Unlimited Data
Unfortunately, in the UK it’s pretty much impossible to get unlimited data especially on PAYG? Even the monthly contracts don’t offer truly unlimited data. For example, many networks claim to give you unlimited internet but actually have a sneaky “fair use” cap at 500 MB/month or even less. In May 2010, Vodafone scrapped their unlimited data plan to save money and O2 followed suit in June 2010. If you like to use your phone to stream video for example, this can be incredibly restrictive.
Mobile companies say that they found that 97% of their users use less than 500 MB/month and only a tiny fraction use over 1 GB. However, this doesn’t stop it being slightly disingenuous to offer “unlimited” data which is, in actual fact, very limited. Those who are high data users should have an option. And, to be frank, especially when 4G is rolled out across the UK, people’s usage patterns are going to change. The trend is definitely toward more and more data and 500 MB/month is really a quite pitiful amount.
So are there any ways to get unlimited data on PAYG phones in the UK?
Not impossible?
Giffgaff
Thankfully there is a solution out there. The amazing PAYG network, Giffgaff offers truly unlimited internet for only £10/month (as long as it’s “mobile internet use only”). Not only that, but you also get unlimited texts and 250 any network minutes.
Order a free SIM with £5 free credit and not only can you start getting unlimited data but you also also get unlimited free calls to any other Giffgaff customer. All freephone numbers are also free to call. Remember, Giffgaff offers truly unlimited mobile data. If you want to learn more about the network, please read our Giffgaff review.
Don’t delay, get a free Giffgaff SIM with unlimited data now to get £5 free credit.
3
3 have also got a brand new unlimited data offer. After you order your free SIM, you get £2 free credit automatically and then they’ll give you free data as long as you top up £15 a month. Just like Giffgaff, this is truly unlimited data without any caps or fair use policy too! So tuck in. They’ve even thrown in 3000 texts and 300 minutes with this great offer. We’ve also considered the whole experience in our 3 tariff review.
Why not order your free 3 SIM today?
T-Mobile
T-Mobile also have a great offer for data with their optional Internet Boosters. You can get 5 days internet for only £2.50, a month for just £5 or 6 months for £20 which is only £3.33/month or just £40 per year. Just be aware that this isn’t truly “unlimited” – there’s a fair usage policy limit of 500MB per calendar month.
If you want, start using a T-Mobile Mobile SIM today or check out our T-Mobile review.
Tesco Mobile
Tesco Mobile also have a deal on for PAYG customers. You can buy a 7-day unlimited internet pass for £2. This gives you free data for a whole week (although it’s not truly “unlimited”, it’s actually limited to 100 MB which is pretty far from unlimited).
Get a Tesco Mobile SIM now or read our review of Tesco Mobile first.
Vectone Mobile
Another option for PAYG users is Vectone. Like Tesco, it’s not truly unlimited but you can buy a one day unlimited data pass for only 50p. However, in this case, “unlimited” means 125 MB. They also offer 7 days for £2.50 (with a 250 MB limit) or £5/month (with a maximum of 1 GB).
Read a Vectone review or try out a Vectone Mobile SIM today.
Other ways to get unlimited data?
Please leave a comment below if you have any corrections or if you know of any other way to get unlimited texts that we’ve not mentioned on this page. Thanks.
Free PAYG SIM with unlimited free calls
Many networks offer free Pay As You Go (PAYG) SIM cards. These free SIM cards sometimes even come with free credit once you activate them so you can start using mobile internet right away. Below is a list of mobile networks that will offer free SIM cards and unlimited mobile data.
- Giffgaff SIM card – now with £5 free credit
- 3 SIM card
- Tesco Mobile SIM card – triple credit
- Vectone Mobile SIM card
In my opinion GiffGaff is the best of the bunch. The cheapest and in my experience the most reliable. Unfortunate though that they don’t do handsets, but that’s understandable, and maybe for the best.
Just the one caveat. A lot of smartphones offer the ability to act as mobile WiFi hotspots these days, others use a USB connection. Like 02 giffgaff will get quite snotty if you try to tether a PC/Mac to your phone in this way. At least 02 will let you pay extra for this, giffgaff won’t apparently.
@Kevin Yeah you’re right you can’t tether on giffgaff. They’re working on a Data Only goodybag but I’m not sure if you’ll be able to use this on computers yet.
We would suspect that you still won’t be able to tether but if enough people suggest it as an option hopefully it will come through.
Data only with tethering is on its way. 1oth October is the provisional date. check giffgaff.com for the latest news.
Interestingly Orange removed hotspot settings in my HTCDHD & when I got the phone I put them back in, in their t&c they say you mustn’t Tether but almost All customer Services Staff I’ve spoken to at orange say tethering is fine with Orange & express surprise its not allowed in t&c. ….. Orange are in disarray aren’t they
If you want to tether, it seems that 3 offer the best deal in terms of coverage, speed, price, data allowance and terms. We wouldn’t risk tethering with Orange.
Three offer unlimited data but if you use a Samsung Galaxy Tablet (and probably many others) they don’t supply the data that you have bought.
The Tesco Unlimited Browsing pass is capped at 100MB for the week, not 1GB. So effectively It’s 400MB for the month for £8
Thanks for letting us know about the change – have you got a link with that information for us to reference?
if you go over you can be looking at a hefty £5 per day for additional usage. Not sure on the exact pricing but you can get it here. http://phone-shop.tesco.com/tesco-mobile/help-and-support/call-charges-payg-freecredit.aspx
No link as yet for the 100MB limit on Tesco, even Tesco Mobile customer services cannot find one although they claim it ‘used to be there’. Pointing out that this was in breach of their T&Cs stating that any limit would be clear on the website or in-store leaflets got a fairly pitiful £10 refund today.
Interesting. How did you find out about the limit then?
The data limit is notified by text message at 90MB and then again at 100MB, then for rest of the week you’re on Tesco’s regular data rates which cap at a ‘maximum’ spend of £5 per day (£1.66 allowing for triple credit) but with an unstated cap on the uncharged data beyond the £5.
I’m off to Giff Gaff
Agreed on moving to giffgaff.
I WENT INTO MY LOCAL CARFHONE WAREHOUSE TODAY AND WAS TOLD THAT TALK MOBILE WAS OFFERING 700 FREE CALLS TO ANY NETWORK PLUS 500 TEXT TO ANY NETWORK PLUS UNLIMITED INTERNET FOR ONLY £12 PER MONTH ANYONE HEARD OF THIS
We haven’t seen this offer ourselves but it’s worth checking which network it’s on and whether it’s truly unlimited data.
3 is your best option for both unlimited internet and tethering, 3′s new ‘all-you-can-eat’ data package for an extra £3 on the older plans or included in all plans named ‘The One Plan’ allows you to browse, send emails, stream, download and upload as much as you like, also allowing you to connecting to your computer, laptop or mac and again use as much data as you like! I personally can verify this by A. Reading there T&C’s and B. Contacted 3 directly and they confirmed what I already new.
3 also beats network speed, realiabilty and coverage both 2G, EDGE, 3G and 3G+ (HSPDA) against GiffGaff’s network that runs on the 02 network which has pretty poor 3G coverage and speed!
The extra £3 option on 3 does not include tethering. This is mentioned in the conditions, but not mentioned when talking to 3 over the phone, you only notice when your tethering stops working if you didn’t spot the limitation.
the 3 advert on the bottom of the screen tethering is not allowed
why put that if you can do it? does it work on paug sims
As we understand it, you can only use your allowance to tether on the One Plan with 3.
How much are the rates to call Kazakhstan mobile and landline numbers?
Also, how much are the texts (international)
Sadly seems giffgaff isn’t actually unlimited anymore.
Hi, just like to share my recent experience with you. Brought a europa on three, and absolutly cained it for a month, then figured unlimited data cheaper on giffgaff. Unlocked it and got my goodybag. Was cut off after one day. Eventually got reconnected but cut off soon after. Giffgaff do not really offer unlimited data. I’m going back to three. I always thought three was poor signal but the grass is definitively not greener
Were you tethering at all?
Yeah, but only tiny bit first time. second time I was cut off I definitively didn’t tether. not sure if it was the amount of data or the fact that I was downloading torrents. still doing it but taking little steadier this time
I am on 3 with the £25/month Sim free rolling contract which includes 2000 mins, 5000 texts, 5000 3-3 calls and unlimited data. I only got this deal due to unlimited data which is truly unlimited and because i can tether to my Mac using an iPhone without any extra charges unlike some other networks. Surprisingly their network is good in my area since past few years. They were really bad before and i was reluctant to move to them due to this but a trial proved it was good now and i actually get faster speeds on the 3 network than my home wifi with talk talk so i actually use 3 network to tether over my home wifi. 3 network = 5-6 mbps depending on time of day and home wifi with talk talk is 1.5 mbps so huge difference. I might move down to £15/month which includes the data deal still. Other than that for people who want to use the data as there main internet source, this deal is great. According to my iPhone, which has been with 3 i have used 138GB and thats in 10 months. Thats about 14GB a month. Have had no complain, no slow downs, nothing. I thought about Giff gaff but then read about the tethering so that was a no go. Although you can use some JB apps which allow you to tether without being detected albeit slower.
I’m sticking with 3 too. I have ‘The One plan’ which allows me to tether to my PlayBook through my BlackBerry Torch and yes – the data is truly unlimited so I can download or stream as much as I like with impunity.
How do you find the speed/reliability of the internet? Can it cope with torrenting or streaming?
Yeah, torrents work well with mobile/android. I use adownloader. With android your limited to 4gb files though. Has anyone tried tethering on three’s fifteen pound unlimited tariff on an android phone. I’m just wondering if they can detect it?