Sorry to lower the tone by asking advice on such a mundane question but I could really do with a little help.
I’ve been with virgin media for 10 years as a mobo customer. I downgraded from a phone contract to a sim only about 6 years ago- mainly because the galaxy ace I got last time is bombproof.
Those ■■■■■ refused to give me an phone upgrade last year due to an apparently ■■■■-poor credit rating (I’ve moved a lot).
I’ve currently got unlimited everything and 500mb data at about eight and a half quid a month. I’m looking to get more data as I’m tramping a lot more.
Can anyone give me any ideas on SIMPLE sim only contract deals with larger data- I phoned the clowns at bransons and I was offered no better bandwidth for more money while I can see a 3gb boosted to 6gb deal on their homepage.
Help/ suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Three offer much better deals. I get 8gig, unlimited text and 600 mins for 12 quid a month.
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I’m on ee have been for years.
Upgraded my phone to sim only get 5gb unlimited txts calls. A free 10 inch tablet for 20 a month although was over black Friday week. So duno if still doing it.
Last time was paying 33 a month for phone n 2gb SIM
I use GIFFGAFF. Can order a sim online.
They can alter your payment depending what You use monthly.
I am currently on £7:50 a month. They advise me to put it up each month dependent what I use.
Easy to use.
Ideal for tight arses like me
Could also look st uding 2 sim cards. I have a “Mifi” that is data only while I have my normal phone extract seperate. I use “3” for my Data and ee for my phone. Could end up paying less for 2 seperate contracts as opposed to some of the standard deals these days
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Some deals to be had here until new year
I’m on 3, sim only, 4 Gb data, all you can eat minutes and txts.
11 a month (as long as you pay by direct debit. If paying direct then it’s an extra 5 a month)
No problems to report, good signal, good coverage.
If you need a good credit rating to get a phone - it is time to think of how you can cut such a phone out of your life entirely…
I had a bad experience with VM a few years back, where they (VM management) gave away my personal data to what I’ll describe as “internet trolls”. I was horrified to receive threats through the regular snail mail that they could have only gotten my address for - IF some idiot at VM had given it to some random troll asking them for it!
…The letter was addressed to “Winseer” @ my address FFS - that’s how I know it was internet-related. 
I would advise against getting ANY contract with ANY mobile firm that requires you to “run up a debt” on the contract they run. If you don’t run up a debt- then you don’t bloody well need a good credit rating - do you?
£34 a month for unlimited calls & texts and upto 2.5gb of data - sounds crappy compared to the £10 I load on my PAYG phone each year… My third phone load was in August, so that’s £30 I’ve put on it since 2016. My credit is still double figures as well. That’s my entire three year phone’s life for less than a single month’s subscription to one of these daft “all inclusive” packages…
You’ve also got the advantage that if your number ever gets compromised, or your inbox full of spam - you can just use up the credit, bung the phone, and get another for around twenty notes.
What’s not-to-like? 
Tesco Mobile/o2 do Sim only 1500 mins, 5000 texts and 6 Gb for £12.50 per month on 12 month contract. Been with them for 5 years and price has never increased.
waddy640:
Tesco Mobile/o2 do Sim only 1500 mins, 5000 texts and 6 Gb for £12.50 per month on 12 month contract. Been with them for 5 years and price has never increased.
This is what I have, watch netflix daily on my 1hr break and never ran out of data!
Many thanks, guys.
The best deal might be Smarty depending on your usage.
You might not have heard of them because they only started in August 2017. Smarty is a sub-brand of Three. It provides even better value than giffgaff which is a sub-brand of O2.
£5/month for unlimited calls and texts. You only pay for the data you use, and the data is cheap at £1.25/GB
smarty.co.uk/sim-only?utm_mediu … lsrc=aw.ds
If you don’t want a monthly bundle, then both Three and O2 now offer 3/2/1 PAYG deals meaning 3p/minute for calls, 2p/text, and 1p/MB data. Three have been offering this deal for quite a while, but O2 have only recently started this offer. I carry both of these SIMS in case of networks problems and spend less than £1/month on both.
You could also consider a 12-month 12GB data SIM from Three priced at £40. It could be useful for a satnav. I’ve been using one in my satnav and 12GB easily lasts me one year, in fact, I don’t even use 6GB. When it runs out, I might get a Smarty SIM instead, as £5/month for unlimited calls/texts and 6GB of data over the year would only cost £67.50/year with the Smarty SIM, so only £27.50 more than the 12-month 12GB data SIM from Three, but with unlimited calls/texts…although I’m not a big caller or texter so it might not have that much value to me. If you go in a Three shop and ask about this 12-month 12GB data SIM, expect the store salesperson to try and upsell you to a more profitable contract. Decide what you want before visiting a store and don’t be swayed by sales tactics. If in doubt, walk away and think about it!
If you use a lot of data, then a Three 12-month contract costs £27/month for unlimited data or £20/month for 100GB of data. Unlimited calls and texts included.
three.co.uk/Store/SIM/Plans_for_phones
Avoid Vodafone as they are regularly voted the worst mobile network in the UK according to Which? magazine closely followed by EE. Both Three and O2 are better. One of the nice things about Three is that you can block premium rate numbers and texts so that you don’t get out of allowance bill shock. AFAIK, the other networks won’t let you block premium rate calls and texts on their contracts. Don’t confuse contracts with PAYG, as they are two separate things.