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Ctrl Mobile is a basic network which offers plans for a reasonable price and with no long-term commitment.
It also has some other things working in its favour, such as spending caps, and as it runs on Three’s infrastructure you might already have a good idea of what its coverage is like around you – but that’s something we’ll look at below.
There’s a lot that Ctrl Mobile is currently lacking though, so read on for a full review and overview of the network.
|
Pros |
Cons |
|---|---|
|
Spending cap |
Fairly low data limits |
|
Low prices |
No WiFi Calling or VoLTE |
|
Short-term plans |
No Pay Monthly |
Our Rating
| Table of Contents |
Ctrl Mobile offers a small range of SIM Only plans, each of which lasts 30 days, so you’re free to change or cancel your plan whenever.
|
|
SIM Only |
|---|---|
|
Plans Available |
✔ |
|
Max Data |
30GB |
|
Contract lengths |
1 month |
|
VoLTE |
✖ |
|
WiFi Calling |
✖ |
|
Data Rollover |
✖ |
|
Spending Caps |
✔ |
Ctrl Mobile’s SIM Only plans start at £8 per month for 1GB of data and top out at 30GB of data, for £22 per month. All plans also include unlimited minutes and texts.
So it’s a fairly good value network but its data limits are fairly low and it doesn’t offer Pay Monthly handset plans. It’s also flexible as plans only last 30 days. Plans are capped too, and you can set the cap at anywhere from £0 to £100, so you won’t spend more than you expect.
Ctrl Mobile doesn't currently offer a Pay As You Go service.
Tethering is allowed on all Ctrl Mobile plans and you can use as much of your data as you like, unless you’re on a plan with unlimited data (which used to be offered by the network).
Wi-Fi Calling allows you to call and text over Wi-Fi using your normal number, so it’s handy if you’re in an area with no signal, however, it’s not currently offered by Ctrl Mobile.
VoLTE stands for Voice over LTE, and it means making and receiving calls over 4G, which can be useful in areas which don’t have a 3G signal. Right now though you can’t use VoLTE on Ctrl Mobile.
Ctrl Mobile lets you use your allowances as normal when roaming in the EU.
|
Network Type |
Coverage by population |
|---|---|
|
4G |
99.8% |
|
3G |
98.7% |
|
2G |
N/A |
Ctrl Mobile uses Three’s infrastructure, so where Three has coverage so does Ctrl. That means its 4G coverage currently reaches 99.8% of the UK population and its 3G coverage reaches 98.7%. So there’s coverage in most places and it’s more or less in line with rivals at this point. If anything, it’s slightly ahead of most.
You can use Three’s coverage checker above to find out more about Three (and by extension Ctrl Mobile) coverage in your area, including signal strengths and details of both indoor and outdoor coverage.
|
Network |
4G download/upload speeds |
4G latency (ms) |
|---|---|---|
|
EE |
33.7/8.9Mbps |
37.3ms |
|
Ctrl Mobile (Three) |
21.6/7.4Mbps |
46.3ms |
|
Vodafone |
25.1/7.8Mbps |
39.4ms |
|
O2 |
16.9/5.7Mbps |
37.4ms |
Three’s average 4G download speeds are 21.6Mbps and its average 4G upload speed is 7.4Mbps, according to OpenSignal. Since Ctrl uses the same infrastructure and spectrum its speeds are likely to be similar.
Three’s average latency is said to be 46.3ms, which is worse than rivals, so Ctrl might also be worse there. Latency is a measurement of how long the network takes to respond to a request, which can be important for things like online gaming and anything else where a fraction of a second makes a difference.
|
Frequency |
Frequency Band |
Network |
|---|---|---|
|
800MHz |
Band 20 |
4G |
|
1800MHz |
Band 3 |
4G |
|
2100MHz |
Band 1 |
3G |
Ctrl Mobile uses Three’s frequency, and Three uses the 800MHz and 1800MHz bands for 4G. The 800MHz band is long range, making it useful in rural places where masts are typically spread far apart. It can also penetrate walls well, helping it bring a 4G signal indoors.
The 1800MHz band isn’t quite as long range or as good at penetrating walls, but it’s available in a higher capacity, helping it cope with a large number of simultaneous connections.
Three also has some spectrum in the 3.4GHz and 3.6-3.8GHz bands, but this is currently being saved for use with 5G.
For more information on frequencies, check out our 4G frequencies guide, or see the table above for a breakdown of Three’s and Ctrl Mobile’s frequency usage.
Ctrl Mobile doesn’t appear to publish a specific traffic management policy, suggesting that in general no types of traffic will be prioritised or limited. However, its terms and conditions notes that ‘excessive’ use is not allowed.
Being a Three MVNO it may also fall under Three’s traffic management, which can restrict or prioritise certain types of data use when the network is congested or has a fault.
As a small, fairly new network there’s unsurprisingly no real customer service data available for Ctrl Mobile yet.
At the time of writing it has a 2.3/5 rating on Trustpilot, which is considered ‘poor’, but that’s only based on 14 reviews. More damningly, the network’s most recent positive Trustpilot review at the time of writing was in 2018. Everything since then has given the network just 1 star.
We’ll be sure to update this section as soon as we hear anything more.
Ctrl Mobile stands out primarily through offering fairly low prices and spending caps, along with basics like tethering and EU roaming.
However, it’s lacking a lot of features found on many other networks, most notably Pay Monthly and Pay As You Go, but also WiFi Calling and VoLTE.
If you don't need much data and are happy with SIM Only it could be a decent option, but it really is one of the most basic networks around.
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