Hi,

Not sure if this has been covered, I did try and search but found nothing. I have a Sunrise card which I will have in my iPhone. When I leave the UK I am going to cancel my UK contract mobile and get a pay as you go card and stick it in my other phone.

Does anyone know which will be the best one and has anyone done this already? bearing in mind the length between top ups, being out of the UK for long periods of time, topping up from outside the UK, topping up with a non UK card etc. I just want it for my friends to text me and text them back occasionally and to use when I am visiting the UK.

Any ideas?

Cheers,

Matt

i use t-mobile. which works fine.

I do the same with orange and that works fine too. You can always get top ups on line if necessary.

I've got a Vodafone pay as you go, with Vodafone Passport so you can make/receive UK calls in CH for only 75p a call plus normal UK charges, which might work out as a cheap way to make calls for some people.

http://online.vodafone.co.uk/pay-as-...ffers/passport

For example, if you have a freedom pack, you can use those minutes from Switzerland to call people in the UK, which could well be cheaper if you make longer phone calls to people on mobiles.

Hahaha, anyone want to recommend o2 then I will have the four networks lol.

I think I will have a look through their websites. I have Vodaphone and Orange on contract at the moment. At least I know that people have tmob,vod and orange with no problems.

Thank you very much!!!! :-)

Phil_MCR.....you are a Manc???? :-)

more Wigan

I use a Tesco sim card - get free credit whilst in the UK to use and texts are 20p from Switzerland to UK, 10p to 3 favourite numbers. Never had any problems with signal wherever I've been in Europe.

SWMBO and I have O2 sim cards

Can't actually recommend 'coz they're hardly used, we've no idea of costs now, just useful when back in Blighty every now and then

ha ha....right....thanks all ;-) I see no one mentioned 3....which would not even be a consideration!

I miss Manchester, Phil! not the rest of the UK though lol

If it's just for texts then its not much in it. Ive jumped from Orange to Vodafone to O2.

Vodafone have the best coverage imho. And faster 3G service.

Go here and you have a nice comparism of the main sim only deals Good luck!

Vodafone PAYG used to be miles ahead of the rest as not only do they have their "passport" plan, which is beneficial for people who make long calls (or are stuck on a monthly plan with minutes which would otherwise go to waste) but they USED TO have a free option where all your voicemails were converted to .wav files and emailed to you.

They discontinued that ;( But I still have my Vodafone PAYG. It does the job; but I reckon any UK network will be similar.

I am thinking either Vodaphone or Orange. I am going to put it in my HTC Desire, which is currently tied to Orange, so if I go to another network then I will need to unlock it.

My iPhone will be for my Sunrise card.

I'm using an O2 pay as you go and it's cheap. We've just moved to CH after travelling in the UK for a month and I haven't gotten around to buying a CH simcard. O2 is cheap for roaming. 10p to text (free to receive), 35ppm to call (11ppm to receive). As far as I'm aware you can also top up online.

What you could also do is buy one of those traveling sms cards whereby you cab receive calls no matter where you are free of charge. They are called go-sim.

Good idea, although I think there may be a catch with them ;-)