Posted 10 hours ago

Best (cheap) UK network for roaming in the Republic of Ireland?

Heading to the west coast of Ireland for 10 days (cycle tour) and won't be on WiFi very often. Currently using Lyca, but wondering if there's a better network with a bigger data cap for roaming? Has anyone had experience?

(Will be in more remote areas so looking for a UK network that roams on the better/best Irish network)

Thank you

New Comment

13 Comments

sorted by

6 h, 41 m ago
Actually I just remembered - my son is in Dublin at the rugby match today and he has a UK Lebara SIM. I did check before he went and they state that "Use your plan in the EU like you would at home – up to 30GB data.". Saying that he hasn't bothered ringing or texting!
9 h, 41 m ago
Hmmm.... Ireland is in the EU and I am wondering if this is a frequent discussion given that the EU is next door.
Author
9 h, 37 m ago
It is in the EU...however, I know that when travelling in Scotland, O2 has the best coverage in remote areas. I have no knowledge of Irish networks (or which UK networks roam on particular Irish networks), but would like to try and work out which network I should be looking for in Ireland (and then which UK network roams on that particular Irish network)

Pretty niche question - but HUKDers tend to have knowledge about all sorts of random things
9 h, 39 m ago
In NI and work just across the border in the South.....I'm with O2
9 h, 17 m ago
Another vote the same as above for O2 (That is an UK O2 roaming onto an EU Three signal). In Ireland O2 is owned by Three Ireland and not Virgin Media O2.
9 h, 20 m ago
Im on Sky and I travel to Dublin often, I get free calls to UK and texts, any calls to an Irish number are charged.
8 h, 56 m ago
Lebara you can get 30 day plans for as little as £1 with free roaming in Europe .
6 h, 40 m ago
They state that "Use your plan in the EU like you would at home – up to 30GB data."
I'm on the 99p 15GB plan... (edited)
7 h, 12 m ago
bigger data cap for roaming

Lebara 30GB max roaming, so £3.58 via deal at hotukdeals.com/dea…257

But any self-respecting HUKD pro requiring more than 15GB over 10 day cycling trip will obviously bypass that deal in favour of multiple 15GB at £0.99 each deal at hotukdeals.com/dea…293

Lebara = Voda in UK.
No credit check; no contract; cancel anytime no penalty.
6 h, 54 m ago
Three (3) are big in Ireland - I guess Virgin Media is too and they have switched to the O2 network
Oh derp - just checked O2 Ireland merged and became Three Ireland! (edited)
4 m ago
All UK networks still include Ireland (except, possibly, Ecotalk who are tiny). So you have an open pick. The main thing you need to check is roaming data limit (avoid Giffgaff, ASDA or TalkMobile as they're all only 5GB).

Three have in their FAQ on their roaming page that the 12GB fair use limit doesn't apply in Ireland - so if you want as much data as possible via a UK SIM that might be the way to go. But also there are good local deals in Ireland so if you need a lot of data you might just be better off picking up a local SIM and if you have coverage issues anywhere just briefly use your UK one...

Honestly I don't think you're going to have massive differences in network quality, just like in the UK any differences are likely very localised so just because one network is better in one place you'll likely get totally the opposite situation in another.

Vodafone based Sims will roam on Vodafone IE for sure, they might also go on others but no idea which.
Three based Sims will apparently roam on Three and Eir both with 5G and Vodafone IE 4G only, according to the Honest Mobile roaming partner list. (edited)