You don’t live near vodafone execs do you?
2 Likes
No 
- I believe they call my part of the world… “Middle Earth”.
Pretty sure I saw Gollum the other night!
3 Likes
Three have started doing 4G roaming now in some destinations.
I’m sticking with Vodafone. I get to use all 50GB data with no restrictions for free in 77 countries.
I’ll check out Vodafone, thanks!
my company uses Vodafone, it is the best for roaming (I travel a lot)
1 Like
Maybe true in towns and cities. But out in the country, coverage can and does vary, in my experience.
Broadly speaking: if I travel half an hour due south of where I am, my Vodafone phone works fine, no problem at all, but my friend on EE (I think) struggles.
OTOH, if I travel half an hour south-west, my Vodaphone phone acts like it has dropped into a black hole, but my friend on EE can still use their phone.
Even in large towns, persistent network problems could be an issue. I left O2 because in the last six months of my two-year contract, I couldn’t use my phone in the town I worked at all because they’d managed to massively f- something up.
tl;dr, in an ideal world coverage shouldn’t matter. But in the real world, it still does.
2 Likes
I remember living somewhere 2 years ago that only had 2G as well. After a storm in the area took out the phone line (and therefore the broadband and Wifi, grrrrr!!! Lol!!!), I wrote O2 a strongly critical letter (that was the provider at the time) basically reading them Section 55 of the Riot Act 2016 (LOL!!!) telling them to fix up as it was rather poor service, especially as O2 was the ONLY provider in the area that gave you at least a half decent signal. Voda and EE were non-existent there. I doubt my letter made a ounce of difference, but we did eventually get 4G in the area. Haha!!!
1 Like
Vodafone have quietly overtaken Three for free roaming destinations. I believe The USA, Canada and Australia are free with them now. Also, their roaming is 4G
I’m on £30 a month Vodafone SIM only - 50GB data, unlimited texts and calls. Plus the roaming in more places outside the EU than Three, plus free NowTV. Plus £2 (woo!) a month off their home broadband (I pay £21.75 a month for the fastest connection my line can support).
Their signal (everywhere I’ve been) is on a par with EE and the speed (in my personal experience, in places I frequent, which is mostly along the south cost - plus sometimes I work in the Swindon and Oxford areas) is faster than I ever got on EE (I’ve had 250meg on 4G and 150meg+ consistently. With 80meg at the low end - that’s if you’re worried about the actual 4G connection speed)
3 Likes
I second this recommendation. I’ve been with SMARTY for 6 months now and been super impressed. Really simple and there’s flexibility on data.
1 Like
Do you know if they have any plans to introduce roaming add-ons/packs to enable roam like home outside the EU?
I don’t know of any plans, it is a downside to SMARTY when travelling outside the EU. I usually pick up a temporary 2nd SIM card.
I’m with giffgaff. On they £10 rolling monthly goodbag. Kinda interested in Smarty though as some months with giffgaff I’ll use very little data and some months I’ll use it all up. Love the idea of data carryover.
The problem with MVMO is you typically don’t get the extra features like visual voicemail, teathering and WiFi calling 
4 Likes
You also are last in the queue for bandwidth.
We moved from truphone (a vodafone international MVNO) back to vodafone and the difference in quality in the same place is stunning.
Edited to add: AFAIK BT are the only MVNO with equal access to the parent network, probably 'cos they own it. This list gives the MVNOs and you can see that not many have wifi calling which is an indication of their access to the parent network’s features. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_Kingdom_mobile_virtual_network_operators
2 Likes
Vodafone don’t do Visual Voicemail anyway - Nor 3 I believe. In fact, I’m not sure who does (I’m sure Google does though ).
For anyone wanting visual voicemail, I can highly recommend Hullomail, which I’ve been using for years to achieve the same functionality.
Three don’t either. I thought I’d miss it but I actually don’t. My only reason for highlighting it was knowing this forum I’d have probably been called out for not mentioning it 
3 Likes
I saw this same offer (100GB for £20) with Three the other day. None of the downsides of being with an MVNO with them.
I use to have my voicemail turned off until recently.
If someone’s called I get ally ring them back before checking the message as it’s a bit of a faff.
3 Likes
One suggestion I don’t think has been mentioned. Check if you company have any deals with carriers.
With my company I can get 20% off Vodafone, EE and O2.
Personally I wanted the 4G Apple Watch and wanted to go sim only so went with EE. I now have 20GB for £16 and an extra 5GB because my home broadband is also with them.
Overall happy with them, as others have said they are generally first to offer any innovative services. So also just swapped to an eSIM so I could put my work Vodafone sim in my iPhone and ditch the works blackberry 
I’ll give Three a shout over the new couple weeks, see what they can do for me. I’m with them so hopefully they can give me something decent.