Posted 6 November 2021
1st party vs 3rd party phone contracts
Can some please help me understand how these work.
Say going to vodaphone directly against a similar deal from say mobiles direct they are miles more expensive but for what reason?
Is it data speeds, benefits or am I missing something completely?
Why would anyone use the main carrier instead of a 3rd party?
Say going to vodaphone directly against a similar deal from say mobiles direct they are miles more expensive but for what reason?
Is it data speeds, benefits or am I missing something completely?
Why would anyone use the main carrier instead of a 3rd party?
Community Updates
30 Comments
sorted byThe OP is asking about the differences between going to Vodafone directly and going to Vodafone via an intermediary like AffordableMobiles.
It's exactly the same SIM with exactly the same network and exactly the same devices, just the price is different.
Comparing EE to Virgin however is comparing apples and oranges, vs apples and apples
It is really splitting the market. They pay for expensive adverts. So if someone goes direct to them they are assumed to be less price sensitive than someone who goes on price comparison sites.
They throttle the 3rd party speeds . You see it in the T&Cs , some speeds as low as 10mbps .
Where my direct speed with EE 320mbps which is faster than my Virgin broadband.
Also be careful with roaming with 3rd party .
I pay £20 a month sim only for unlimited everything direct with EE .
I use my iPhone as my house router and have my 4K TVs connected plus a lot more and I use over 2500 GB of data every month as streaming 4K uses a lot and my PS4 . (edited)
That’s just the last 5 days
No, the virtual operators are different but main companies are the same just different commissions and they can also buy in the phones and combine them into different packages cheaper.
Never had any difference between third party and going direct at Vodafone, EE, or Three.
It's pointless, unless they're in exactly the same location as you with the exact same setup of router or phone etc it will always be a different result. (edited)
You've just rattled off a list consisting solely of MVNOs and asked for folks to compare to EE....
This
You sure?
A virtual operator using their service, sure (BT Mobile, PlusNet, Virgin 4G) but an EE SIM/contract brought through a retailer different to an EE shop/website/phone??
Well go to uswitch and look at the 3rd party deals and it shows you the internet speeds cap .
They have lower speed caps as you can see . This is a Virgin sim only (edited)
So, exactly what I said then? EE SIM from a retailer is identical to direct from EE (edited)
Nope direct has no caps and gets speeds of over 300mbps
Any evidence for that?
Yes the picture I just posted lol !!!!!! It tells you a speed cap
Ok. Sorry, didn't realise English isn't your first language. (edited)
Correct it’s my 3rd language
So basically it sounds like it comes down to speeds?
Via a 3rd party with Vodaphone you get a ‘basics’ package which I can’t find much detail on speed wise.
I’m not sure on other networks though :/
No it tells you an average speed, not the max speed
Gotcha average.
Well they always exaggerate the average speeds to look better . Just like talk talk and sky broadband do .
You 100% get far better speeds going direct here’s mine today , it’s normally between 200 and 350 mbps .
And 7-20 upload.
It’s pointless unless you have the 2 , testing in the same location together .
But the third party state average speeds and caps . Direct don’t . Also some third party European roaming is not included.
Advantage of third party is cheaper . Advantage for me direct is getting 200-350 mbps internet speeds for gaming and 4K streaming and it’s truely unlimited.
Also as I have stuck with EE I get discounts so it’s just as cheap as third party anyway (edited)
Just done a quick test again and hitting 300 mbps .
Can anyone on Virgin , smarty , ID mobile , ect get them speeds . Or any using a 3rd party basics plan .
Not boasting , actually looking for a cheap third party plan for the dad who still streams a lot .
You seem to be confusing MVNOs with third party deals......
Nope they are very similar.
good point. the example above was virgin which used to be a piggy back MVNO though now a bit confusing given their merger with o2? but that's not the same as going to O2 via uswitch