Which Phone Company Has the Best 3G WiFi Coverage in London?

[Ro_Laren]

Which Mobile Phone Carrier Has the Best 3G WiFi Coverage in London?

I'm going to be visiting London and want to buy a Pay-As-You-Go SIM card from Tesco (I have an unlocked cell phone). Which phone company has the best 3G WiFi coverage in London? I'm really only getting the SIM card so that I can access the internet... I could care less about making phone calls or sending out text messages. I just don't want to get a SIM card for a company with crappy 3G coverage... like I have now in Russia!!!

On another note, how many MB or GB do you think I would use when I'll only be in London for 3 days (5 if you include the days that I arrive and leave London). One of the main reasons I want access to the internet is so that I can use it to use Google maps and look up different places that I want to visit around the city. I won't be watching YouTube videos or things like that on my phone.

Or, do you think that it would be cheaper to buy a monthly SIM card and then cancel it when I leave??? I don't know what sort of extra taxes or fees that would potentially entail.

 

[Ro_Laren]

I'm guessing that means that no one here lives in London!

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

http://opensignal.com/coverage-maps/UK/London/

suggests O2 followed by 3 and Vodaphone. I've used a 3 dongle with my laptop in London and found it worked extremely well near the centre, but not so good in some place out towards the M25. I believe Tesco Mobile runs on the O2 network, but I suspect that they might not offer the same QoS.

 

[Ro_Laren]

http://opensignal.com/coverage-maps/UK/London/

suggests O2 followed by 3 and Vodaphone. I've used a 3 dongle with my laptop in London and found it worked extremely well near the centre, but not so good in some place out towards the M25. I believe Tesco Mobile runs on the O2 network, but I suspect that they might not offer the same QoS.

Thanks for your response! Anyone else have any thoughts?

 

[Kemaiku]

Vodafone, they have good 3G having used theirs for 4 years without problems now, more affordable even at PAYG rates, far less text/mail spam than the other two, O2 are incredibly annoying that way.

(Totally not biased by the fact I work for them *cough*)

 

[Avon]

in london there probably wont be any difference in coverage, so just go for cheapness

 

[Geckothan]

Not sure about London specifically, but most people I know who use O2 (some of whom do live in London) whine about the 3G signal, and when the signal is fine, they whine about the speed (or lack of) they get from it. Three are decent (though I hear their signal sucks in many parts of the country). Haven't heard any complaints about T-Mobile/Orange/EE. No idea about Vodafone.

Wi-fi is another matter; I've never used any of those ISP/network-owned wi-fi signals, so I'm not 100% sure how they're accessed, but if they're semi-public (as in authenticated with a key that's shared by all customers), then I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole, except as a way of accessing my own VPN at home in order to use my own internet connection, so that no assholes in the general vicinity can get anything from my traffic.

 

[MacLeod]

I find 02 in general gives me the best coverage, I don't particularly care about 3G. But where I live I can get an 02 signal, yet no signal on the likes of Orange (EE).

 

[stoneroses]

EE

 

[An Officer]

Get O2, stick a £10 voucher in there, and you'll never finish it in 5 days for the type of use you're talking about... I have not experienced any trouble with 3G... and if you're going to touristy places, I don't think you have to worry about lack of signal. And a lot of places such as cafes and some stations now have free wifi, these days... I can hrdly walk down a high street without coming across several free wifi, especially phone shops, and you don't even have to go in... I am on pay as you go myself, so I end up using public wifi quite often. Saves a lot of money if your business is not urgent.

For you, £10 top up on O2 and I don't think you need to give this a second thought.

 

[MacLeod]

EE

EE or Everything Everywhere is a joke, I can place an 02 phone next to an EE phone and the 02 will have a singal EE won't.