Find out how to use up your remaining Pay As You Go credit when moving to another network.
In the UK, it isn’t possible to get a refund for unused Pay As You Go credit, nor is it possible to transfer your credit to another network. This can be an issue if you’re changing to another mobile network and if you have some leftover credit on your old Pay As You Go account.
For this reason, we typically recommend trying to use up your remaining Pay As You Go credit before moving your phone number to another mobile network. Alternatively, you could donate your credit to charity or you could keep your old SIM card as a backup.
Order Free Pay As You Go SIM Card → Transfer Your Phone Number →
In this article, we’ll explore the four things you can do with remaining Pay As You Go credit.
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In the UK, there are four main providers of free public wi-fi: BT Wi-Fi, O2 Wi-Fi, The Cloud and Virgin Media Wi-Fi. Find out how to get access to each of these services.
It’s now fairly straightforward finding free wi-fi when you’re out-and-about here in the UK. Whether you’re in a high-street coffee store, supermarket or bank, there are four main providers of free wi-fi internet you’re likely to come across: BT Wi-Fi, O2 Wi-Fi, The Cloud and Virgin Media Wi-Fi.
In this article, we’ll review and compare the main public wi-fi providers in the UK. We’ll discuss the level of service available on each provider and how you might qualify for their free wi-fi internet. We’ll also show you to how to find nearby hotspots.
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Find out how to contact your UK mobile network for a range of issues like billing, coverage, lost & stolen, leaving the network or making a complaint.
In the UK, you’ll occasionally need to contact your mobile network. This might be to discuss billing and coverage issues, or it might be to report your phone or SIM card as lost or stolen. You may also need to contact your mobile network if you’d like to move your number to another provider, if you want to end your mobile contract or if you’d like to make a complaint about the service.
The following table shows information about how you can contact your mobile network. For each network, we’ve provided the customer support phone number along with opening hours for the service and a link back to the official website. Below, we’ve also provided some additional information which should help you when making some common enquiries.
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The Nexus 6P is Google’s latest flagship smartphone. In this article, I review the handset and the best value deals available in the UK.
Each year, Google teams up with a major smartphone manufacturer to release an own-brand Android smartphone as part of the Nexus device family. Now in its fifth year, Google has this year chosen to team up with Huawei and LG. There are two new devices including a new flagship smartphone in the form of the Nexus 6P and a new mid-range handset in the form of the Nexus 5X.
I’ve been trying out the Nexus 6P over the past month and I can confidently say it’s my favourite smartphone to date. The Nexus 6P has a really solid aluminium construction and is well-built using the latest technology and components. It also has a fantastic camera and a super-smooth interface. It comes with some highly impressive apps from Google; most notably the Google Photos service. Finally, it’s about £250 cheaper than Apple’s iPhone 6s Plus. This makes it a really good choice if you want the latest cutting-edge technology at a highly reasonable price point.
In this article, I’ll share my experiences of using the Nexus 6P.
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For the past four and a half years, we’ve been tracking the popularity of UK mobile networks and how consumers are switching between them.
The UK has one of the most competitive marketplaces in the world for mobile telephony. There are more than 83 million active mobile subscriptions for a population of only 64 million. Given this, many customers taking out a new mobile phone plan will be switching their service over from another network.
At present, there are 4 network operators in the UK: EE, O2, Three and Vodafone. There are also more than 20 virtual network operators (MVNOs) that use one of the big four networks as a coverage provider. Current MVNOs include BT Mobile, giffgaff, iD Mobile, TalkTalk, Tesco and Virgin. MVNOs target a wide range of verticals including ethical, low-cost, international, supermarket and quad-play providers.
When switching from one mobile network to another, many consumers choose to keep their existing phone number. The UK has offered mobile number portability (MNP) since the 4th January 1999. To transfer an existing phone number from one network to another, customers need to obtain a PAC Code from their old network. The PAC Code is then provided to their new network operator.
Here, at Ken’s Tech Tips, we provide an online tool which can help consumers to get a PAC Code from their old network. We’ve been operating the PAC Code Finder tool since October 2010 with an average of 4,000 people using the tool every month. By monitoring usage of the tool, we can track in great detail how British consumers are moving between different mobile networks in response to different product offerings.
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In the UK, there are only four coverage providers: EE, O2, Three and Vodafone. All other mobile networks piggyback on one of these coverage providers.
When choosing a new mobile network, it’s worth knowing that they all use one of four coverage providers (either EE, O2, Three or Vodafone). By choosing a mobile network that shares the same coverage provider, you’ll often get exactly the same signal for a much lower cost.
In this section, we’ll list the mobile networks using coverage from each provider. We’ll also review the best value SIM card deals with coverage from each provider. Please select the mobile network you’re interested in having coverage from:
In the last few years, web pages and apps have ballooned in size. In 2014, how many gigabytes of data do you actually need?
One of the most common questions I’m asked by readers of the blog is how much data they need when choosing a new smartphone tariff. Many people get bamboozled by the large choice of data allowances: you can now choose a tariff with everything from 100MB to 50GB of data. There’s also a couple of unlimited data deals from Three, giffgaff and T-Mobile.
With the introduction of 4G, things have intensified in the area of mobile download allowances. Whereas 500MB per month used to be a standard data offering, 4G mobile tariffs are now widely differentiated in the amount of included mobile data. On their 4G plans, EE offers between 500MB and 50GB of data. O2 offers between 1GB and 8GB per month whereas Vodafone offers between 3GB and 9GB. On the three networks, calling and texting is now free and unlimited on most 4G Pay Monthly tariffs. Three is the sole network offering all-you-can-eat data with 4G on most of their price plans.
With download allowances becoming the next big battleground, I wanted to revisit the topic and to look at how much data is required in 2014. In the summer of 2010, Ken’s Tech Tips produced the first version of our mobile data guide. Back then, we looked at the meaning of 500MB and 1GB allowances. We gave a rough estimate of how many web pages you were able to view using your allowance. Although the guide has been updated several times, it’s now time for a radical overhaul. In this article, I’ll discuss my most recent findings. It’s a little bit technical but hopefully it’ll give some background on how our data estimates are calculated.
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With Pay As You Go, there’s no need to sign any contracts. Find out how to get a free SIM card and which PAYG networks offer the lowest prices.
Instead of getting a Pay Monthly contract, many consumers prefer to use their phone on a Pay As You Go basis. Compared to Pay Monthly, Pay As You Go offers better flexibility: there’s no need to sign any 24-month contracts and you have the ability to change networks or tariffs at any time you like. There’s also no need to undergo a credit check and there’s no chance of spending more than your top-up. With better spend control, Pay As You Go can often be the perfect product for younger mobile users.
In the UK, we’re spoilt for choice when it comes to Pay As You Go. There are more than 20 networks offering a Pay As You Go service. Frequent smartphone users can take advantage of a bundle for even better rates. In this section, read more about the UK’s Pay As You Go tariffs.
Are you new to the UK’s telephone system? Here’s our guide for complete beginners: understand UK phone numbers and how much they cost.
If you’re new to the UK’s mobile telephone system, the articles here will help you to get started. Find out how UK phone numbers are formatted and how much you’ll pay to call them. You can also find out how to receive phone calls from other countries. Finally, we’ll also look at new calling technologies such as Wi-Fi Calling and 4G Calling which can help you to call from more places.
Vodafone is the UK’s oldest mobile network. They offer 4G & 5G mobile services on a choice of personal and business mobile plans.
Vodafone was the UK’s first mobile network, launching all the way back in 1984. Over 35 years, the UK company has grown to become one of the world’s largest telecommunication providers, with its own mobile network in 25 countries.
Today, the company offers 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G coverage in the UK. This is available across a range of different price plans, including on both Pay Monthly and Pay As You Go. Alongside this, Vodafone offers home broadband (both through a 4G or 5G connection and also through a fixed-line fibre broadband connection).
In the following articles, you can learn more about Vodafone’s UK network, products and services.