Need unlimited or a lot of mobile data traveling to Europe. (sim card question)
Mar 11, 2019, 10:25 pm
#31
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2019
Posts: 29
I think you need to find a UK based forum to find more about Three and 3g
The UK seems to be pretty good at giving you tons of Gigs for UK data ,. But how much you can use on the continent is limit ,
You might ask if its better to get 2 accounts for more data,
Is there a blog for video bloggers ? Ask them ...
I am going to bet you will end up in many places with not enough signal to send what you want to stream ,
The UK seems to be pretty good at giving you tons of Gigs for UK data ,. But how much you can use on the continent is limit ,
You might ask if its better to get 2 accounts for more data,
Is there a blog for video bloggers ? Ask them ...
I am going to bet you will end up in many places with not enough signal to send what you want to stream ,
Mar 12, 2019, 9:15 am
#32
Join Date: May 2013
Posts: 916
Yeah , 2 sim cards , stagger the start so you get your 35 days ,
but really if you are in London , a phone shop will know more deals then you will find searching yourself ,
You may also just buy an extra top up card that you can activate in Europe ,
It's been reported that Three website needs a UK credit/debit card , so plan on that and get it done in London.
but really if you are in London , a phone shop will know more deals then you will find searching yourself ,
You may also just buy an extra top up card that you can activate in Europe ,
It's been reported that Three website needs a UK credit/debit card , so plan on that and get it done in London.
Mar 14, 2019, 5:38 pm
#33
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IIRC offline mode is only for people who sign up for Pandora Premium.
The US is actually one of the most expensive countries in the Western world for cell service. A lot of the "unlimited" plans that are offered now have restrictions or throttle/zero-rate certain content unless you pay extra, not to mention that $50/line or lower on the major carriers tends to require a significant number of lines on one's account (at least with T-Mobile).
That said, based on your planned usage, I feel like it might be worthwhile to buy a separate SIM card for each country you're going to be in. At least you'll have peace of mind that you won't run into any roaming limits or surprises with the available bandwidth, if nothing else.
Thanks for all the responses. I know my biggest data usuage will be skype calls. fb live. They are heavy data usage eaters. I'm going to vlog(youtube, few other sites, as well as fb live, and video call with family) while I'm out around europe. So I know theres no way to really prevent using it. I just need to figure out what the best plan I'm going to need that covers heavy data usuage for skype video calls, fb live and being on live video while out on my cell phone.
USA is great on monthly cell phone bills. Out here we have tons of companys that have "unlimited" everything. I paid a set fee of $50 usd a monthly that includes everything from unlimted texts, unlimited calling, unlimited data ( I think they start throttling around 35gbs a month) and I have maybe 1 time if that hit the 35gb a month in several years of being with them. But that was because I basically used it tethering for like 2 weeks straight and did heavy usuage all the time. It doesnt seem like Europe has anything close to what I need especially for around the $50 usd a month that I pay now. So I'm probably looking at the cheapest option for at least 15 gbs if not more?
To clarify I will use it for pandora and maps and regular surfing but I would predict 80% of all data I use will be skype video, facebook live, and streaming type of video calling. There has to be something that at least can get me close to what I use now?
USA is great on monthly cell phone bills. Out here we have tons of companys that have "unlimited" everything. I paid a set fee of $50 usd a monthly that includes everything from unlimted texts, unlimited calling, unlimited data ( I think they start throttling around 35gbs a month) and I have maybe 1 time if that hit the 35gb a month in several years of being with them. But that was because I basically used it tethering for like 2 weeks straight and did heavy usuage all the time. It doesnt seem like Europe has anything close to what I need especially for around the $50 usd a month that I pay now. So I'm probably looking at the cheapest option for at least 15 gbs if not more?
To clarify I will use it for pandora and maps and regular surfing but I would predict 80% of all data I use will be skype video, facebook live, and streaming type of video calling. There has to be something that at least can get me close to what I use now?
That said, based on your planned usage, I feel like it might be worthwhile to buy a separate SIM card for each country you're going to be in. At least you'll have peace of mind that you won't run into any roaming limits or surprises with the available bandwidth, if nothing else.
Mar 14, 2019, 8:21 pm
#34
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2019
Posts: 29
IIRC offline mode is only for people who sign up for Pandora Premium.
The US is actually one of the most expensive countries in the Western world for cell service. A lot of the "unlimited" plans that are offered now have restrictions or throttle/zero-rate certain content unless you pay extra, not to mention that $50/line or lower on the major carriers tends to require a significant number of lines on one's account (at least with T-Mobile).
That said, based on your planned usage, I feel like it might be worthwhile to buy a separate SIM card for each country you're going to be in. At least you'll have peace of mind that you won't run into any roaming limits or surprises with the available bandwidth, if nothing else.
The US is actually one of the most expensive countries in the Western world for cell service. A lot of the "unlimited" plans that are offered now have restrictions or throttle/zero-rate certain content unless you pay extra, not to mention that $50/line or lower on the major carriers tends to require a significant number of lines on one's account (at least with T-Mobile).
That said, based on your planned usage, I feel like it might be worthwhile to buy a separate SIM card for each country you're going to be in. At least you'll have peace of mind that you won't run into any roaming limits or surprises with the available bandwidth, if nothing else.
wow really? Separate sim cards for like 6 or 7 countires? wouldnt that cost a ton of money? I guess I'm spoiled in america we have a huge pre paid provider. Where $50 gets you unlimited EVERYTHING (up to 35gbs which even I never reach) including unlimited mins, text, mobile data, plus unlimited tethering. That's why I been with this company for over 15 years no major brand can even come close to the price or the value of unlimited as my phone company. Let me post a link to show you my current plan so you guys can get an idea of what I receive on my $50 unlimited plan.
https://www.metropcs.com/shop/plans
Mar 14, 2019, 9:09 pm
#35
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wow really? Separate sim cards for like 6 or 7 countires? wouldnt that cost a ton of money? I guess I'm spoiled in america we have a huge pre paid provider. Where $50 gets you unlimited EVERYTHING (up to 35gbs which even I never reach) including unlimited mins, text, mobile data, plus unlimited tethering. That's why I been with this company for over 15 years no major brand can even come close to the price or the value of unlimited as my phone company. Let me post a link to show you my current plan so you guys can get an idea of what I receive on my $50 unlimited plan.
https://www.metropcs.com/shop/plans
https://www.metropcs.com/shop/plans
If congested, the fraction of users >35 GB/mo. may notice reduced speeds and Metro customers may notice reduced speeds vs. T-Mobile due to prioritization.
Anyway, per https://stream.twitch.tv/encoding/ (other services are similar) you probably want to expect around 1.5GB/hour of data usage for 1080p video streaming at the low end. Eight hours of video streaming would put you over the 12GB EU roaming maximum before taking any other data usage into account. And that's before considering that not every country you'll be roaming on will give you LTE data. Hence the suggestion to get a separate SIM card for each country to avoid the 3G issue and to ensure you'll have enough data. You wouldn't necessarily need to get the unlimited/high data SIM for each country either depending on how long you're staying in that location--but that's something you'll have to research more on.
Mar 14, 2019, 9:23 pm
#36
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2019
Posts: 29
Note the catch at the bottom of the linked page:
Now you may never get throttled after 35GB depending on your location, but plans elsewhere do give you more unrestricted data. For instance, Three UK mentioned earlier effectively has 1TB of domestic data on their unlimited prepaid plans per their "fair use" policy--for almost the same cost.
Anyway, per https://stream.twitch.tv/encoding/ (other services are similar) you probably want to expect around 1.5GB/hour of data usage for 1080p video streaming at the low end. Eight hours of video streaming would put you over the 12GB EU roaming maximum before taking any other data usage into account. And that's before considering that not every country you'll be roaming on will give you LTE data. Hence the suggestion to get a separate SIM card for each country to avoid the 3G issue and to ensure you'll have enough data. You wouldn't necessarily need to get the unlimited/high data SIM for each country either depending on how long you're staying in that location--but that's something you'll have to research more on.
Now you may never get throttled after 35GB depending on your location, but plans elsewhere do give you more unrestricted data. For instance, Three UK mentioned earlier effectively has 1TB of domestic data on their unlimited prepaid plans per their "fair use" policy--for almost the same cost.
Anyway, per https://stream.twitch.tv/encoding/ (other services are similar) you probably want to expect around 1.5GB/hour of data usage for 1080p video streaming at the low end. Eight hours of video streaming would put you over the 12GB EU roaming maximum before taking any other data usage into account. And that's before considering that not every country you'll be roaming on will give you LTE data. Hence the suggestion to get a separate SIM card for each country to avoid the 3G issue and to ensure you'll have enough data. You wouldn't necessarily need to get the unlimited/high data SIM for each country either depending on how long you're staying in that location--but that's something you'll have to research more on.
I would LOVE to get the same exact plan that I'm on here in the united states where I get everything unlimited and it gets throttled at 35gbs. Because most months I only use half that amount maybe a tad more. And its a flat $50 never had an issue once. It doesn't seem like I'm going to find any type of deal like that especially price wise, or gb wise?
Mar 15, 2019, 12:48 pm
#37
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Yea that 35gbs would be more than enough for me. Because thats the plan I have been on for 2 yrs and never have I went over 21/22 gbs and never been throttled. The problem comes in with UK max 12gb thats where it really hurts me. I need to figure out how to get that extra 7-10 gbs extra that I need for the whole month without having to spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars. Just thinking if I'm going to be buying a sim card for each country (assuming 5-7 countries) even if the sim card by its self was $10 with the most minimum mobile data I'm looking at over $100-200 just for 1 month of service. So unless I'm missing something or over stating the price of the separate sim cards for each country then that really wouldnt work either.
I would LOVE to get the same exact plan that I'm on here in the united states where I get everything unlimited and it gets throttled at 35gbs. Because most months I only use half that amount maybe a tad more. And its a flat $50 never had an issue once. It doesn't seem like I'm going to find any type of deal like that especially price wise, or gb wise?
I would LOVE to get the same exact plan that I'm on here in the united states where I get everything unlimited and it gets throttled at 35gbs. Because most months I only use half that amount maybe a tad more. And its a flat $50 never had an issue once. It doesn't seem like I'm going to find any type of deal like that especially price wise, or gb wise?
Mar 16, 2019, 4:42 am
#38
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2019
Posts: 29
Maybe Simya? 35GB of data is €28 (~$32 currently) according to this and per their Fair Usage Policy you may be okay for the length of your stay. The difficulty is that they'll only mail the SIM card to a Spanish address unless you buy one in person.
https://www.giffgaff.com/sim-only-plans
and
https://www.vodafone.co.uk/mobile/be...deals#overview
Mar 16, 2019, 11:37 am
#39
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That would be enough gbs. Not sure if they have a store near london? Or better yet near the airport in london? If not I got some advice from a few europeans and they gave me info on these 2 companies. They seem to match my criteria and price. I'm going to put a link below to both of them so that if people in the future ever ask the same question they can find these companies.
https://www.giffgaff.com/sim-only-plans
and
https://www.vodafone.co.uk/mobile/be...deals#overview
https://www.giffgaff.com/sim-only-plans
and
https://www.vodafone.co.uk/mobile/be...deals#overview
BTW from Giffgaff's fair use policy (bold mine), which could impact video streaming:
With our Always On goodybag, when you use a lot of data, it slows things down for everyone. So to keep things fair, we keep an eye on how much data you, and all our members, are using. When travelling in the EU and our other selected destinations with our Always On goodybag, once you have used over 20GB of data, your speed will be reduced to 384 kbps between 8am and midnight GMT and you will be charged 0.47p per MB for the remainder of your goodybag
Mar 16, 2019, 2:02 pm
#40
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2019
Posts: 29
Simya is a Spanish company so it's unlikely there are any UK stores you can go to.
BTW from Giffgaff's fair use policy (bold mine), which could impact video streaming:
BTW from Giffgaff's fair use policy (bold mine), which could impact video streaming:
I'm not sure if I can just buy a new sim card from giffgaff if I hit the 20gb mark? So that I can get another 20 gb on a new card and avoid paying per min?
Also I have to see what vodaphone throttling or where they have a gb limit where they start to limit you as well.
Mar 19, 2019, 8:03 am
#41
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Beijing
Posts: 349
SOrry about that, just thought it would be a simple, straight forward question of how and where to get a unlimited (or 15/20+gb ) sim card. Out here in the united states tons of pre paid "unlimited" data plans pay 50 bucks get unlimited everything including data. Thought europe might have something simple and easy like that?
As you gathered EU is rather fragmented in terms of SIM's and offers. I dont think its been mentioned, but SIMYO offers some perfect solutions. You can get a SIM from stores in Spain (need to register with ID) or might be able to do it online. The best thing about SIMYO is the way you can manage your account. I am using it for several months now, and pay around 15 Euro/month for between 10-20GB data and free minutes:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simyo
- you choose prepaid or contract (which you can also change)
- you choose the minutes, and data
- you can pause your usage (no credit on the account, no access to data bundle, etc upto 6 months I believe)
- data rolls over to the next month if not used
- connection is on 4G with no throttling etc
- can be topped up online with credit card/paypal etc
- plenty of bundles and options to suit most people
I guess the only downsides are, you need to register the SIM (passport) and the website/No is in Spanish (for Spain)
Mar 19, 2019, 8:06 am
#42
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Beijing
Posts: 349
https://www.simyo.es/mapa-tiendas.html
Mar 20, 2019, 7:01 am
#43
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2019
Posts: 29
I hear you... no need to be told how much data what needs...
As you gathered EU is rather fragmented in terms of SIM's and offers. I dont think its been mentioned, but SIMYO offers some perfect solutions. You can get a SIM from stores in Spain (need to register with ID) or might be able to do it online. The best thing about SIMYO is the way you can manage your account. I am using it for several months now, and pay around 15 Euro/month for between 10-20GB data and free minutes:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simyo
- you choose prepaid or contract (which you can also change)
- you choose the minutes, and data
- you can pause your usage (no credit on the account, no access to data bundle, etc upto 6 months I believe)
- data rolls over to the next month if not used
- connection is on 4G with no throttling etc
- can be topped up online with credit card/paypal etc
- plenty of bundles and options to suit most people
I guess the only downsides are, you need to register the SIM (passport) and the website/No is in Spanish (for Spain)
As you gathered EU is rather fragmented in terms of SIM's and offers. I dont think its been mentioned, but SIMYO offers some perfect solutions. You can get a SIM from stores in Spain (need to register with ID) or might be able to do it online. The best thing about SIMYO is the way you can manage your account. I am using it for several months now, and pay around 15 Euro/month for between 10-20GB data and free minutes:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simyo
- you choose prepaid or contract (which you can also change)
- you choose the minutes, and data
- you can pause your usage (no credit on the account, no access to data bundle, etc upto 6 months I believe)
- data rolls over to the next month if not used
- connection is on 4G with no throttling etc
- can be topped up online with credit card/paypal etc
- plenty of bundles and options to suit most people
I guess the only downsides are, you need to register the SIM (passport) and the website/No is in Spanish (for Spain)
This down sound like a perfect deal for me. Problem is I wont be in spain until like the 10th day of my trip. I land in london and stay there for the first 3/4 days then head to portugal first. That might be the only deal breaker is having to be in spain to get this sim card. I cant wait that long being in another country with no phone. HMM.
Mar 20, 2019, 10:55 am
#45
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Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: San Diego, CA
Programs: GE, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 15,507
There's also a $60-80 maximum per month, so if you do end up using more than that in data, it won't completely break the bank. However, I'm not sure OP would necessarily want to change carriers (though Fi generally uses T-Mobile in the US, like MetroPCS) or have a second phone plan.