What are prepaid SIM card options for data in the UK?

Question

I need to buy a prepaid SIM card with internet connection in London just for 6 days.

Any suggestion and prices?

How many cups of internet will you be needing? (The best SIM for someone who wants 5mb is likely to be very different to that for someone who's going to chew through several GB!) — Gagravarr, Sep 05 '12 at 09:10
I just need a basic internet data plan (200Mb, 300Mb) to use Whatsapp and maybe google maps if needed. — zapico, Sep 05 '12 at 09:15

score 8 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 23 '12 at 16:59

8

Finally I got a 3 (http://three.co.uk) SIM for 1 pound and unlimited traffic data for 15 pounds.

You can get a 10 pounds - 500Mb plan too.

All of these things as a prepaid plan and working in less than a minute.

You get a ticket with a code to set your SIM card credit and that's all. Take a look at their plans here.

answered Sep 23 '12 at 16:59

zapico

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Where did you buy the sim itself? In the Airport or some where in the city? – Arik Fraimovich Oct 06 '12 at 07:39
I bought it in Victoria Station. The first place I saw when I arrived in ;) – zapico Oct 06 '12 at 12:01
I'm traveling in London and have a 3 card, but have found service to be quite spotty. Friends on O2 often have much better coverage. – johndbritton Sep 10 '13 at 20:40

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 30 '12 at 14:30

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giffgaff offers 500 MB of data for 5 pounds, which ramps up to 10 pounds if you also want 250 voice minutes and 1 GB.

answered Dec 30 '12 at 14:30

molgar

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score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Jul 20 '13 at 21:30

I just got back from an extended trip to London and had good luck with a Three pay as you go SIM plan. £15 got you 3000 texts, 300 mins, and unlimited data. I used an iPhone 5 and although the data was 3G and not LTE, I was pleased by both the speed and the coverage. I had no issues anywhere in London or on side trips 30mins to an hour away.

I'm based in the US and use Sprint. You need to insure that your handsets are unlocked for international use (which Sprint will do for free). The steps are a little complicated, but do-able.

One benefit: Three allowed wi-fi tethering which costs extra with Sprint. Another benefit of unlimited data.

Thumbs up from me to Three! less than a minute ago

score 2 · Answer 4 · answered Sep 06 '12 at 12:54

After having a quick look, I think that Orange: http://shop.orange.co.uk/mobile-phones/plans/planDetailPage.jsp?item=prod640006

and O2 (Text & Web tariff): http://www.o2.co.uk/tariffs/payandgo

offer the best deal. Make sure you double check before you buy/top-up though, because these things tend to change really quickly.

What are prepaid SIM card options for data in the UK?

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