Plusnet Mobile Review and Network Coverage

Coverage

Plusnet Mobile uses EE’s infrastructure, and that’s good news, as EE has more extensive 4G infrastructure than any other UK network, with over 99% population coverage and over 86% of the UK geography covered. It’s rapidly expanding too.

It’s also got great 3G and 2G population coverage, at 98% and 99% respectively.

Plusnet Coverage

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

Use Plusnet’s coverage checker above to find out more about Plusnet 4G coverage in your area, including signal strengths and details on both indoor and outdoor coverage.

4G Network Coverage Comparison

Network	4G coverage by population
Plusnet Mobile (EE)	> 99%
Vodafone	99%
O2	99%
Three	99.8%

As you can see, Vodafone and O2 (along with any MVNOs that use their infrastructure) are – based on the latest data we can find – seemingly slightly behind Plusnet for 4G coverage. Three meanwhile has a similar level of population coverage to Plusnet, but it’s likely that its geographic coverage is worse.

4G from Plusnet Mobile is now available in thousands of locations, including the following cities:

Aberdeen, Armagh, Bangor, Bath, Belfast, Birmingham, Bradford, Brighton, Bristol, Cambridge, Canterbury, Cardiff, Carlisle, Chelmsford, Chester, Chichester, Coventry, Derby, Derry, Dundee, Durham, Edinburgh, Ely, Exeter,  Glasgow, Gloucester, Hereford, Inverness, Kingston upon Hull, Lancaster, Leeds, Leicester, Lichfield, Lincoln, Lisburn, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Newcastle, Newport, Newry, Norwich, Nottingham, Oxford, Peterborough, Peterlee, Perth, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Preston, Ripon, Sheffield, Southampton, St Albans, St Asaph, St David’s, Salford, Salisbury, Stirling, Stoke, Sunderland, Swansea, Truro, Wakefield, Wells, City of Westminster, Winchester, Wolverhampton Worcester and York.

5G coverage

Plusnet Mobile doesn’t yet offer 5G but if and when it starts it will have coverage in the same places as EE. At the time of writing that means parts of 125 towns and cities, and EE is continuing to expand its 5G coverage rapidly.

Network Speeds and Frequencies

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

Opensignal – Mobile Network Experience, October 2020, and April 2020
Network	4G download/upload speeds	4G latency (ms)
Plusnet Mobile (EE)	36.4/9.1Mbps	37.3ms
Three	22.2/8.0Mbps	46.3ms
Vodafone	22.4/8.5Mbps	39.4ms
O2	18.2/6.2Mbps	37.4ms

In an OpenSignal 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 faster than any rival.

It also beat rivals for average latency (the time the network takes to respond to a request) at 37.3ms in a report from April 2020. While Plusnet wasn’t covered in the report, its results might be similar, since it uses the same spectrum and infrastructure.

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 3400MHz band, but Plusnet probably won’t use this until it starts offering 5G.

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

Planned improvements

Plusnet is mostly reliant on EE for improvements, and that network is primarily focused on 5G right now, but that will be paving the way for Plusnet to offer a 5G service of its own at some point.

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.

Plans

SIM Only Deals

	1 Month Contract 2.5 GB data UNLIMITED mins UNLIMITED texts	£6.00 a month View Deal
	1 Month Contract 10 GB data UNLIMITED mins UNLIMITED texts	£8.00 a month View Deal
	1 Month Contract 20 GB data UNLIMITED mins UNLIMITED texts	£10.00 a month View Deal
View All Plusnet Sim Only Deals

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, they all include 4G at no extra cost, and they all allow you to use as much of your data as you want for tethering.

Pay Monthly Phone Plans

Plusnet Mobile doesn’t currently offer any Pay Monthly plans with a phone included.

SIM Only Plans

	New Customers	Broadband Customers
Max Data Allowance	20GB	22GB
Contract Length	1 month	1 month
EU Roaming	✔	✔
Free Roaming Outside EU	✖	✖
Tethering	✔	✔
Data Rollover	✖	✖
Spending Caps	✔	✔
WiFi Calling	✖	✖
VoLTE	✖	✖
View Plans

If you’re just a mobile customer you can get between 1GB and 20GB of data at the time of writing. If on the other hand you’re a Plusnet Broadband customer each tariff comes with extra data, so you can get between 3GB and 22GB, without paying any extra.

Note that some of these allowances are special offers which may be discontinued soon. However, Plusnet seems to almost always have offers of some kind on.

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.

Data Only Plans

Plusnet Mobile doesn’t offer any Data Only plans.

Pay As You Go

Plusnet Mobile doesn’t currently offer Pay As You Go.

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.

WiFi 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.

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.

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 1.4/5 with 6,980 reviews and an overall rating of 'bad'. 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.

Conclusion

Plusnet Mobile is a low-cost network, 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.