What is meant by toggled connections?

Does anyone know if I want to buy a Google phone for a friend as a gift, and buy the Google Fi Unlocked version (rather than just Google unlocked phone) does it tie it to my Google account? Would I be better off buying just the Google unlocked phone from the google shop and then buying a Fi SIM after so they could tie it to their phone?

I just meant my settings are the same (all the choices on the phone are toggled to the same choices). And work everywhere seamlessly easily, except where I was having trouble, like Spain.

It's been working great last few months, not even requiring reboot of phone when going from country to country. Italy, Greece, Czech Republic... all seamless and speedy fast. Lovely.

Looking for some advice. Giving son a college graduation gift trip to Europe for a month (Ireland, Italy, France) and want an easy SIM card/service that will be seamless for him. He’s got an unlocked iPhone 11 currently on our ATT plan. Could I get him a Google Fi sim and either the unlimited plus or flex plan for a month then cancel? What would you all recommend? Do they prorate any wandering into the next month before canceling? I want to avoid him having to deal with foreign sims etc. we have had great luck and bad luck in the past with such experiences.

Fi does prorate, down to the hour actually. They bill ahead of time and take a bit to give prorated refunds, but you do end up paying only for the time you use. You can use the service for as short a time as you want--just sign up right before he leaves (eSIM, no shipping required) and cancel when he gets back.

If 30 days is enough time, a Europe-wide eSIM from Airalo is cheaper: https://www.airalo.com/europe-esim and depending on data usage may be cheaper even if you have to buy two of them. Data only, but given Fi's 20c/min for calls he really should use VoIP either way.

Either of those is easier than messing around with trying to buy a SIM on the ground, and the UK providers whose SIMs show up on American Amazon, eBay, etc. are cutting off free European roaming so that's no longer a good option.

Sorry for the newbie question, but how do I make a VoIP call or restrict a call to VoIP only?

Thanks for the pointer to airalo.

If you're using a data-only product like Airalo, 3HK's roaming eSIM, etc., since you don't have a real number VoIP is your only option and you just use the app of your choice like Google Voice, MagicJack, whatever.

If you're using Fi, you can force wifi calling on your Fi number by putting your phone in airplane mode, or you can use the VoIP app of your choice.

I was about to switch to one of the Fi new calling plans but have not

because you lose the option of using Fi’s ‘data only’ SIM cards.


A deal breaker for me. Guess I’m stuck paying the old (higher) rate.

Thank you for that. I do have Google Voice (but have only used it once, for a USA to USA call). If I'm in Europe with the Airalo eSIM, then can I just use Google Voice to call intra-Europe or to USA? And if the answer is yes, then why would I want Fi (which I don't have). Thanks for the education.

Yes, you can use GV to call the U.S. and Canada for free or anywhere else in the world for cheap using data from your Airalo eSIM or your hotel wifi. You can't text anywhere but the U.S. but most of the world uses apps like Whatsapp, Signal, Telegram, etc. anyway. There are a few countries where GV doesn't work for regulatory reasons, but none are in Europe.

You might want Fi if you travel a lot between different countries and don't want to buy eSIMs, if you go places where eSIMs aren't easily available, etc. but for someone taking one trip to Europe it's easier and cheaper just to buy a cheap eSIM--doubly so if you've already got Google Voice.

I used to have a Fi account that I kept suspended and would reactivate for trips to places our Belgian or French SIMs didn't roam, but once we had eSIM compatible phones it didn't make sense anymore--why pay $20 plus $10/GB in the U.S. when you can buy 5GB for 30 days on an eSIM for $16?

Let me check my calendar... Yup, I'm still living two or three decades ago. In other words, none of those apps--yet. Someday, I'll be dragged into 2010.

On a serious note, while using an Airalo eSIM (or hotel Wi-Fi) in Europe, can I receive texts on Google Voice from USA? from Europe? Can I receive voice calls from USA? from Europe?

For the purpose of this conversation, that's me. In a year or two, maybe Australia (but don't tell me anything about telephony in Australia, because it will change by then and it will confuse me now).

Thanks again for posting about Airalo.

You can make voice calls to US/Canada for free and to other places for cheap. You can receive voice calls from anywhere for free.

You can send and receive SMS to/from the US for free. You can not send SMS to anywhere but the United States--not even other countries in the +1 dialing area. You should theoretically be able to receive SMS from anywhere for free, but no one in Europe wants to pay their carrier € 1 per message to text you and they'll wonder why you don't have Whatsapp. And you wouldn't be able to reply anyway.

It was mentioned by the OP that an unlocked iPhone 11 was to be used for the trip. In conjunction with an esim data service like Airalo, free calling to and from the US is possible with the simulated WiFi available with IMS. That stands for Internet Protocol Multi Media Subsystem and lets your voice line use your data line as a simulated WiFi service. The setup and use is fairly simple and a web search should provide ample instructions for configuration. This works well and quite reliable and stable. My experience with text messaging outside of the US is that it is still not a chargeable feature and works well everywhere. I am not familiar with fees charged by Euro carriers noted.

Many thanks for the education. I'm not much of a text person; way over half the texts I receive are 2FA codes from USA-based companies. I'd rather be able to send and receive texts to and from Europe while there, but lacking that ability is unlikely to cramp my style. Being able to make a voice call to Europe while there is more of an insurance policy, but I want to have it. It sounds like Google Voice will work for that insurance policy. You've jogged my memory about reading at Google about voice rates; I'll try to find that page and review it. Again, thank you for your help.

I'm not that OP, but thanks for the reminder. I do recall a discussion about IMS. But does what you just described have any advantage over Google Voice for calls to and from USA? Or does Google Voice just do the IMS stuff behind the scenes? FWIW, I have Google Voice on an iPad and it works just fine without a cellular connection, and as far as I know I have never set up IMS.

IMS service uses data and there is no charge to or from a US cellular number and another US cellular number. This requires some sort of internet access of course, but the data required is only around 1Mb per minute or so. I think GV has a small charge for international to and from US cellular calls, but that may be wrong.

Calls to foreign numbers from your US cellular number will be billed at your carrier rate while roaming. On T-Mobile that is $.25 a minute for 210 listed countries. The same as if just using the cellular connection.