I just upgraded my phone to one with 5G support and kept my Three sim only plan until the contract runs out... I did a speed test and was shocked (happily) to see >1000Mbit download and fast (can't remember exactly) upload... So surprised, I had to do another two speed tests, and in doing so, wiped out my (minuscule) 4Gb monthly allowance in about 25 seconds - oops!

I'm considering it as a relatively cheap option as a back to my CF FTTP (950/950) for when someone else decides to reverse into the street cabinet and knock out the whole street (already have 4G backup using a PAYG three 24Gb/24Month sim but its only capable of 75mb/s ish last time I checked!)

I've since "upgraded" to vodafone 60Gb sim only allowance, to find I only get 9Mbit/s on a [censored] 4G only signal so no chance of burning up 60Gb lol (I would be more upset if I were paying for it and not work! But its a dual sim phone so if need be I can stick in a three data only sim too as soon as they properly support ESims that is (yesterday maybe?!))

All Three SIMs cards have supported 5G at no extra cost for years, so you've left me rather confused. Why did you get the 60GB Vodafone SIM? You could still use that second slot for their latest Unlimited everything on probably a lower price than that Voda card.

Their website is currently being updated but the Home Page is showing the latest SIM Only unlimited everything at 3 months free then £24pm.

I've been running on Three Unlimited since December 2018. I even got quoted £15pm to renew at my last minimum term end, but rejected it for latest deal at the time, (6 months half price then full price) plus a free LG TV I gave to my niece for her daughter's bedroom. That full price was still a pound or so below what the previous contract plus the annual small increases had been.

Come June/July, I forget which, my other Three contract which is for Mobile Broadband ends and I shall get their latest package for that which comes with a 5G router instead of the current 4G one, rather than ask for a lower price.

What's this about eSIMs? Or do you mean your phone is part of your Three contract ? As an eSIM is part of a phone's hardware.

Incidentally, you say you aren't paying for the Vodafone one. How come?

Edited by pluralist (Thu 02-Feb-23 00:57:31)

Simple... Work are paying for the phone and contract... I have no Three reception at work (despite their checker saying good indoor/outdoor 4G) and its been like that for 5+ years (never been a problem with WiFi calling but as work are paying they wanted it on a network they know works at the office!)

I am still be open to a personal Three contract/payg which I can do as the iphone will take either the voda or 3 sim (or both) as an eSim but generally I'm on WiFi so data speeds is not really the main driver, but coverage is and while three is great at home, its less good in other locations. Plus I'm disappointed with Three for dropping GoRoam (my main reason for using them for so long - as I travel a fair amount and not just EU - free roaming in the USA/Australia/HongKong etc has served me well in the past but alas is no more) - so its one way of voicing my discontent there lol!

I guess the good news is that now with dual sim it makes it easy to buy a local sim while roaming... But I'd rather not had to do that!

EDIT: The ESim thing is that until I think yesterday, three didn't offer esims (apart from a trial I was not on) so I couldn't just flip my three physical sim to an esim and keep both active on the device. Voda will let me do that (but I have a physical sim for now).

Edited by philg (Thu 02-Feb-23 01:04:49)

I did a few edits which I don't expect you have seen. The latest only a couple of minutes before your post .

I did wonder if your current main contract was phone plus SIM from work . You could still stick a contract Three SIM in that second slot.

This latest post of yours suggests you think the eSIM stands for extra SIM or something. It's Embedded SIM, but apparently is part of the firmware not hardware on some phones. Such as the iPhone 13 and 14.

Also I believe a eSIM does not provide a phone connection! No phone number. You need a conventional SIM in the phone as well for that.

In reply to a post by philg:

EDIT: The ESim thing is that until I think yesterday, three didn't offer esims (apart from a trial I was not on) so I couldn't just flip my three physical sim to an esim and keep both active on the device. Voda will let me do that (but I have a physical sim for now).

Wen I had two SIMs in my phone, IIRC incoming from both worked but for calling out and data I had to set the Default and swap if desired. I'm not certain on that as I didn't do it for long.

It was either a Huawei 10 Lite or my current OnePlus 8 Pro. Probably the Huawei.

I always buy phones SIM-free as I reckon it's the cheapest way as I'm paying for it .

Edited by pluralist (Thu 02-Feb-23 01:22:35)

Looks like on Apple you can "port" a phone number into their eSIM software/firmware to get phone service.

Yes, I'm aware of what an eSIM is (but my post may not have made that clear - its too late!) .

All a little off topic I guess but my old phone didn't support it and didn't have any dual sim capability. New iPhone 14 does and I can have up to 8 (I think) "installed" at any time (but only 2 active at a time, including the physical sim). I've already played around with Ubigi eSIM packages which will work well for data roaming and very convenient tap, pay and go!

I'm sure eSIMs do support both data and voice, certainly on the iPhone - as you can have two numbers etc. So long as the provider supports that (some only offer data packages but it seems Voda have full voice line plus data and they offered me an eSIM only option at signup - which I didn't take - for various reasons like wanting to swap devices occasionally - while we still have physical sims - the US have dropped physical sims in the new iPhones completely - I expect the rest of the world/other manufactures will go that route eventually - waste of plastic lol).

FWIW, The phone was bought outright contract free (always prefer that option personally - not a fan of long contracts, especially these days with all the baked in CPI/RPI increases.

In reply to a post by zyborg47:

That is true, unless they are in a very long contract and paying stupid amounts per month.
I have not had a contract for my phone for a few years now, just monthly rolling sim only thing, one of the better things I have done, buy a chepish phone outright, my Oppo is a good phone and then pay next to nothing per month with smarty.

I will never go for a phone contract again, I wish I could do it with home broadband to be honest and keep it at a decent price, but without a contract, broadband is stupid prices. Need to get rid of contracts.

Biggest well said! he is right 1000% Wake up peoples - We are taking for a fool in this country by these greedy mobile providers and broadband service providers. Hate contract.

I agree with him 100%.

In reply to a post by adslmax:

In reply to a post by zyborg47:

That is true, unless they are in a very long contract and paying stupid amounts per month.
I have not had a contract for my phone for a few years now, just monthly rolling sim only thing, one of the better things I have done, buy a chepish phone outright, my Oppo is a good phone and then pay next to nothing per month with smarty.

I will never go for a phone contract again, I wish I could do it with home broadband to be honest and keep it at a decent price, but without a contract, broadband is stupid prices. Need to get rid of contracts.

Biggest well said! he is right 1000% Wake up peoples - We are taking for a fool in this country by these greedy mobile providers and broadband service providers. Hate contract.

I agree with him 100%.

Thanks for that. I am sure that when readers of the Forum see you and Adrian (zyborg47) lined up on the same side of the argument it gives them a good indication as to which way to go.

I suspect people who are dead set against contracts would also find it unreasonable to be asked to pay the costs associated with acquiring them as a customer in the form of a setup fee.