setting is no longer there now I am on Lebara. I have contacted an agent and on querying how long it would be before it was available to me I got the answer... "It could be days or weeks or months."

Sounds like mis-advertising to me as it was one of the selling points for their deals. 

I am putting this out there as a warning to users who like me, live in a generaly poor mobile area (all networks) and was opting for wifi calling to make the signal better.

I have been with Lebara for a couple of years and never had a  problem. I would try speak to another agent. Sounds to me you were talking to someone who was trying to wind you up.

brookhouse

bemused77 said:

loops298 said:

I have just moved to Lebara from Plusnet (as I don't like the offerings from EE now that PN is closing its mobile service). It was advertised that my service would include 'wifi calling'.The setting showed under Plusnet (even though it wasn't enabled on their service) but the setting is no longer there now I am on Lebara. I have contacted an agent and on querying how long it would be before it was available to me I got the answer... "It could be days or weeks or months."

Sounds like mis-advertising to me as it was one of the selling points for their deals. 

I am putting this out there as a warning to users who like me, live in a generaly poor mobile area (all networks) and was opting for wifi calling to make the signal better.

I have been with Lebara for a couple of years and never had a  problem. I would try speak to another agent. Sounds to me you were talking to someone who was trying to wind you up.

It's also phone model and operating system version dependent so worth checking that your mobile supports it.

bemused77

Used iPhone, Samsung and Huawei without problems.

oldagetraveller1

"I am putting this out there as a warning to users who like me, live in a generaly poor mobile area (all networks) and was opting for wifi calling to make the signal better. "

Similarly for me. You don't state which phone make/model and it does seem to be a major factor in whether the WiFi calling is supported.

Two Poco (Xiaomi) phones here, different models, one of them with a Lebara s.i.m., and it works fine for me. Indoors network signal is virtually zero locally.

The second has a 1pMobile s.i.m.(EE network), as with Lebara(Vodafone) v. poor network signal.

capella

Just joined Lebara from ID, I have 12Gb sim. Had the email from Lebara to say WiFi & Volte calling was enabled, two weeks later and these are not working. After an extensive Online Chat I was told Lebara's system will only operate with Android 12 and above, mine is Android 10 on Galaxy S9+. Both of these services worked with ID Mobile.
My partner has galaxy A8 running Android 9 and WiFi and Volte calling works perfectly with her Lebara Sim.
Lebara need to update their advertisement to state only works on Android 12 and above if this is indeed the case and not mislead their future customers. 

MrsGrey

JSmithy45AD said:

Has anyone tried any of the O2 deals via MSE? I getting a "something went wrong" message at O2's end.

Something's weird about MSE and O2 apparently. If you filter for O2 and click All Deals, there are no deals, at any level of usage. But under All Deals, Bingo! 12mnths, 10 GB data, £5 pm. Seems pretty good to me. Roaming incl of course. The click-through form MSE worked for me too, today.