[consolidated] Prepaid SIM cards outside USA
#332
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Shanghai
Posts: 41,825
I hope you signed up for monthly plan. I have the same SIM and it was shockingly expensive before I got a plan. Even "Set A" saves a lot of money.
I recently got the unlocked galaxy nexus and i use the walmart t mobile prepaid sim in it at home. But in china i went to the china unicom store and got the 64 rmb sim plus an unlucky number for 100 rmb ai. 300 mb data refillable. The store guy had to put in the APN which is 3gnet. The MCC is 460, the MNC is 01, the authentication type is PAP or CHAP and the protocol is IPv4. I don't know what any of that means. What was great was I got HSPA+ in Shanghai. Ping 120, down about 2 mbs and up about 1 mbs. So at least in central shanghai its not just 3G. Several phone calls, google maps, VPN on the phone, and foxfi to make it a hotspot. Heading to the 3 Gorges on a cruise and I hope to report back.
#333
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: I 35 south bound, finally stopped
Programs: LT Plt, 4mm, *A GLD, burned out medical provider, executing our estate plan
Posts: 1,663
Got the plan
Ping 206 2.1 mbs down and 1 up China Unicom hspa+ at the airport
#334
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Shanghai
Posts: 41,825
Well, 8s are best, and 4s our worst, but the vast majority of phone numbers sell for pretty close to face value. Though very good numbers can fetch millions.
#335
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Hong Kong
Posts: 2,068
Italy and UK?
Hi
I'm going to both the UK and Italy for about 2.5 weeks.
For the UK I will require calling and for Italy basically just data. I will be in Rome and Sardinia in Italy.
Ideally I would just want one sim card to cover both, but appreciate this may not be possible. In the UK I'm getting Giff Gaff (sp?). However what are my options for Italy?
Thanks!
I'm going to both the UK and Italy for about 2.5 weeks.
For the UK I will require calling and for Italy basically just data. I will be in Rome and Sardinia in Italy.
Ideally I would just want one sim card to cover both, but appreciate this may not be possible. In the UK I'm getting Giff Gaff (sp?). However what are my options for Italy?
Thanks!
#336
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: NYC
Programs: All of them...
Posts: 382
In Poland I used Plus, you can buy the sim anywhere, no passport needed. The sim I got is called 'Plus Internet na Karte', and for 10zl you get about 150mb of data. The sim costs 9zl and comes with 9zl on it. You can top-off in any gas station, convenience shop, they have some kind of machine, you tell the name of service and it prints out a receipt with a pin and you call a number and put the pin and it refills. I have forgot about 'APNs' so I didn't have data when I got there, the next day I went to a Plus shop (first day there was a holiday), and he set me up the APN and it works fine. Calls to the USA costs 1.80zl
#337
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: I 35 south bound, finally stopped
Programs: LT Plt, 4mm, *A GLD, burned out medical provider, executing our estate plan
Posts: 1,663
lucky numbers
Mine ended in 4, so I suspect it was cheap. HSPA+ in yichang and Chongqing. Edge and 3 g on the Yangtze river between those two cities using china Unicom. I also got 3-4G outside of Shanghai and Chongqing, roughly 2.5 hours drive into the wilderness including the Dezu world heritage site. A VPN allowed me to watch amazon prime video with this solution. Overall I thought the China coverage from Shanghai to Chongqing was the equal of anywhere in Europe we have been. YMMV
#338
Join Date: Dec 2006
Programs: QF LTG, SPG LTPlat, Accor, SP, JAL
Posts: 56
Didn't see this but you can add Straighttalk BYOD SIM http://www.straighttalk.com/ShopSims as a prepaid sim in the USA for unlocked gsm devices. Been using it for a while and it works quite well!
After trying to order the SIM online, to be delivered to my hotel in San Diego, and having no success (their website claimed problems with my CC) I contacted Support
Over two or three days, we went through a ballet of "try this" or "try that" to no avail
They finally stated that "Note: If the credit card that you have right now will not work in purchasing a SIM card online, you need to use the United States issued"
So that counts me out.
Why couldn't they say that from the beginning and save me all that hassle?
#339
Join Date: Jan 2007
Programs: No single airline or hotel chain is of much use to me anymore.
Posts: 3,275
Simple Mobile has worked with all the foreign credit cards we have thrown at it.
#340
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Toronto, Canada
Programs: Marriott Lifetime Gold
Posts: 374
Advice needed on getting a sim card for use in San Francisco and other states
Hi everyone my cousin is arriving from Asia tomorrow landing San Francisco. He just realised that he needs to use his iPhone 4s but he does not have a sim card here for North America voice and data usage (needs this as a GPS as well).
If anyone can help to suggest something for him e.g. where to buy a sim card and then prepay for data and voice usage within the U.S. for 2 weeks (online order for a sim card is not a choice since he is on a road trip), that would be great.
Thanks a lot!
If anyone can help to suggest something for him e.g. where to buy a sim card and then prepay for data and voice usage within the U.S. for 2 weeks (online order for a sim card is not a choice since he is on a road trip), that would be great.
Thanks a lot!
#341
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: USA
Posts: 3,945
Any suggestion on how to purchase a two separate SIMs with voice and data. One for Denamrk and another one for Sweden? Would like to have them prior to my trip.
#342
Join Date: Oct 2011
Programs: CX
Posts: 25
I'm going to Hong Kong for about 2 and half months. Any suggestions for a MiFi device and also which carrier to go to for best reliability and speed (and also cost :P)
#343
Suspended
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Bay Area
Programs: DL SM, UA MP.
Posts: 12,729
Search the thread for Hong Kong.
I got the CSL SIM for about $10 USD and it included all the data I used in a week.
Now I'm not sure if there was a limit/cap or I just didn't use enough of it to hit a cap. I used it in the hotel instead of paying for hotel wifi IIRC.
I bought a Huawei E585 off eBay for about $110, from a Hong Kong seller incidentally. Took about 2-3 weeks to arrive.
I got the CSL SIM for about $10 USD and it included all the data I used in a week.
Now I'm not sure if there was a limit/cap or I just didn't use enough of it to hit a cap. I used it in the hotel instead of paying for hotel wifi IIRC.
I bought a Huawei E585 off eBay for about $110, from a Hong Kong seller incidentally. Took about 2-3 weeks to arrive.
#344
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Shanghai
Posts: 41,825
Most of my friends in HK use 1010, and pay around hk400 per month for unlimited data (including tethering), 3000 minutes of talk time, 100 IDD minutes, and 200 text messages. Meanwhile, when I was down there last week, I picked up a PCCW SIM card, which ended up being extremely expensive for me (i.e. a 20 minute phone call to Shanghai costs nearly hk100... I know I must have been some prepend number I could/should have used, but I didn't and I paid the price).
#345
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Liberty International...
Programs: OMNI Platinum
Posts: 9,721
I asked this in the India forum, but didn't get an answer, can anyone recommend a good prepaid data/voice sim for south India *Kerala, Cochin -metro city*