Global sim cards
 

Any updated info on the best roaming sim card?
The "go sim" type thing where you top up on credit ect.
Dave.

I've been using a go-sim SIM card (International SIM Cards from GOSIM - cheap mobile calls from abroad) in a quad-band Motorola v190 phone for the last 9 months or so, throughout north & central Asia, Middle East, Egypt and Europe. Works as advertised, zero complaints. I use it mostly for SMS messaging, and I think there was one place where I couldn't use it, and that was in remote Mongolia.

Side note, the phone has been great too. No camera, just a basic flip phone that does the job.

HTH
Sean

Go-Sim not as good as it once was
 

I used a Go-Sim card while on a European trip in 2009... but only used it when I couldn't acquire a locally-purchased card. It was fairly expensive at the time but checking recently, I see that it has now become ridiculously so. Seems their rates have really gone up! Also, I currently have a balance on my card and received an email a couple of weeks ago that said essentially "use it or lose it". Their previous policy was that it never expired. :thumbdown:

The best bargain I found was to buy one locally if you could and top it up where possible. I bought a LaBara card and used it in the UK for local and international calls. That was VERY cheap. Also, I got a Vodaphone card and topped that up where I could... althjough I couldn't everywhere.

I'll just use up my Go-Sim and toss it. Still looking for something else for eastern Europe and Russia.

Anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks.

Hi, I may start a new thread but will try here first.

Anywaone had 1st hand experience of travelsim from TravelSIM - the mobile phone service for international travellers.

I guess it is based on Australians travelling OS as all the prices relate to our main phone networks, so if any Ozzies have used one, what did yo think, it looks cheap enough, maybe I will have to test it out when I leave in April

Cheers
TS

I've used the TravelSim card for the last six months covering Korea through russia, Mongolia, lots of Europe and on to the UK. Worked exactly as claimed and I never had any issues getting a connection or with the quality. Topping up credit via internet also worked fine.

I don't use a mobile a great deal at the best of times and found having one fixed number that I could advice people of before I left a lot easier to deal with and I was willing to pay for this rather than chasing after the cheapest deal by buying a SIM in each country.

So if you are willing to pay the premium for convenience I'd say Travelsim was a worthwhile option.

How about a dual SIM phone?
Using a 'global' SIM plus a local SIM would seem to an option.
With a dual SIM phone, you would always have a number that people can reach you at when don't want to spend the time shopping for a local SIM. But you still have the option of getting a local SIM too.
Something like this: http://www.gosim.com/world-sim-card-...sim-phone.html

Hey there, thanks for the reply, when you say 'pay the premium', what does that mean?

The info that I have is that it costs $50 to buy the SIM itself, then I add credit which will change depending on country of course. I think if it works properly then I would use it more for info services like whereis or google maps and bestbikingroads and stuff like that, was any of that doable from your experience?

Cheers
TS

Apologies - confusing wording on my behalf. By "pay the premium" all I meant was I was willing to accept that I was paying around 55c a minute for calls from the TravelSim versus the 10-20c it might cost me from a local SIM card. For me this "premium" for the convenience probably worked out at about $200 over six months.

I only ever used the TravelSim for texts or voicecalls and never for data so can't give you any comments on the practicality on accessing info services with it.

If you're a big phone user I think the best solution overall would be the one suggested in a message above - use a dual sim phone.

All the best

OK, thanks for the explanation, I guess it will depend on whether the actual coverage is worth it to get dual sim, but the option is always there,

cheers
TS

Any more recent revelations on the Travel Sim? I saw an add for 'MaxRoam' recently but their call prices are huge outside the EU. Bonus is the free simcard compared to Travelsim but still...

any thoughts?

G

Hi

Yes, I bough the Travel Sim and it was great. Whenever I entered a new country it picked up the local network fine and I had comms. Only phone and text, but enough to get by

I lost my phone(stolen) in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan and since then I have had to buy local SIM cards

The upside of that is that I bought 3G SIMs so I had data included, this has been what I have been doing since then, including China, Mongolia

As there is no chance of getting another TravelSIM where I am I will just buy a local one for each country

Is the Travel SIm worth it, well, for an extended stay in a country, like a few weeks or a month, then it is worthwhile to buy local and still have the travelsim as backup, but only if you want to take advantage of local 3G coverage.

If all you want is phone/text then the TS is a good idea, but it can still cost a bit if you call home all the time

Cheers
TS

Global Sim cards
 

I found this company online upfront cost of $29.95 with 10 credit (Australia)
Rates are cheap.
Woolworths Global Roaming SIM for Travel – International SIM Card
Check it outbier:D

One more option that nobody mentioned before. MTX Connect data SIM card. It has about 30 European countries in a coverage zone, and it's a 3-in-1 SIM card: normal, micro and nano, so it suits iPhone 6. It was important for me, 'cause sometimes I can my iPhone 6 and sometimes iPad.
Pricing: 0,1 EURO per 1 MB or 10 EURO per 1 day unlimited data, it's FREE and easy to get, just fill the form at their website here: mtxc.eu.

Another option for those with US connections...
 

I used a Google Project Fi phone this summer. Works on same sim in 140 countries. Worked GREAT!
Has to be initialized in US though. I made a day trip across the border to set it up. Google it.

I've had a Google Project Fi phone for several months.

There are a few disadvantages - first is that is only open to US citizens unless you can game the system a little bit.

Second is it doesn't work anywhere near as well as their advertising blurb claims/

Then it will only work on a very limited number of fairly/very expensive phones.

However, it is getting better and the proportion of less than 100% satisfied customers is slowly increasing.

If you have nothing to do for a few hours https://productforums.google.com/for...0/HmuSqchIBQAJ is a huge thread on users' experiences

I have a couple of old Nokias with TravelSim and for several years they have functioned flawlessly in some pretty out-of-the-way places and for sheer "they just work" performance, leave the Fi for dead. Because of Fi's lack of reliability, there is no chance of them being retired any time soon. Absolutely no good for anything other than occasional use - because they can be very expensive in some countries - but then again, Fi is way dearer than local SIMs as well when you need data. Here in Iceland 50GB data costs about US$35 whereas that amount of data would cost US$570 on Fi. I use both and just pause the Fi service when we are going to be in-country for a while and use the Fi service when traveling quickly through different countries where (Provided it works which is no given) it is magic.