[consolidated] Prepaid SIM cards outside USA
Oct 30, 2012, 8:40 pm
#421
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Los Angeles
Programs: Marriott Platinum, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 705
I've found an interesting option I intend to use for an upcoming extended visit to Western Europe. A sim from www.Blau.de I purchased in advance of my trip from www.germansims.co.uk. The blau sim uses the t-mobile network. The advantage of their program is very low data while in germany (1 GB for 9.90 Euro). But also data in the rest of the EU is priced at 50MB for 5.00 Euro. This seems good for when going through Switzerland for only two days, or for the two days I will be in France on the TGV. They are extremely helpful and provide a lot of assistance and are very responsive.
I will be using the card in my husband's unlocked (not jailbroken) AT&T iPhone 3GS. I can't put the sim in yet, because he's still using his phone. I am expecting the arrival of my iPhone 5 before we leave. At that point, I'll give him my 4 and the now-unused 3GS will go to Germany with us.
Here's my question - there is no access to editing the APN number in Settings in his phone. I've been reading online and it seems there is some software/apps I can download to make that work.
But other reading I'm doing says that just popping in the German sim will automatically allow editing of the APN/ or set it for blau.de.
What happens when you put a foreign sim in an unlocked AT&T 3GS where there's no cellular data tab for editing the cellular network? Do you have to go through http://www.unlockit.co.nz or download Cydia and Winterboard (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qgIPDBzhco)? Or does it just know the settings for blau.de and you're all set?
The guy from Germansims gave me the APN settings for APN and MMS.
Nov 7, 2012, 5:50 pm
#422
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Santa Monica, CA
Programs: UA 1K MM, Hilton Diamond, SPG lifetime platinum
Posts: 396
I also just got a sim from this company for our trip next week to Germany (with a weekend in Paris).
I will be using the card in my husband's unlocked (not jailbroken) AT&T iPhone 3GS. I can't put the sim in yet, because he's still using his phone. I am expecting the arrival of my iPhone 5 before we leave. At that point, I'll give him my 4 and the now-unused 3GS will go to Germany with us.
Here's my question - there is no access to editing the APN number in Settings in his phone. I've been reading online and it seems there is some software/apps I can download to make that work.
But other reading I'm doing says that just popping in the German sim will automatically allow editing of the APN/ or set it for blau.de.
What happens when you put a foreign sim in an unlocked AT&T 3GS where there's no cellular data tab for editing the cellular network? Do you have to go through http://www.unlockit.co.nz or download Cydia and Winterboard (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qgIPDBzhco)? Or does it just know the settings for blau.de and you're all set?
The guy from Germansims gave me the APN settings for APN and MMS.
I will be using the card in my husband's unlocked (not jailbroken) AT&T iPhone 3GS. I can't put the sim in yet, because he's still using his phone. I am expecting the arrival of my iPhone 5 before we leave. At that point, I'll give him my 4 and the now-unused 3GS will go to Germany with us.
Here's my question - there is no access to editing the APN number in Settings in his phone. I've been reading online and it seems there is some software/apps I can download to make that work.
But other reading I'm doing says that just popping in the German sim will automatically allow editing of the APN/ or set it for blau.de.
What happens when you put a foreign sim in an unlocked AT&T 3GS where there's no cellular data tab for editing the cellular network? Do you have to go through http://www.unlockit.co.nz or download Cydia and Winterboard (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qgIPDBzhco)? Or does it just know the settings for blau.de and you're all set?
The guy from Germansims gave me the APN settings for APN and MMS.
When you arrive in Germany, insert the blau SIM into the iphone. Under settings you will then go to general/cellular/ and then you will see where to enter the APN and password. Remember to unlock the SIM or else you will need to insert the password each time you turn on the phone. The iphone 3G will have the space for the APN once the blau sim is inserted. You do not need to go to the web sites you mentioned, if your phone is truly unlocked.
The blau web site is easy to use and you can store your credit card for quick top offs. When you are in france you will be roaming so be sure to buy the EU plan in addition to the 1 GB plan.
I learned that Switzerland is not in the EU! duh. So I paid pretty hefty roaming charges on the blau card while passing through CH since the EU data roaming rates didn't apply.
Make sure your language is set to English otherwise the SIM will reset everything to german.
Nov 13, 2012, 8:45 am
#423
In Memoriam
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Easton, CT, USA
Programs: ua prem exec, Former hilton diamond
Posts: 31,801
USA - Walmart - www.internet-go.com
USA - Walmart
http://www.internet-go.com
Buy a Novatel 2200 3g Hotspot for $80 (included an additional $25 credit) either online or in the stores. Buy refills online (PIN) or in the stores.
Data rates for this device
$10 choice of 500 MB never expire, 1 GB 30 day expires
$25 choice of 1.5 GB never expires, 3 GB 30 day expires
$45 choice of 4 GB never expires, 8 GB 30 day expires
Sprint 3G network, no roaming
You can enable auto refill so you never have to deal with refills
http://www.internet-go.com
Buy a Novatel 2200 3g Hotspot for $80 (included an additional $25 credit) either online or in the stores. Buy refills online (PIN) or in the stores.
Data rates for this device
$10 choice of 500 MB never expire, 1 GB 30 day expires
$25 choice of 1.5 GB never expires, 3 GB 30 day expires
$45 choice of 4 GB never expires, 8 GB 30 day expires
Sprint 3G network, no roaming
You can enable auto refill so you never have to deal with refills
Nov 19, 2012, 5:51 pm
#424
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Los Angeles
Programs: Marriott Platinum, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 705
Update on my experience -
I loved the blau sim card - so easy! http://www.germansims.co.uk/shop/ind...=account/login was awesome to deal with.
I had my unlocked iPhone 3GS. I downloaded all the apps I wanted (Tripit, Lufthansa, Delta, the Munich, Berlin and Paris subway/train apps, etc) and my email accounts I wanted while it still had my husband's sim card in it here in the US so it was all ready to go. I put in the German sim once I was standing in Germany and it asked for the pin to unlock. After that I added the APN and MMS settings that magically appeared under Cellular. The only pain in the butt was that each time I turned off the phone for flights it asked me to unlock the PIN again. Thank goodness I had the paperwork from Germansims with me.
Germansims is a hobby/extra money venture by this guy Uwe who is amazingly responsive to endless emails asking for help. He guided me to the Smartphone L plan which gave me data roaming for France and texts, data and phone for Germany. My plan lasted my whole 10 days and cost $47. I didn't use it for data too much - mostly to look up where we were and where we were going and saved my Facebook postings for the evenings when we had the free wifi at the hotel. But I did need it to text my daughter on her German phone and a couple times to even call her. Near the end I kept getting warning messages (in German) that I was running low on texts or data but a quick email to Uwe assured me that I was still ok with no need to top up.
All in all, if anyone needs a sim while in Germany, I would HIGHLY recommend this company.
I loved the blau sim card - so easy! http://www.germansims.co.uk/shop/ind...=account/login was awesome to deal with.
I had my unlocked iPhone 3GS. I downloaded all the apps I wanted (Tripit, Lufthansa, Delta, the Munich, Berlin and Paris subway/train apps, etc) and my email accounts I wanted while it still had my husband's sim card in it here in the US so it was all ready to go. I put in the German sim once I was standing in Germany and it asked for the pin to unlock. After that I added the APN and MMS settings that magically appeared under Cellular. The only pain in the butt was that each time I turned off the phone for flights it asked me to unlock the PIN again. Thank goodness I had the paperwork from Germansims with me.
Germansims is a hobby/extra money venture by this guy Uwe who is amazingly responsive to endless emails asking for help. He guided me to the Smartphone L plan which gave me data roaming for France and texts, data and phone for Germany. My plan lasted my whole 10 days and cost $47. I didn't use it for data too much - mostly to look up where we were and where we were going and saved my Facebook postings for the evenings when we had the free wifi at the hotel. But I did need it to text my daughter on her German phone and a couple times to even call her. Near the end I kept getting warning messages (in German) that I was running low on texts or data but a quick email to Uwe assured me that I was still ok with no need to top up.
All in all, if anyone needs a sim while in Germany, I would HIGHLY recommend this company.
Nov 20, 2012, 2:13 am
#425
Join Date: Dec 2005
Programs: OW Emerald, *A Gold
Posts: 6,913
Dear fellow FTers,
I am looking for a pre-paid data sim card in Spain which is not all too expensive (but price is not the key issue) and allows to use Skype calls from time to time. He will stay for approximately 4 to 5 month. The post by allanw is more than a year old so I suspect things have changed. Would you recommend Vodafone, Carrefour, Orange or another provider. My father used Simyo two years ago but their network seems of poor quality.
Any advice would be highly appreciated.
Cheers,
totti
I am looking for a pre-paid data sim card in Spain which is not all too expensive (but price is not the key issue) and allows to use Skype calls from time to time. He will stay for approximately 4 to 5 month. The post by allanw is more than a year old so I suspect things have changed. Would you recommend Vodafone, Carrefour, Orange or another provider. My father used Simyo two years ago but their network seems of poor quality.
Any advice would be highly appreciated.
Cheers,
totti
Nov 20, 2012, 8:39 am
#426
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: BWI,IAD,DCA
Programs: UA gold, Hyatt Plat Marriott silver,Hilton Gold, PC Plat., SPG Gold.,Hertz Gold, Global Entry
Posts: 650
Dear fellow FTers,
I am looking for a pre-paid data sim card in Spain which is not all too expensive (but price is not the key issue) and allows to use Skype calls from time to time. He will stay for approximately 4 to 5 month. The post by allanw is more than a year old so I suspect things have changed. Would you recommend Vodafone, Carrefour, Orange or another provider. My father used Simyo two years ago but their network seems of poor quality.
Any advice would be highly appreciated.
Cheers,
totti
I am looking for a pre-paid data sim card in Spain which is not all too expensive (but price is not the key issue) and allows to use Skype calls from time to time. He will stay for approximately 4 to 5 month. The post by allanw is more than a year old so I suspect things have changed. Would you recommend Vodafone, Carrefour, Orange or another provider. My father used Simyo two years ago but their network seems of poor quality.
Any advice would be highly appreciated.
Cheers,
totti
Nov 20, 2012, 2:05 pm
#427
Join Date: Dec 2005
Programs: OW Emerald, *A Gold
Posts: 6,913
Look at www.prepaidgsm.net they have a list of all the cell providers as well as forums that will give you on the carrier you want. It has real good information there,
Cheers
totti
Nov 22, 2012, 9:59 am
#428
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: SF Bay Area
Posts: 191
Pre-paid data SIM cards - consolidated thread
Update on Easter Island and Peru:
EI: our host Paul (great host, rave reviews on EI thread in South America forum) had an extra full sized Entel SIM (already activated) that he allowed me to cut down to the micro size for my iPhone 4S. (Used Noosy cutter). Couldn't get data working until I finally caved in and went to the Entel store to figure out what was going on. I had $2000CHP loaded and bought the 25Mb plan for $1990CHP. The issue was there wasn't enough credit on the card even through I was subscribed to the 25Mb "bag" as they call it. Once I added an additional $2000CHP, voila! 3G all over Rapa Nui!
Lima Airport: Contrary to previous reports, I was able to go to the Claro store in the domestic terminal, buy a chip and have them register it to my passport. The downside- minimum top up was S/.60. So ended up paying S/.75 total for the chip S/.60 credit. At first, I wasn't able to activate 700 Mb plan, but after a few hours it took it. I'm typing this update on this very plan (txt 779 with the duration/plan you want. 5D for 200Mb S/.10, 10D for 700Mb S/.35 and 15D for 1.5Gb S/.69) decided to go with the 700Mb so I have pretty much unlimited data for the next 3 days and don't have to worry about it.
EI: our host Paul (great host, rave reviews on EI thread in South America forum) had an extra full sized Entel SIM (already activated) that he allowed me to cut down to the micro size for my iPhone 4S. (Used Noosy cutter). Couldn't get data working until I finally caved in and went to the Entel store to figure out what was going on. I had $2000CHP loaded and bought the 25Mb plan for $1990CHP. The issue was there wasn't enough credit on the card even through I was subscribed to the 25Mb "bag" as they call it. Once I added an additional $2000CHP, voila! 3G all over Rapa Nui!
Lima Airport: Contrary to previous reports, I was able to go to the Claro store in the domestic terminal, buy a chip and have them register it to my passport. The downside- minimum top up was S/.60. So ended up paying S/.75 total for the chip S/.60 credit. At first, I wasn't able to activate 700 Mb plan, but after a few hours it took it. I'm typing this update on this very plan (txt 779 with the duration/plan you want. 5D for 200Mb S/.10, 10D for 700Mb S/.35 and 15D for 1.5Gb S/.69) decided to go with the 700Mb so I have pretty much unlimited data for the next 3 days and don't have to worry about it.
Nov 22, 2012, 10:08 am
#429
Suspended
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Bay Area
Programs: DL SM, UA MP.
Posts: 12,729
Easter Island has 3G?
The heads don't block the signals?
The heads don't block the signals?
Nov 26, 2012, 12:05 am
#431
Join Date: Mar 2009
Programs: AA EXP, Hyatt Platinum
Posts: 101
Dear fellow FTers,
I am looking for a pre-paid data sim card in Spain which is not all too expensive (but price is not the key issue) and allows to use Skype calls from time to time. He will stay for approximately 4 to 5 month. The post by allanw is more than a year old so I suspect things have changed. Would you recommend Vodafone, Carrefour, Orange or another provider. My father used Simyo two years ago but their network seems of poor quality.
Any advice would be highly appreciated.
Cheers,
totti
I am looking for a pre-paid data sim card in Spain which is not all too expensive (but price is not the key issue) and allows to use Skype calls from time to time. He will stay for approximately 4 to 5 month. The post by allanw is more than a year old so I suspect things have changed. Would you recommend Vodafone, Carrefour, Orange or another provider. My father used Simyo two years ago but their network seems of poor quality.
Any advice would be highly appreciated.
Cheers,
totti
I tried getting another carrier but some were charging to just cut a sim card to a micro sim card to fit an iPhone 4S.
Nov 26, 2012, 4:00 pm
#432
Join Date: Mar 2003
Programs: BA GGL; AA LT Gold; AS 100K; DL MM GM; Hyatt G*list, Hilton Diamond; SQ silver
Posts: 3,806
I am in Buenos Aires and bought a Movistar prepaid SIM.
Supposedly it has a 1 peso/day data plan but I cannot get it working.
I tried all APN settings I could find on the web without success. Anybody got any idea how to get it working?
Supposedly it has a 1 peso/day data plan but I cannot get it working.
I tried all APN settings I could find on the web without success. Anybody got any idea how to get it working?
Nov 28, 2012, 11:50 am
#433
Join Date: Nov 2012
Posts: 1
Hey i am looking a tmobile sim card from Macedonia, help me somebody, it does not matter if it has service or not, thank you.
Nov 30, 2012, 1:21 am
#434
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: 60137
Posts: 10,498
Dec 1, 2012, 1:30 pm
#435
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: US
Posts: 23
Yep. I also heard of local mobile shops in various countries charging $10 to use their $3.50 nano sim cutter so the local sim would fit fit in an iPhone 5. Made me decide to buy a nano sim cutter on eBay for $5 and take it along, though you still have the risk of making a bad cut and destroying the sim. Glad Apple has now rolled out the i-5 in most countries so nano sims are more available.