Just wondering if they exist.  I currently have a phone contract with EE where I get 10Gb data and free broadband, but I pay £14.50 line rental a month for that.  So overall I'm stood at over £50 a month for the lot.  With the contract up for renewal soon I was wondering whether to look for an unlimited data contract for my mobile, and ditch the landline.  Looking around the highest data allowance I can see is 25Gb a month but not sure how easy it is to use that up on a home PC which is used a fair amount.

 

I am not immediately concerned with moving away from EE as been with them since the late 90s (in whatever guise they were then) but I would be interested to hear what offers other mobile networks have in this respect.

I'm not sure any of the networks offer unlimited data anymore? Possibly o2 if I remember rightly but it was like £75 a month!

Three do "all you can eat" data on some of their tariffs.

 

http://www.three.co.uk/Store/SIM/Plans_for_phones#?contract=All&data=All-you-can-eat&minutes=&type=alltype

Three do "all you can eat" data on some of their tariffs.

 

http://www.three.co.uk/Store/SIM/Plans_for_phones#?contract=All&data=All-you-can-eat&minutes=&type=alltype

 

Be careful and study the small print on any such offer; the few I am aware of fall under two categories

 

1/ are ONLY for use on a phone, if you tether you are in trouble and can get your contract cancelled - but STILL need to pay for it!!

 

2/ have a soft limit, go over the limit (which isnt that high) and your download speeds are heavily throttled.

 

In at least one case, if you used more than 2GB in a 24 hour period, you would be throttled for the rest of the day, regardless of how much data you had used over the contract month.

 

The other option is a Wifi based ISP; there are a few around, you connect via a series of Wifi points to a local base station, this could be miles away from where you are.

 

ISP Review probably has the info you need, or can direct you to a website with more info.

As above if you're a heavy user they'll cap or throttle you right down, and you won't be able to tether.

Another consideration is credit agencies still look more favourably if you have a landline in your application. It rings several alarm bells in their fraud systems if you only have a work or mobile number.

It's a shame Orange didn't follow up on their unity project about a decade ago where your mobile would become your landline when you were at home or out and about. Seems crazy no one has done/revisited this in this day and age.

Seems sensible to stick with something like I already have then.

 

Thanks

Three do actually allow tethering on their plans.

I'm on an old plan and only get 4GB tethering but their new plans offer 30GB tethering.

I've never once been throttled. I used 39GB of data last month and this month (since the 7th) I've use 19GB.

Their 4G coverage is getting much better. Currently sat in the living room and done a speed test 42mb down and 10mb up.

But even when not in 4G their 3G service is very good. I can drive, cycle and walk around listening to streaming radio and it never drops out on me.

There ARE capped tethering plans out there, but the prices are not competitive with most land line offerings, and although signal strength can be perfect, the actual data speed is entirely reliant on what the network will allow you; I am on GiffGaff, and despite getting a full HSPA+ signal, that should give me upto 21Mbps, O2 throttle GG customers in my area to a bit over 2Mb at best ; and even that is only after my complaining directly to the CEO of O2 about the appalling 48Kbps limit previously imposed.

 

(I have LOS on the transmitter, less than a mile away).

I've been with Three for years now and on a recent tariff that has all you can eat data. My experience mirrors Phil-E, never had a problem with throttling of data and everything on my phone is streamed from my home server. You can tether on most of the tariffs, with varying amounts of inclusive data.

 

You also get the "Feel at Home" on most tariffs, where your UK allowance for both Data and Voice carries with you to most EU countries and beyond. I was quiet happy sitting in the French cottage streaming media without any problem.

 

4G is free, but it is for most now I think and coverage is pretty good. I managed 60meg down and 15 up in Stevenage the other week.

http://www.three.co.uk/Store/SIM/Plans_for_phones#?contract=All&data=All-you-can-eat&minutes=&type=alltype

Edited 14 September, 20169 yr by mannyo

Yes the Feel at Home is excellent. And they've just added Germany Jason so you could have used it while you were there.

 

I've travelled to Italy and Ireland recently and being able to use my phone including data (although capped at 12GB while roaming) is a real plus. Travelling to Germany this evening so very happy they've now added that to the list.

 

If I go to see my mum she lives in a heavily elderly populated area and the 4G speed are mega. Usually get about 80mb download speed!

There ARE capped tethering plans out there, but the prices are not competitive with most land line offerings, and although signal strength can be perfect, the actual data speed is entirely reliant on what the network will allow you; I am on GiffGaff, and despite getting a full HSPA+ signal, that should give me upto 21Mbps, O2 throttle GG customers in my area to a bit over 2Mb at best ; and even that is only after my complaining directly to the CEO of O2 about the appalling 48Kbps limit previously imposed.

 

(I have LOS on the transmitter, less than a mile away).

 

Sounds like you need to switch networks then as those speed are appalling!

 

Don't think I've ever had anything less than about 4-5 mb while on Three.

 

I used to use a German sim card while over there. You would buy a data bundle then once that was used up you could carry on using it as much as you like but it would throttle you down to 56kb/s.

 

But like I say I have never been throttled on Three and as you can see I'm a pretty heavy user (stream a lot of internet radio and constantly watching Netflix).

Sounds like you need to switch networks then as those speed are appalling!

 

Don't think I've ever had anything less than about 4-5 mb while on Three.

 

I used to use a German sim card while over there. You would buy a data bundle then once that was used up you could carry on using it as much as you like but it would throttle you down to 56kb/s.

 

But like I say I have never been throttled on Three and as you can see I'm a pretty heavy user (stream a lot of internet radio and constantly watching Netflix).

 

We use GiffGaff for the cheap calls, both domestic and International; neither of us are big phone users, and even on the cheapest package, we dont use much more than 50% of the data or minutes unless we are on holiday; but yes, I am looking at alternatives, as I posted earlier, I applied for a 1D SIM and they turned me down!!

 

Malvern is tricky for networks, as are the areas around it; due to the hills, dips and valleys, Orange (now EE/BT), used to give the best coverage, but customer service wasnt very good, and I made a pledge to NEVER give BT another penny after an incident 10 years ago.