Which Mobile/Cell Phone Service Are You Using and Why?

I've been in London for a few weeks now on my finacee visa and I'll be eligible to get a bank account in the next couple of days.  The next step is to get a mobile phone plan for my unlocked iPhone 5c. 

I've been researching the various phone providers and have narrowed it down to O2, 3, and EE (my finacee uses it and says the customer service sucks though.)  I tend to use mostly data and text, and maybe 500ish minutes a month if I'm lucky.

Which one do you use and recommend?  Are there any to definitely stay away from?  Most of my research says Vodafone isn't very good and EE is generally the best.

I have Vodafone and I'm really happy with it so far. I had O2 and it was rubbish. EE was OK.

I've had EE in the past, didn't have any major problems, thought their customer service was fine, and had good coverage around the country outside London.

I switched to O2 because they had a deal that fit my usage pattern better, haven't had any major problems, think their customer service is fine, and have slightly worse coverage around the country outside London than I did with EE, but not bad enough to make a major impact on my life. 

One area where they're appreciably better than EE is in their online billing/account management.  I find it much easier to see the details of my bill on the O2 website than I ever could on EE's website.

Hope that helps.

I have O2 and it works just fine.  I live in South Essex so very good coverage, many times 4G which is nice.  Can't speak for other parts of the country.  I really like their International Favorites which allows me to call the US on my phone for a bit extra a month.

I have Giffgaff, which is a low cost, no contract offering from O2. Coverage is great, with 4g in selected areas. www.giffgaff.com.

This month I bought 500 mins, unlimited texts and 1GB data for £10. I'd recommend this to anyone who doesn't want to be locked into a contract, and likes to choose their monthly package.

Hi,

You'll get every variation for recommendations. Some networks are better in some areas than others. You could ask some friends who are within the area you are usually in and on different networks for their views, or you could buy a monthly PAYG SIM and try each one out to see which network suits you.

Is your Apple 5c an American sourced handset? if so, check to see which bands it supports in terms of 4G/LTE. The UK uses a different frequency band for 4G/LTE signals. If you think you'll be fine with just 3G bandwidth access, you'll find the handset will work. If you have a UK sourced 5c then disregard the above.

I have 3 SIM cards/plans. EE is one, 3 is another and the last is a PAYG GiffGaff one which uses the O2 network.

Soon, with the recent mergers and acquisitions, the UK will have 3 main network providers - Vodafone, 3 and EE ( I think! - I can never remember who o2 are now or going to be owned by!)

Cheers, DtM! West London & Slough UK!

I don't have a plan, so ignore this if you'd like, but I use 3. I use mostly data, as my husband also has an iPhone, so we can imessage one another instead of using texts. I do pay-as-you-go and I love 3's 3-2-1 service. 3p per minute for calls (which I rarely ever use), 2p per text, and 1p per MB of data. I topped up last May (£10) and I still have £2.55 credit on my phone from that!

I'm on a sim only plan with 3 and it's been great. I have 4G service in Cardiff and I only pay £15 a month for 200 min and unlimited data and texts. I bought my iPhone 6 outright when it released as it ended up being lower cost in the long run for a sim only plan.