Lyca Mobile’s network
Coverage for data is excellent on Lyca, calls are good
LycaMobile now use EE’s network to provide signal for calls (2G/3G) and data (4G/5G). We see this as a really positive move, because their 4G data coverage is better than O2's (who Lyca used to use).
For 2G/3G/5G, signal is identical between LycaMobile and EE (read our guide here). But there are some technical differences for 4G, which we tell you about under the dropdown.
We took our Lyca SIM out and about to test coverage vs their network maps and vs being on EE directly. Obviously, we can’t get everywhere in the country but we can do spot checks.
The coverage checker is accurate and honest. The main issue we’ve found though is that you don’t get access to EE’s band 20 4G masts on Lyca. These boost coverage rurally and capacity in cities.
For most people, that won’t be an issue. There’s enough of the other 4G everywhere. But if you’re in the country or travelling around, we found our Lyca SIM would rather stick on zero or little 4G data, rather than revert down to 3G (possibly because of the upcoming 3G phase-out).
Generally though, we had a good experience elsewhere with Lyca Mobile’s coverage.
For calls, Lyca are a bit behind providers on O2 or Vodafone’s networks. You’ll still get call signal in most areas, but you’re more likely to run into indoor blackspots or lose signal in geographically odd areas.
Overall, LycaMobile provide an excellent mix of coverage. It’s still worth checking signal in your area using their coverage map here before you buy. Check at home, at work and anywhere else you’ll use your phone.
Useful link: All the networks that piggyback off EE
Our coverage rating:
★★★★☆ (excellent)
Rank:
Joint 1st
(out of 4 places)
Better than:
Three
Similar to:
EE
(and all providers that use them)
4G data speeds: Lyca Mobile’s speeds are super fast
To see which network provides the best typical 4G data speeds, we use results from independent network testers Opensignal. Their speed results averaged out to 44.7Mbps on LycaMobile’s hosts, EE.
That puts them in joint-first place out of all networks. And in real life we were able to get 4G speeds of up to 130+Mbps in the city centre, which was much faster than on any other network.
We did slow down to 12Mbps in rural areas, but that’s pretty healthy compared to other networks. Only Lyca Mobile’s Endless plans are speed capped, so you’ll get the same speeds as their hosts on any other plan.
In all, Lyca are a fantastic choice if you’re looking for the fastest possible 4G data speeds at lower costs to joining EE directly.
Useful link: Lyca Mobile’s terms and conditions
Our data speed rating:
★★★★★ (best choice)
Rank:
1st
Same as:
EE, 1pMobile, Co-opMobile, TalkHome
Better than:
O2, Vodafone and Three
5G: LycaMobile include it on every plan
LycaMobile also provide full access to EE’s 5G network on all plans. That’s great considering they come second in our rankings for the best 5G networks. It’s especially good considering Lyca's low costs.
You currently get Lyca's 5G in 317+ UK towns and cities. And considering the fact their hosts EE only claim a location as covered once 5G is available in 50% of its area, you will actually get the new technology in more places than that.
According to network testers Opensignal and Speedtest by Ookla, LycaMobile’s 5G speeds average out between 122.32Mbps - 130.5Mbps, with peak speeds up to an impressive 350.41Mbps.
Overall, LycaMobile benefit greatly from their host’s 5G with an excellent mix of speeds and coverage. They don’t have the fastest speeds, but we think most users will be happy with them.
Useful link: Our guide to the best 5G networks
WiFi calling / 4G calling aren’t available on LycaMobile
Like we said above, you’re more likely to run into call signal (3G/2G) blackspots on LycaMobile than on some networks, especially indoors. Signal can struggle to get through building materials.
Lyca Mobile don’t offer WiFi calling or 4G calling to help with this. These let you connect to calls with WiFi or 4G where conventional call signal is weak. So if you run into blackspots then you could basically be stuck.
You can see which other networks offer WiFi calling in our guide here. 1pMobile use EE's network too and do offer both technologies as standard. See their best plans here:
We could see LycaMobile offer these features sometime in the future, but for now they fall behind the competition here.
Useful link: The best networks for WiFi calling
Our WiFi calling rating:
☆☆☆☆☆ (bad)
Rank:
Last place
Not as good as:
All others
Better than:
N/A
eSIMs on Lyca Mobile are an excellent extra network feature
✔ Join and get up and running in minutesRead all network FAQs
at lycamobile.co.uk
(opens in new window)
We joined Lyca Mobile on an eSIM to see how it worked. We were very impressed. From starting our order to having bars of signal on our phone took less than 5minutes. It'd be slick for a main network, never mind a budget one (read Lyca's guide to eSIM here).
Tethering is allowed on every LycaMobile plan, letting you connect other devices to your data signal. But you can’t use your entire allowance for tethering on certain plans (read why here).
You don’t get any free WiFi hotspots on Lyca Mobile. On the networks that offer these they’re a handy way of staying connected wherever, and saving data on the go. But Lyca don’t offer any.
Lyca Mobile also don’t let you forward incoming calls to a different number (see the networks that offer this here). Nor do you get visual voicemail, but you can customise your voicemail message to how you like it.
Useful link: Lycamobile’s terms and conditions
Our extra features rating:
★★☆☆☆ (average)
Rank:
Joint Last
Not as good as:
EE, BT O2, Vodafone, VOXI, Three
Similar to:
Many others
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Lyca Mobile’s additional benefits
Inclusive international minutes on most of their plans
Lycamobile include a different number of international minutes with your deal depending on which one you get. With these you can make calls to these countries without spending anything extra.
Typically, the more you pay for your plan, the more international minutes are included. You can get between 100 - unlimited international minutes (but their cheapest “Saver” plan doesn’t include any).
Most of Lyca Mobile’s plans come with international minutes included. Here are their best current deals:
If you use up all your inclusive mins then you’ll have to top up with credit and pay Lyca’s international calling rates. But even then, calls to certain worldwide countries can be as low as 1p per min.
It’s handy to have these minutes included on such cheap plans and it could end up saving you a lot in the long run if you call abroad often. And even if you run out you’ll end up paying less than on other networks.
Useful links: Lycamobile’s international rates
Our international calling rating:
★★★☆☆ (good)
Rank:
2nd
Not as good as:
Lebara
Better than:
All others
EU roaming costs nothing extra but has some limits
Lots of networks have removed inclusive EU roaming from their plans, but not Lyca. You can use your regular mins, texts and data in these EU countries on any plan, but there are some limits on data usage abroad.
Unlike other networks that have a set limit on how much data you can use while roaming, LycaMobile have a different limit for each plan. You can only see what this limit is in the checkout, which is a pain.
There doesn’t seem to be any simple calculation behind it either, only that the larger your plan the higher your limit. If you hit the limit then you have to top up and pay their roaming rates to keep using data.
To roam beyond the EU you’ll have to pay at their worldwide roaming rates (which gets expensive fast). Overall their roaming is decent, just check your fair use limit before leaving the UK.
Useful link: The best UK networks for roaming
Our EU roaming rating:
★★★☆☆ (good)
Rank:
Joint 7th
Not as good as::
Lebara, O2, Co-op, SMARTY, ASDA, iD, Talkmobile, Honest, 1pMobile
Better than:
All others
No contracts or credit checks with their 1-month plans
LycaMobile sell most of their plans on 1-month deals with no contracts to join on. These essentially work like buying a monthly bundle of mins, texts and data
So if you find you’re paying too much for your plan, or not getting enough data, then you can change your plan once the month is up. And if you want to leave you’re free to do so without giving notice.
Since you pay for your plan up front, you don’t have to pass a credit check. They offer the same flexibility as EE’s PAYG bundles at much lower prices, making them a great choice if you failed a credit check on EE.
You can set your plan to auto-renew each month. In fact, LycaMobile even give you a data boost for doing so and you can cancel this if you change your mind. Flexibility is a massive strength on LycaMobile.
Useful link: Our 30-day rolling contract guide
Benefits that you don’t get on LycaMobile
✔ Free data streaming on Sky’s TV appsRead more
at simsherpa.com
(opens in new window)
Firstly they’re missing out entirely on free streaming data. Sky Mobile have our favourite free streaming benefit that lets you stream their Sky TV apps without eating into your monthly allowance.
Lyca also don’t include data rollover. This lets you hold onto the data you didn’t use in a month. Sky also have the best data rollover feature, letting you keep your leftover data for up to 3 years.
You also get no added benefits for adding extra SIMs onto your account. EE give you 30% off every additional line on your account as well as a 1GB boost for each one you add. And you can gift data between users.
And there’s no benefit for referring users onto LycaMobile. A few networks do this, such as VOXI who offer gift cards for bringing in new users and Lebara who give cashback for bringing friends onto their network.
Useful link: All networks that offer free unlimited streaming data
Our FamilyPlan rating:
★★☆☆☆ (average)
Rank:
Last place
Not as good as:
All others
Better than:
N/A
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Lyca Mobile’s deals and special offers
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Pay As You Go tariffs are expensive on Lyca Mobile
If you’d rather top up your SIM card with credit and pay per min, text and data out of that, then we think Lyca Mobile aren’t a good choice for you.
That’s because paying at their standard UK rates can have you chewing through your credit very quickly if you use your phone even somewhat frequently:
Their Pay As You Go rates are some of the highest of all networks. Data in particular gets expensive quickly. If you want a traditional PAYG scheme on EE’s network, 1pMobile are a great choice:
Or you can join TalkHomeMobile who also use EE’s network and have 1p per min, text and MB of data rates. But they do miss out on some features like WiFi calling that you do get on 1pMobile:
In any case, we’d recommend steering clear of LycaMobile for Pay As You Go. But their pay monthly plans give you a great deal of flexibility while also giving you much better value for your usage.
Useful link: Cheapest UK Pay As You Go networks
A few of Lyca’s unlimited data deals have speed caps
✔ Look out for plans with “Endless” data rather than “Unlimited” dataRead more
at lycamobile.co.uk
(opens in new window)
If you’re looking to take an unlimited data plan on Lycamobile it’s worth knowing the difference between Lycamobile’s “Endless” plans and their “Unlimited” plans before you buy.
The biggest difference is that their Endless plans have fair usage policies. This means if Lyca may throttle your data speeds or make you pay their standard UK data rates if they think your data usage is excessive.
They claim that if you use over 150GB twice in a six month period then they’ll start limiting you. With their Unlimited plans, you’d have to use a lot more than that for Lyca to think your usage isn’t legitimate.
But their Endless plans are better on price. If you don’t usually use up more than 150GB a month their Endless plans may be a better choice. But if you want no limits at all then their Unlimited plans are better.
Useful link: Our guide to the best networks with unlimited data plans
LycaMobile’s phone contracts are very flexible
LycaMobile’s phone contracts are all on finance agreements via Klarna, a third party service that help manage your monthly payment. The cost of your phone and usage plan (mins, texts, data) are separate payments.
This gives you the freedom to pay off your loan in one payment, in three separate monthly instalments or over 6, 12, 24 or 36 months to suit your budget. But your phone’s cost will be adjusted for inflation.
Since your usage plan is separate that means you also get the flexibility to change plans or leave Lycamobile altogether while still paying off your device.
The cost of your device and usage plans being made as separate bills can make it harder to manage. And LycaMobile’s prices aren’t quite as competitive as other networks. It’s a trade-off of flexibility and price.
Useful link: LycaMobile’s range of phone contracts
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Lyca Mobile’s customer service
Lyca are a budget network with over-the-phone service
Sometimes joining a budget network means sacrificing a good customer service experience compared to joining a larger network. But, Lyca Mobile are a small network that offer lots of ways to get help.
If you prefer to call, you can do so. Lyca Mobile’s call centres are open 9am - 6pm from Monday to Saturday (but they’re closed on Sundays). They’re not open as long as some networks, but at least you can call them.
LycaMobile don’t appear in Ofcom’s customer service report because they’re not technically a pay monthly network, so we can’t say one way or the other how good their over-the-phone services actually are.
You can also chat with online agents via their website if you have no luck calling them. But we found we weren’t always able to get in contact with them. But Lyca’s customer service is good for a small network.
Useful link: Best customer service networks
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