Keeping UK SIM/Phone number

[LukeU 413]

2 minutes ago, Xyrstine said:

This is really useful, thank you. I was worried about reception and connectivity as I didn't want to commit to a contract if I couldn't use it. Three are currently doing some special offers such as 12GB data and unlimited mins/texts to UK for £8. 

Oh nice, then honestly I would recommend Three for sure. There's areas where it will drop, occasionally flick Airplane mode on, let it register and then off and 9/10 it works. I realised my battery dropped faster on trips, I just assumed from jumping providers between towers but

 

I'm currently hoping to get a three SIM card sent to me in the USA forfor a future trip to the UK so I can just pay X and have all the data/texts/calls when we're back over there as I kept my S8 as a UK Phone.

[Appy 38]

12 hours ago, LukeU said:

Oh nice, then honestly I would recommend Three for sure. There's areas where it will drop, occasionally flick Airplane mode on, let it register and then off and 9/10 it works. I realised my battery dropped faster on trips, I just assumed from jumping providers between towers but

 

I'm currently hoping to get a three SIM card sent to me in the USA forfor a future trip to the UK so I can just pay X and have all the data/texts/calls when we're back over there as I kept my S8 as a UK Phone.

I’m not sure how long you’ve been doing that for but I did the same thing last year and they didn’t let me do it anymore because I had used it more abroad than in the UK. 

[Xyrstine 224]

6 hours ago, Appy said:

I’m not sure how long you’ve been doing that for but I did the same thing last year and they didn’t let me do it anymore because I had used it more abroad than in the UK. 

Did they just cancel the contract? I was going to get a 12 month contract but may stick to pay as you go if there are issues. 

[corntop 129]

I read on another forum (not sure if allowed to link here) that recently Three have been sending out texts to people suggesting they will be cut off if they have been out of the UK for more than 2 months. Not sure if it has happened to many or if it's contract dependent. I was planning on keeping my current EE contract until it runs out and then maintaining a PAYG sim after that, so kind of puts a spanner in the works if it's a new UK wide policy.

[LukeU 413]

8 hours ago, Appy said:

I’m not sure how long you’ve been doing that for but I did the same thing last year and they didn’t let me do it anymore because I had used it more abroad than in the UK. 

Sorry, I should've explained, I moved in May 2019 and my contract was up October 2019 (24mth contract), I had no issues in those 5 months though, and the previous times were 2-3 week holidays beforehand. 

[Appy 38]

3 hours ago, Xyrstine said:

Did they just cancel the contract? I was going to get a 12 month contract but may stick to pay as you go if there are issues. 

They just disallowed roaming.

[ConnorS 85]

"Permanent roaming restrictions

You can only use Go Roam for periodic travel, like holidays or short breaks. To ensure all customers can benefit from roaming at no extra cost, we have put in place the following rules for prolonged periods of roaming.

If you're in a Go Roam in Europe destination

We'll monitor your usage, and if you spend most of your time abroad and consume more abroad than at home over a four month period, we have the right to add a small surcharge to your continued roaming usage.

We'll send you an alert two weeks before the surcharge applies.

If you're in a Go Roam Around the World destination

We'll monitor your usage, and if you spend two complete months in a Go Roam Around the World destination, we have the right to suspend international roaming services on your account. This means you'll no longer be able to use your device abroad. If you spend a full two months abroad but some of that time is spent in a destination that isn't included in Go Roam, the restriction won't apply"

 

Direct from the horses mouth, or website in this case. 🤪  I think if you have managed to use Go Roam for over 2 months without issue your doing really well @LukeU. I left three specifically because I was losing all the benefits of being with them such as this.  Been with giff gaff for almost 2 years now (1 year and 2 months state side).  Topped it up with a tenner twice and it's still active, like others have mentioned other than it being linked to my whatsapp I also have it linked to my banking accounts and transfer wise so it's handy to have 

Edited October 21, 2020 by ConnorS

[Xyrstine 224]

11 minutes ago, ConnorS said:

"Permanent roaming restrictions

You can only use Go Roam for periodic travel, like holidays or short breaks. To ensure all customers can benefit from roaming at no extra cost, we have put in place the following rules for prolonged periods of roaming.

If you're in a Go Roam in Europe destination

We'll monitor your usage, and if you spend most of your time abroad and consume more abroad than at home over a four month period, we have the right to add a small surcharge to your continued roaming usage.

We'll send you an alert two weeks before the surcharge applies.

If you're in a Go Roam Around the World destination

We'll monitor your usage, and if you spend two complete months in a Go Roam Around the World destination, we have the right to suspend international roaming services on your account. This means you'll no longer be able to use your device abroad. If you spend a full two months abroad but some of that time is spent in a destination that isn't included in Go Roam, the restriction won't apply"

 

Direct from the horses mouth, or website in this case. 🤪  I think if you have managed to use Go Roam for over 2 months without issue your doing really well @LukeU. I left three specifically because I was losing all the benefits of being with them such as this.  Been with giff gaff for almost 2 years now (1 year and 2 months state side).  Topped it up with a tenner twice and it's still active, like others have mentioned other than it being linked to my whatsapp I also have it linked to my banking accounts and transfer wise so it's handy to have 

Is there a reason why you chose giff gaff PAYG or was it the network you were just with? 

 

And thank you so much for the info. Handy to know before committing to a contract (however cheap).

[ConnorS 85]

Just now, Xyrstine said:

Is there a reason why you chose giff gaff PAYG or was it the network you were just with? 

 

And thank you so much for the info. Handy to know before committing to a contract (however cheap).

I chose them because they are based online exclusively, very easy to top up and the user interface is pretty easy to navigate and intuitive.  In the UK they piggy back on the o2 network.  But when roaming as Luke said earlier you bounce around to the best network available.  But for actual calls and texts it's emergency only.  

 

Like you I have a dual sim phone.  My other sim here (US) is with mint mobile. On slight different tangent over here some networks work on gsm (T-Mobile) others work on CDMA (Verizon) so when choosing a network here you have to make sure your phones compatible.  All UK networks are GSM, so if you did decide to go with the likes of verizon make sure your phone is able to operate on CDMA.

 

 

[Wuozopo 4,293]

47 minutes ago, ConnorS said:

On slight different tangent over here some networks work on gsm (T-Mobile) others work on CDMA (Verizon) so when choosing a network here you have to make sure your phones compatible. 

Isn’t that kinda old technology, phasing out this year. All carriers use LTE (4G and 5G). 
Maybe voice is still the other.

Edited October 21, 2020 by Wuozopo

[ConnorS 85]

14 minutes ago, Wuozopo said:

Isn’t that kinda old info phasing out this year. All carriers use LTE (4G and 5G). 

Correct, but and that in itself can be an issue as different providers work on different LTE bands as well so not all phones are compatible again Verizon being the odd balls again having bands 13, 16 which not all manufactures program into their hardware (as so few networks around the world use them) and if your phone doesn't have those it may mean you have data access but an inability to call or text or visa versa

 

I think LTE was actually what I was intending to say all along @Wuozopo but my old goofy brain went back to the older tech 😅

 

Edited October 21, 2020 by ConnorS
Just cause I can

[LukeU 413]

2 hours ago, ConnorS said:

Direct from the horses mouth, or website in this case. 🤪  I think if you have managed to use Go Roam for over 2 months without issue your doing really well @LukeU. I left three specifically because I was losing all the benefits of being with them such as this.  Been with giff gaff for almost 2 years now (1 year and 2 months state side).  Topped it up with a tenner twice and it's still active, like others have mentioned other than it being linked to my whatsapp I also have it linked to my banking accounts and transfer wise so it's handy to have 

Well damn! Yeah turns out I did really well, I came on a K1 so I most definitely did not leave after getting here in May and used it up until the cut off date lol. Thankfully I managed to change my bank over, I forgot a couple of other things so those will have to wait until I return next year