Prepaid SIM - China
Jun 23, 2013, 2:11 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2010
Posts: 184
Prepaid SIM - China
Hey FTers!
I'll be in China for the next three weeks, and I was hoping to pick up a cheap sim card for data for my iPad mini. I was hoping you could provide me some info on where to find that, how much it would cost, etc.
Thanks in advance!
I'll be in China for the next three weeks, and I was hoping to pick up a cheap sim card for data for my iPad mini. I was hoping you could provide me some info on where to find that, how much it would cost, etc.
Thanks in advance!
Jun 23, 2013, 4:14 pm
#2
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: New England
Programs: UA 1K / HH Diamond
Posts: 239
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 5_0 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A334 Safari/7534.48.3)
Not sure how would you deifine "cheap". It's American being cheap now a days when you see how the Chinese torurists here...
To the point, you might want to get China Unicon pre-pay data sim, 3GB or 6GB, 3 months and one year validitiies, reapectively.
Price is about 100 RMB (17USD)per GB in store, half of that online.
Not sure how would you deifine "cheap". It's American being cheap now a days when you see how the Chinese torurists here...
To the point, you might want to get China Unicon pre-pay data sim, 3GB or 6GB, 3 months and one year validitiies, reapectively.
Price is about 100 RMB (17USD)per GB in store, half of that online.
Jun 24, 2013, 7:45 am
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2010
Posts: 184
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 5_0 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A334 Safari/7534.48.3)
To the point, you might want to get China Unicon pre-pay data sim, 3GB or 6GB, 3 months and one year validitiies, reapectively.
Price is about 100 RMB (17USD)per GB in store, half of that online.
To the point, you might want to get China Unicon pre-pay data sim, 3GB or 6GB, 3 months and one year validitiies, reapectively.
Price is about 100 RMB (17USD)per GB in store, half of that online.
Thanks.
Jul 21, 2013, 8:24 pm
#4
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: USA
Programs: UA 1K, Starwood Platinum, Hyatt Diamond
Posts: 982
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 5_0 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A334 Safari/7534.48.3)
Not sure how would you deifine "cheap". It's American being cheap now a days when you see how the Chinese torurists here...
To the point, you might want to get China Unicon pre-pay data sim, 3GB or 6GB, 3 months and one year validitiies, reapectively.
Price is about 100 RMB (17USD)per GB in store, half of that online.
Not sure how would you deifine "cheap". It's American being cheap now a days when you see how the Chinese torurists here...
To the point, you might want to get China Unicon pre-pay data sim, 3GB or 6GB, 3 months and one year validitiies, reapectively.
Price is about 100 RMB (17USD)per GB in store, half of that online.
Jul 22, 2013, 9:08 am
#5
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 160
Where/how do you buy online? http://www.3gsolutions.com.cn/page/simcard will sell prepaid cards, but they make a healthy profit.
Aug 25, 2013, 4:38 pm
#6
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2010
Posts: 184
I ended up buying one in a Hutong in Beijing, only to realize I didn't have a sim card key. I tried everything, but I couldn't get it open until I finally went to the Apple store in Shanghai.
Aug 26, 2013, 3:55 am
#7
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Shanghai
Posts: 42,039
I used to be a devout supporter of China Mobile because the service is great.
But, I have since discovered that Unicom is far cheaper. In spite of the fact that I have a Shanghai number, and I'm not in Shanghai, I still manage to keep my bill under Y125 per month (compared with Y450 on Mobile). But, in order to make Unicom work, it is essential to get on one of their plans (I use set B), and these kick in at the beginning of each calendar month.
But, I have since discovered that Unicom is far cheaper. In spite of the fact that I have a Shanghai number, and I'm not in Shanghai, I still manage to keep my bill under Y125 per month (compared with Y450 on Mobile). But, in order to make Unicom work, it is essential to get on one of their plans (I use set B), and these kick in at the beginning of each calendar month.
May 22, 2014, 6:09 am
#8
Join Date: Aug 2012
Programs: DL FO, AA
Posts: 63
PVG SIM/WiFi?
Can I purchase a China SIM card somewhere at Shanghai Pudong? If so, where? Will they speak English? Also, how does WiFi work at PVG? The authentication pages seem to want a phone number. I don't mind paying a reasonable price if there is one, the process just seems different than the US?
May 22, 2014, 9:10 am
#9
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Shanghai
Posts: 42,039
Can I purchase a China SIM card somewhere at Shanghai Pudong? If so, where? Will they speak English? Also, how does WiFi work at PVG? The authentication pages seem to want a phone number. I don't mind paying a reasonable price if there is one, the process just seems different than the US?
May 23, 2014, 11:09 am
#11
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Shanghai
Posts: 42,039
The answer is yes for both Mobile and Unicom, but my understanding is that only handsets which support TD-LTE (odds are high that yours DOES not) work. See here for example:
http://www.techinasia.com/china-unicom-rolls-out-4g/
This, and the fact that TD-LTE is brand new, helps explain why penetration is so low (e.g. check out the comparative numbers in the following article):
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-0...into-text.html
http://www.techinasia.com/china-unicom-rolls-out-4g/
This, and the fact that TD-LTE is brand new, helps explain why penetration is so low (e.g. check out the comparative numbers in the following article):
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-0...into-text.html
May 23, 2014, 12:40 pm
#12
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: NUE
Programs: BAEC Silver, FB Gold, HHonors Gold, IHG Platinum, SK Diamond, ITA Volare Club Executive, TK Elite
Posts: 365
Do you have a source? @:-)
I knew this would come up. 
Stop bothering me with this. 
I familiar with the wireless industrie...
P.S. China is getting FD-LTE too...
Stop bothering me with this. I familiar with the wireless industrie...P.S. China is getting FD-LTE too...
May 23, 2014, 1:11 pm
#13
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Shanghai
Posts: 42,039
Does the Tech in Asia article seriously fail to meet your criteria for being a "source"?
ETA: When I was out and about today, I grabbed a rate card from the China Mobile people that are constantly pestering me, and there is the page with the numbers that matter:
Notes:
-both the included data and air time are only valid in the province/municipality in which the number is based, and there isn't a special roaming add on yet
-in terms of cost, prepaid and postpaid are identical
-SIMs cost Y100, including Y70 in credit
ETA: When I was out and about today, I grabbed a rate card from the China Mobile people that are constantly pestering me, and there is the page with the numbers that matter:
Notes:
-both the included data and air time are only valid in the province/municipality in which the number is based, and there isn't a special roaming add on yet
-in terms of cost, prepaid and postpaid are identical
-SIMs cost Y100, including Y70 in credit
Last edited by moondog; May 24, 2014 at 3:54 am
May 26, 2014, 11:11 am
#14
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: NUE
Programs: BAEC Silver, FB Gold, HHonors Gold, IHG Platinum, SK Diamond, ITA Volare Club Executive, TK Elite
Posts: 365
Are those the 4G prepaid plans of China Unicom?
Feb 6, 2015, 7:21 pm
#15
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Chicago 'burbs
Programs: UA 2P, HHonors Diamond, Hertz Gold
Posts: 873
Any updates on which to get? I've got a Sprint Samsung Galaxy Note 3, and my wife has the Note 4. I'd like to get something where we could call each other if we get separated (going with the kids and a couple of families so coordination can be beneficial). Loading off-line maps so mobile data, while nice, isn't essential. We'll plan to use WiFi at the hotels when available.
We're flying into PEK, doing Beijing, the train to Xian, then back to Shanghai. 9 days total. I know the back and forth might put us into multiple area which won't work.
One person in the group has T-mobile. Can anyone comment on how well T-mobile's "unlimited international roaming" will likely work?
Thanks!
We're flying into PEK, doing Beijing, the train to Xian, then back to Shanghai. 9 days total. I know the back and forth might put us into multiple area which won't work.
One person in the group has T-mobile. Can anyone comment on how well T-mobile's "unlimited international roaming" will likely work?
Thanks!