Does anyone know a decent SIM for a laptop or tablet that might only need using off WiFi every 6 months or so?
Monthly subscriptions or bundles are out, but are there any niche SIMs out there, PAYG or similar that isn't extortionate?
Cheapest I can see is that 1p mobile, but.. per megabyte that seems ridiculous at a tenner per gig.
Or are there any decent ones that pool data across all family SIMs etc that would allow convenient use without tethering?
I assume I'll stick to tethering but this doesn't seem that unusual a use case?
Monthly subscriptions or bundles are out, but are there any niche SIMs out there, PAYG or similar that isn't extortionate?
Cheapest I can see is that 1p mobile, but.. per megabyte that seems ridiculous at a tenner per gig.
Or are there any decent ones that pool data across all family SIMs etc that would allow convenient use without tethering?
I assume I'll stick to tethering but this doesn't seem that unusual a use case?
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sorted byIn any case, you’re looking for preloaded data only SIM cards of which there are plenty of on Amazon (likely on eBay too) but they all have a date limit by which you have to use the data by - Three seem to offer the longest limit - 24GB to use within 24 months for £34 or 12GB to use within 12 months for £25, these are one off payments.
Non expiring sounds much more useful than 1p mobile, which might lapse for me. 10p per MB sounds awful for this kind of use though to occasionally pop out and stream a few videos every now and again.
Probably should have said, it wouldn't be often used, much less than monthly, but data usage fairly high on those occasions. Probably 500MB+ per day.
Or is it easy to just grab a bundle then and there from the credit without it auto renewing monthly?
Or am I reading these data bills wrong?
Edit: the other thing I was hoping might exist is like a SIM card with 100G of data for a fixed one off cost that just never expires until used up. I really figured that's what the portable hotspots would use tbh (edited)
hotukdeals.com/share-deal-from-app/4180446 (edited)
I'll dig through their terms but if there's no inactivity cancellation then I might see what other deals they have and even if not buy a couple and try it out.
I don't think it's so much the cost, but Id resent paying monthly for something I'm not using monthly. Even if it works out the same I'd rather have the fixed cost up front I guess and just know it's there?
Thanks! It's definitely a promising company.
If the usage is very low the £13 RWG 5 year deal is probably the one. But it's only 100MB per month.
Otherwise the Three 24 month SIMs online with 24GB at about £35 is a decent bet, as you can use the 24GB anytime with the 24 months.
The cheapest would be probably to buy one of the regular cheap SIMs just before the times you need it. The deals are usually on Lebara, Lyca or Talk Home at the moment. Lyca could be a good one in particular as you can get an instant eSIM if the device supports it.
Between the advice here I might go with RWBG for the device and cut my main contract down to a minimum baseline monthly rather than having extra data for when I need it.
That way I can buy a prepay three SIM for my second phone slot and swap that into the device if I need more data than RWBG, and also supplement my phone contract when needed and data runs out there.
This wasn't what I was planning but might actually save me money as well as meeting what I asked for here. Win/win really.
Or use RWBG so I can just pull out the device and use it conveniently then switch to tethering when I want to do more data intensive things but not have to set it up or drain battery every time.
I think either option will help me get more use out of my device where I currently leave it stuffed in a bag.
Thanks everyone for the advice. (edited)
I know you said no to bundles, but it can just be a one-off: you don't need to commit to paying monthly.
Even cheaper, you could take up one of the constant Lebara SIM-only offers when you need the data. That's what I've done for an upcoming trip: it was something like £1.49 for 20Gb data, with no monthly commitment.
Where space is limited (coaches/trains) and I don't want to drain my phone battery if out and about or faff about with cables to charge it when some of my devices have SIM slots available. A lot of the time I can't be bothered with the one or more of the hassles of tethering so I just don't bother.