Cheap SIMS - To Lyca or Lebara...or better the devil I know?

grandadgolfer

savergrant said:

Harvey07 said:

Thanks all. They are on a Vodaphone plan with unlimited mins & texts, 2gb of data + an extra 2gb. Was 24 months with a Motorola phone. Can't recall what it's called. It's £22+ a month.

I'm on a £6pm ID monthly SIM only plan & wanted to switch to their 15gb 12 months plan with the £40 voucher (<£5 a month) but they've said it's no go as I'm an existing customer. So I'll likely jump elsewhere myself. Might switch the kids to ID tho'. 

If you can live with a couple of days disruption then it is worth porting your number to a free sim then rejoining. But definitely move off a contract which includes the cost of the phone. would be worth checking how much they actually use of their allowance. Rwg do 2gb bundle for £3.50 or 5gb for £6 on ee network.
https://www.rwgmobile.wales/rates-plans-eng-per/

As regards using monthly allowance...first thing to check is how much data you actually use.....example



Phone shop salesman

"Your old deal was £10 for 10gb plus unlimited calls...I can now offer you 20gb plus unlimited calls for £15"

You think wow that's a great deal but when checking your data usage you've only been using 5gb a month

Harvey07

Thanks for all the replies. Yeah, agreed it's worth checking what they've used, however what they have and use & what they'd like / could use are two very different things, especially as they get older! They always max out the 4GB they have & often have to switch off their data to avoid running out too early in the month, so I am definitely going to up what they have. There are loads of options out there, it's just trying to strike a good balance between cost, coverage & service etc. Appreciate all the replies folks.

dazzaofdagenham

been using the Lebara sim (1p for 6 months ) in a dual sim phone for aboyt 6 weeks now

no issues at all

getmore4less

Dual sim is the way to go,  get a decent cheapish deal(we have O2 classic PAYG) for the main number then don't need to port it.

Then rate tart your second sim(1p 6m 12GB Lebara for now), we don't bother porting but have started collecting spares sims if we are between deals
3x3datareward with 200MB/m and a RWG  250MB/m

MiserlyMartin

What it doesn't say in the MSE cheap SIM guide is that Lyca Mobile have this re. roaming:

Terms & Conditions

1GB EU data cap

1000 Mins and SMS can be used in EU.

I presume that its a monthly cap. I also presume that if you go over 1GB then you have no internet. There's nobody at Lyca to talk with after 6pm so I can't ask them about it. Anyone know?

Anyway, that is certainly NOT roam like at home, when you can only use a fraction - 1GB of your  home allowance!!

MiserlyMartin

Lebara is better on data, but still restrictive on the 200 minutes of minutes!

Important bits to know

1. You can use your standard plan allowance up to 10GB data, 200 outgoing mins, 200 incoming mins and 200 outgoing text messages in a calendar month basis.
2. A surcharge applies for usage once you have reached these thresholds.
   • 5p/MB after having used 10GB data
   • 10p/min applies after having used 200 mins for outgoing calls
   • 10p/min for incoming calls beyond 200 mins
   • 10p/text after having sent 200 text messages
3. Surcharge is deducted from your Pay As You Go allowance. You will need to top up if you don’t have any credit.
4. Any international allowances included in your plan are not available while in India. Calls to destinations other than India or UK will be charged at standard roaming rates below
5. To be able to use roaming in the EU or India , you must have made a chargeable activity within the UK ( made a call, sms or used data ) before taking your phone abroad.
6. Lebara can withdraw its free-roaming services for India at any time, at its discretion with a notice period of 5 days. If the service is withdrawn, customers will be informed via SMS or email as applicable and information will be available on the website – lebara.co.uk
7. All calls, text and data in India will be routed using Lebara’s network partner – Vodafone.

thisisalwaysmyonlinename

Do not, I repeat, DO NOT use Lycamobile. My (and now I've looked into it - it seems everyone's) experience is harrowing, limited opening hours, no chat service, horrible app, on the phone for long periods of time trying to speak to someone, they can't solve problems, texts saying they've solved problems when they haven't, poor phone service. Literally everything that you don't want with a mobile phone provider. I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole. Can't wait to leave.

jimjames

We switched to Lebara at end of August. No issues at all and have used roaming with them twice since then, again with no problems. It's saved us a massive amount of money compared to our previous deal with Voxi which charged extra for roaming.

savergrant

I don't know why but for some reason our home WiFi range seems to have reduced lately, so ten days ago I took the plunge and ordered the 5p deals from both lyca and lebara for my dual sim phone and my spare phone. The lebars sim arrived on Tues "ready to go", but after sending its first text successfully I got nothing. Emailed cs all the info about account, personal details, sim number etc and got a reply asking me to give them the same information again. Only thing i hadn't told them was that i hadn't been roaming in the last 30 days, which for some strange reason i had overlooked. Today ca tell me the bundle hadn't been applied after all, and that they will try to get it fixed in next 3 days. The lyca sim took a day longer (albeit tracked delivery) and needed me to apply the bundle by entering the activation pin. Once that was done it was full steam ahead. Just my experience but quite different to most it seems.

savergrant

Update lebara sim now operational, and works in my 4g router. So lyca in the phone and lebara in the router gives me good coverage.