DadAgain

Only 30 days before I go on holiday - so I figured I'd look into phone stuff... and I'm confused. I need:

- microSim for iPhone 4
- very few calls (mainly to UK mobiles on various networks)
- Not a huge number of texts (<50 mainly to UK mobiles - but 4 or 5 IMPORTANT ones to Australian mobile)
- <1Gb of data
- Valid for 1 month
- Coverage required in
> Threlkeld Cumbria
> Coniston Cumbria
> Baydon Wiltshire
> Oakley Hampshire
>.... random other places yet to be determined.

So far I've established that the "three" network does not have decent coverage in Coniston so its unsuitable, but Orange and Vodaphone do. Can I find details of how to get a simple SIM only account to meet my needs? no....
I'm happy to pay GBP10-15 for the month.

I really need to get this sorted out ASAP since when I land at Heathrow I'll have no idea where on the planet wifey will be and what time or date she'll land - and my work SIM will not function.*

Can anyone point me in the right direction?








<Unnecessary explaination for those who are intrigued>
*Kids and I have flights booked via ALL my QFF points (BNE-SIN-LHR) and know our movements but wife is entitled to QF staff discounts so will have to fly standby to get her cheap flight. At this stage it looks like she'll have to fly BNE-SYD-HKG-LHR, or perhaps BNE-MEL-SIN-LHR, or BNE-SYD-BKK-LHR and at any one of those stops she could find the flight is full and she has to wait for the next one! If all goes well she'll leave BNE about the same time as we do and arrive in LHR about 45 minutes after us, but she could end up arriving a day later after having a days wait in Hong Kong! The upside for her is she gets to travel kid-free and probably in business class - so she doesnt mind the uncertainty!
</Unnecessary explaination for those who are intrigued>

SillyOldBag

Thankyou for the "unnecessary explanation" as I was intrigued

I have nothing useful to add to the thread though

lonndongeek

Search ebay australia for Vodafone UK micro sim and you should be able to pick one up for less than $10.

I did something similar recently when I went over to the US for a few days - bought the micro sim online and registered it before arriving.

Cheers

LG

Pollyana

I still have a PAYG sim with Orange; had to swap it for an upgraded 3G sim to put in my iphone. The Orange Shop fitted it for me, changed all the settings and it was acitvated within an hour (even though they said it might be 24 hours). I'm now on a PAYG plan, £10 a month, that gives me plenty of internet. unlimited texts etc when I'm over there. If I don't top up when I'm back here then it just lies dormant till I get home again. and apply a top up.

Been with Orange since 1998, now had a problem with coverage except in really remote spots in Wales.

http://shop.orange.co.uk/mobile-phon...ffName=Dolphin

DadAgain

If I'm understanding this right - I can buy a SIM on eBay for ~$8.
BUT - this is a just a SIM and has no plan associated with it. To get it connected and to enable me to have 1GB of data its GBP20?... seems a bit steep?.... I thought the UK was supposed to be cheap for this sort of thing?
(Sorry for the n00bishness - I havent sorted out or paid for my own phone for years!)

In Exile

i went back to the UK a few months ago. i was travelling through some of the inner hebredes, scotland, york, bath, cheltenham.

I got a 10GBP microsim for my iPhone 4. Bought at the O2 shop in Gloucester. It had 300 free UK texts, 100 minutes and 500MB data included, and the 10 was given as credit (sim card essentially free). The 10GBP credit could then be used for international texts.

Coverage on any network in the UK gets a bit flakey outside of any major town. Calls and texts should be fine (except in remote, or exceptionally hilly areas), but 3G data is rare!

Alternatives to the international text options:

if the person you are sending texts too here has an iphone/smartphone, download Viber and use that.

or if they have an iphone 4/4s and are on the latest operating system iOS5, assuming you are too, then messaging will be counted as data and not text.

Other apps like WhatsApp will also use data for texts.