Which mobile network is good in Derby

Posted 15th Mar 2023

Hey guys, advice and recommendation time.

Just wanted to ask fellow HUKD'ers who live in Derby, which mobile network/s have found to be the best all rounder out there.

Got a missus nephew who lives there and needs a good sim card deal that can provide a good all round experience. He needs to make calls via apps like Whatsapp and IMO to call his parents back in Bangladesh and watch stuff on YouTube and other apps. Saw Unlimited data deals on Uswitch with Smarty and IDMobile for around £15 per month but not sure what both are like in the Derby area in terms of performance.

All the advice and recommendations given will be much appreciated! Thanks in advance!

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wpj
15th Mar
signalchecker.co.uk
rimz790 Author
15th Mar
Would love to hear from who have first hand experiences because these coverage checkers show us what it should be like
wpj
15th Mar
checker.ofcom.org.uk/en-…age
bargainhunter1
15th Mar
Vodafone is good and better than O2/EE .
3 is pants where I am.
I use Lebara which is Voda network.
Hope this helps.
IceIceLady
18th Mar
If you’re that stressed over this, get some free PAYG sims and test it out for yourself
rimz790 Author
18th Mar
its for the missus nephew who lives there, i live in london
KodaBear
18th Mar
For the Nottingham and Derby area, independent testing gave the following overall scores for network performance:
1) EE
2) Vodafone
3) Three
4) O2.

For data speeds and data performance specifically, Three scored second place for both of these lagging a little behind EE.

Basically if you want the very best network and performance go with EE. If you want to save some money then Three may be a fair compromise.
Gynx
18th Mar
Never had a problem with 3 in the typical Derby/Derby Suburb areas (also was a postie/leaflet distributor) -- but the wider more rural Derbyshire area I found that my friends/family had signals when I didn't, and they were typically with EE. (edited)
Mr.Plow
18th Mar
Maybe get a 30 day smarty SIM to try it out at home/work/out and about shopping etc, prices start at £5 for 4gb, tcb is available but I think you have to renew at least once after the initial payment to get it paid.

Edit....you can currently get an 8gb SIM for £3.50/mth or 12gb SIM for £4 both for 1st three mths
hotukdeals.com/dea…920

hotukdeals.com/dea…631
(edited)
Conkers816
18th Mar
I'm not in Derby, but for whatever my opinion is worth OP ..

I always used to think Smarty had a terrible signal here in Essex, which it does, but when you can let go of the need to always have five solid bars of full 5G and 800 bajillion gig download speed, it's actually a pretty solid network for me. I went back to them last month and, for me, it's been fine.

I think i've had one occasion where the signal did drop out but that was only because we stopped in a notorious blackspot for phone signals.
rimz790 Author
18th Mar
Yeah people do say that signal bar in the top right hand corner being full doesnt correlate with the mobile data signal being good or bad...