UKC

Morning,
I'm currently kitting out my van so I can work in it. It has its own WiFi thingy but requires a data only sim so wondering which is best for using primarily in the peak but recommendations on what is best in north Wales and the lakes. I am on 3 on my phone and it's fine when I've got 4G so after a different network. 3 isn't that great in the peak tho.

Can get EE deals very cheap and there's also giffgaff that uses O2.

Any thoughts? Odd question I know!

In reply to snoop6060:

how long are you looking at working like this, as there a providers that will offer national roaming services so you can pick as required depending on your location, but are only really cost effective, in tthe 24 months sort of timespan, and if you are able to offset the VAT, or pick a few PAYG data sims so you can swap them round as required.

In reply to snoop6060:

EE for the Lakes and N Wales. 4G in most populated valleys and even 3G in Langdale.

In reply to snoop6060:

I live above Dinorwic, O2 worked when we first moved here, but then stopped and never got fixed properly for months, don't know if it has now. So changed to EE which is pretty good around here. Vodafone has historically been a no go in North Wales.

In reply to SAF:

I had 4g o2 coverage out there and in Llanberis on Monday however it dropped out in Vivian on in the pass.

In reply to snoop6060:

EE dongle with pay as you go sim in my campervan picks up 4G most places. I got a dongle which accepts a dual connection from an aerial which is attached inside one of the van windows. Adds one or two bars to signal which makes a significant difference to download speeds.

In reply to snoop6060:

Firstly I should state I'm biased as I work for O2. At the moment I would suggest that there is not a lot to choose between any of the operators and remind people that 4g is still in the rollout phase so is ever improving. O2 is the only operator that had a coverage obligation placed on them in the last spectrum auction (98% indoor) so are obliged to cover most of the country. We are only at 75% at the moment. Obviously this doesn't mean others won't do better. My point really is that it is getting better daily.

With regard to GiffGaff, it depends what you want to do. Coverage is the same as O2 but data sppeds may be slower, but it is cheaper.

Regards Steve

In reply to snoop6060:

Why settle on just one network provider.

https://anywheresim.com

Use these at work, always seem to work OK.
(never tested in mountains mind)

In reply to snoop6060:

If you're willing to pay the price for connectivity wherever you are then I can send you a Sure sim - we have roaming agreements with all UK network operators so you'll simply latch onto the best signal wherever you are.
www.sure.com

In reply to snoop6060:

Good question!
Almost entirely anecdotal but I spend quite a bit of time in the Lakes, Snowdonia and the Highlands and have tried most networks. I've found EE the best (especially in N Wales), then O2, then quite a gap to Vodafone (which rarely even got 3G in the Highlands). I liked the fact that EE offers wifi calling with most contracts....the others seem more limiting.

In reply to Fatclimber:

Voice coverage may be good, but O2 3/4g coverage is much worse than 3/EE in my part of Cheshire. Also nothing like as good in N Wales. In the centre of Chester O2 was giving me download speeds of around 2Mbits compared to 80 on Three. I have a couple of spare phones and PAYG SIMS and when I am bit bored check the coverage of various networks in the areas I visit frequently.

In reply to snoop6060:

Anecdotally, Vodafone poor in lakes. I'm O2 and recently 3/4g improved massively. (couldn't get it at all at home near Keswick, now strong signal). Ee good. Will ee's contract to provide emergency services comms after airwave lead to better network coverage by them?

In reply to Fatclimber:

I noticed o2 had had a massive improvement in coverage recently. Very surprised to get a full 4g signal on the munro behind Culra bothy.

In reply to Si Withington:

I'd agree for the Lakes, I used to be on O2 and it was terrible, you'd be lucky to get internet in towns never mind out on the hill. EE is miles better and I can get internet at many climbing or remote areas as well as towns and villages.

In reply to snoop6060:

I tried EE briefly a few months back and had to cancel the contract because they couldn't provide any signal at my central Edinburgh office location! Probably just an anomaly, though.

It's worthwhile being aware of the difference between getting a signal, and getting 4G. Last time I looked Ofcom showed Vodafone as having the widest signal coverage across the UK, but I know from experience in the West Highlands that having a strong signal doesn't necessarily mean getting decent mobile data (AIUI Vodafone is fairly notorious for having poor data backhaul outside of urban areas.)

So it depends what you want it for. If you need a phone that you can use to call for help in remote areas then look for vanilla signal coverage to give you the best chance of getting voice or SMS communication. If you want it for mobile data in your rolling palace, sorry, office, then I think EE are currently top of the pile, barring the odd perplexing notspot.

Other alternatives, as suggested above, include a roaming SIM (but I imagine the cost would likely be higher than tying yourself to a single network) or a suite of PAYG data SIMs (although you might find swapping SIMs gets a bit tedious after a while, plus they aren't really designed to stand up well to regular manhandling).

In reply to Martin W:

I'm on EE and struggle to get a reliable signal at home in the centre of York. Had no signal at all in Little Langdale at the weekend, but not did any of the others on different networks.

In reply to snoop6060:

I was on o2 until 18 months ago, EE since. I live in Derby (where signal os fine on both) and climb sll around the peak (where it isn't.) I switched as I was told you get EE coverage in bitsbof cheedale better than on o2, but my experience is that in that area along Wye - probably the worst climhing dead dpot I know - they are actually much of a muchness, providing slow, patchy coverage in different places (it's very localised) but similar in overall extent. There is very rarely proper 4g around there. Further around the peak (eg grit crags) the situation is usually better but again nobhuge difference between the two. Ee is however better at the Churnet.
Hth

In reply to Si dH:

My coverage with 3 seems to be crap the moment t I leave the outskirts of town, let alone out in 'the sticks'. My wife's EE coverage seems to be just about anywhere (or should that be everywhere?)

In reply to Martin W:

Vanilla signal coverage?

In reply to Rock to Fakey:

As is plain old voice & SMS: just signal, in other words. On the Ofcom coverage map you can select network provider and 'class' of service: voice, 3G or 4G:

https://checker.ofcom.org.uk/mobile-coverage

To get to the coverage map you have to do the 'set postcode' bit and only then, if you scroll down, is there a button that takes you to the map. Bizarre design.

(I'm not a fan of the crowdsourced opensignal.com coverage data. There are sizeable blanks on the map which look to be more down to being places where participants in the scheme just don't go. 20 million users worldwide doesn't sound like enough to cover the whole globe in any meaningful way. Ironically, the scheme seems to suffer from poor coverage...)

In reply to snoop6060:

In my experience coverage on EE blows every other network into the proverbial cocked hat.

In reply to paul_in_cumbria:

This is what I have, the van has a cellular arial that boosts the signal to a special arial in the shell. Works well with my 3 sim but given most reccomend EE gonna get a sim from them as well. Which is good as I can get a very good deal as I work for them (indirectly).

In reply to Si dH:

Having worked remotely for quite some time I do know the only rock at the cornice where you get signal. I kid you not. If you stand with your back is to clarion call it a 3m to your left at 10 o'clock. I get signal it if leave my phone on that rock

In reply to Martin W:


I'll second that caution. No 4G where I live but my EE PAYG phone consistently shows a whopping bright full set of bars for a 3G+ or H+ signal... data speeds in both directions are usually only in the hundreds of K and latency can be up to a second and a half.

Just down the road in the Elan Valley I've had 1.5 meg off a scratchy little bar and a half.

Methinks it's oversubscribed hardware around my home that's effectively throttling things.

'Anecdotal', the word used almost apologetically in a few replies, really is by far the best way to shop.

D

In reply to snoop6060:

EE (now part of BT) won the contract to supply the new emergemcy services voice and data network (previously Airwave by Vodafone)...part of the contract is they have to provide 4G to very bit of tarmac in the UK...while they will miss their delivery dates this year the rollout is impressive and is why 4G is appearing in unueconomic areas (from their point of view). While as retail customers we wont benefit from it directly in all areas (some will be limited to dedicated use) their development of infrastructure means EE will have the by far the best coverage IMHO
I hate their customer service and everything else about them.

In reply to Toerag:

Can you give me more details on these? Seams to be isle of man only?

Looks very interesting as it sells one contract specifically for the purpose I need (mobile broadband) and it's 6GB/month for 12quid. Which is a decent deal for access to all 4G networks. Well keen for that as it's plenty.

In reply to snoop6060:

Will do. SIMs from any of the 3 Sure businesses will be able to roam through all the UK networks, but the tariffing is probably different. I'll see what I can find out .

In reply to Toerag:

Vodafone has recently put in 4g in llanbrais for the mountain rescue. Vodafone and O2 share masts and attennas so should have the same coverage.

In reply to snoop6060:

Emailed you some info