Plusnet Mobile Review

Table of Contents Plans Value for money Extras and benefits Network Which network does Plusnet Mobile use? Coverage Speeds Frequencies Customer Service Conclusion Alternatives

Plans

Plusnet Mobile doesn’t have the same range of plans as most networks, as currently it just has a SIM Only service with a handful of tariffs. However, these are generally cheap, and they all allow you to use as much of your data as you want for tethering. Of course, as noted above these plans are no longer accessible to new customers. But we’ve left them here for reference.

Plusnet SIM Only Plans

	New Customers	Broadband Customers
Max Data Allowance	50GB	52GB
Contract Length	1 month	1 month

If you’re just a mobile customer, you can get between 2GB and 50GB of SIM-only data at the time of writing. If on the other hand you’re a Plusnet Broadband customer each tariff comes with 2GB of extra data, so you can get between 4GB and 52GB, without paying any extra.

Note that Plusnet changes its available allowances regularly, so these exact limits might not last long.

If you need extra minutes, texts, or data you can also purchase bolt-ons, which give you a one-off batch to top you up until next month.

The main downside to Plusnet Mobile’s plans is simply that even at the top end, data limits are quite low.

Value for money

Plusnet mobile is one of the cheapest networks to use EE’s infrastructure, but there are cheaper options if you’re okay with other coverage, and there aren’t a huge number of extras here, or even 5G. So it’s reasonable value for money, but nothing exceptional.

However, because its plans are just 30 days long, it does give you a high degree of flexibility, as you’re not tied into an extended contract. That also means you can avoid mid-contract price rises, because you’re free to change or cancel your plan whenever you want.

It’s also slightly better value if you also have your broadband with Plusnet, since Plusnet Broadband customers get extra data.

Extra and benefits

As you can see in the chart below, Plusnet Mobile doesn’t have a whole lot of extras, with the main highlight simply being extra data for Plusnet Broadband customers. But we’ve detailed what it does have – along with key policies – underneath the chart.

Plusnet Mobile Perks and Policies

5G	✖
Free Roaming	✔
Tethering	✔
Wi-Fi Calling	✖
VoLTE	✖
Data Rollover	✖
Spending Caps	✔
Unlimited Data	✖
Family Plans	✖
Credit Check	✔
Unique Perks	✔

5G

Plusnet Mobile doesn’t yet offer 5G, despite being owned by BT – which both offers 5G and owns EE, which has its own 5G infrastructure. The lack of 5G here is presumably to keep Plusnet Mobile as a low-cost alternative, but we’d expect it would get 5G capabilities eventually.

Roaming destinations

Plusnet Mobile lets you roam for free in the following destinations:

Åland Islands, Andorra, Anguilla, Austria, Azores, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canary Islands, Channel Islands, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, French Guiana, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Guadeloupe, Guernsey, Hungary, Iceland, Isle of Man, Italy, Jersey, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madeira, Malta, Martinique, Mayotte, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Reunion, Romania, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, St. Barthélemy, St. Martin, Sweden, Switzerland and Vatican City.

Note however that if your allowance includes 20GB of data or more, then you can only use up to 15GB at no extra cost when roaming.

Tethering

Plusnet Mobile allows you to tether your phone to other devices, meaning you can share your data connection with them and get them online. The only limit is your data allowance.

Wi-Fi Calling

Wi-Fi Calling means making and receiving calls over a Wi-Fi network. It works seamlessly using your normal number but means you can stay in touch with people when there’s no mobile signal. However, Plusnet Mobile doesn’t offer Wi-Fi Calling.

VoLTE

VoLTE stands for Voice over LTE, also known as 4G Calling. This feature allows you to make and receive calls over 4G, so you can still communicate when there’s no 2G or 3G signal. This too isn’t offered by Plusnet Mobile though.

Data rollover

There’s no data rollover on Plusnet Mobile. That means you can’t roll any unused data over to a second month, so you should make sure you use it while you can.

Spending caps

Plusnet Mobile offers a spending cap which it calls Smart Cap. This can be set at whatever level you want in £1 increments, so that you won’t be able to spend more than that on chargeable services, such as premium numbers. It’s a handy feature, but most networks offer something similar.

Unlimited data

There’s no unlimited data option on Plusnet Mobile, which really marks it out as a basic, low-cost network. The available allowances are regularly changed, and also vary depending on whether you’re a Plusnet Broadband customer or not, but they’re generally middling at the top end, with 52GB being the most you can get at the time of writing.

Family plans

Plusnet Mobile doesn’t offer family plans or similar, so you can’t get discounts for having multiple SIMs on your account.

Credit checks

Despite its plans only tying you in for 30 days, Plusnet Mobile may credit check you. However, as the plans are so short term this check is likely to be easier to pass than one for a 12 or 24-month contract would be.

Unique perks

If you’re a Plusnet Broadband customer then you can get 2GB of extra data on plans at no extra cost, so it rewards customers who sign up for multiple services. That’s about the only unique perk offered by Plusnet Mobile though.

Network

Which network does Plusnet Mobile use?

Plusnet Mobile uses EE’s network, as both of these companies are owned by BT. That means you can get 4G and 3G in all the same places as EE on Plusnet Mobile, though while EE offers 5G, Plusnet doesn’t yet at the time of writing.

Coverage

Through EE, Plusnet offers near comprehensive 4G and 3G coverage across the UK at the time of writing, as you can see in the chart below. Plus, when EE’s 4G or 3G coverage improves, so will Plusnet’s. Currently though there’s no 5G on Plusnet Mobile.

Plusnet Coverage

Network Type	Coverage by population
4G	> 99%
3G	98%
2G	99%

Speeds

Plusnet Mobile uses standard 4G, which is up to around 5 times faster than a standard 3G network.

Opensignal – Mobile Network Experience, September 2022, and April 2020

Network	Download/upload speeds	4G latency (ms)
Plusnet Mobile (EE)	44.7/9.0Mbps	36.0ms
Three	30.7/5.6Mbps	48.3ms
Vodafone	21.2/7.1Mbps	39.0ms
O2	16.8/4.9Mbps	38.1ms

In an OpenSignal report from September 2022, EE was found to have average download speeds of 44.7Mbps and average upload speeds of 9.0Mbps – in both cases higher than any rival.

Those speeds include all available connectivity types (so 5G, 4G and 3G) so may not be representative of what Plusnet Mobile offers, since you can’t get 5G with Plusnet. But in an earlier report from October 2020 it was found that EE had average 4G download speeds of 36.4Mbps and average 4G upload speeds of 9.1Mbps, which in both cases is also faster than any rival.

It also beat rivals for average latency (the time the network takes to respond to a request) at 36.0ms in a report from April 2020 – with this older report used because latency wasn’t included in more recent ones. While Plusnet wasn’t covered in the report, its results might be similar, since it uses the same spectrum and infrastructure.

Traffic management

At the time of writing, Plusnet Mobile doesn’t currently publish its traffic management policies. We’ll update this section if that changes.

Network Frequencies

Plusnet Mobile Network Frequencies

Frequency	Frequency Band	Network
1800MHz	Band 3	2G & 4G
2100MHz	Band 1	3G & 4G
2600MHz	Band 7	4G

Plusnet Mobile uses three different bands for 4G: the 1800MHz band, the 2100MHz band and the 2600MHz one.

The 1800MHz one is reasonably long range and good at penetrating walls, while the 2600MHz band is much shorter range but is available in higher capacities, meaning it can deal with congested locations better. The 2100MHz band is a middle ground.

EE additionally uses the 700MHz, 3400MHz, and 3600MHz bands, but Plusnet probably won’t use these until it starts offering 5G, as that’s what EE uses them for. EE uses the 800MHz band too, and this is used for 4G, but Plusnet Mobile doesn’t appear to have access to that either.

You can find in depth details of these bands in our 4G and 5G frequencies guide.

Customer service

There haven’t been many reports into Plusnet Mobile’s customer service, but on Trustpilot the company at the time of writing has a score of 2.0/5 with 9,147 reviews and an overall rating of 'poor'. So that doesn't sound very promising, though it's not alone in having a low rating, and that rating is in part based on the broadband side of the company.

Stores

Plusnet Mobile doesn't have any physical stores in the UK.

Conclusion

Plusnet Mobile isn’t an option for most people anymore since it has stopped selling plans to new customers.

For those already with the network, this is a low-cost option, making it a good choice if you want 4G on a tight budget. It becomes even better value if you’re a Plusnet Broadband customer.

But as it runs off EE’s infrastructure it’s also got better 4G coverage and higher 4G speeds than you might expect a cheap network to have. In fact, it can potentially beat big names like Vodafone, O2 and Three in those areas.

It lacks 5G though, and Plusnet is also light on extras and options, with just SIM Only tariffs available, low data limits, and no inclusive roaming beyond Europe.

As such it’s not a network for power users, but if your needs are fairly basic it should be a reliable, affordable option.

Alternatives

Since Plusnet Mobile has the same parent company as EE, this would make for an obvious alternative – assuming you want the same coverage. EE additionally offers 5G, and has all sorts of different types of plans and extras too. However, it’s also typically more expensive.

If cost is a concern then consider other basic networks, like Smarty or Giffgaff, though be aware that their coverage differs.