- Location
- Northumberland
That`s goodThe beauty with the Virgin Mobile plans is that you can roll over up to 100% of your unused data allowance. Very handy
Only grumble with EE data plans is you loose any unused data every month
Sim only deals
- Thread starter CORNFLAKE
- Start date
Only grumble with EE data plans is you loose any unused data every month
Pheasant Surprise
Member
- Location
- Woodbridge, Suffolk
Yeh to be honest, as the EE mobile broadband SIMs that are in my current 4G broadband router(s) have been rolling off contract, I’ve been swapping them out with Virgin Mobile SIMs as they offer better bang for the buck in the “mid-range” of data allowances. That and together with data rollover on the same underlying EE network infrastructure, pretty good really.
When my FTTP (eventually) gets completed I intend to maintain my current fancy 4G router and use the 4G radios as a “fallback / failover” configuration in case a tree branch chomps through the fibre.
The current Virgin Mobile 120GB (with rollover) + unlimited minutes / text offer for £20 that @foxbox highlighted looks pretty good to me. Offer expires tomorrow.
- Location
- Montgomeryshire
Not wanting to tread on toes, but both Plusnet and Virgin use the EE network (so at least have a chance of a signal in Wales), at lower prices than EE. I moved our phones from EE sim only to Virgin sim only a couple of years ago, having been offered ridiculously low rates to move.
It turns out the fella shouldn’t have offered what he did, but they say they will have to honour the contracts now, but on just over a tenner a month for 2 phones, with 5Gb of data each and 2000 mins of calls (far more than we’re likely to use). Certainly worth asking before going with EE IME.
Pheasant Surprise
Member
- Location
- Woodbridge, Suffolk
Virgin have some specials on at the moment. The nearest to your current plan is 4GB and 1500 minutes, unlimited texts for £8 inc.
On sale until 18 Feb. If you're not using all your data or voice minutes you could save a few bob each month by 'cross-grading'.
Pheasant Surprise
Member
- Location
- Woodbridge, Suffolk
With 5 phones/lines in the mix, you could almost go small-business plan type thing and see what they offer.
I don't think you can share/gift data across SIMs on Voda now like you can with EE. You used to be able to with Voda a few years ago, I think they called it the Red Sharer or something plan. It is quite a nice thing to be able to pool or share your data.
- Location
- Montgomeryshire
Virgin have some specials on at the moment. The nearest to your current plan is 4GB and 1500 minutes, unlimited texts for £8 inc.
On sale until 18 Feb. If you're not using all your data or voice minutes you could save a few bob each month by 'cross-grading'.
I don't think I could better it at the moment
. One phone is on 2500 minutes & 4GB, the other on 1500 mins & 6GB, for just over a fiver on each phone at both ongoing with no end date to the contract. One was to retain me, the other was to bring my wife's phone over from EE. I was later told by the 'manager' that I should never have been offered that and he had since been disciplined, which is a public flogging outside the call centre I suppose.
Pheasant Surprise
Member
- Location
- Woodbridge, Suffolk
Gotcha. I read it as a tenner each. DohI don't think I could better it at the moment
That’s a deal for life if I ever saw one!!
Pheasant Surprise
Member
- Location
- Woodbridge, Suffolk
It is, and as much as I like EE, I would say if data is more important to you than voice minutes the current Virgin Mobile deal (EE underlying) is the same price @ £8 inc. but it enables you to roll over up to 2GB of your 4GB allowance over. Minutes are capped at 1500 though. Texts unlimited too.
Edit: Saying that you can data share / gift data across your EE sims. Which is nice
Last edited:
warksfarmer
Member
Contracts are now beating sim only. We’ve just taken 3 phones off sim only and put them on 24 month contracts with EE because overal they worked out cheaper. Unlimited data, calls and texts, iPhone XS 256gb £44/month inc vat and £400 inc vat for the handsets. That’s £60/month inc vat all in with handsets that are £1300 to buy.
Sim only are fine if your keeping old handsets.
- Location
- Warwickshire
Vodafone are absolutely useless at the moment. They spend ages going through everything then when I say it’s not good enough they arrange for someone else to phone back, (which they rarely do). We then have to go through the same procedure again for 30min. Trying to get a iPhone 8 on contact for my son. Deal just about done then at the last minute announcing 3 week wait. Try telling a teenager that.
- Location
- Northumberland
Our sim onlys are on contract
- Location
- Near Beeston Castle
Something is a bit messed up when £60 a month for a phone is considered a bargain.
I like my iPhone and appreciate being able to use the internet at will but glad I don’t need a phone that much in my life.
Makes me smile thinking about how 2 way radios were felt a massive intrusion into my working day not long back.
Pheasant Surprise
Member
- Location
- Woodbridge, Suffolk
It’s a very high end phone and charged at premium money. £1149 if you wandered into an Apple store and bought one without any contract etc. Not taking into account anything you could make on the future sale - taking the straight purchase cost and then dividing it by 24 gives you near enough dammit £48 per month.Something is a bit messed up when £60 a month for a phone is considered a bargain.
I like my iPhone and appreciate being able to use the internet at will but glad I don’t need a phone that much in my life.
Makes me smile thinking about how 2 way radios were felt a massive intrusion into my working day not long back.
Then even the most competitive “all you can eat” SIM only contract plan will be the better part of £20, on top.
I can see what Lee is getting at.
But I also take your point, not everyone wants or needs the latest high end phone. But if you do, then the proposition is not bad.
- Location
- Portsmouth
How did you get that? I'm paying more for 5gb data. Does it include roaming if abroad? How long are you tired in?
Thanks
- Location
- Darlington
Completely agree, I was asked recently why I no longer have a flagship phone any more. I think it's because a £150.00 phone is more than capable of doing all that I need from it so no point any more.Something is a bit messed up when £60 a month for a phone is considered a bargain.
I like my iPhone and appreciate being able to use the internet at will but glad I don’t need a phone that much in my life.
Makes me smile thinking about how 2 way radios were felt a massive intrusion into my working day not long back.
Our EE SIM sim only is £14.99/m unlimited calls and text and 15 go data (enough for me even and I use it a LOT)
New XS handset circa £1000 think the 256 I just bought was £1100 inc vat - vat being instantly reclaimable of course
Assuming handset lasts more that 2 years I still make the sim only deal cheaper ? £41/m if you wrote it off over 24 months or a bit more for a 256 version
However handsets get handed down here through staff and family and on average seem to be doing about 6 years before trading in for £50 or so against something new, those phones pull our average cost / handset down to just the cost of the SIM card
Totally agree that phone costs are high but they are much more than phones these days - it’s a mini laptop that I could not run business without
warksfarmer
Member
iPhone XS 256 is £950 + vat which is £39/month over 2 years.
Unlimited everything sim only on EE via EE business is £30/month.
So £69/month.
The contract is £60/month for 12 months. Admittedly there’s not a lot in it but to us that’s £648 over the 3 handsets saved and we get proper household BB in with it and at the same time dumped the monthly BB cost on 3 landlines so saved just over £1000 there as well so we’ll be £1650 better off.
We’ve dumped all the landlines due to poor BB speed in favour of the mobiles as we are sharing the data with the EE house boosters so we’re now getting 30-40mb instead of 4mb if we’re lucky.
as I say my £15 EE sim is unlimited with the exception of data at 15gb a month - I never hit that limit and run 4 internet businesses now so I have no idea why anyone would need much more mobile data really !
That makes me still better off buying the phone than a contract
I tend to get a new phone every year and the old ones filter down through staff and family so thats where I really see the payback of sim only - on sim only they are MUCH cheaper than contracts and new handsets so I get good value out of buying in the longer term. Our EE bill used to be circa £400 per month, its now under £100 but yes I do have a new handset to buy once every 12 or 18 months
I guess if your using mobile for home internet access the unlimited data changes that a bit, we get really good fiber BB speeds here so no need
- Location
- Warwickshire
Don’t get excited, I phoned back to try and get it and guess what it is no longer available yet the day before it was. Their prices vary from day to day. We are going to move.