Not sure where to put this but, need help from someone in the UK!!

Im moving to London in july for school, im from the USA. I've been looking for a cell phone provider in the UK because well, i need my phone haha. Is there any resonably priced companies out there? i dont really need minutes mainly texting.
Oh if anyone has a flat or flat share near regent's park, hyde park let me know!

Thanks guys.
(im in a hurry so sorry for the poor writting)

 

If you only really text and stuff you should think about getting a pay as you go phone. All texts are 10p for the majority of providers.
I use Orange and I find they give pretty good coverage. 02 is the other real major provider in the UK I'd recommend. I was with them before I was with Orange and the only real reason I swapped was because at the time Orange were doing an offer that if someone introduced you to Orange you got £50 off a new phone. I needed a new phone and my mum was on Orange so I went with them.

 

Of course there is always the big red Voda!

pay as you go and if your on the "smart step" plan you pay 12p for the first 3 texts of the day and then every text from there on is 9p. Although thats just the plan that im on. there are others. Plus the coverage is exceptional, can even get a signal when im 7 miles out at sea on a dive boat! But in a city it wont matter what provider your with as the signal will be strong.
Apparently "dot" are cheap but like "Virgin" they piggy-back off one of the big three.

Another consideration is that will your phone work in the UK or are you going to get another one? We use GSM1800/900 and then of course there is 3G and its a different 3G from the US version. OOOOH it gets complicated

 

Yeah im keeping my phone, unlocked treo 650. Thanks guys, I knew about orange and ill check out the others. I've been using craigslist to track down a flat is there another site that is used in the uk more? There isnt much put up on craigslist for the uk, well compared to the bay area(where craigslist started)

 

gumtree is brill! (for flat ads)

 

Orange do some great pay-as-you-go phones, but if you'll be doing a lot of texting/phoning internationally (aka home), you might want to think about getting a landline for cheap calls, or perhaps a contract phone with some decent international call packages. PAYG phones tend to mug you for international calls, but I'm sure someone will be along to correct me soonish.

Which school are you going to? How long are you over here for? Can't imagine moving to another continent, would be weird.

 

Skype-out?

Great cheap way to speak to people back in the states.

As far as mobile service providers can go, I can't say anything bad against 3, apart from you don't get signal in some buildings when you can on Orange.

www.gumtree.co.uk is defo worth checking out for a flat.

 

O2? Three? both ok companies..

 

carphonewarehouse.co.uk?

Easiest place I find to compare stuff.

 

Im on a T-Mobile flext account. I pay £15a month and get £32 worth of credit to spend on anything, could be 3200 texts or a whole load of mins, maybe some WAP time or a bit of all 3 - you dont need to specify, just do it. Got a nice phone with it too, never had any problems with the company and coverage seems fairly standard.

 

I wouldn't go with 3, they dont have to go as low as other companies re charging other phone companies for connecting to their respective mobile networks, so may be more expensive to call (http://www.ofcom.org.uk/media/news/2007/03/nr_20070327)

On a more serious note, there isn't v good 3 reception around here compared with the likes of O2 and Orange (and I live pretty near Hyde Park)... it's decent enough to be able to call, but is weak enough for it to kill battery life in next to no time!

 

for internet based calling ide reccomend voipcheap.co.uk.. they let you call to land lines for free after youve topped up your account.. They also let you text online for a couple pence, so i dont know if you can get internet on your treo, but it would be cheaper than using a PAYG provider for that.

 

free vodaphone sims if it helps: https://www.v-store.co.uk/index.cfm?go=checkout.freesims&WT_ref=shopoffer
(all legit and through standard vodaphone page - www.v-store.co.uk - so I hope this isn't breaking any rules!)

 

You guys are amazing, thanks for all the help. Ill be going to UCL london and my very close ladie friend will be attending regents park, hence the area for a flat. I lived in sheffield for two months over the summer, loved the UK such a different atmosphere compared to the US. I wont lie though being able to legally drink there was a plus. Im currently going to a maritime academy and its a pain in the ass to get alcohol on campus haha.

Gumtree was amazing thanks for that to!

 

UCL! whoo!

i would say welcome but by the time you arrive i'll have graduated!

one thing about london, it's really easy to get around once you're vaguely near the centre so you don't actually have to live in specific areas, if it helps. basically the public transport is pretty awesome and makes the city seem smaller than it really is.

 

Dont forget to apply for your student Oyster card as soon as you enroll ate uni as travel costs will make u cry, but as you'd be living in Zone1 or 2 it shouldnt be too bad but 30% off travel costs are worth the effort tho.

 

I'd say get a few of the free pay-go sims if you are gonna be texting within uk then orange do good pay go text deals - longer term a contract may be better - but no strings with pay go so start there and if better on contract once here then just switch..

If ya need free sims del to uk address & posted to us (so u can arrive and use) gladly help out. (dunno whether they mail overseas or not?) Eitherway welcome to the UK.

 

Another UCL Alumni here!

Welcome and you'll definitely enjoy yourself at UCL and for phones.. there is (or there was when I was last there) an Orange shop inside the University of London Union (ULU) that catered especially for students and it is right next to UCL as well as a Carphonewarehouse along TCR (Tottenham Court Road) not 5 minutes away and every branded phone store along Oxford Street less than 20 minutes away from Uni, so if you need something, you're pretty well catered for...

 

UCL Alumni here too

I prefer Vodafone tbh, but O2 and Orange will do

Man enjoy UCL, you'll love it there, right in the heart of London

 

hold fire kids

orange do what we call a "call abroad sim" which allows you to call the states for 5p a minute. and text at a stupidly low rate too. Might wanna get one of those