Smartphone Question

[Al1944]

I'm thinking of getting a cheap Pay as You Go smartphone to use when away from home. The only internet use it would get is if I needed some local info on places to visit, weather forecast, etc. My question is - do I have to buy 'data' or can I just try to pick up a local free wifi connection as and when necessary?

Thanks,
Al

 

[joesmith]

You won't need to pay for any data if you just use free wifi. You'll be able to disable network data.

 

[Steep]

You could get a payg giffgaff sim and put a £5 500mb gigabag on it when you know you're going away, that would last a month. No contract, you only buy what you want when you need it. giffgaff work on the O2 network.

http://giffgaff.com/goodybags#data

 

[neil_g]

if youve got sky (i think you need their internet) then you can use the cloud hotspots

 

[Al1944]

Thanks all - covered all ways by the look of it.

Al

 

[PSILVERMAN]

Or BT open zones if you're with BT.

 

[LongLensPhotography]

I think 3 gives some allowance when you to up, but why not just get a sim only contract as it works out cheaper?

 

[Al1944]

Cheaper than PAYG? How does that work?

Al

 

[boliston]

I've used vodafone's payg sim in the past and they give you 500mb data "free" as long as you top up by £10 per month.

I use wifi at home for my mobile data but using wifi when "out and about" seems more effort than it's worth as you often have to "register" before you can use it and it's often slower than 3g unless you are close to the access point.

 

[Al1944]

Thanks very much.

Al