[mjt57]

We'll be in London next week. Just want to know the best place to get mobile SIMs for our phones. Also looking at a Data Only SIM for a wifi hotspot unit. Getting one of these will depend on what a SIM with calls and data for the phones will cost. It might be cheaper to get calls only pre-paid for the phones and a data only SIM with a gig or two for the wifi modem.

Also, hope the weather picks up there. Right now it's as cool as it is here in Victoria (NE Australia).

[rustynutz]

Right now it's as cool as it is here in Victoria (NE Australia).

Off topic I know, but North East Australia? 

[mjt57]

Off topic I know, but North East Australia?

Ok, Ok....

SOUTH eastern Australia, then...

ie. the bottom right corner of the joint...

People can be so picky, sometimes...
 

[rustynutz]

 

I'd hate for our foreign friends to get the wrong picture of where you are in Oz, Martin... 

[Phil №❶]

N.E Australia eh, why you'd be a lot closer to Surferdude, Rusty. 

[The Gonz]

No biggy, Australia's not that big after all. 

[FatBoy]

We'll be in London next week. Just want to know the best place to get mobile SIMs for our phones. Also looking at a Data Only SIM for a wifi hotspot unit. Getting one of these will depend on what a SIM with calls and data for the phones will cost. It might be cheaper to get calls only pre-paid for the phones and a data only SIM with a gig or two for the wifi modem.

Also, hope the weather picks up there. Right now it's as cool as it is here in Victoria (NE Australia).

When I was in the UK a couple of years ago, I got a mobile sim from T-mobile.  No charge for the sim other than the money you put on it (ie. I put 20 quid on mine, so all up it cost 20 quid).  They gave me a code to SMS which gave me 10 p/min calls back to Australian landlines, or 20 p/min to an Australian mobile.  You could top it up at any newsagent (or T-mobile shop).

Hope this helps.

FatBoy (in Tassie, NW Canada)

[rustynutz]

N.E Australia eh, why you'd be a lot closer to Surferdude, Rusty. 

Oh joy! 

[hammer007]

When I lived in the UK Scotland I used a sim from Lebara which was very good for UK --> Oz phone calls and a T-mobile sim for calls within the UK.

Another option if you are going to be in the UK for a while and technically proficient is to setup a VOIP service on your smart phone with an Australian direct dial in number and that way people in Australia can call you for a cost of a local call etc etc.

[mjt57]

Another option if you are going to be in the UK for a while and technically proficient is to setup a VOIP service on your smart phone with an Australian direct dial in number and that way people in Australia can call you for a cost of a local call etc etc.

I could set up Viber, I s'pose. But I need to check the plans to see what their data allowances are like. There's also Facetime (we have iPhones) for those with iPhones at home who wish to contact us.

We're in London for a week before heading down to Southampton to join the cruise ship. So, after that, we'll be incommunicado. I'm not paying the fees that the cruise line (Princess) charges for use of its shipboard wifi.

Thing is, it's data more than anything that we want.

[mjt57]

I've had a look at Vodaphone's website and it's confusing. I'm not sure what product I want to get, other than for our phones one that makes calls (UK and to home if necessary), some data. And then I want a SIM for my wifi modem (A Telstra branded ZTE MF91, unlocked as of ten minutes ago). That way the iPads and the missus' laptop can use the internet as needed to check or to make bookings and other usual internet stuff, etc.

Might be simplier to just go into a phone shop when we get there. There's a "Mobile Phoneworld", I think it's called, just around the corner from our hotel in Kensington, London.

[eye30]

Have you checked for your current or other oz mobile phone sims or even your internet provider for international sims or just UK to Oz sims for reduced calls..

If the people you want to contact back home are on Skype why not do Skype calls free via internet.

My internet provider seem to advertise mobile internet conections worldwide so may be your does the same.
Or use the free connections in hotels, McD and other places etc

Failing all this wait until you arrive and see what may be available here in UK.  Sometimes the hotel can provide the best info to help you make an informed choice.

[mjt57]

Have you checked for your current or other oz mobile phone sims or even your internet provider for international sims or just UK to Oz sims for reduced calls..

My provider is Telstra (www.telstra.com.au), the supposed national carrier. Its only international offerings is international roaming. And as we all know, that's a blatant ripoff. So, no, I won't be doing that.

Or use the free connections in hotels, McD and other places etc

That's an option but not much good for us when we're not near any wifi hotspots. In any case, I don't think that our hotel has free wifi. And the last hotel that I stayed in had it, but it was slow to the point of being unusable.

Failing all this wait until you arrive and see what may be available here in UK.  Sometimes the hotel can provide the best info to help you make an informed choice.

And that's what we'll be doing.

Another question - what's 3G coverage like in England, particularly with Vodaphone? I'm assuming that being a densely populated country that you'd have pretty well uniform blanket coverage?

[Shambles]

I can't help thinking that Three may be your best bet.

http://www.three.co.uk/Support/Coverage

They claim to have the best coverage for all usage patterns. You can click the link above and enter Kensington to see a map of signal strength, which indicates a deep purple (good) cloud around London and all main routes to Southampton.