Opinions of Lycamobile

datz

Vorpex said:

Mysteriously, a PAC code appears on my phone. I use it and the following day my old number is happily working on Lebara. It has taken 9 days to get this done. I have now learned that if it looks too good to be true, it's too good to be true.

I have not been PACing my numbers around for a while now. Too much of a headache when it goes wrong, as you discovered, and there is a (small) risk of losing the number due to incompetence along the way. And some providers really do have some terrible customer service.

I just leave my numbers on a cheap (traditional) pay as you go sim (atm O2 Classic is probably the best attainable one from the big 4 providers, and can still be had new on ebay - certainly more options if you do look beyond the big 4, but I trust them less). Just make sure you do whatever is needed to keep it active (e.g. chargeable event/call every x days).

Then I will get whatever cheap sim-only deal I can get and run it as a (dual) second sim - using that second sim for outgoing calls/texts (disabling/changing caller ID on that sim so people don't see my temporary number) and for data.

If you have dual (physical) sim slots in your phone, then you have a lot more options open to you. I've been using the Lyca 1p offer for 6 months in those of my devices that do have two physical sim slots. I don't trust Lyca, so I set up a multi-use virtual card on Revolut specifically for them, and set a ~5p / month spending limit on it. At least I don't have to worry about erroneous payments or my offer mysteriously disappearing and getting charged the higher amount. Then just discard and grab new sims as necessary.

If your dual SIM phone uses eSIM in place of the second physical slot, then your options are more limited (as only EE, O2, Vodafone offer eSIM options - 3 should be offering them again soon). In this case, I usually just pick up a cheap deal from one of them with enough data and stack cashback offers on it (from Quidco or Topcashback). Currently on Vodafone Basics 40gb for the equivalent of £5.60/month for that device.

flaneurs_lobster

datz said:

If your dual SIM phone uses eSIM in place of the second physical slot, then your options are more limited (as only EE, O2, Vodafone offer eSIM options - 3 should be offering them again soon). In this case, I usually just pick up a cheap deal from one of them with enough data and stack cashback offers on it (from Quidco or Topcashback). Currently on Vodafone Basics 40gb for the equivalent of £5.60/month for that device.

Lyca  have just announced eSIM, including PAYG. Whether one would choose to use them is down to individual's expectations/experience of Lycamobile.

datz

flaneurs_lobster said:

Lyca  have just announced eSIM, including PAYG.

That will be useful if/when they offer them on their 1p deals. Had ordered another couple of 1p MSE SIMs over the weekend and was not offered an eSIM option.

flaneurs_lobster said:

Whether one would choose to use them is down to individual's expectations/experience of Lycamobile.

The way I use them means my expectations or experience are largely irrelevant (you are right, I would never use them as my primary provider). For me, they are a secondary SIM/service, and as long as the coverage is there then it serves its purpose. I don't engage with their customer service, lock myself in by PACing my number across, or pay more than 1p per SIM per month (discarding them each at 6 months, or earlier).

d123

datz said:

flaneurs_lobster said:

Lyca  have just announced eSIM, including PAYG.

That will be useful if/when they offer them on their 1p deals. Had ordered another couple of 1p MSE SIMs over the weekend and was not offered an eSIM option.

You do a sim swap to eSim once the physical sim arrives.

datz

d123 said:

datz said:

flaneurs_lobster said:

Lyca  have just announced eSIM, including PAYG.

That will be useful if/when they offer them on their 1p deals. Had ordered another couple of 1p MSE SIMs over the weekend and was not offered an eSIM option.

You do a sim swap to eSim once the physical sim arrives.

Yep, I looked into the process yesterday evening.

The bundles you buy on the Lyca site allow you to request an eSIM at the time of ordering. But it seems the MSE deals (maybe uswitch and others too?) still only allow you to order a physical sim. Hopefully that will change in due course.

To get the MSE 1p Lyca offer onto an eSIM currently requires a bit of a convoluted process from everything I have read (and in true Lyca fashion, was buggy until very recently)...

• Order physical sim via MSE deal and wait for it to arrive
• Create account with the phone and puk numbers (I usually never bothered with this step - for reasons)
• Order another payg sim directly from Lyca themselves, this time choosing the available eSIM option
  
• Remove the £5 credit they automatically apply to it
• Complete the (free) purchase
• Wait for the email containing the new eSIM details
• You need the eSIM puk code and iccid numbers from that email so make a note of these
  
• Log back into the original account you created and request a SIM swap via the form there
• Then follow the eSIM process on your device (as usual) and scan the QR code you were given.
  

Perhaps when Lyca offer these cheap (single or multi-penny) deals with a lot more data than recently, or simplify the above messy process, then I'll consider it for my primary device (as a secondary eSIM service). As it is, I'll just keep (ab)using their physical SIMs in my other devices (that do have dual physical slots).

Anyway, thanks to both of you for drawing my attention to their recently launched eSIMs. Hopefully more of these alternative providers will start offering eSIM options (looking at you, Lebara).

PHK

I find the Lyca coverage to be poorer than expected. 

In a town centre, EE has 5G and I get 58 Mbps download 78Mbps upload (probably means they’re congested) with Lyca in the same phone (4G only) I get 4.7mbps down and 0.5Mbps up. The ping is also much slower. 

I’ve noticed that on Lyca, I get frequent “Connecting….” on WhatsApp which I never see EE. 

Call quality is noticeably worse on Lyca

Symptoms of the underlying network being poor?

savergrant

"I find the Lyca coverage to be poorer than expected. 

In a town centre..."

Coverage in one town centre may be quite different from another, even assuming both towns are in the UK. And "poorer than expected" comparing to ofcom coverage for your postcode?
Currently in a small village in mid Wales and finding lyca, lebara, and rwg all working indoors (although rwg hovering around 1 bar) when according to ofcom should be outdoor signal only.

PHK

savergrant said:

"I find the Lyca coverage to be poorer than expected. 

In a town centre..."

Coverage in one town centre may be quite different from another, even assuming both towns are in the UK. And "poorer than expected" comparing to ofcom coverage for your postcode?
Currently in a small village in mid Wales and finding lyca, lebara, and rwg all working indoors (although rwg hovering around 1 bar) when according to ofcom should be outdoor signal only.

I agree about coverage will vary but where I use a phone matters to me. 

Networks put effort into town centres because there are many people there. The networks’ own coverage checkers show good signal indoors and out. (The Ofcom coverage checker is not updated as often)  You would expect the signal to be usable. On Lyca it’s disappointing and not just in the one place but others I also go to. 

It’s not something inherent to the area as EE coped well with the number of people. 

That’s my opinion of Lycamobile (as per the thread title)

Geri1987

Whatever you choose do not buy Lycamobile. My sim expired and without knowing, at the time i imagined i had to top up. I topped up 10 euro and never got them back. What i got back was their cs email who threatened me to not request a charge back from my bank if i wanted that nr to be active. I gave them 3 months and nothing happened. Now i am on my quest to let everyone i can reach to know how vomiting their attitude is.

PHK

Also, the financial Times reported yesterday that the auditors won't sign of Lyca's accounts, theres also about £99m set aside to pay taxes they overlooked and the recent data leak. Plus the the even more recent odd charges showing on people's cards.