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Should I stay on o2 or go back to EE?

How's your battery liking dual sim, though?
When I ran dual SIM some time back until the end of 2022 battery life wasn't that bad at all if I'm honest I know it can wear down battery life quite quickly depending on circumstances however
 
eSIM is also important for me.
How important? as it really limits your choices & value.
1p mobile (without esim) would be "Unlimited" for £25/30d (500GB FUP I think?)


How's your battery liking dual sim, though?
Not who you questioned but, I use 3 Primary and O2 backup, I get a full day out of my phone without question (oneplus) - the biggest eater of battery is the photos app for me (backing up), I really should clean it out... Also worst case you could disable slot 2 until you wanted to swap over if it's just going to be used for data.

This means I can always call / text / have data even if it's slow, I've always got *something* usable.
 
But Vodafone is rubbish in the east?
Not necessarily, I think @LordTaylor uses it fine and my sister uses Vodafone in the east too (granted she is by an unwind area but just outside it).

Vodafone in the east isn't the same experience as O2 in the west afaik, particularly due to less customers etc
 
I guess the only selling point really for VF in O2 host zones (mostly the east) is that they *should* in theory be less subscribed and in theory able to handle something but Vodafone never has anything other than like few B8s every 6 masts, B20 like every mast and i feel like I've seen B1 a couple times for VF too. Rarely any B40 at all

Which is honestly the same but in exact reverse when you're in VF host areas
Vodafone doesn't have B40 anyways, it would be B7 (and very rarely B38 which I don't think is deployed in O2 host).

Vodafone's lacking on B8 4G here anyways in a Vodafone host, there's still quite a few sites missing it 😭
 
Vodafone doesn't have B40 anyways, it would be B7 (and very rarely B38 which I don't think is deployed in O2 host).

Vodafone's lacking on B8 4G here anyways in a Vodafone host, there's still quite a few sites missing it 😭
<tinfoilhat>
I feel like this is intentional.

I would say - my work phone is on Voda and since the 3G switch off its pretty much a brick. I have to tether it to my personal phone to get any data when out and about. (Work phone is an iPhone which I don't enjoy using anyway)

Voda & 3 look to me like they're trying to wave the "look our networks struggling, let us merge and cut all of the staff costs" and then they'll just enable stuff that's ready to go.
</tinfoilhat>

Or Vodafone are just that poor here - though to be honest I wouldn't be overly surprised.

Before settling on Smarty I swapped around all the providers in a few months and the sheer difference in quality between the networks really surprised me.

I will likely replace O2 with 1p at the end of it's deal.
 
How's your battery liking dual sim, though?
Battery for dual SIM was better on iOS, but usually if I need Vodafone I'll flick it on at the time and flick it back off again once I'm back in Three coverage
 
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I have 1pmobile and Lebara in my dual SIM Moto g84, works well in Coventry/Warwickshire. 1p for Talk/Text, Lebara for data (cheaper, only by a few £/mo though)
 
I'm interested in this because I've been on o2 for ages and recent rises (alongside promise of future rises) make me want to re-evaluate. Without searching for deals specifically I do see EE as being quite a bit more expensive then o2. (I have asked about this previously btw - https://www.ispreview.co.uk/talk/threads/o2-mvno-related-posts.40932/page-198#post-368316)

I thought I'd read something not too long ago in these forums about it being wise not to commit to any 12 month+ contracts at the moment, think it was related to the VF/Three merger or something? But then I guess if I'm not considering VF or Three (or any MVNOs) then that shouldn't matter?

Also I've read various things about credit checks in the forums recently, if I were to look at moving to EE does anyone know if they would do a credit check? Or indeed if there are any providers that don't? Sorry if I missed this in the excellent spreadsheet provided by @Bubblesthefish6!
 
Not necessarily, I think @LordTaylor uses it fine and my sister uses Vodafone in the east too (granted she is by an unwind area but just outside it).

Vodafone in the east isn't the same experience as O2 in the west afaik, particularly due to less customers etc
insertfloopydisk is correct! I'm in the South East (Chelmsford, Essex area) and although you do tend to see that vodafone has more just B20 masts... it's actually such a usable experience still. Where I live as an example, the 2x fairly close Cornerstone masts locations which are O2 hosts have B3, B20... Where vodafone only has B20 on both... yet the speeds and experience on vodafone is far more usable and consistent. On most speedtests vodafone will beat O2.
 
Thanks for all the comments, it’s definitely helped me😊 And for the people who asked, eSIM is not an absolute must but I just prefer the thought that if my phone was to get stolen, they wouldn’t be able to take the SIM card out, and it’s just quicker for me to switch between different networks.

I’ve tried Lyca which I was not impressed with despite them using EE and smarty which I was also not impressed with on my iPad which now has a Vodafone eSIM. But I have used all the main 4 on my phone before…

Roaming is pretty important as I do visit France via the ferry and Eurostar, and I don’t want to be charged a roaming fee.

I do also have BT broadband so I can access the EE deals they have on their website but I’m not too impressed with their speed caps they have and the lack of roaming also isn’t impressing me otherwise I probably would jump onto the 250gb for £14 deal … idk if calling them would get me a better deal?
 
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Thanks for all the comments, it’s definitely helped me😊 And for the people who asked, eSIM is not an absolute must but I just prefer the thought that if my phone was to get stolen, they wouldn’t be able to take the SIM card out, and it’s just quicker for me to switch between different networks.

I’ve tried Lyca which I was not impressed with despite them using EE and smarty which I was also not impressed with on my iPad which now has a Vodafone eSIM. But I have used all the main 4 on my phone before…

Roaming is pretty important as I do visit France via the ferry and Eurostar, and I don’t want to be charged a roaming fee.

I do also have BT broadband so I can access the EE deals they have on their website but I’m not too impressed with their speed caps they have and the lack of roaming also isn’t impressing me otherwise I probably would jump onto the 250gb for £14 deal … idk if calling them would get me a better deal?
Getting EE to throw roaming in can be difficult as a new customer. You basically need a plan with a free switchable benefit included and they come at a price.

It’s a bit easier as an existing customer, retentions can and do give you EU roaming if you say that is why you are leaving.

1p is the standout candidate for you, but they’re not the cheapest, but out of the MVNO’s on EE, I’d say they’re the best from my experience.
 
Getting EE to throw roaming in can be difficult as a new customer. You basically need a plan with a free switchable benefit included and they come at a price.

It’s a bit easier as an existing customer, retentions can and do give you EU roaming if you say that is why you are leaving.

1p is the standout candidate for you, but they’re not the cheapest, but out of the MVNO’s on EE, I’d say they’re the best from my experience.
Or you need someone on New EE Broadband with a mobile account to take out the £16 monthly rolling plan and do a transfer of ownership 🤣
 
Or you need someone on New EE Broadband with a mobile account to take out the £16 monthly rolling plan and do a transfer of ownership 🤣
Oh you mean the second line trick?

I was looking into that with my migrated Plusnet sim but it’s not an option. I don’t get any upgrade options at all :ROFLMAO:
 
Oh you mean the second line trick?

I was looking into that with my migrated Plusnet sim but it’s not an option. I don’t get any upgrade options at all :ROFLMAO:

Yep.

On my EE account I can take out unlimited data limited to 100Mbps for £10 on a 30-day plan or unlimited, no speed restriction and EU roaming for £16 on a 30-day plan.

I assume you can do a transfer of ownership on them as normal?
 
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Yep.

On my EE account I can take out unlimited data limited to 100Mbps for £10 on a 30-day plan or unlimited, no speed restriction and EU roaming for £16 on a 30-day plan.

I assume you can do a transfer of ownership on them as normal?
I believe you can, as long as you pass the required credit checks etc.
 
I managed to get a really cheap bt broadband deal so I don’t really want to switch over to EE broadband as I’ll be paying about £13 more for the same services (I asked they can’t match it to my new bt bb deal) but the only difference would be me getting that cheap unlimited sim they offer to EE broadband customers 😢 really annoying
 
Definitely found even in Vodafone zones that o2 have better coverage sometimes due to more masts in quite often hard to reach places (assuming when they were bt owned before they had more cash)
Yeah, we have 4 2G masts going around, doubt they'll be good for data though 😂

I don't actually know whether they'll bother upgrading these, probably not
 
It's all relevant to your local area really.

If I relied on EE here I would be frequently left with little to no service.
Where do you struggle in Telford / Shropshire where other networks do better?

I'm genuinely curious as I have moved to EE only and right now it works ok, apart from in my work office, but that's what WiFi is for :)
 
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