Aussie carriers that work well in the UK?

[doctord]

Hi everyone,

I might be looking to move to the UK soon, potentially. If so, I will likely be away for a year or two (unsure of the exact timeframe yet). I am hoping to maintain my current Aussie phone number for 2FA / banking purposes and thus have to receive the occasional call or SMS to my Aussie phone number.

Can anyone share their experiences with regard to the phone reception they get overseas or recommend a mobile carrier that works well in the UK for this purpose? I'm looking for the most cost-effective option available. As far as I can tell, Amaysim's Pay-As-You-Go plan with the addition of their 365-day international roaming plan could be the way to go.

Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

 

[DeKa]

Telstra Prepaid needs a vote because the VoWifi (calls) and SMS over wifi work with no roaming .. ie if the phone can get on wifi it works like it’s at home.

 

[doctord]

Telstra Prepaid needs a vote because the VoWifi (calls) and SMS over wifi work with no roaming .. ie if the phone can get on wifi it works like it’s at home.

Hmm thanks for this. Certainly sounds like an attractive proposition as I'm currently with Telstra and should be able to switch to their pre-paid plans. In this case, would you recommend their pre-paid mobile casual plan ($35 - 6 month expiry)? My concern here would be potentially requiring an SMS/call via my Aussie number while in an area without WiFi. Telstra's roaming options are quite pricey.

 

[SYD]

amaysim is another to consider.

Best value Phone Plans in Australia

Find the right deal at amaysim with our SIM only mobile plans, data only plans and long expiry plans on No lock-in contract. Little SIM. Big Love!

www.amaysim.com.au

Their “roaming” add ons are for 12mths and relatively cheap starting at $20 (plus apparently you don’t need one to receive an SMS).

International Roaming

Ditch daily roaming charges. Add roaming in 90+ selected destinations to your plan from just $20, with 365 days to use.

www.amaysim.com.au

Renew before expiry and any unused calls, text and data (as applicable) rollover. You can renew anytime as required also.

I’m planning to port to them in the coming months.

 

[Comoman]

I used Amaysim when in the UK for the last 2 years. Worked well.

 

[RooFlyer]

Welcome to AFF @doctord

 

[clifford]

I use Amaysim for Intl roaming and can confirm they're pretty good, especially the pricing for the 12 months coverage.

I don't think you could go past them, especially for the casual, occasional usage as you indicate.

 

[doctord]

Welcome to AFF @doctord

Thank you! Glad to be here. Surprised that I've only just found this forum now!

Post automatically merged: May 1, 2024

Many thanks everyone for the replies! It sounds like Amaysim might be the way to go here.

 

[kelvedon]

Just a thought. Given the proximity of Europe and the ease of weekends there, should you be considering a provider that covers both the UK and continental Europe ?

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Hi everyone,

I might be looking to move to the UK soon, potentially. If so, I will likely be away for a year or two (unsure of the exact timeframe yet). I am hoping to maintain my current Aussie phone number for 2FA / banking purposes

Many of the banking Apps now will use your fingerprint on your mobile instead and this avoids the 2FA text.

and thus have to receive the occasional call or SMS to my Aussie phone number.

Belong SIMs receive SMS messages without having roaming turned or, and without buying the International Roaming Package for local data or to makes calls and text.

I am in UK at present and my wife's phone receives texts for 2FA fine, Plus other texts. Also in SIN on the way here.

It has been this way for a while now as it also worked on several of our previous trips to USA/Canada, Spain/Portugal and UK /France.

My phone has also worked fine this way when I have not bought the roaming package (I sometimes to this when I need people to be able to call me) over the same trips.

 

[doctord]

Just a thought. Given the proximity of Europe and the ease of weekends there, should you be considering a provider that covers both the UK and continental Europe ?

Hi there, yes I will definitely be getting a "local" SIM card when I'm there which works in Europe too. The one that I'm looking at is Lycamobile which I believe works off EE's network. I am, however, open to suggestions!

 

[doctord]

Many of the banking Apps now will use your fingerprint on your mobile instead and this avoids the 2FA text.


Belong SIMs receive SMS messages without having roaming turned or, and without buying the International Roaming Package for local data or to makes calls and text.

I am in UK at present and my wife's phone receives texts for 2FA fine, Plus other texts. Also in SIN on the way here.

It has been this way for a while now as it also worked on several of our previous trips to USA/Canada, Spain/Portugal and UK /France.

My phone has also worked fine this way when I have not bought the roaming package (I sometimes to this when I need people to be able to call me) over the same trips.

Thanks for this. I'll have a look at what Belong offers with regards to roaming packages as well. I believe they use Telstra's network?

 

[Quickstatus]

I am hoping to maintain my current Aussie phone number for 2FA / banking purposes

While this does not directly answer your question.
Does you phone have a dual sim capability.

Dual sim phones have the capability of storing 2 physical sims and a multitude of e-sims - up to 9 I believe in some phone, but only 2 are active at any time. In a dual sim phone, you can fit 2 nano-sims on the sim tray - one on the top and one on the bottom of the tray. Or just use a UK e-sim

 

[doctord]

While this does not directly answer your question.
Does you phone have a dual sim capability.

Dual sim phones have the capability of storing 2 physical sims and a multitude of e-sims - up to 9 I believe in some phone, but only 2 are active at any time. In a dual sim phone, you can fit 2 nano-sims on the sim tray - one on the top and one on the bottom of the tray. Or just use a UK e-sim

A quick google suggests that my S20 ultra does support dual sims!

Would there be any issues using 2 eSims without any physical Sims?

 

[Comoman]

For a UK sim also look at Giffgaff. Uses the o2 network, roaming is included in Europe and the cheapest plan is £6 per month for unlimited UK calls and texts and 2gb data. Calls back to AUS are £0.03 per minute.

You can sign up in their app and get a eSIM downloaded to your phone - or physical sims are available everywhere.

 

[doctord]

For a UK sim also look at Giffgaff. Uses the o2 network, roaming is included in Europe and the cheapest plan is £6 per month for unlimited UK calls and texts and 2gb data. Calls back to AUS are £0.03 per minute.

You can sign up in their app and get a eSIM downloaded to your phone - or physical sims are available everywhere.

Thanks for this.

Looks really attractive but it seems Giffgaff which uses the O2 network have capped the roaming data usage at 5GB when roaming within the EU.

Lycamobile which uses the EE network has capped their roaming data usage within the EU at 12GB.

Lebara is another one which uses the Vodafone network and they have called their roaming data usage at 30GB!

If anyone else has other recommendations, I'm all ears!

 

[SYD]

Thanks for this. I'll have a look at what Belong offers with regards to roaming packages as well. I believe they use Telstra's network?

Amaysim (Optus), Belong (Testra) and Felix (TPG) are pretty similar but the base package and roaming packs for Belong are a bit more expensive.

My conclusion after several months of investigation was amaysim looked best (well, for my needs anyway). I started looking after Optus ditched their roaming inclusions and I’m running down the clock with them and plan to switch this month before my Optus renews again. Some parallel discussion here:

Best options for making cheap calls/text when overseas?

So what are peeps doing these days for cheap calls/text back to Oz, or local/international calls/text while you’re travelling OS? Background. Since 2019 I’ve had the Optus $50 plan that included roaming data, unlimited calls & text when OS (to/from select countries) and calls/text from Oz to OS...

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

For someone spending extended time OS (eg 1 yr + as per the OP), one of the three mentioned earlier are contenders. There’s also Telstra prepaid plans with roaming bundles. They were very cheap at one point but inflation caught up with them also - still worth a look.

Dual sim phones have the capability of storing 2 physical sims and a multitude of e-sims - up to 9 I believe in some phone, but only 2 are active at any time. In a dual sim phone, you can fit 2 nano-sims on the sim tray - one on the top and one on the bottom of the tray. Or just use a UK e-sim

They’re usually 1x physical SIM now and at least 1x eSIM. Both can operate simultaneously. The newest phones support multiple eSIMs (x9 on iPhone) that you can turn on/off as required. Including 2x eSIMs operating simultaneously.

A quick google suggests that my S20 ultra does support dual sims!

Would there be any issues using 2 eSims without any physical Sims?

No issue at all. SYD+1 has already ported to amaysim on an eSIM and will use Flexiroam etc as the primary line for data OS.

I’ll do the same which frees up my physical SIM for my existing GiffGaff SIM card I’ve had for years. But seeing some earlier comments, I’ll investigate other UK based “local” SIMs that cover both UK and Europe. The catch usually is you need to use the SIM in the UK before it’ll roam in Europe. Not an issue for the OP!

 

[Quickstatus]

They’re usually 1x physical SIM now and at least 1x eSIM

You are correct
the Australian available iPhones can only accomodate 1 physical and up to 9 e-Sim - hence they are not labelled as dual sim
I dont know about the other non apple models

 

[SYD]

I dont know about the other non apple models

No, far too many models - even just Samsung to keep track of!

Interestingly, US iPhones went all eSIM from about iPhone 12 (ie several years ago!).

 

[Quickstatus]

US iPhones went all eSIM

And Chinese iphones are Dual physical sim capable, not sure if e-sims are nerfed within the Great wall
and @doctord's S20 appears to have the dual sim tray.

@doctord, most recent smart phones can support upto 9 e-sims. Not sure about the S20. Basically you setup how you want to make/receive the calls, tests and data using the e-sims.

I wonder - are there functional differences between physical and e-sim?. I suspect it may come down to the chosen carrier and whether they only support physical and/or e-sim. IIRC not all carriers support e-sim