wchiri

If Switzerland is first port of call, and we end up buying one of the above mentioned sim cards, would there be a plan available to continue with that simcard for Norway, Denmark, Turkey? Or keep buying simcards?

ToGo

no you need for each contry a new simcard. Roaming (depending on witch contry you have an contract) is expensive. In my case 0,24 €/ MB

Roger

If you want the convenience of just one SIM, take a look at www.togglemobile.com which can provide local numbers for Switzerland, Norway and Denmark as well as 10 other countries including the USA. It's a low cost PAYG operation.

You will need to activate local numbers. Check the website for more info.

For Turkey, it depends how much you will need a Turkish number. If a lot, get a Turkish SIM. If not much, probably better to use a Toggle or other and roam.

devans999

Couple of data points for data/internet access:
arrived zurich airport, swisscom shop was out of sim cards, and I needed online access right away, so I picked up a orange sim with 1gb data (the most they offered) for quick temporary access. No issues, it worked fine with my huawei e586 mifi, I think it was around 10chf (didn't keep that receipt).

Went to the zurich train station, as I was really wanting the swisscom 5 chf/5gb/day plan. Got the sim, got the credit put on it, but couldn't seem to get online. The clerk (with language barrier), said it might take a little time to activate. The store was packed, I was in a hurry, so I left assuming it would work later. I could text from the mifi, see credit etc, but couldn't get data to work. Tried everything I could with the mifi, tried using the sim in my nexus 5 phone (which I think should at least get 2g data), but same thing. Could text etc, but data never worked. Wasn't anywhere close to a swisscom store, so basically it's just money lost. Perhaps I got a voice/sms only card of some sort. Ended up just using the orange sim and conserving the amount of data I used.

ToGo

1) You register your Simcard in the Shop?
2) you have to use this "NATEL® easy smart"
3) and you have to activate it here: http://cockpit.swisscom.ch/

h15t0r1an

devans999 your money is not lost you might need to change the network name. It is quite easy but I forget exactly how or what the network name is called. Perhaps someone on the thread knows the exact terminology? This would be if it still does not work after you follow the instructions from ToGo below (as Switzerland requires SIM cards to be registered).

devans999

Believe me, I spent hours trying to get it to work (I work in IT, so I'm pretty good at sorting out these kinds of issues). The card was registered, I purchased in person at the swisscom store, they used my passport to set it up, it was activated on the link provided above, and I had the correct APN setup on the device. As I mentioned, it worked well with orange, so perhaps it was just an swisscom incompatibility with the huawei mifi or some other configuration error when the sim card was purchased. I've used the mifi in several other countries, before and after switerland, so it wasn't an issue with the mifi.

Regardless, I'm back home in the US now, so I can't do much else with it, and it worked out with Orange anyway. Just a small vacation expense.

ab_initio

Updates from Switzerland:

1. Orange is now called "Salt." (yeah, weird)
2. Both Swisscomm and Salt. are at ZRH.
3. Swisscomm was out of nano sims so I had no choice but to go to Salt.
4. Paid 10 CHF for 1 GB of data, good for 6 months, with a hotspot feature as well.
5. My US passport was required for the SIM card procurement.
6. Salt. speed is great (mix of 3G and 4G) in nearly all Zurich zones - can't speak to Lucern or Bern.

fly2nrt

Thanks for this... guessing you don't have to be a resident of Switzerland to get a prepaid sim.

ab_initio

Correct

boberonicus

Needed a SIM upon landing in Geneva and was told that the only store selling SIMs was the post office. They were unable to sell me one (something was broken) so I picked up a "Yallo" SIM card at the Swiss Post Office in Zurich.

For 10 CHF, I got a SIM with 200? MB of data and 20 CHF of credit. Had to show my passport, and the process was slow, as they needed stuff not on the passport, like current address.

You can only apply the 20 CHF credit after the first batch of data runs out. Then you can choose roaming plans, or just data, in various increments. I texted "SURF1000" to the same SMS address that had been sending me ads and notifications, and 15 CHF of my free 20 CHF was used to allocate a 1GB block.

Yallo provided 4G coverage in Zurich, Geneva, Lausanne, and on the train between those places, sometime dipping to 3G. I'd use them again.

shuigao

Adding a data point. Was able to get a SwissCom prepaid SIM card at the Geneva Airport Post Office. chf19.90 for 100mb of 'free' data and chf20 of credit. After the 100mb of free data was used up, auto deduction of chf2/day for data.

wco81

UAPremExecflyer

Swisscom coverage is pretty ubiquitous - better than other carriers, particularly in rural areas.
Also, there is so much free WiFi available, why do you need all that data?
Every time I'm in Switzerland, I never come remotely close to my data allowance(s).

Dread Pirate Jeff

One thing to consider, in the EU, roaming has been relaxed so you can buy a sim in one EU country and use it pretty much across Europe. For example, I was there this past spring for a week in Budapest followed by a week in Switzerland (plus Germany and France). I bought a vodaphone SIM in Budapest for something like 40EUR (if I remember correctly) and used it in all four countries plus it worked during my overnight layover in London on the way home. Even though Switzerland is not part of the EU, Swisscom honors EU Roaming from at least some providers, YMMV, be sure to research them.

I was prepared to also buy a Swisscom SIM, but found it was not necessary. But my experience depends on you entering Europe elsewhere at least long enough to buy a SIM before transiting onwards to Switzerland.

Also, 40 Euro is steep for a SIM, but by comparison, if I had used VZW to roam, it would have cost me $10 per day, and if I had bought a SIM in Hungary and then in Switzerland, I would have come close to, or over, 40 EUR anyway.