What's Giff Gaff all about?

[gemz4the1]

I am currently on O2 PAYG. I pay £15 per month on the Pay and Go Go Go tariff for unlimited texts, 150 minutes of calls and 1GB of data.
A few of my friends are on Giff Gaff and they say that they pay less. When I explain that I don't want to move from O2, they say that Giff Gaff do O2.
Can someone please explain to me what Giff Gaff is? Do they do PAYG? How can they offer cheaper tariffs and better deals on O2 than O2 themselves.
All advice would be much appreciated.

[jonsie]

The £12 goodybag will suit my needs.

[aldaweb]

It looks as though a goodybag is required for 4G unlike 3 which enabled 4G on their 3-2-1 tariff

[MI5]

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@aldaweb wrote:

It looks as though a goodybag is required for 4G unlike 3 which enabled 4G on their 3-2-1 tariff

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You can get 4G without a goodybag by paying giffgaff's extortionate standard data rates.

[gemz4the1 · Accepted solution]

I have been weighing up the pros and cons of Giff Gaff compared to O2. 

The main points are as follows:

Pros of Giff Gaff

Cheaper tariffs - more data and more calls for the same or less cost than O2.

Possibly a better reception/faster speeds than O2 (unknown yet as I haven't got a sim yet to test it).

I can keep my number.

Cons of Giff Gaff

Online only.

4G isn't available yet.

Possibly a worse reception/slower speeds than O2 (unknown yet as I haven't got a sim yet to test it).

After careful consideration i've decided to stay on O2 for the time being, but I will consider it again in the future.

[Anonymous]

Of course it's your prerogative to choose who you wanted use Genma but without testing how they perform via a SIM card it's hard to define which one would be better.

[Anonymous]

I suspect that GiffGaff along with TescoMobile will be no different in terms of signal to o2 directly. I don't see how they can be unless it is to do with the amount of bandwidth they purchase. But then why would they want a poorer service which would just about customers when both are growing their businesses?

[gemz4the1]

Obviously I will test the Giff Gaff sim when it arrives, but if it the same or no different signal and speed than O2 then I will just stay with O2 for now. 

When I first considered this I was unaware that 4G wasn't available on GIff Gaff yet.