SMARTY sim in Ireland

[number14]

We're off to Ireland for a few weeks in the Spring so I just started looking at sim options. We have two sims for the van router. One from 1p(EE) which works the best around our local stomping grounds of South, West and Mid Wales, and another from SMARTY(3) as a backup.

1p has a 14Gb limit in the EU and SMARTY is 12Gb but, digging into the SMARTY Ts&Cs, I found this:-

If you’re travelling in the EUi) you will be subject to our fair use policy (see page 12 of our Price Guide) including the data fair use limit of (up to) 12GB each month (if your plan data is less than 12GB per month you can use all your data allowance for roaming and if your plan data is more than 12GB per month you receive 12GB of EU roaming inclusive in your plan). In Ireland you can use your full monthly data limit (this is to avoid the risk of inadvertent roaming charges on the border with Northern Ireland).

This 'concession' is mentioned in a couple of places on their website but, being a die-hard cynic, I wondered if it is as simple as that and has anyone else had made use of it.

 

[TJBi]

We're off to Ireland for a few weeks in the Spring so I just started looking at sim options. We have two sims for the van router. One from 1p(EE) which works the best around our local stomping grounds of South, West and Mid Wales, and another from SMARTY(3) as a backup.

1p has a 14Gb limit in the EU and SMARTY is 12Gb but, digging into the SMARTY Ts&Cs, I found this:-

If you’re travelling in the EUi) you will be subject to our fair use policy (see page 12 of our Price Guide) including the data fair use limit of (up to) 12GB each month (if your plan data is less than 12GB per month you can use all your data allowance for roaming and if your plan data is more than 12GB per month you receive 12GB of EU roaming inclusive in your plan). In Ireland you can use your full monthly data limit (this is to avoid the risk of inadvertent roaming charges on the border with Northern Ireland).

This 'concession' is mentioned in a couple of places on their website but, being a die-hard cynic, I wondered if it is as simple as that and has anyone else had made use of it.

On that basis, perhaps they should offer full monthly data limit in France as well due to the risk of inadvertent roaming charges across the Strait of Dover.

 

[Canalsman]

We're off to Ireland for a few weeks in the Spring so I just started looking at sim options. We have two sims for the van router. One from 1p(EE) which works the best around our local stomping grounds of South, West and Mid Wales, and another from SMARTY(3) as a backup.

1p has a 14Gb limit in the EU and SMARTY is 12Gb but, digging into the SMARTY Ts&Cs, I found this:-

If you’re travelling in the EUi) you will be subject to our fair use policy (see page 12 of our Price Guide) including the data fair use limit of (up to) 12GB each month (if your plan data is less than 12GB per month you can use all your data allowance for roaming and if your plan data is more than 12GB per month you receive 12GB of EU roaming inclusive in your plan). In Ireland you can use your full monthly data limit (this is to avoid the risk of inadvertent roaming charges on the border with Northern Ireland).

This 'concession' is mentioned in a couple of places on their website but, being a die-hard cynic, I wondered if it is as simple as that and has anyone else had made use of it.

Other networks do the same and don't restrict data use when travelling to the Republic.

I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[Baz iom]

We're off to Ireland for a few weeks in the Spring so I just started looking at sim options. We have two sims for the van router. One from 1p(EE) which works the best around our local stomping grounds of South, West and Mid Wales, and another from SMARTY(3) as a backup.

1p has a 14Gb limit in the EU and SMARTY is 12Gb but, digging into the SMARTY Ts&Cs, I found this:-

If you’re travelling in the EUi) you will be subject to our fair use policy (see page 12 of our Price Guide) including the data fair use limit of (up to) 12GB each month (if your plan data is less than 12GB per month you can use all your data allowance for roaming and if your plan data is more than 12GB per month you receive 12GB of EU roaming inclusive in your plan). In Ireland you can use your full monthly data limit (this is to avoid the risk of inadvertent roaming charges on the border with Northern Ireland).

This 'concession' is mentioned in a couple of places on their website but, being a die-hard cynic, I wondered if it is as simple as that and has anyone else had made use of it.

Hi I use a duel SIM phone and use a Labara pay has u go SIM usually put £5 on it and it gives me plenty of data for two of us in England and Europe worth a look

 

[Geek]

We're off to Ireland for a few weeks in the Spring so I just started looking at sim options. We have two sims for the van router. One from 1p(EE) which works the best around our local stomping grounds of South, West and Mid Wales, and another from SMARTY(3) as a backup.

1p has a 14Gb limit in the EU and SMARTY is 12Gb but, digging into the SMARTY Ts&Cs, I found this:-

If you’re travelling in the EUi) you will be subject to our fair use policy (see page 12 of our Price Guide) including the data fair use limit of (up to) 12GB each month (if your plan data is less than 12GB per month you can use all your data allowance for roaming and if your plan data is more than 12GB per month you receive 12GB of EU roaming inclusive in your plan). In Ireland you can use your full monthly data limit (this is to avoid the risk of inadvertent roaming charges on the border with Northern Ireland).

This 'concession' is mentioned in a couple of places on their website but, being a die-hard cynic, I wondered if it is as simple as that and has anyone else had made use of it.

I'd not worry about the roaming limit. If they say it doesn't apply in Ireland, why not believe them?
I'm more interested in your two sims.
Is it a dual sim router, or do you swap the sims over? I find sim swapping very fiddly, so we have two routers in the van (though only one does 5G).
Last time I checked, 1p were expensive for data. I use rwgmobile and scancom. Smarty were hopeless when I tried them.

 

[V1nny]

We're off to Ireland for a few weeks in the Spring so I just started looking at sim options. We have two sims for the van router. One from 1p(EE) which works the best around our local stomping grounds of South, West and Mid Wales, and another from SMARTY(3) as a backup.

1p has a 14Gb limit in the EU and SMARTY is 12Gb but, digging into the SMARTY Ts&Cs, I found this:-

If you’re travelling in the EUi) you will be subject to our fair use policy (see page 12 of our Price Guide) including the data fair use limit of (up to) 12GB each month (if your plan data is less than 12GB per month you can use all your data allowance for roaming and if your plan data is more than 12GB per month you receive 12GB of EU roaming inclusive in your plan). In Ireland you can use your full monthly data limit (this is to avoid the risk of inadvertent roaming charges on the border with Northern Ireland).

This 'concession' is mentioned in a couple of places on their website but, being a die-hard cynic, I wondered if it is as simple as that and has anyone else had made use of it.

My daughters both used Smarty sims in Ireland, North and South, without any problems

 

[number14]

I'd not worry about the roaming limit. If they say it doesn't apply in Ireland, why not believe them?
I'm more interested in your two sims.
Is it a dual sim router, or do you swap the sims over? I find sim swapping very fiddly, so we have two routers in the van (though only one does 5G).
Last time I checked, 1p were expensive for data. I use rwgmobile and scancom. Smarty were hopeless when I tried them.

We swap sims and, yes, it is a PITA, but rarely need to do so. 1p(EE) serves well the vast majority of the time and SMARTY(3) is just a backup. Every once in a while SMARTY threaten to cut me off so I just bung a couple of £ on to keep it open.

Agree 1p are not the cheapest for data but I find their website very easy to use. We are not big data users so I'm not too concerned for the moment.

SWMBO has a rolling bundle with 1p on her phone but I recently jumped ship to RWG for my phone. 1p has become much too expensive for very light users.

Regarding RWG on the van router, their conditions state that only one device at a time can be connected for data. I took that to mean, for example, that you could not stream TV and browse on the tablet at the same time.
However, I would be interested to know if your experience is different, @Geek

 

[shantrek]

We're off to Ireland for a few weeks in the Spring so I just started looking at sim options. We have two sims for the van router. One from 1p(EE) which works the best around our local stomping grounds of South, West and Mid Wales, and another from SMARTY(3) as a backup.

1p has a 14Gb limit in the EU and SMARTY is 12Gb but, digging into the SMARTY Ts&Cs, I found this:-

If you’re travelling in the EUi) you will be subject to our fair use policy (see page 12 of our Price Guide) including the data fair use limit of (up to) 12GB each month (if your plan data is less than 12GB per month you can use all your data allowance for roaming and if your plan data is more than 12GB per month you receive 12GB of EU roaming inclusive in your plan). In Ireland you can use your full monthly data limit (this is to avoid the risk of inadvertent roaming charges on the border with Northern Ireland).

This 'concession' is mentioned in a couple of places on their website but, being a die-hard cynic, I wondered if it is as simple as that and has anyone else had made use of it.

Get a Tesco sim when you get here.
Great service on a monthly contract.

 

[Thistle]

@number14
Outside of the larger population areas I find Smarty (three) generally hopeless.
I would be inclined to use the three network coverage checker tool for all the sites you plan to stop at,

We take a three, EE, and o2 sims with us on every trip and even then there’s often zero coverage especially in wet Welsh Wales!

 

[rugbyken]

the tesco sim is great however after many chats to customer services finally someone told me not designed to work in a tablet , my workaround is swap the sim from i phone to i pad and works fine as a hotspot just bloody inconvenient will have a word when i return from portugal

 

[Canalsman]

the tesco sim is great however after many chats to customer services finally someone told me not designed to work in a tablet , my workaround is swap the sim from i phone to i pad and works fine as a hotspot just bloody inconvenient will have a word when i return from portugal

Tesco SIMs should work in any device.

Mine is working happily in a router though I had to make a configuration change to the router to allow it to roam successfully in Europe.

Perhaps that's the issue you're having.

 

[Tezza33]

Tesco SIMs should work in any device.

Mine is working happily in a router though I had to make a configuration change to the router to allow it to roam successfully in Europe.

Perhaps that's the issue you're having.

A lot of mobile routers use auto configuration for APN settings but don't always get it right, always worth checking

 

[Bigshug]

the tesco sim is great however after many chats to customer services finally someone told me not designed to work in a tablet , my workaround is swap the sim from i phone to i pad and works fine as a hotspot just bloody inconvenient will have a word when i return from portugal

I use a Tesco sim in my ipad, and it works fine in the uk. Our first time in Europe it would not work, after an hour on their facebook page on my phone they talked me throughchanging my set up and it has worked perfectly since then