Lyca mobile

stuarta99

Does anyone have any experience of Lyca Mobile?  We've been a long term EE customer and do get good signal but our contract are now up.  I've looked at Sky but they have no 5G coverage where I am so checked out Lyca who appears to use EE

A quick check shows EE 5Gb sim at £19 (10Mb) or £22 (100Mb) whereas Lyca is £4.  20Gb with EE is £22 and £25 where as Lyca is £8.

Problem is we are loyal and not a lot in the monthlies if the service isn't as good.  And I've just seen this 

The 3 best bits

1) Now on EE's excellent network 
2) Join instantly on an eSIM
3) Cheap international calls 

The 3 worst bits

1) No WiFi calling / 4G calling
2) Signal not technically identical to EE
3) Customer service not great

SaverRate

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2023/10/lycamobile-customers-report-phone-outage/

I would recommend Lebara personally, always had good service from them 

savergrant

If you are looking for the closest thing to ee without actually being ee you ought to check out 1pmobile.
I wouldn't say I was a fan but I am a much lighter user and don't really need a technically identical signal.
https://www.1pmobile.com/data-4GB-SIM
https://www.1pmobile.com/data-10GB-SIM
https://www.1pmobile.com/data-25GB-SIM

I use the budget end rwg but some people find their ee coverage doesn't stretch to rural locations., whereas ee themselves and 1p offer a stronger signal and WiFi calling.

One quirk of 1pmobile is that you need to make a topup of £10 at least every 120 days, and they process lower value boosts out of your account credit, which they then process an auto topup to replenish if you go under £2 credit. So the actual amount you pay each month can vary unless you are on the £10 bundle or more.

savergrant

And yes lyca do now use the ee network, having moved from o2 this summer without warning customers.
Interestingly 1pmobile t&c's advise that it is highly unlikely but they may change the underlying carrier (but will give you notice of any change)

PHK

I cannot recommend Lyca. I was with them earlier in the year long before the data breach. Their systems barely function, there is a very poor level of customer service and they ignore complaints. 

stuarta99

Ok thanks guys and will stay away from Lyca then. Was thinking I might keep with EE for confidence but not heard of 1p before.

Although just noticed the EE subscription PAYG sims but not sure what the difference is with pay monthly.

Pay monthly is £25 for 25Gb. PAYG subscription is £15 for 25Gb although restricted to 25Mb which should be ok

savergrant

"Although just noticed the EE subscription PAYG sims but not sure what the difference is with pay monthly."

I think the main distinction between payg bundles and pay monthly is about out of bundle calls like premium rate. If you are on payg you will need to have a credit balance before you can make extra-bundle calls.

stuarta99

Yeah although shows it as unlimited calls and texts so odd

oldagetraveller1

"Does anyone have any experience of Lyca Mobile?"

Yes, a massive three days. The network is fine, depending on location, but their so-called customer service is abysmal - hence the three days.

savergrant

stuarta99 said:

Yeah although shows it as unlimited calls and texts so odd

I think "unlimited" can be open to interpretation, as it doesn't cover all non-geographic numbers.

tinker411

stuarta99 said:

Ok thanks guys and will stay away from Lyca then. Was thinking I might keep with EE for confidence but not heard of 1p before.

Although just noticed the EE subscription PAYG sims but not sure what the difference is with pay monthly.

Pay monthly is £25 for 25Gb. PAYG subscription is £15 for 25Gb although restricted to 25Mb which should be ok

1p Mobile are absolutely fine, I use them myself. Customer service seems a bit of an odd operation but any query I've had so far they've resolved so can't grumble at that.

Also, they re currently doing a monthly bundle (they call them boosts) of 25GB for £10 a month without the 25Mb speed restriction the parent network imposes on it's own customers so, yeah.