contract mobile phone for under a tenner?

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Svendo

Guru
Location
Walsden
Just transferred from Vodafone PAYG to GiffGaff myself. When I rang for the PAC from Vodafone, they did ask why I wanted to leave and I said GiffGaff unlimited data on my iPhone and the guy pretty much said 'fair enough'! One thing, double check your phone is definitely unlocked before transferring your number to avoid having to buy a £15 O2 handset to use while you get your phone unlocked :blush:.

I was spending £15-£30 on Vodafone for packs and topups a month. I was also tired of their terrible website, it seems to be a modern flash driven site but built on every previous version. It's SO Slow and clunky. It looks modern and up to date but you click lesser used links and you find bits in old formats and fonts, or it just doesn't work. Also there's no way I found to get Vodafone to tell you how much data allowance you have left, like they do with the minutes allowance. Their FAQ suggests using an app to do it, which is ok but, awkward and annoying especially if you have packs starting on different days. They must have the information to be able to text you when its about to run out and then charge you the daily MB rate, but they choose not to tell the customer, which is just rubbish.
 
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ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
I forgot to mention needing an unlocked phone (or one locked to O2). The Xperia Ray that I bought on eBay was supposed to be unlocked but when I switched it on, I found it was locked to O2.

According to the coverage maps, there is a very poor data signal (3G) from O2 here in the valley. That doesn't bother me because I can use wifi at home and in several local cafes. I will probably buy a data goodybag for any month in which I will be travelling, though.

Svendo - in spite of what I wrote in the previous paragraph, I would be interested to know how well your giffgaffed phone works on the internet in various places round here so could you compile a little list for me? Cheers!
 

Peteaud

Veteran
Location
South Somerset
i have a nokia 5110 on tesco payg.

I put £20 on last August and still have £11.00 credit.

I would like a tinternet phone to check fleabay etc, but not at £30 per month.
 

Svendo

Guru
Location
Walsden
Svendo - in spite of what I wrote in the previous paragraph, I would be interested to know how well your giffgaffed phone works on the internet in various places round here so could you compile a little list for me? Cheers!

I could have also mentioned the draw back is that the o2 3g network round here is patchy, unlike Vodafones. So far I've found the O2 coverage map fairly accurate, i.e. 3G in the centre of Tod, but not at home (but where I have WiFi anyway.) I was in Hebden Bridge the other day but was shepherding the dog and my aged Mother so didn't get to check coverage! At work in Rochdale I found that switching 3G off and on sometimes picks up a weak signal it'd previously given up on. Handset's abilities also affects reception. I believe my iPhone 3GS is middleing.
 

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
Excuse my ignorance - is unlocking a free service? I am with Orange at the moment.
Some phones are not even locked to start with but I'm not sure how you find out, other than trying a rival network's SIM in the phone and seeing if it works.

Some networks will charge you to unlock the phone.

There are 3rd party websites that sell unlock codes which you type into your phone.

There are other sites which will give you the unlock code for your phone for nowt, but not for some phones. I couldn't find anyone who would do it free for a Nokia Navigator which was given to me.

Cheapest of the lot might be to find a local shop or market stall who will do it for a small fee. Shop around!
 

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
I could have also mentioned the draw back is that the o2 3g network round here is patchy, unlike Vodafones. So far I've found the O2 coverage map fairly accurate, i.e. 3G in the centre of Tod, but not at home (but where I have WiFi anyway.) I was in Hebden Bridge the other day but was shepherding the dog and my aged Mother so didn't get to check coverage! At work in Rochdale I found that switching 3G off and on sometimes picks up a weak signal it'd previously given up on. Handset's abilities also affects reception. I believe my iPhone 3GS is middleing.
My Sony Xperia phone doesn't show any 3G signal for O2, about half a kilometre north of Hebden Bridge town centre.
 

cyberknight

As long as I breathe, I attack.
i have a nokia 5110 on tesco payg.

I put £20 on last August and still have £11.00 credit.

I would like a tinternet phone to check fleabay etc, but not at £30 per month.
I do my tinternet on my phone via bluetooth on my home router atm , my old phone was ...
http://reviews.cnet.co.uk/mobile-phones/samsung-monte-review-49305532/
on o2 payg , might be selling it and it even has £10 creditz on a new sim as i just had an early cake day prezzie of a samsung galaxy mini on payg .
You can even get an offline mapping app that runs on the samsung OS to run along with the gps so you do not use data.
 
U

User6179

Guest
I'm quite interested in this too. Do you need a lot of internet data to record rides on Strava? Much cheaper than buying a Garmin I reckon.

You can run strava with data off, in fact the battery will last longer if you do and if you have wireless broadband at home just upload to strava via that and no data on the phone will be used.
 
U

User6179

Guest
Hi
Currently I have a pay-as-you-go orange phone, but I'm considering biting the bullet and getting a contract. I dont talk much on the phone, I text about 20 times a week.

Any contract recommendations, please?

Thanks

Tesco do great deals on the 02 network.
 
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