eSims, what is your experience.

[kevrosmith]

Having recently looked at plans for my parents for UK and Ireland were looking at Lycamobile UK, an actual MVNO, rather than a pure roaming eSIM.

30-day plan only £2.50 (discounted). EE network in UK.
EU roam like home.
1000 UK calls/ texts and international minutes ( doesn't include AU)

Pay as you go SIM Only | No Contract SIM | No Credit Check

Compare the best pay as you go SIM deals. Discover affordable Lyca Mobile UK plans with calls, texts & data. Find the cheapest no contract SIM deals today!

www.lycamobile.co.uk

Does anyone know which network this plan would roam in France on? Would it still get 5G on EU roaming? I’m looking at the 30GB plan for £5 which gives 12GB roaming in EU. Looks a better deal than direct with Airlao on Elan (4G) at the moment and direct with Orange (4GB for $17).

 

[Zinger]

Currently spending a couple of months in France.

I've used Saily, Airalo, Simify and others for extended periods in Japan and South Korea with so so results. Sometimes OK and sometimes not. Sometimes pages not loading, very slow speeds, pages timing out, inexplainable rapid depletion of data, and just frustrating. I use Google Maps quite often when traveling so reliable and fast loading of pages is useful to me. I have found it's worth having a decent back up for inconsistent wifi in accommodation.

I found the Orange Holiday esim which although not cheap but certainly has been very reliable and fast. Buy an eSIM for France | Orange Travel

I bought the 100Gb plan over 31 days which has worked perfectly from the time I landed. Always reliable, fast, works well everywhere, pages don't time out, and even at this price I find it has been worth the cost. Will continue using Orange Holiday for the rest of the trip when this esim expires.

 

[burmans]

While not disagreeing on any of this, I always download the google maps for places I am going as offline maps, removes any worries about slow connection so I’m personally not so worried about speed.

 

[SYD]

While not disagreeing on any of this, I always download the google maps for places I am going as offline maps, removes any worries about slow connection so I’m personally not so worried about speed.

Apple also lets you do that now. Also saves a hell of a lot of data usage. One of the causes of eSIM data being rapidly consumed - especially if driving long distances.

I realised last year that AFF is another gobbler of eSIM data. Especially image intensive threads (View from Office, TRs). The image file size was increased significantly a while back. So you’re downloading a lot of bits with every pic.

 

[burmans]

Indeed, I tend to wait for wifi for heavy web browsing. As I consequence I can usually get away with a 20Gb for 30 days plan, definitely don’t need 100 Gb and those extra Gb’s cost.

 

[moa999]

Does anyone know which network this plan would roam in France on?

LycaMobile France seems to be on Bouygues Telecom, so suspect UK would also use them for roaming.

One thing I have read a out the LycaUK plan is it's only recommended to activate it in the UK, so no good if starting trip elsewhere.

 

[kevrosmith]

LycaMobile France seems to be on Bouygues Telecom, so suspect UK would also use them for roaming.

One thing I have read an out the LycaUK plan is it's only recommended to activate it in the UK, so no good if starting trip elsewhere.

Am in Uk still until we catch the Eurostar on Wednesday, thus the reason starting to nut out exactly which is better option for a week in Paris.

Could even consider the free Vodafone plan from London someone posted earlier. We drive into London on Wednesday before catching the train.

 

[luckypierre]

While not disagreeing on any of this, I always download the google maps for places I am going as offline maps, removes any worries about slow connection so I’m personally not so worried about speed.

Certainly handy to download offline maps, from my experience when in areas of poor network coverage, Google maps can’t calculate walking routes point to point.

 

[burmans]

Certainly handy to download offline maps, from my experience when in areas of poor network coverage, Google maps can’t calculate walking routes point to point.

Must be a generational thing, I know how to read a map to work out a route without having to rely on my phone telling me the route I must follow!

 

[Flashback]

Certainly handy to download offline maps, from my experience when in areas of poor network coverage, Google maps can’t calculate walking routes point to point.

Yes, offline maps will only do route calculation for driving.

The one thing on maps that really chews data, is the photos which you click on a POI.

 

[luckypierre]

Must be a generational thing, I know how to read a map to work out a route without having to rely on my phone telling me the route I must follow!

Agree, certainly we can read a map also I’m guessing that I am also of your generation,

 

[SYD]

Yes, offline maps will only do route calculation for driving.

Apple Maps does offline walking routes even without wifi or data (well, does for me - just checked).

Must be a generational thing, I know how to read a map to work out a route without having to rely on my phone telling me the route I must follow!

So can I, but it can still be handy to see what’s possible ie the map might show a road that’s actually motorway with no footpath! Been there, done that.

 

[Flashback]

Apple Maps does offline walking routes even without wifi or data (well, does for me - just checked).

So can I, but it can still be handy to see what’s possible ie the map might show a road that’s actually motorway with no footpath! Been there, done that.

Looks to be one thing where Apple Maps has finally overtaken Google Maps on, then!

Ditto re: reading maps - but especially driving around places like Europe, with narrow, windy streets, often with no signs; it can be a challenge. It's often simpler/quicker/safer to follow GPS.

 

[burmans]

So can I, but it can still be handy to see what’s possible ie the map might show a road that’s actually motorway with no footpath! Been there, done that.

Not doubting your experience but given major roads are marked differently have never had problems keeping off motorways and in general I do prefer back streets.

 

[VPS]

Must be a generational thing, I know how to read a map to work out a route without having to rely on my phone telling me the route I must follow!

I can certainly read a map to but when you're travelling alone and you have a trail of cars behind you, it is difficult to pull up your map book and work out where to go wrong if you missed your road.

The dot that shows where you are on your phone is good too.

I didn't know Apple maps did offline maps so I'll do that tonight because I like the apple maps directions on my apple watch as well.

I've had my 3 sim in the UK and have got 36.7gb left of 40gb and it expires tomorrow. Still only £10 for the month

 

[burmans]

I can certainly read a map to but when you're travelling alone and you have a trail of cars behind you, it is difficult to pull up your map book and work out where to go wrong if you missed your road.

The dot that shows where you are on your phone is good too.

I didn't know Apple maps did offline maps so I'll do that tonight because I like the apple maps directions on my apple watch as well.

I've had my 3 sim in the UK and have got 36.7gb left of 40gb and it expires tomorrow. Still only £10 for the month

Yeah, I was actually referring to the OP talking about walking routes not driving routes (specifically 'Google maps can’t calculate walking routes point to point'), tend to agree that driving is different but as already noted in posts above 'offline maps will only do route calculation for driving' so download the maps so they operate in offline mode and driving is not generally a problem, except of course no real time warning which indeed can be useful occasionally. Or not, many of us have stories of GPS sending us through the middle of markets or up goat tracks.