Mobile and mse

stmaryscrookedspire

I was wondering why mse only has Lebara in it's recommendations? Asda mobile if you have right link is £4.50 for unlimited and 5gb data. I'm newbie so can't post link. Thanks for patience with newbie. 

Rodders53

It doesn't.
Best Sim Only Deals - Compare Cheap Contracts - MSE

Asda is there but is a 12 month contract at £4.50/mth whereas Lebara is £1.99/ 30 days for 6 'months'  then £4.90/ on a rolling monthly (actually only 30 days) contract and £3.45/mth average over a year MSE says.
So Lebara is the 'best buy' recommendation.

Simples.

stmaryscrookedspire

Ok but for idiots like me. That's more expensive 

stmaryscrookedspire

Lebara is £5.90 on this website. Asda is £4.50. 
You say it's cheaper but mum is over 80 and won't jump the hoops

stmaryscrookedspire

And not new customers 

stmaryscrookedspire

Maybe mse needs to have a policy for existing people who followed advise in past and can not use new customer deals

stmaryscrookedspire

And before you ask. I rang Lebara and they would not price match 

Frozen_up_north

On this forum there is a tendency for some to head to the cheapest possible deal, without looking at the slightly wider picture.
For starters, avoiding any sort of contract is a good place to start.
Next on the list is coverage, the OFCOM coverage checker is a good guide, although coverage within buildings can be a lot worse than indicated within modern houses that use foil backed wall insulation.
Ease of checking/changing the monthly data amount via an app on the phone.
If European travel is important, beware that not all networks include free roaming since we left the EU.
A good example is GiffGaff, which uses the O2 network. Their app is easy to use, has unlimited UK mins, EU roaming and costs £6 (2GB) to £10 (20GB). No contract and a monthly rolling card/bank payment that you control. GiffGaff are a Which? Recommended Provider.

fiish

If you're more technically inclined, you can compare features/benefits across UK mobile networks in this spreadsheet compiled by one of the members on the ISPreview.co.uk forum: https://www.ispreview.co.uk/talk/threads/network-spec-spreadsheet.40566/

It doesn't do any price comparison, but if you're looking to find out who has EU roaming, Tube WiFi, eSIM etc., or the fair use policies on unlimited data plans, or when roaming in EU, it might be helpful.

Vitor

I only recently learned that networks such as Lebara and GiffGaff are a bit sneaky in advertising they use the same networks as O2, Vodafone etc.
It's true they use the same cell towers but these low cost network operators generally cheap out on the 'back end' infrastructure (the "IP Multimedia Subsystem") which is why features such as Wi-Fi calling, native video calling without an app, Rich Communication Services in SMS messages and call forwarding controls are often unreliable or missing entirely.
These bargain bucket MVNO (mobile virtual network operator) like ASDA Mobile, 1pMobile (on EE) or Talkmobile often drop you down to 3G or even 2G for calls, which is where the “tinny” or “rubbish” voice quality comes from. You pay, you get...of the cheapies Tesco Mobile feels closest to O2 with some branding stripped off, not tin-can-and-string