Tesco Mobile - no roaming charges in 31 European countries this summer!!!

UPDATE:

I haven't had a response to my email yet, however I have had a look at the Tescomobile website which has more info on:


What will our pay monthly call charges look like?
Calls to UK numbers = From your monthly minutes
Texts to UK numbers = From your monthly texts
Using data = From your monthly data

What will our pay as you go call charges look like?
Calls to UK numbers = Your UK call rate*
Texts to UK numbers = Your UK text rate*
Using data = Your UK data rate*
(*if you’ve got a bundle or free credit, it’ll come out of this)

So, monthly customers can just use their phones as they would at home, for PAYG customers it appear that you need a bundle or free credit, not just have money on the 'top up' account, this may be where the confusion has come in with the 'web chats'.

Please do check the details for yourself though if your a PAYG customer as I'm a monthly contract one so I'm okay! Yayyyyyyyyyyy :D
 
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Thanks for all the information Minxy, will make a big difference to my next trip. Got quite a basic account with Tesco, but never use all my allowance.
 
Hubby has found an app for our Tesco phones which tells us what our remaining allowances are which is quite useful!

http://www.tescomobile.com/tescomobile-app

Download from where ever your OS is, ie Android etc. Once installed you send your number through the app and it sends a text verification back and away you go - needs internet of course!
 
If you're PAYG don't forget the Toggle sim, I have been using it for 2 years now and it's brilliant. Also it means that anyone calling your mobile when you're in Europe only pays the same as if you're still in the UK. No excuse for my son not to ring me when I'm away :rofl:

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I've just spoken with Tesco mobile and the guy I spoke to told me Tesco don't do a data sim which would work in a MiFi. They do a tablet sim but he was unsure if this would work in Europe. However, I did have to explain to him what a MiFi was so I am not 100% sure I have got to the bottom of this. :)

What he did suggest was "give it a try" but I can't find a Tesco PAYG data sim, the closest they do are pay monthly tablet sims which are available on a rolling contract. The local Tesco shop had one giving 8 Gb per month for £12.50 which isn't bad but the folk in the shop were not sure how this would work in a MiFi in Europe.

I think I will give one of these £12.50 cards a shot and try it in Spain and France when we get there next week - but after the start of the no roaming deal of course (23 May). I will need to check on costs if it does seem to work and ensure I'm not racking up a massive bill of course!
 
DBK said:
I've just spoken with Tesco mobile and the guy I spoke to told me Tesco don't do a data sim which would work in a MiFi. They do a tablet sim but he was unsure if this would work in Europe. However, I did have to explain to him what a MiFi was so I am not 100% sure I have got to the bottom of this. :)
Click to expand...
A tablet sim IS a data sim - ruddy muppets in the shops who haven't a clue!

DBK said:
What he did suggest was "give it a try" but I can't find a Tesco PAYG data sim, the closest they do are pay monthly tablet sims which are available on a rolling contract. The local Tesco shop had one giving 8 Gb per month for £12.50 which isn't bad but the folk in the shop were not sure how this would work in a MiFi in Europe.
Click to expand...
Are you sure it was 8gb for £12.50 as the website says 2gb for £12.50 or £25 for 8gb.

DBK said:
I think I will give one of these £12.50 cards a shot and try it in Spain and France when we get there next week - but after the start of the no roaming deal of course (23 May). I will need to check on costs if it does seem to work and ensure I'm not racking up a massive bill of course!
Click to expand...
You can do that on-line by logging into you account once you've registered the sim.
 
Minxy Girl said:
Are you sure it was 8gb for £12.50 as the website says 2gb for £12.50 or £25 for 8gb.
Click to expand...

You're right, it isn't listed on their website. I think I'll nip back there tomorrow and buy it before they withdraw the deal! What I need is a sim which will work in a MiFi, a tablet sim might but from my experience of Three they know what sort of device you have put the sim card into and if it is the wrong sort they send you rude messages telling you to put it where it is supposed to be!
 
DBK said:
You're right, it isn't listed on their website. I think I'll nip back there tomorrow and buy it before they withdraw the deal! What I need is a sim which will work in a MiFi, a tablet sim might but from my experience of Three they know what sort of device you have put the sim card into and if it is the wrong sort they send you rude messages telling you to put it where it is supposed to be!
Click to expand...
That's only if you put a phone sim in a mifi or tablet to use the data as phone contracts can have 'unlimited' data but they don't want people to use it in a mifi as a cheaper alternative to buying a 'proper' data only one! :rolleyes:

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Ignore, what I wrote above, it is £25 a month for 8Gb. :) I was talking out of my fundament - again! Still competitive with other networks though and I'm still going to give it a try. They have a 14 day cooling off period so if I try it in my MiFi for a few days here in the UK and they don't tell me off I will know it at least works for that but if there is a problem I can return it and get a full refund. What I won't know is whether it will work in Europe at all and whether it will enjoy the zero roaming charges after 23 May. The contract can be capped so I won't get any high bills.

I know all this having just nipped to the shop to try and buy one - only to find their systems are down and I couldn't! Life is full of minor tribulations but the sun is shining so I won't let it get me down! :):):)
 
Quick update. I've bought an 8Gb Tesco tablet sim card on a monthly rolling contract. It worked straight away in the Huawei MiFi, no APN settings to change. However, it was only a 2g connection but I saw there was an SMS message for me which when I read it told me to turn my device off and then on again as they had altered some data settings. After doing this
there was a 3g signal, which is the best I can expect where I live - Tesco use O2.

So in the short term it works in a MiFi. I'll do some light browsing with it over the next few days and see if they send me another SMS - this time telling me to put it into a tablet!

If it does work in the MiFi the next test will be how it works in Europe after 23 May. :)
 
So far no problems. I've installed the Tesco mobile app on my tablet, which is quite good as it shows you all the rates for international usage, which is the expected 4p/Mb. Still expensive of course but might do if desperate to read or send the odd email though I'm expecting this to change on the 23rd!

The app is slightly odd to install as you have to enter the mobile number of the sim and they then send an SMS message to it with an activation code. As I'm not using the card in a phone the SMS message goes to the MiFi but using the Huawei app this can be read.

The FAQ section in the Tesco app describes how to set up your phone as a WiFi hot-spot, which is encouraging. :)
 
orridge said:
@DBK how did you fare with the sim in Europe after the 23rd ?
Click to expand...
It worked for a few seconds in France, got an SMS from Tesco telling me I wouldn't be getting roaming charges. Then it shut down - "invalid user profile" it said. Tried again in Italy but it refused to connect. I've now cancelled the contract and they only charged me for the first month which was good of them because I was into the second month but the (UK based) bloke I spoke to said as there hadn't been any usage they wouldn't charge me.

This was in a MiFi of course. Used in a tablet or phone, with the right sim card, I've no doubt it would work. It just seems tethering of any sort is a no-no.

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Heres what I have found using my phone on payg.
Not a big phone user but speech and texts work fine.
Teathering the tablets to the phone works fine but the connection speeds have been next to useless for anything other than email in Belgium Luxembourg Germany. France seems to be better but not much.
I set my topup preference to free texts and bought a £5 call package and 3GB data package for the first month.
So their offer works and its much better than my previous
provider.
 

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