Free 3G/wi-fi - last month.

upthorpe · 02-11-2009, 7:51 AM

I'm now on the last month of the free 3G & wi-fi deal with my PAYG.

Once this runs out, I believe that its an extra £10 month for each of these.

My question is, what happens if I do nothing - I currently top up £10 a month to get the "favourite place" deal and as the vast majority of calls are local, my credit doesn't get used up (I use BiteSMS for text and Skype through Wi-fi when abroad so I think I've got about £80 credit built up).

If I don't pay any extra, will I still get 3G charged at £3 per MB or whatever it is with the cost coming off my existing credit balance (I'm not bothered about the wi-fi part).

RobM · 02-11-2009, 9:44 AM

If you continue topping up £10/month you keep your data bundle

Pay & Go

upthorpe · 02-11-2009, 10:38 AM

If thats the case then all is good!

I assumed that I would need to top up an additional £10 over the £10 that I already spend just to keep the "favourite place" deal active.

In fact that would be better than good - a single spend of £10 would give me 500 voice minutes from my own postcode (or as it works out, within about 7 miles of it) as well as the 3G and wi-fi I currently have.

That seems better value than contract...

RobM · 02-11-2009, 11:11 AM

Do bear in mind the £10 topup will be the charge for the Data and WiFi, so in reality you'll need to topup more than £10 to have calling credit. i.e. If you topup £15 you'll end up with £5 after the data and WiFi Bolt-On has been paid for.

But there is no mention in the T&C's (that I can find) that says this is not compatible or supported with Favourite Place, which is good news.

upthorpe · 02-11-2009, 11:42 AM

I guess I'll just top up by £10 next month as usual and see if anything stops working.

As the favourite place deal means I haven't used a lot of the previous top-ups, I have about £80 in credit so that should keep me going for calling credit for a while.

It would be very good if a single monthly £10 top-up keeps the favourite place active as well as the 3G/wi-fi.

Thanks for your input!

RobM · 02-11-2009, 11:56 AM

No problem, it might be worth a call to O2 though to clarify that both the data and Favourite Place Bolt-On's are validated by the single £10 top up.

Awesome bargain if so

upthorpe · 04-12-2009, 9:57 AM

Just a follow up, I can now confirm that to continue the web/wi-fi on PAYG after the first year, O2 will take £10 per month from the credit balance.

This means I don't have to top up anything per month for a while as thanks to the "favourite place" tariff I have £80 balance.

I did topup £10 though to see if the favourite place was still active and it is.

Happy days!

Desmo · 04-12-2009, 10:29 AM

That sounds great. Do they just automatically take it if the balance is there? Or do you have to request it in some way? As you say, it's good that it just gets taken out of your balance rather than having to be a regular monthly topup.

I use another one where I top up £15 and get 100 mins/100 text(?) free. This covers me for the following month so I get a free months worth before I start eating in to the £15. If this excess balance builds up it will cover most of the £10 fee for the data bundle.

JohnWB · 04-12-2009, 12:25 PM

If you don't use the WiFi then just get the Web bolt on which I think is £7 or £7.50.

Desmo · 04-12-2009, 12:35 PM

I'd probably do that to be honest. The only Wifi I use is private, I've never even come across a Cloud or Openzone place yet and doubt I'll ever need it.

upthorpe · 05-12-2009, 10:35 AM

The £10 just got taken - I didn't know I could just get the 3G bolt on though, I need to check that out...

willyuk · 05-12-2009, 4:02 PM

I have just started with o2 and have the p&G text and web tarrif, If I top up £15 a month, then I get unlimited texts and unlimited internet, the £15 is available for calls Seems Ok so far.

upthorpe · 05-12-2009, 6:00 PM

Yes, thats how it works for PAYG in the first year, after 12 months the free web & wifi becomes chargeable at £10 per month (taken automatically from credit balance unless you opt out).

What I didn't realise is that you can just go for the web component of this for £7.50, I very rarely use the qualifying wi-fi connection (last time was in a Wetherspoons in Exeter) so this saves even more.

I'll still top up £10 a month to keep the favourite place active as this handles 90% of my calls at least.

I honestly think that going PAYG on iPhone has saved me so much money considering I was paying £25 a month on Vodafone for a lot less than I get now - even after the first year.