TravelSIM any comments?

[Fleetz]

Heading to the USA in a weeks time and after a horrific experience with data charges using Optus I thought I would be smart to use a prepaid SIM card to eliminate data billing shock. To be fair to Optus it wasn't their fault and they looked after me when I explained what had happened.....3rd party app was switching the data access on unknowingly.

Anyway have had a look around and TravelSIM seems to be the most visible of the prepaid SIM cards here in Australia. Has any one used their service? Appreciate any feedback, good, bad or indifferent.

what I like is the fact you can cap the amount you spend. You can also set the amount of data that can get used in any one day and you can change that online if you find it is not adequate enough. Also topping up seems easy enough...

Appreciate any feedback.

Regards,

Fleetz

 

[DeKa]

Don't do it. Get a local SIM in the US.
http://www.australianfrequentflyer....and-internet/best-sim-card-for-usa-52846.html

Biggest problem with TravelSIM is anyone calling you will be charged at between $1 and $3 a minute (it's a call to Estonia).

 

[drewbles]

Don't do it. Get a local SIM in the US.
http://www.australianfrequentflyer....and-internet/best-sim-card-for-usa-52846.html

Biggest problem with TravelSIM is anyone calling you will be charged at between $1 and $3 a minute (it's a call to Estonia).

There are several other roaming companies out there that give you a UK +44 number though, meaning calls are a lot cheaper (and some that give you a 1800 number to provide to friends at home to call you, enter your number, and incur no cost to them, and you pay a small fee to receive the call).

Of course, if you're spending a substantial amount of time in the USA, then a local SIM is always going to be your best bet.

 

[Must...Fly!]

Have used in the past, they work fine but are on the pricey side. Local SIM is always the best move unless you're country hopping and only in each for a few days at a time in which case a travel sim or similar product may suit you more.

 

[Robert K]

T mobile. $80 unlimited everything. valid for 30 days.
or they do a $3 per day unlimited everything.

Sim card is +$10

 

[NM]

If you are just going to one country, then the local SIM is the best option. But if you want something to work in multiple countries, then the various travel sims can eb good. I use the one drewbles mentions that has a +44 UK number as the primary number, and it also provides a USA number 9costs $0.50 per month to keep the same USA number, or can request a new USA number any time for free and it remains active if used at least once every 2 months - so just send an SMS to keep it active.

While it certainly works, its a little more kludgy than a local SIM, but I can use it anywhere. Since getting it, I have used it in Singapore, Hong Kong, Finnland, Lithuania, UK, France, Germany and the USA.

However, I slipped the SIM into my phone here in Australia a few days ago (for some testing of USA VoIP phone and noting caller-ID) and it would not connect to a local telco, so I am not sure what is going on there. I have certainly had it work in Australia before. I also had a few issues in the USA last month where I was unable to make or receive calls even though it showed as connected to T-Mobile. A reboot of my phone brought it back to life. I had that happen at least twice and never have to reboot my phone here (Telstra iPhone 5).

I do not use it for mobile data. That just chews through the credit way too fast. When traveling I just rely on WiFi in the hotel/airport/office/public hotspots for data communications.

For people calling me, I give them both the UK and USA numbers, and for family at home they have the 1800 number mentioned (or they use the USA IP phone I have on my desk at home).

 

[Limewood]

Last trip to US just walked into a AT&T store received a free sim, logged in and for a month was $30, cancelled out on departing.

What is best one for Phone in Europe?, only be maybe a dozen local calls in 4 countries as most are incoming. Do they keep same number?

 

[drewbles]

T mobile. $80 unlimited everything. valid for 30 days.
or they do a $3 per day unlimited everything.

Sim card is +$10

AT&T $60/month unlimited, Free SIM.
SIMple Mobile used to be dirt cheap, but it's not now (AT&T is better value).

Keep in mind, what they call 4G in the USA is actually HSDPA+, or 3.5G. True LTE 4G is referred to as LTE there, and requires a US compatible handset (they use different frequencies/bands in the US for LTE than we do although the iPad Air Cellular works there as it has the right chipset).

 

[drewbles]

If you are just going to one country, then the local SIM is the best option. But if you want something to work in multiple countries, then the various travel sims can eb good. I use the one drewbles mentions that has a +44 UK number as the primary number, and it also provides a USA number 9costs $0.50 per month to keep the same USA number, or can request a new USA number any time for free and it remains active if used at least once every 2 months - so just send an SMS to keep it active.

While it certainly works, its a little more kludgy than a local SIM, but I can use it anywhere. Since getting it, I have used it in Singapore, Hong Kong, Finnland, Lithuania, UK, France, Germany and the USA.

However, I slipped the SIM into my phone here in Australia a few days ago (for some testing of USA VoIP phone and noting caller-ID) and it would not connect to a local telco, so I am not sure what is going on there. I have certainly had it work in Australia before. I also had a few issues in the USA last month where I was unable to make or receive calls even though it showed as connected to T-Mobile. A reboot of my phone brought it back to life. I had that happen at least twice and never have to reboot my phone here (Telstra iPhone 5).

I do not use it for mobile data. That just chews through the credit way too fast. When traveling I just rely on WiFi in the hotel/airport/office/public hotspots for data communications.

For people calling me, I give them both the UK and USA numbers, and for family at home they have the 1800 number mentioned (or they use the USA IP phone I have on my desk at home).

If you're having any issues NM, just drop me a PM and i'll pass you my email so we can get it working for you (and i'm not even tech support ).

 

[Robert K]

AT&T $60/month unlimited, Free SIM.
SIMple Mobile used to be dirt cheap, but it's not now (AT&T is better value).

Keep in mind, what they call 4G in the USA is actually HSDPA+, or 3.5G. True LTE 4G is referred to as LTE there, and requires a US compatible handset (they use different frequencies/bands in the US for LTE than we do although the iPad Air Cellular works there as it has the right chipset).

$60 ATT is 2Gb data. Fine for most people. It's nice to not have to worry about data and have photos backing up on the go.

 

[NM]

If you're having any issues NM, just drop me a PM and i'll pass you my email so we can get it working for you (and i'm not even tech support ).

This prompted me to test again today. Once I set the carrier to "Telstra" manually, its now working properly again when set to automatic carrier selection . Not sure why and can only guess its something strange with my iPhone. Maybe time to go to IOS7.1??

 

[ozkid]

Have used/using travelsim, here is what I think of it:
Advantages
one phone number to give out
multicountry, just stick in and keep it throughout your travels
telephone service and email support has been very quick in my experience
top up via SMS or online
to maintain the service, can do a dummy call to keep the phone number "alive"

Disadv
it's more expensive service to use compared to local country SIMs
process of ringing is convoluted - you have to ring the service first, then hang up before the call connects through
(for my travel phone - a cheapie Android Nexus X) - the SIM doesn't work automagically, known problem, so have to enter in #xx* codes so fiddly
SIM did not connect whilst I was in Nepal last month; tried multiple troubleshooting with tech support who said should work in Nepal. Once arrived in Malaysia was fine.

Impression:
It is useful if country hopping, and staying in each country for brief periods. Less hassle than buying individual country SIMs
However if staying for any length of time/high usage either data or phone, then a local SIM is preferable