Pay as You Go SIM—does it work immediately?

[MegMx]

I will be coming to the UK from the US to study at the University of Brighton and was considering using EE as my mobile phone plan while I’m in the UK. I was hoping to order a preloaded SIM card on Amazon and have it shipped to me in America. My question is, will I have network access as soon as I put the SIM card in once I land in the UK, or is there a waiting period? I’ll need network access as soon as possible.

[XRaySpeX]

It won't work at all in the US as it needs activating (by use) on EE's UK home network, but it should work immediately once you are in UK as long as you don't hold on to it for 6 months.

[MegMx]

Oh, I understand that it wouldn’t work in the US. I’m concerned because I’ve seen quite a few posts saying SIM cards were inserted and wouldn’t activate, and the answers were that it could take up to 24 hours to resolve. Plus I won’t have any other way to get in touch with EE customer care when I arrive because I won’t have any other mobile service to fall back on. How would I find out if there’s an EE kiosk at Heathrow airport in case I run into problems?

[XRaySpeX]

I've never known a PAYG SIM to not work immediately.