Vodaphone Connect & Charge - easy or massive queues?

[Johnnyseven]

Can anyone who knows about these things tell me if this is a decent power bank? I've heard on here Anker are the brand to buy, i've never heard of any other of the brands tagged on here and want something that will work and will last.

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01JIWQPMW/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=AISREEIOH9TSP&psc=1

[incident]

2 hours ago, mjfromthelane said:

You're still paying for something and having to alter your plans each day for something you could have in your tent for exactly the same cost?

 

How many counters are there on site?

 

Are you really "altering plans"?

 

I'd expect to be randomly passing the Vodafone tent at least once and probably multiple times over the course of any given day so it'd just be a case of a 60 second detour on one of those occasions.

[incident]

43 minutes ago, Johnnyseven said:

Can anyone who knows about these things tell me if this is a decent power bank? I've heard on here Anker are the brand to buy, i've never heard of any other of the brands tagged on here and want something that will work and will last.

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01JIWQPMW/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=AISREEIOH9TSP&psc=1

 

Anker are certainly a good, trusted brand in a field where a lot of what's being sold (especially on Amazon) are unknown brands that are less than honest about capacity etc. Though for my taste Anker are also wildly overpriced and you can usually get the same quality for far less.

[Johnnyseven]

1 minute ago, incident said:

 

Anker are certainly a good, trusted brand in a field where a lot of what's being sold (especially on Amazon) are unknown brands that are less than honest about capacity etc. Though for my taste Anker are also wildly overpriced and you can usually get the same quality for far less.

 

Thanks for that. Any suggestions of other brands (or models) that would be better value for money?

[incident]

1 minute ago, Johnnyseven said:

 

Thanks for that. Any suggestions of other brands (or models) that would be better value for money?

 

Personally I've bought this from Argos for this year.

 

I'd generally assume that brands with a UK retail presence should be ok (even if you actually buy the brand from elsewhere) - the retailer should have done a certain amount of due diligence in terms of making sure that it's truthful, that it's electrically safe, etc. Whereas Amazon marketplace is pretty much a free for all where anyone can put sh*t up for sale.

[Franky]

3 hours ago, A Particular Grey Chihuahu said:

 

Really? I've heard differing opinions about this.

Our groups communciation was shocking last year, Only the kids could message each other because they happened to be on Vodaphone or piggies, I was on O2 and it was utterly pointless.

[Gnomicide]

7 minutes ago, Franky said:

Our groups communciation was shocking last year, Only the kids could message each other because they happened to be on Vodaphone or piggies, I was on O2 and it was utterly pointless.

 

From what I've read, O2 was by far the worst last year. Vodafone obviously the best, EE didn't have as big a drop off as expected and 3 was definitely better than in previous years but still not great.

[A Particular Grey Chihuahu]

17 minutes ago, Franky said:

Our groups communciation was shocking last year, Only the kids could message each other because they happened to be on Vodaphone or piggies, I was on O2 and it was utterly pointless.

 

🤔 Might have to invest in a voda SIM.

[Crazyfool01]

11 minutes ago, Gnomicide said:

 

From what I've read, O2 was by far the worst last year. Vodafone obviously the best, EE didn't have as big a drop off as expected and 3 was definitely better than in previous years but still not great.

will second this 

[Crazyfool01]

1 minute ago, A Particular Grey Chihuahu said:

 

🤔 Might have to invest in a voda SIM.

cheaper to get piggy back ones ... lebara offer the cheapest which you can cancel after 

[A Particular Grey Chihuahu]

1 minute ago, Crazyfool01 said:

cheaper to get piggy back ones ... lebara offer the cheapest which you can cancel after 

 

Thanks for the info. Will look into it.

[DeanoL]

2 hours ago, Gnomicide said:

 

Which is why I'd still recommend getting your own, but if your phone hasn't charged over night, a big ol' powerbank is just more weight to carry around.

 

These don't actually look miles smaller than a full-size one though. Not like those old stick ones they had some years ago. Looks about half the size of a 20000mah bank so the weight difference isn't going to be much. 

[incident]

1 minute ago, DeanoL said:

These don't actually look miles smaller than a full-size one though. Not like those old stick ones they had some years ago. Looks about half the size of a 20000mah bank so the weight difference isn't going to be much. 

 

It's 5,000mah - so a quarter of the size.

[ModernMan]

4 hours ago, ramblingmad said:

Can anyone recommend a solar battery pack? My partner seems quite keen on one but from what I can tell they are more hassle than it's worth.

 

I also decided to buy a chunky phone that needs a lot of charging so tempted by the vodaphone option to be honest. Do the vodaphone chargers have enough juice to charge two phones without having to get a new one?

I have one of these in my van and it’s mega useful! Fairly slow but if you’re pottering around at camp you can get a fair amount of charge in an hour. They’re expensive but worthwhile 
 

https://amzn.eu/d/7qXSTlh

[clarkete]

3 hours ago, A Particular Grey Chihuahu said:

 

Thanks for the info. Will look into it.

Here you go... 

As CF said, you can either suspend or cancel afterwards, in my experience performs same as VF (they do have bigger plans on discount if you''re greedy) ... 

https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/lebara-5gb-5g-data-unlimited-mins-text-100-international-mins-to-42-countries-30-day-rolling-4334130

Edited June 6 by clarkete

[4AssedMonkey]

13 hours ago, A Particular Grey Chihuahu said:

 

Really? I've heard differing opinions about this.

I was on GiffGaff last year as and bought/took a Lebara sim. Nothing got through on GiffGaff. As soon as I swapped, full 5G and instant loading/messaging. Others on other networks said the same. I’ve stuck with Lebara now and ported my number over. Would recommend.

 

11 hours ago, mjfromthelane said:

 

You're still paying for something and having to alter your plans each day for something you could have in your tent for exactly the same cost?

 

How many counters are there on site?

1. Although it’s fairly central. The issue I see is queueing. There are usually queues before the stages open. So unless you want to try and pop over whilst the fest is in full flow, you will have to queue IMO.

[ramblingmad]

Just got me and my partner two vodaphone pay as you go sims with 7gb of data. Should be fine for 4 days as will only be using them for messaging. I can't be doing with O2 again this year.

 

In fact I need to get off O2 completely, seems to be the only network that craps out instantly as soon as there's more than 10 people in an area. Absolutely terrible.

[Mike A]

Any word on whether Vodafone will be offering a free 30-day SIM again like last year?

 

https://www.vodafone.co.uk/cs/groups/configfiles/documents/document/glastonbury-30day-freesim-payg.pdf

[SparrowC]

This year I'm getting a temp Lebara sim (and converting my giffgaff one to an esim so I can use both in my phone). Lebara uses the Vodafone network which is the only one that has anything approaching reliable signal. Giffgaff/O2 was useless last few years.

You can get a discount on a 30 day lebara sim with this link (and I get a discount too - ace!)

http://aklam.io/baAkZu

Edited June 7 by SparrowC

[al_coholic]

On 6/6/2024 at 10:58 AM, Johnnyseven said:

Can anyone who knows about these things tell me if this is a decent power bank? I've heard on here Anker are the brand to buy, i've never heard of any other of the brands tagged on here and want something that will work and will last.

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01JIWQPMW/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=AISREEIOH9TSP&psc=1

I wouldn't get that one, it only has micro usb input. It would be faster to get one with USB-C input. have a look at the INIU ones. Also a lot depends on what phone you have got, as to whether the output speed really matters. 

[Johnnyseven]

21 minutes ago, al_coholic said:

I wouldn't get that one, it only has micro usb input. It would be faster to get one with USB-C input. have a look at the INIU ones. Also a lot depends on what phone you have got, as to whether the output speed really matters. 

 

In the end I bought this one - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Anker-Portable-PowerCore-High-Speed-Charging/dp/B0BYP4Y1N8?th=1 - it has USB-C and a USB-A sockets which I assume can both be used to charge the battery and my device. I'll be charging a Samsung Galaxy S22 (I think), I don't use my phone much at the festival and I have another 10,000 mah power bank if I need it too. I'll also charge my phone when i'm sleeping so output speed isn't really an issue.

Edited June 7 by Johnnyseven

[Crazyfool01]

Battery exchanges in worthy view and by San remo by the looks of it on new app map