SIM only plans with EU roaming: Co-op vs Lyca vs Lebara

SouthLondonUser

It's not just my local area (I don't live in the woods). I have noticed that, even in busy areas like London's train stations or airports, signal is always poorer than with EE or Vodafone

Cisco001

flaneurs_lobster said:

Shame that your (local) o2 service is poor, they have good roaming allowances/tariffs at the moment.

You could have 40GB (25GB roaming in EU) for £8/mth via USwitch.

O2 no good at Birmingham city centre as well. 
Went to Christmas market last time data is slow. I was in one of the shop in Bullring shopping centre, no signal at all...

And I was at Chester Oak designer outlet couple weeks ago, no signal...

Stuart_W

The phone co-op has always been a good signal for us, no issues, often finding a 4G signal when RWG (another EE mvno) couldn't. Maybe a coincidence. Have never used roaming though so can't comment.

SouthLondonUser

Just for reference:

• Vodafone has some plans with roaming included, but they're more expensive and they tie you down for longer. 2 years, 50GB, £28; 1 year 25GB £31
• EE has something similar: 2 years, unlimited £27

The price difference vs CoOp is astonishing. Since CoOp doesn't tie you to long term contracts, I suppose there is no harm in trying them, and maybe consider switching to the more expensive Vodafone or EE plans only if the signal turns out to be very poor, or the speeds capped too much. Poor signal is why I wouldn't consider O2 or Three, regardless of price.

Neil49

SouthLondonUser said:

Just for reference:

• Vodafone has some plans with roaming included, but they're more expensive and they tie you down for longer. 2 years, 50GB, £28; 1 year 25GB £31
• EE has something similar: 2 years, unlimited £27

The price difference vs CoOp is astonishing. Since CoOp doesn't tie you to long term contracts, I suppose there is no harm in trying them, and maybe consider switching to the more expensive Vodafone or EE plans only if the signal turns out to be very poor, or the speeds capped too much. Poor signal is why I wouldn't consider O2 or Three, regardless of price.

I've just had a look at the Coop deal and have noticed that short code sms messaging isn't an option. 

Given their comparatively high prices and the fact that short code messages aren't available the Coop is not for me. 

saajan_12

Suggest avoiding Lyca - everyone I know has had issues eg someone lost their number from a failed porting, they couldn't tie up my direct debit with my actual sim, couldn't download the esim with zero help from lyca, saying "we've done all we can", few people had what looks like data leaks despite no admission from lyca.. 

The others are probably fine - from annecdotal evidence, Lebara, Talkmobile and Smarty have been fine. No experience with co-op and the others in this thread, but not heard any issues. I'd also not worry about the exact number of GBs - take a look at your usage over the past year.. if you're only using 5-6GB then whether a deal has 15 or 25 GB doesn't really matter, as long as its over your average usage with a good buffer. 

So of the others, I'd base it on which underlying network is best for the areas you frequent. There's no single best / worst network provider, it varies by area and can get pretty annoying if you can't make calls from your living room or from work on your lunchbreak, regardless of whether you can in 99% of the country.Look at the coverage maps but then also consider experience you've had.. eg vodafone refused to connect near my old job, despite the coverage maps showing it was perfect there. 

SouthLondonUser

Neil49 said:

I've just had a look at the Coop deal and have noticed that short code sms messaging isn't an option. 

Given their comparatively high prices and the fact that short code messages aren't available the Coop is not for me. 

High prices? £13 per month for 30 GB, 30-day contract, EU roaming and wifi callling included doesn't sound expensive to me. What comparison do you have in mind?

As for short code messages, thank you for bringing that to my attention, but can you please help me understand what that means? I'll confess I had never heard the term before.

• If I understand correctly, they are shorter numbers which can be used by companies for marketing campaigns. E.g. text STOP to 12345 to stop receiving these messages. Is that al there is to it or are they also used in other circumstances?
• Does this mean you cannot opt out from these spams/newsletters from a CoOp mobile?
• Are they used to access any public service?
• Can you still text 999 to contact the Police or text 61016 to contact the British Transport Police, etc, even on a CoOp mobile number?

Thanks!