24GB Data SIM

I bought this to use when on holiday around the UK. Fast delivery from the seller, very simple to set up, I just put it into my TP Link router and away it went. The two years start from the date it is first connected to the 3 network. Setting up an account with 3 so that I could check the data useage was a bit more complicated. You have to use the internet connection of the sim card itself to set it up, once I worked that out it was simple. Just one other thing as with most sims you MUST use it at least once every 180 days or it will expire early. As I intend to have it running as a background backup to my home BB that should not be a problem. As for the 24 months life? well time will tell if thats true. At the price it would be good for ioT stuff as well if you dont want to be tied into a contract. Watch this space for updates later ;-). UPDATE 1: Its been running for over 12 months now and still working well, my expiry is August 2025. As I said above I leave it on and connected 24/7 at home to prevent the sim "expiring". So far very pleased, I will buy another in 2025 as long as its still available and the price is not too high. 5*. UPDATE 2: 19-3-2025, Its now the middle of March 2025 and the sim is still working fine and surprisingly I still have 9GB left, very highly reccomended. UPDATE 3: August 2025 the sim went the full 24gb data amount and I ran it out just a month before the two years were up. Brilliant!

Note: the new 24GB version is probably the best value right now, 2x more data for about the same cost - and lasts 2 years!!! Is there anything cheaper (just over 1 quid per month)! If you are regularly on-the-road and you need to use Internet on your laptop - rather than depend on various WiFi points, having your own LTE link is preferable. While most Cloud/FON/hotels/cafes/etc. connections do work - they are generally open/un-ecrypted and sometimes a hassle. For 2 quid (or so) a month - it is a joy to just connect directly and - 'boom' - you are on the Internet! Of course, nothing stops you to use a WiFi point instead, but if you need it - it is there. I used it first in a MiFi (EE-branded unlocked Osprey) then laptop with LTE connection in towns every time. I also used abroad (Europe) roaming at no cost with decent performance - naturally 3G+ only (not LTE). But I don't think any other UK providers provide free LTE roaming abroad. Still it saves you buying a local data SIM which may be problematic sometimes even in towns. It is particularly nice if your laptop/tablet/etc. has WWAN already installed (or WWAN option possible) - just insert the SIM and there you go. No registration required - great - and you can keep track of data left on 'My 3 Home -> Data Allowance'. It seems to update in almost real-time. If you only use it sparingly, it lasts 12 months, but if you really need to use it all in 1 month (e.g. moving house) then you can. Not particularly cheap - but still cheaper than a contract and any silly data deals are usually short-period (e.g. 100GB EE, etc.) so not really a fair comparison.

The 24gb sim looked like good value but would not connect to data in a tablet or old phone. Eventually I started a chat with Three, and was given the number 500 to call from the sim. They discovered that their engineers had to unlock something, and did this, and it is now working fine in an android tablet and a dual sim phone. If yours does not work Three appear to be able to sort it out. I have not travelled with it yet so can’t comment on that aspect. I have now travelled with this sim and have a couple of observations. 1. I tried to use it as a hotspot from an old android phone and all that happened on the connecting device was a site saying Three was blocking porn. This happened in several countries, and I have not yet had the energy to ask three what that was about. The phone still provided a direct data connection, just no hotspot. 2. I was away for 3 months and used the sim sporadically in various countries. Towards the end of the trip I received a snarky message from Three saying you cannot use the sim outside the UK for more than 2 months without returning to the UK. I did not spot that in T&C, which I thought I had read. I have taken away a star for these travel related issues. It is still reasonable value for the coverage in the countries available

Good sim if you don’t want to take out a contract and only need mobile broadband occasionally.

Very good payg mobile sim very pleased. Worth the money.

3 will turn off this SIM either within a few months, or if you only use it abroad. Don't bother with it. If you're thinking of buying this for use on holiday during the “24 months” artificially limited lifespan, then think again. What is your use case? If you have a UK phone, you're likely to use your phone's SIM for data in the UK right? But you buy this SIM to get wifi / data when abroad, right? Well it doesn't work like that. Or it does, one time - then 3 flip their lid. You need to use this SIM in both the UK and abroad, because if you never use it at home (UK), but only use it while on holiday, 3 start claiming it is against their fair use policy and turn off your SIM. They also use some mad passive aggressive language in their emails. "We will not lock any devices you buy from us" - mate, I don't buy your devices. I've not used this in the UK as I have a giffgaff sim in my phone - but i use it in a WiFi dongle while I'm on holiday (Europe) - then 3 say 'you only use this in the EU, not fair boo hoo'. 3 take your money for a limited lifespan product, limit its use case, then turn it off when if don't use it in the UK. Beware.

This was preloaded with 24Gb (1 Gb per month for 24 months). Only used for a month or so but has behaved as expected. I use it in a MiFi dongle. Gives me an alternative data network (to my EE SIM in my phone), data access for a WiFi only iPad and for when I am travelling (as in many countries I get free data roaming with Three). On EE I get to use my voice and text allowance when travelling in Europe but still have to pay £3 a day for data in Europe and pay more when outside Europe. Most months I am sure I will not even get close to using 1Gb but it is worth it alone just for the free roaming. Plus it is a shareable device and so pays for itself faster if you are travelling with friends and family as each person saves their roaming charges. I have a 3 day European trip coming up for my wife and I and so that will be 6 days of roaming charges saved. Already used for 2 days abroad when I was not on WiFi. So, the savings over those two trips will pay for the SIM for 2 years. OK, so I have the cost of the dongle too. That was about the same price as the 24 month SIM but will hopefully last more than 2 years.

Bought in the UK to use with a TP-Link MiFi device while on holiday in Orlando. Used first time in UK to test and was satisfied with 3G connectivity. Worked initially on the way from the airport to the hotel in allowing access to my iPhone so that I could navigate with IOS Maps app but from then on, I could get only 2G through T-Mobile so no use whatsoever. On-Line chat with 3 on three occasions proved fruitless. In the end, I moved it into my iPhone (defeating the object of the Mi-Fi) and immediately gained access to 3G services. Used it a lot to navigate around the area for about 8 days and used only 300Mb, so it proved to be really useful as a navigational aide instead of hiring a SatNav. Returned to the UK and swapped it back into the same MiFi and now have access to 3G services again. All the product spec and customer reviews for the Mi-Fi says that it works in the U.S. so I am convinced that it was the way in which it was forced onto the T-Mobile network whereas with my iPhone, I was connecting to AT&T. So, pleased with performance when it worked but have a contingency if relying on it.