Peterpack

I am looking at

https://www.worldsim.com/roaming-sim/

I will be travelling to the US and Europe

I like the idea of getting local numbers for US and UK on the one Sim.

I won't be using much data , mainly sms, phone and google maps

Is worldsim any good ?

powerlifter

There is a whole thread over at www.prepaidgsm.net. I had the sim many years ago, and I got ripped off for some money. I now use local sim cards which I find a lot easier. I have had two universal sim cards and lost money on both. The last time I looked the thoughts over at prepaid were not favorable.YMMV.

Peterpack

thanks mate

Yeah the more i read the more i think getting local sims is the best way to go

shame, guess the global sims aren't quite there yet

aukaneck

I would recommend caution with WorldSIM.

My experience was:

The U.K. number provided will not accept any incoming international calls, including those made from their own recommended roaming partner networks.

Their technical department has been working on it for one week, and finally customer service told me that if the WorldSIM card doesn't work it's my problem, and I have to contact each and every one of their roaming partners to ask them to fix the problem with the WorldSIM sim card. They even told me to provide them with feedback from their own roaming partners about the cause of the problem. They also refuse to refund the cost of the faulty WorldSIM card.

Check out other reviews, and note that sites like TrustPilot have remove false positive reviews.

If you need reliability and good service, look elsewhere.

murtaza12

There was an old company called SIM4Travel, the only Global SIM that actually worked well, it was fantastic, it was cheap, then one day I got a very sad email saying they're shutting down and they got bought by TruPhone or something like that and I couldn't keep the UK number they had assigned to me and had to get a US one instead. So I cancelled my subscription and went on looking for a new one.

Came across WorldSIM since I needed something that provided UK numbers, ordered a SIM card, absolute and utter crap. It works somewhat well in England, where it latches on to O2-UK instantly, but outside UK (which was the main purpose of me buying one), it barely ever works at all.
My dad went to Italy and was using it there, I would call and it would ring for me, however nothing on his phone. Same for Germany, only texts would go through, albeit an hour or so late, but calls were few and far between.
Then, in UAE where I travel to a lot, it doesn't work at all, despite having both carriers listed as roaming partners, it refused to latch on to either network.
I tried different phones, still nothing. Just stuck on 'Emergency Calls Only', I took it up with their customer support team who replied a week later saying you're only allowed to use it on roaming in UAE while on 2G (GSM) Only mode. WCDMA (3G) will not work, however neither worked. I tried WCDMA/GSM Auto, WCDMA only and GSM only. It would show both networks in the search menu every time, but would never actually connect to one. I went back and forth and they kept insisting my phone was faulty and everything checks out at their end. So, I just left it, if it doesn't work in Europe and it doesn't work in the UAE. Where exactly does it work, other than the UK?

Before all this bad experience however, when I received the SIM card, but hadn't used it yet, I recommended it to a relative. Damn, do I regret that. They kept asking me for tech support help then. My aunt ordered a SIM from them with a US based number to use in the US and Canada on her trip. Texts would take forever to get sent and they would be delivered to the recipient hours later. Calls, although a bit choppy, would go through fine, both in US and Canada.

In short, WorldSIM sucks, don't get it. Wasted about 40 pounds of credit.

As other members have said, it's much easier to just buy a local prepaid SIM Card and use that instead.

fwfdan

bumping this up... wondering if anyone has has recent experience with worldsim.com ?

It looks like a pretty good deal - 41USD 11GB over 30 days with 500 calls (minutes?) back to the US / within the EU

Edited to add: posted this after a search but not in this forum and now see more info on SIM options and will read those. That being said any updated info would be greatly appreciated!

der_saeufer

That's a terrible deal, as are most "roaming SIMs". You can get that much data for half that price from Three (UK) among several other European carriers. Three is particularly popular since their SIMs can be bought in advance off Amazon.com, but depending on where you start your trip there may be a better deal for sale locally. The only thing you don't get is voice calling back to the U.S. but you can get that for free from Google Voice.

fwfdan

Thanks - after looking some more I saw the Three UK One on Amazon after doing more research.... Where I was having problems at first was finding more than 14 days and wanting one that permits using my phone as a hot-spot but do see some now.

Last time I was looking was a few years ago and I seem to remember they were a LOT more than I am seeing now ...

Another question if anyone knows, when something says it cannot be used for a hotspot / tethering how do they control that? I have never used mine as a hot spot but want the option just in case, but if we really cannot no big deal.

thanks for your help!

lwildernorva

Another option is giffgaff, one of the UK's MVNOs operating off the O2 network. If you're in the UK, giffgaff is increasing the data limits for their £20 and £25 Goodybags (the term they use for their monthly plans) beginning February 26, 2020 from 40GB to 80GB. For the £25 Goodybag, you get unlimited but throttled data after 80GB. Both plans allow roaming data in the EU but limit that to a maximum of 20GB with a 0.36p per MB charge after that. When I'm getting ready to take a trip to the UK, Ireland, or the EU, I buy the £20 Goodybag (about $26 currently) just before I leave. When I get off the plane at my destination, my SIM is ready to go. I disabled automatic renewal in my account so by the time I return to the US, the plan expires shortly after, and I revert to a PAYG customer until my next trip.

They also allow topping up by a US credit card. If you're only planning to use the SIM for one trip, that's not a big deal, but I do yearly trips to the UK and Ireland with a trip to the continent thrown in every so often. Since you only need some minimal activity to keep the SIM alive--a text or a call every six months will do--it's easy to keep the number viable (friends, family, and work only need to program one number in, and it's good for any of my trips), and I don't need to buy additional monthly plans when I'm back here in the US. And Google Voice is always there as a backup.

ETA: Forgot to address one of your main concerns--giffgaff allows you to use your phone as a hotspot.

chx1975

giffgaff happily ships worldwide. It's a great option. This year. Next year.... brexit, y'know?

lwildernorva

All of the cell phone companies seem to be saying right now that it won't make a difference, but I agree, there's no guarantee that there won't be significant limitations after Brexit is fully effective. Market conditions rather than EU regulations will dictate the result. Even with changes, my primary use in the UK/Ireland probably won't change because of the close connections between the two. And since Ireland is EU (and Northern Ireland now seems to be some sort of hybrid), I'm hoping that the status quo will prevail for my uses in the rest of the EU.

Leigh Mctaggart

NO. purchased worldsim mobile wifi modem november, 2019, did not get 'user name'. Phoned (numerous times) to get user name, was sent email 'how to activate sim' to activate, had to enter user name. Kept phoning to talk to tech back up. Sometimes just no replys and some emails sent to me 'how to activate' which required user name. After 3 months of phoning and emails, requested refund. received from worldsim return authority, posted sim and mobile wifi modem back to UK. After 2 months phoned them several times asking where $86.00 AUD refund was, finally received email that reason for return did not warrant refund and modem was damaged! Worldsim just robbed $86.00 Aust. dollars from me! Worldsim has no human to talk with in their technical department. DO NOT deal with this company!

Herby Olschewski

WorldSIM is smoke and mirrors. Deplorable "service", fake reviews in TrustPilot, the Facebook Page is a joke, and they take users for fools. That "taking" includes inexplicable charges, eroding of credits, that can be interpreted as silent theft. Mysterious terms of service and constantly changing fees, that make tropical weather patterns, seem stable. With over 40+ years in technology, and 6 of those being exposed to the "services" of WorldSIM, I cannot cut up my SIM card, into small enough pieces. This "company" is the epitome of being conned into parting with good money, to receive bad "service" in return. WorldSIM is to be given a VERY wide berth. Run, don't walk.

bukzin

What are you using now (July 2021) ? I will be in Europe and use mostly data and texts.

Thanks

bukzin

It appears their excellent forum stopped in 2019. Anyone found a replacement?