Three 100gb data, Unlimited calls & texts for £20 pcm

[Manic]

I’ve just rang three and got 40gb for £14, my old contract was 20gb for £13.
I could of had 40 gb for £16 with a device but I’ve got a newish one so I didn’t need another.
EU allowance 15gb for 120 days

 

[billym]

Three have amended their support web pages. This is the bit about Go Binge in Europe destinations.


Using your Go Binge allowance in Go Roam destinations.

Our Go Binge Add-on works in all our Go Roam destinations – as long as you have regular data left in your monthly allowance, you can access the selected Go Binge services without using up your data. If you’ve used up your regular data allowance you won’t be able to access Go Binge services. As with all roaming in our Go Roam in Europe destinations a fair use data policy applies. Within Go Roam in Europe destinations your Go Binge usage counts towards your fair use limit of 15GB. However, once you’ve reached this limit, any continued usage (including Go Binge) will be chargeable at our surcharge rate of up to 0.5p/MB.


http://support.three.co.uk/SRVS/CGI...at=roaming,varset_subcat=4157,Case=obj(12332)


So the way I read that is that Go Binge comes out of your 15gb in Europe.

 

[glastry]

We've just taken out Three's new phone contract, which I think this has been mentioned on other threads about mobile broadband etc, but thought I'd create this thread about this phone sim as it has LOADS of internet!

Firstly, how it works for us financially - we are currently paying £35.52 pcm (£426.24 pa):

• Mobile phones: £15 pcm (2 x £7.50) with Tesco for a basic smartphone each with 400 mins, loads of texts (can't remember how many!) and 500gb data pcm
• Mobile broadband: £20.52 for 40gb of data with Three

Details of Three phone contract:

• Costs £20 pcm (£240 pa)
• 100gb data pcm
• All you can eat mins and texts
• 12 month contract
• The whole 100gb of data can be tethered in the UK
• In Europe the data limit is 15gb pcm (was 13gb pcm) although it may be increased further
• 'Go Binge' can be used in the UK and Europe
• There is a 'fair usage' policy in place - this means if you use your data abroad Three 'may' look at your usage and if you've used it for more time away than in the UK in the preceding 4 month period (ie over 2 months continuously) they may apply a surcharge (no change to previous fair use policy on data usage).
• You get WUNTU perks which which are currently a free drink from Greggs, a £2 meal deal, and/or a £3 eat out deal (not looked into these in any great detail but sound good!).
• You can delay the start of the contract for 30 days to allow for the notice period on your existing phone and/or mobile data contract but if you want to start it, say, in 20 days you can simply ring up on the day before/day you want it to start from and they can activate it then.

The new phone contract for hubby above means we can tether to it and use it for internet access and I'll get a PAYG '1p sim' as I rarely use internet on mine and don't make many calls/texts anyway, and as the only requirement is to top-up it up with £10 every 4 months that only equates to £30 a year/£2.50 pcm, plenty enough for me and means we'll have a phone on Three and another on the EE network.

We've ordered a couple of new quad-core 3gb RAM 32gb ROM 12.0MP + 5.0MP Rear Camera Fingerprint Sensor Smartphones @ £93 each (gone up to £105 now) so they come to £186 plus the cost for the new phone contract and my PAYG will work out at £240 + £30 + £186 = £456 but for this small extra amount we'll get 60gb a month more data and only a 1 year contract (our contracts including phones were for 2 years).

Doing a more 'like for like' comparison, we'd 'save' £126.48 over the period, have much better phones and a hell of a lot more mins/texts/data!

Existing phones £15 pcm x 24 months = £360
Existing broadband: £20.52 pcm x 24 months = £492.48

Total cost for 2 years: £852.48​

New phone contract: £20 pcm x 24 months = £480
New PAYG phone sim: £30 pa x 2 years = £60
New phones: 2 x £93 = £186

Total cost for 2 years: £726.00
​

I've given 30 day's notice to cancel our Three data only contract and as our phones contacts are due to end on 7th December we can actually given 30 day's notice to cancel them in a month's time.

These are the phones we're getting:

https://uk.gearbest.com/cell-phones/pp_009642116173.html?wid=1349303
​

This is the Three phone sim:

http://www.three.co.uk/Store/SIM/Pl...vbM6clOtjcaAvnHEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds&aidset=1
​

This is the 1p mobile sim:

https://www.1pmobile.com/index.taf?...kyGQD9pEdlRD7DH4w8MNieE5UzitUs7EaApdAEALw_wcB

​

 

[glastry]

Thank you to minxy girl, you put a lot of work into your posts,
Three looking good!

 

[Minxy]

Apparently Virgin (EE network) are doing a 100gb phone sim too, I've no knowledge of them though as I've never had one but the comments about their service aren't good!

https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/si...0mins-texts-20pm-from-now-live-virgin-3082589

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[webby1]

Now are we talking about data only mi fi sims or phone sims.......................or are these terms now completely interchangeable ???????????????

But yes thanks @Minxy Girl for your great research into this area

 

[newtonz]

No..... they are different. Data-only SIMs are just that, and need to be used in a mobile dongle or tablet/iPad with mobile capability, whereas a phone SIM normally provides 3 services: voice calls, SMS texts, and data connection. Be careful about the use of 'Triple' for SIMs, where the description is sometimes used for triple-size physical form, and sometimes for voice/SMS/data (or both!).

A word of caution for anyone planning only to use the mobile phone connection for home broadband use: make sure that the signal quality throughout the house is adequate, especially at evening periods when there is high contention. Many people will find it will not support TV streaming reliably, and, of course, you won't be able to plug wi-fi extenders in for your other devices, and relying on tethering can be bothersome. Some phones can 'cast' services like BT Sport to smart TVs, but not all.

Minxy girl did not explain why they had to buy new phones (a discretionary spend) rather than use the existing ones which they had 'bought' through the previous contract, which is what confuses the price comparison, but I agree she got a good deal, and upgrading to shiny new phones is always nice! Enough on that. And I am a fan of buying an unlocked phone outright if you can afford it and hunting round for good SIM-only deals. Cheaper in the long run and more flexibility.

 

[Minxy]

No..... they are different. Data-only SIMs are just that, and need to be used in a mobile dongle or tablet/iPad with mobile capability, whereas a phone SIM normally provides 3 services: voice calls, SMS texts, and data connection. Be careful about the use of 'Triple' for SIMs, where the description is sometimes used for triple-size physical form, and sometimes for voice/SMS/data (or both!).

Good point ... it is VERY easy to fall foul of that if buying on-line, it's also very easy to buy one with a high gb of data but it only lasts for a month as opposed to the pre-loaded ones which last for 1 or 2 years ... you do hae to make sure you read the blurb carefully to ensure what you THINK you're getting is actually what you ARE getting.

A word of caution for anyone planning only to use the mobile phone connection for home broadband use: make sure that the signal quality throughout the house is adequate, especially at evening periods when there is high contention. Many people will find it will not support TV streaming reliably, and, of course, you won't be able to plug wi-fi extenders in for your other devices, and relying on tethering can be bothersome. Some phones can 'cast' services like BT Sport to smart TVs, but not all.

Interesting point, we don't stream and probably never will but obviously needs to be checked for those who do.

Minxy girl did not explain why they had to buy new phones (a discretionary spend) rather than use the existing ones which they had 'bought' through the previous contract, which is what confuses the price comparison, but I agree she got a good deal, and upgrading to shiny new phones is always nice! Enough on that.

We could of course have used the old phones but they are basic models and are getting slower (I assume due to updates etc to software on them), so they'll either get sold on Ebay or kept as back-ups. I do like my old phone but it is heavier than our new ones ... the new ones are super fast!

And I am a fan of buying an unlocked phone outright if you can afford it and hunting round for good SIM-only deals. Cheaper in the long run and more flexibility.

That's exactly why we've done what we have this time - if we'd gone for a phone and sim contract with 3 it would have cost a hell of a lot more for a much lesser phone, to get one similar to the spec we've bought it would probably have cost nearer £50 a month for 1!

Hopefully it will work out for us long term too!

 

[POH]

Borderland, I think you can get a photo programme called Affinity for I pad just google it , I have the full version , not used it to it's full potential yet but it's supposed to be a good alternative to photoshop and it's a lot cheaper too as you pay just once not every month like lightroom or photoshop which have you by the short and curly's , like I said just go to their web site and you will get all the info you want.

 

[POH]

what is mifi???

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[Keith777]

Mobile wifi

 

[JockandRita]

Re the Three deal @ 100Gb for £20 a month. I did look at it replacing our monthly contract with BT, however, as was pointed out in previous posts, we checked the the signal coverage area and we are right on the edge of it, so much so, that the signal indoors was very poor, and not strong enough to support surfing the internet, never mind supporting smart TV usage.

So, we are stuck with BT for now.

Cheers,

Jock.

 

[Minxy]

Well as we were getting short on our existing '3' data only contract which will stop working in a few days anyway I activated the '3' phone sim tonight and I have to say that it works very, very well, just as good as the router/mifi we have, if not better. I've downloaded the '3' app so can keep a check on the usage and adjust the settings easily ... oh, nearly forgot, for some reason although the contract is 100gb, we've actually god 119gb to play with!

 

[coroner]

If you ho through quidco or topcashback you can get 50 or 60 cashback on new 3 simm only deals bringing the cost down even further

 

[Minxy]

If you ho through quidco or topcashback you can get 50 or 60 cashback on new 3 simm only deals bringing the cost down even further

Reading the reviews it appears you either don't get it or have to mess about trying to get it and then put a claim in which can be declined ... worth a go but I never ever rely on cashback from these sites to make a purchase via them unless it matches the basic deal cost elsewhere without it. As we wanted to defer the start date with our sim purchase I needed to go to '3' to get it.

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[autorouter]

what is mifi???

Most smartphones have a 'tether' mode. This sets up the phone as a wifi router so you can connect laptops, tablets etc that do not have the ability to connect to the mobile network. The internet data comes from the mobile network, through the tethering phone, to your laptop, tablet etc.

A mifi device is a dedicated device that will do this automatically. It can take a sim, connects to the mobile network like a phone, and sets itself up as a wifi router with its own 'tethering mode'. But it has no keyboard, microphone or speaker, so obviously can not be used for voice calls, and is difficult to use for texts.

These things were called mobile broadband devices, but Three started calling them 'mifi', and the name seems to have caught on.

 

[The Dotties]

Just followed up @Minxy Girl posts about 3 sim only cards.
Our contracts expire in a couple of months with EE, so asked for the sim price as an existing customer.
£21 pm. for 20gb data uc and ut
Went to 3 and the 100gb deal is still running so have bought 2 sims for £39 pm.
Assured that the full 100gb is tetherable throughout Europe and all the other FTR destinations uc and ut.
Also raised brexit, and was told it would make no difference to roaming, 3 do not intend making any changes post March 19.
Also no limits on bingeing.
Just got to find out what that is
Geoff

 

[Deanobeano]

Interesting reading this as I did the same thing a couple of weeks before Minxy.

It's working great so far - Netflix and Deezer (get free with Pringles packs!) do not use my allowance.

After a full month I used about 80gig of my allowance (Netflix was another 70 ish on top, but doesn't count!)

Using an old Blackberry Q10 connected direct to my router via USB (setup as USB tethering).

My Asus DSL-AC68U router allows a 3g/4g modem or android phone to be connected via the USB port and then shares this connection just like a ADSL or Fibre connection would.

I have 2 bars at 4G on my phone - I have had no streaming issues at all.

Netflix left on Auto - quality seems the same as my 38Meg connection
4OD / ITV hub all working fine.
Web is slightly slower - I think the ping is a bit bigger, but not enough to be an issue though.

Saving about £10 per month compared to my Plusnet deal (now cancelled) Plus free calls!

I have also cancelled my TV licence and working OK with all legal streamed services
(perhaps this should be the subject of another thread though!).

The 119 gig first month allowance is due to a larger than 1 month first billing period. You will receive a bill after a week or so and then one a month after.

 

[Deanobeano]

Forgot screen grab from my router admin page

 

[Stonemags76]

Forgot screen grab from my router admin page

I have an unlocked MiFi and a Netgear router. Do you think I can connect them directly to improve the signal? Thanks

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[Deanobeano]

I have an unlocked MiFi and a Netgear router. Do you think I can connect them directly to improve the signal? Thanks

Not sure - if you google your model with 'connecting via usb modem' it may shed some light.

 

[Minxy]

Just followed up @Minxy Girl posts about 3 sim only cards.
Our contracts expire in a couple of months with EE, so asked for the sim price as an existing customer.
£21 pm. for 20gb data uc and ut
Went to 3 and the 100gb deal is still running so have bought 2 sims for £39 pm.
Assured that the full 100gb is tetherable throughout Europe and all the other FTR destinations uc and ut.
Also raised brexit, and was told it would make no difference to roaming, 3 do not intend making any changes post March 19.
Also no limits on bingeing.
Just got to find out what that is
Geoff

Did you ask for the sim activation to be delayed for 30 days? That way you don't start paying until its been started and end up with new and old contracts running at the same time.

You can't however use the full 100gb monthly allowance in mainland Europe so you've been told a porky there, only 15gb per contract, and limits on binging - I put this info in previous posts.

 

[The Dotties]

Did you ask for the sim activation to be delayed for 30 days? That way you don't start paying until its been started and end up with new and old contracts running at the same time.

You can't however use the full 100gb monthly allowance in mainland Europe so you've been told a porky there, only 15gb per contract, and limits on binging - I put this info in previous posts.

Hi
Yes, I did delay for a month, so the two contracts stop/start together.
I shall be asking some questions in the store re the data in Europe.
He told me that terms had changed recently so I’ll find out.
Not overly worried to be honest as Therese has the identical contract, so we are well covered at 30/200 between us.
Thanks for heads up.
Geoff

 

[Langtoftlad]

Black Friday Deal:

Three
Unlimited for £20/mth !

Unlimited data
Unlimited texts
Unlimited Calls

inc:
Hotspot/Tethering allowed
Go Binge [though why that should be a benefit with unlimited data ]
Go Roam

Bound to be some small print but...

 

[Stonemags76]

Black Friday Deal:

Three
Unlimited for £20/mth !

Unlimited data
Unlimited texts
Unlimited Calls

inc:
Hotspot/Tethering allowed
Go Binge [though why that should be a benefit with unlimited data ]
Go Roam

Bound to be some small print but...

I’d be thee like a shot if only they didn’t limit the use of data in the eu to 15gb - that’s why we would want unlimited! If only!

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[Oscar]

Black Friday Deal:

Three
Unlimited for £20/mth !

Unlimited data
Unlimited texts
Unlimited Calls

inc:
Hotspot/Tethering allowed
Go Binge [though why that should be a benefit with unlimited data ]
Go Roam

Bound to be some small print but...

Excellent deal - I've just rung them about this and whilst the data is unlimited, it is limited to 13GB in the EU. I managed to get the 100GB deal for £19 per month

 

[Minxy]

Excellent deal - I've just rung them about this and whilst the data is unlimited, it is limited to 13GB in the EU. I managed to get the 100GB deal for £19 per month

That should be 15gb in the EU, not 13gb, it was uprated about 2 months ago, obviously someone at Three doesn't know.

 

[Oscar]

The Operator I spoke to in Sales said it was unlimited in the EU! Only checked when I insisted. I have a leaflet from the 3 shop that states 12GB, the sales staff in the 3 shop said they were embarrassed to admit they didn't know if it was 12GB, 13GB or 15GB!

 

[Minxy]

The Operator I spoke to in Sales said it was unlimited in the EU! Only checked when I insisted. I have a leaflet from the 3 shop that states 12GB, the sales staff in the 3 shop said they were embarrassed to admit they didn't know if it was 12GB, 13GB or 15GB!

The only reason my Three store knew it had changed was because they'd checked it the previous day with head office.