ASDA Mobile Review and Network Coverage

Coverage

Asda Mobile Coverage

Network Type	Coverage by population
5G	Now available in 124 locations
4G	99%
3G	99%
2G	99%

Asda Mobile used to be partnered with EE for coverage, but during 2021 it switched to Vodafone.

Asda Mobile then has - through Vodafone - around 99% UK population coverage for 4G. Additionally, Asda Mobile also has 99% 2G coverage and 99% 3G coverage. Locations with 4G coverage include but are not limited to the following cities:

Basingstoke, Birmingham, Bournemouth, Bradford, Brighton, Coventry, Dudley, Edinburgh, Epsom, Ewell, Folkestone, Gateshead, Glasgow, Hatfield , Hove and Hastings, Hemel Hempstead, Huddersfield, Jarrow, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Maidstone, Newbury, Newcastle, Nottingham, Oldham, Pontefract, Portsmouth, Reading, Rotherham, Sheffield, Slough, Stockport, Sunderland, Sutton Coldfield, Staines, Stourbridge, Swinton, Southampton, Tunbridge, Wakefield, Walsall, Watford, Wells and West Bromwich.

Use Asda Mobile’s coverage checker to find out more about Asda Mobile's coverage in your area, including signal strengths and details on 5G, 4G, 3G and 2G coverage.

5G coverage

Asda Mobile offers 5G in all the same places as Vodafone, meaning parts of at least 124 UK locations at the time of writing. The list includes (but is not limited to):

Aberdeen, Alexandria, Ambleside, Aughton (Sth Yorks), Basingstoke, Bebington, Belfast, Birkenhead, Birmingham, Bishopbriggs, Blaydon, Bolton, Bootle, Bournemouth, Bradford, Bristol, Bristol Airport, Cardiff, Cheadle and Gatley, Cheltenham, Chesterfield, Clydebank, Crawley (West Sussex), Crosby, Dewsbury, Dinas Powys, Droylsden, Dudley (West Midlands), Dundee, Eccles, Edinburgh, Eston and South Bank, Felling, Gateshead, Glasgow, Gloucester, Gosforth (Tyne & Wear), Guildford, Hebburn, Helensburgh, Horwich, Huddersfield, Huyton-with-Roby, Inner London, Isles of Scilly, Jarrow, Kingston upon Hull, Kingswood (Bristol), Lancaster, Leeds, Lisburn, Liverpool, Llandudno, Long Benton/Killingworth, Manchester, Mangotsfield, Middlesbrough, Morley, Mosborough/Highlane, Newbury, Newcastle upon Tyne, Newtownabbey, North Shields, Oldbury/Smethwick, Outer London, Paisley, Penarth, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Prescot, Prestwich, Pudsey, Rawmarsh, Reading, Rochdale, Rotherham, Salford, Sheffield, Shipley, Solihull, South Shields, Southampton, Stockport, Stockton-on-Tees, Stoke-on-Trent, Stranraer, Stretford, Sunderland, Sutton Coldfield, Swansea, Swinton and Pendlebury, Tynemouth, Urmston, Wallasey, Wallsend, Warrington, Washington, Whitley Bay, and Wolverhampton.

Network Speeds and Frequencies

Opensignal – Mobile Network Experience, September 2021, and April 2020

Network	Download/upload speeds	4G latency (ms)
EE	44/9.7Mbps	36.0ms
Three	25.2/6.3Mbps	48.3ms
Asda Mobile (Vodafone)	21.6/7.4Mbps	39.0ms
O2	17.1/5.4Mbps	38.1ms

We don’t have much data on Asda Mobile’s speeds, but they’re likely to be similar to Vodafone’s. In an Opensignal report from September 2021, then, Vodafone was found to have average download speeds of 21.6Mbps, and average upload speeds of 7.4Mbps, which are the third and second highest on test respectively. Those results factor in a combination of 5G, 4G and 3G.

4G latency (the time it takes for a network to respond to a request) is slightly less good though. Lower is better here, and Vodafone has the second highest latency of the four main networks in tests carried out in April 2020, with an older test being used because latency isn’t included in recent reports.

On 5G, Asda Mobile’s average download speeds could be around 143.6Mbps, based on Point Topic tests of Vodafone from September 2020, while its median 5G download speed might be around 159Mbps, going by Ookla data covering Vodafone in the first half of 2021.

Asda Mobile Network Frequencies

Frequency	Frequency Band	Network
800MHz	Band 20	4G
900MHz	Band 8	2G & 3G
1400MHz SDL	Band 32	4G
1800MHz	Band 3	2G & 4G
2100MHz	Band 1	3G & 4G
2600MHz	Band 7	4G
3400MHz	n78	5G
3600MHz	n77	5G

Being a Vodafone MVNO, Asda Mobile uses Vodafone’s spectrum bands, which means it presumably has access to all of the bands above.

That leaves the network able to deliver consistent 4G services both in urban and rural locations, indoors and out.

For 5G, it should have access to the 3400MHz and 3600MHz bands, which Vodafone currently uses for this.

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

Planned improvements

At the time of writing, Asda Mobile seems focused on switching its network partner from EE to Vodafone. Beyond that, expect its 5G coverage to grow along with Vodafone’s.

Traffic management

Asda Mobile doesn’t publish its traffic management policies, but chances are that they’re similar to most networks, in that emergency calls will always be prioritised and in general you won’t notice traffic management in play, unless there’s a fault on the network or your use is classed as excessive.

Plans

Asda Mobile offers a range of SIM Only bundles along with a Pay As You Go service. In either case you’ll get 4G at no extra cost, as well as 5G on many plans, and can use any or all of your data allowance to tether.

Asda Mobile Pay As You Go Bundles

Plans Available	✔
Max Data	Unlimited
Bundle Expiry	30 days
EU Roaming	✔
Tethering	✔
VoLTE	✖
Wi-Fi Calling	✖
Data Rollover	✖
	View deals

Asda Mobile doesn’t currently offer any Pay Monthly plans with a handset – though you can buy phones outright from the network.

However, Asda Mobile does offer a handful of SIM Only bundles, each of which lasts 30 days. These come with a maximum of unlimited data, and these bundles can be set to automatically recur every 30 days.

Note that if you opt for an unlimited data plan you also have to choose whether you want speeds to top out at 2Mbps, 10Mbps or 150Mbps. The higher the speed the higher the price, and only the top one of those can be considered 5G speeds, even though they’re all labelled as 5G plans.

Asda Mobile also offers a Pay As You Go service with rates of 4p per minute, 4p per text and 4p per megabyte of data.

With all that in mind the highlights of Asda Mobile’s plans include their low prices and their flexibility, however the lack of Pay Monthly is a major omission – if you want a new phone on contract you’ll have to look elsewhere.

Tethering

Asda Mobile allows you to use some or all of your monthly data allowance to tether (getting other devices online).

Wi-Fi Calling

Wi-Fi Calling means making and receiving calls over Wi-Fi using your normal number and dialler. It’s handy if you have no signal but do have access to a Wi-Fi network and it’s typically seamless. This service is offered by Asda Mobile, which is notable as not all MVNOs offer it.

VoLTE

VoLTE stands for Voice over LTE and is sometimes called 4G Calling. It’s a similar concept to Wi-Fi Calling, but allows you to call over 4G, where typically you can only call using a 2G or 3G network. With VoLTE you can stay in touch in more places, as there are areas that have a 4G signal but no other kind. VoLTE is available on Asda Mobile, so that’s one extra perk of the network.

Roaming Destinations

Asda Mobile lets you use your bundle allowances at no extra cost in much of Europe (for a total of 36 international destinations), so you can roam without racking up big bills. However, there's no free roaming offered outside Europe.

Customer Service

Customer service can be hard to judge, but on Trustpilot, Asda Mobile has a rating of just 1.4/5 at the time of writing, which is considered ‘bad’.

That’s only based on 516 ratings though, which is far fewer than most networks have on there, so it may not be an accurate representation of what to expect.

Conclusion

Asda Mobile has low prices and short-term plans that last just 30 days, giving you more flexibility than some networks.

With Wi-Fi Calling and 4G Calling allowed too and Vodafone’s robust infrastructure it’s a solid choice, but free roaming is limited to parts of Europe (which almost all networks offer), so Asda Mobile isn’t ideal if you travel a lot.

It's also a write-off if you want a new phone on contract, since it doesn't offer any Pay Monthly plans. Overall it’s a very average network, but will suit some users.