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Originally Posted by CatJo
(Post 35325317)
There are two pretty cheap options - https://eskimo.travel/ and https://www.keepgo.com/products/esim...ica-canada-usa that I've seen many Canadians post about using in other forums. Around $90-$100 USD for 25-30Gb for a year, can start with referral codes and get 1-3Gb initially to test it out.
going to try out that hk one for sure |
I just don't see these eSIM offers comparing to getting a local SIM.
I'm in France right now, I paid 23 Euros for a Free SIM, their 12.99 Euro Forfait plus 10 Euro activation, for 110 GB for 28 or 30 days. I don't get 5G with this plan but I've gotten speeds of over 340/205. Spent a fair amount of time in smaller towns and villages in Corsica. Speeds were good there, good signal strength. Better in the bigger cities especially on Mainland France. But getting a Free SIM, which is way better than any other offering in France -- SFR is the only one offering comparable amounts of data at similar price points, but their stores won't sell prepaid, you have to hunt down a tabac which has them -- is kind of a pain. First of all, they don't sell through third parties so you have to go to one of their stores. In a city like Nice, there's one Free store but there might be 3 or 4 stores of other carriers. Then you have to wait to use one of their vending machines and their vending machines do not have contactless so that kind of settles the issue with activation. They copy your passport and have a physical credit card number that they charge. I don't know when Free might distribute eSIMs online but it may be that it's difficult for them to activate your eSIM online because there may be ID authentication requirements in France. It stands to reason that eSIMs don't offer as good values. After all, these are third-parties buying bandwidth at wholesale prices but they need their markup and even though they don't have a retail presence, I guess they have significant markup. Or for now, they don't have to be too competitive, like offer 5 GB in 30 days for like $20 or $14 just for France. Flexiroam prices are higher. |
Originally Posted by frappant
(Post 35325759)
I just don't see these eSIM offers comparing to getting a local.
The convenience of having the esim before I arrive and the ability to enable IMS for my domestic sim without any international roaming charges. I am not seeking the cheapest option. Different options for different travelers. |
Originally Posted by frappant
(Post 35325759)
I just don't see these eSIM offers comparing to getting a local SIM.
I'm in France right now, I paid 23 Euros for a Free SIM, their 12.99 Euro Forfait plus 10 Euro activation, for 110 GB for 28 or 30 days. Airalo has a 3GB French SIM, valid for 30 days, for US$10 ($13 if you want coverage through most of Europe rather than just France). That's probably all I need for a week or so in France, with the convenience that I can likely be using it as the plane is still taxiing to the gate, plus I can still have my US SIM in my phone doing "Wifi" calling over the eSIM. esimdb has even cheaper options listed. Then there's the countries where local SIMs are difficult to get, or not possible at all. As I said above, I used an eSIM in Turkey recently. I actually could have picked up a local SIM cheaper than my eSIM (although likely not at the airport), and it would have worked. But if I then went back to Turkey again, my phone wouldn't work at all - it would have been blacklisted by the Telcos as I hadn't registered it with the government (which costs several hundred US$ to do) within 120 days of using it with a local sim. I used to do the local SIM thing, and still do in Australia (although mainly for the convenience of having a fixed number - it costs me more than an eSIM would), but otherwise find an eSIM by far the best option for my use case. Different use cases will have different solutions. |
Originally Posted by docbert
(Post 35326291)
Depends entirely on your requirements.
I'll still default to using a local SIM over an eSIM from Airalo unless it is difficult to get a local SIM due to a language barrier and/or regulations. For instance, Japan is a location where unless you speak Japanese and are familiar with the process, getting a local SIM would be difficult for most visitors. (I did it once as a visitor in 2012, but that was with the assistance of a local who works in corporate at NTT Docomo.) Your Turkey example is another good one. Perhaps there are no barriers, but I simply don't want to waste time trying to find a shop that will sell a SIM card with a package that I want. I have multiple stories from 10+ years ago before EU roaming and T-Mobile's free international roaming where instead of going out and enjoying the sights in a city where I would only be there for a couple of days I would be sitting at the desk in my hotel room trying to activate a SIM card. The most egregious case was when I spent €50 on a SIM I purchased at FRA. The store employee said that it was €10 for the SIM, and I'd have €40 credit on the card. Furthermore, the verbally stated tariff was €1/GB per calendar day and €0.10/minute calling back to the US. I was going to be in Germany for about a month, so I figured this was perfect for data every day plus some calls back home. About 3 or 4 days into my trip the service quit working on my way into downtown Frankfurt, and I received a text message stating something like <<Message in German about topping up the account due to balance of 0,00 EUR>>. I went into a shop with the same branding of the SIM I had bought, and the employee there stated that, no, data was instead €1 per 100 MB without a calendar day limit, and, while calls to the US were €0.10/minute, there was a €1 connection fee. I managed to use €40 of credit in a couple of days. Buying an eSIM allows a customer to read the tariffs and T&Cs while avoiding ripoffs from unscrupulous SIM merchants. An online eSIM is often not the best value option when comparing solely $/GB, but convenience and peace of mind can be a part of the value proposition.
Originally Posted by docbert
(Post 35326291)
I used to do the local SIM thing, and still do in Australia.
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Originally Posted by CatJo
(Post 35325418)
Yup, 3HK is a good option too (notwithstanding the long ping times). I used their 30-day Global plan recently on a trip through the UAE and India, just as a backup to my main T-Mobile plan, and it worked just fine for typical usage. BTW, the T-Mobile One Plus promo (which was a free promo many of us were lucky enough to get years ago) provided 5Gb high-speed data and was great to have.
I have T-Mobile Magenta Max so I always have 5GB for international roaming. |
Originally Posted by lsquare
(Post 35326661)
Is the latency in the UAE and India as bad as in the US and Canada? I'm reading that despite the latency, it's actually usable in North America. I figure things might be slightly better in the UAE and India simply because both countries are slightly closer to HK.
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I just had 10 app updates on my iPad. Used probably a couple of gigs.
if you’re buying eSIM with 5 GB, then you have to watch your data use. I have to admit I’m not visiting developing countries that often so maybe the experience is different. Plenty of shops, so you don’t have to go out of your way. In Australia, the chain grocery stores all run weekly specials, so easy to find. |
Originally Posted by frappant
(Post 35327220)
I just had 10 app updates on my iPad. Used probably a couple of gigs.
if you’re buying eSIM with 5 GB, then you have to watch your data use. I have to admit I’m not visiting developing countries that often so maybe the experience is different. Plenty of shops, so you don’t have to go out of your way. In Australia, the chain grocery stores all run weekly specials, so easy to find. |
Originally Posted by frappant
(Post 35327220)
I just had 10 app updates on my iPad. Used probably a couple of gigs.
if you’re buying eSIM with 5 GB, then you have to watch your data use. I will admit I do sometimes turn on 'Data Saver" when using a non-unlimited eSIM, but more because there's no real reason not to. This stops most apps using data when in the background, but you can list specific apps to whitelist and be allowed normal data. Simple fact is that I only use 3-4GB of data per month when I'm at home. I do use more when I'm traveling, but 3GB/week is more than I'd ever need. Again, everyone's situation is different.. |
Originally Posted by docbert
(Post 35327296)
you can configure a specific wifi network as "metered' which will stop things like updates using it - not sure if iOS has similar functionality
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Originally Posted by docbert
(Post 35327296)
My phone is configured to only update apps over Wifi. If you're saying the iPad was tethered to a phone, then on Android you can configure a specific wifi network as "metered' which will stop things like updates using it - not sure if iOS has similar functionality or not. (Android will actually normally default to a metered network if it depends it's tethered to a phone)
I will admit I do sometimes turn on 'Data Saver" when using a non-unlimited eSIM, but more because there's no real reason not to. This stops most apps using data when in the background, but you can list specific apps to whitelist and be allowed normal data. Simple fact is that I only use 3-4GB of data per month when I'm at home. I do use more when I'm traveling, but 3GB/week is more than I'd ever need. Again, everyone's situation is different.. If someone wants to choose the convenience of installing eSIM online but having to watch out for their usage, change certain settings to limit data use vs. maybe spending up to an hour to hunt down a physical SIM which will give them a lot more data and they don't have to change settings or be vigilant about using too much of their portable data. A lot of people can rely on Wifi at the places where they stay. But I often encounter under 10 Mbps downloads at Airbnbs, some smaller hotels or even hotels which are part of large international chains where there's aggressive data management, not to mention unusable slowdowns when other guests all use data at the same time, such as in the early evenings and mornings. So I don't look at mobile data just as something to use when on the go but as a backup or alternative to substandard wifi at some lodgings. |
Originally Posted by islandguy84
(Post 35327890)
You can set a Wi-Fi network as “Low Data Mode” on iOS. You can also do this with a cellular network as well.
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Originally Posted by Majuki
(Post 35326654)
This is right. I view eSIMs as one among multiple tools in my connectivity toolkit. Alongside online eSIM providers, I have:
I'll still default to using a local SIM over an eSIM from Airalo unless it is difficult to get a local SIM due to a language barrier and/or regulations. For instance, Japan is a location where unless you speak Japanese and are familiar with the process, getting a local SIM would be difficult for most visitors. (I did it once as a visitor in 2012, but that was with the assistance of a local who works in corporate at NTT Docomo.) Your Turkey example is another good one. Perhaps there are no barriers, but I simply don't want to waste time trying to find a shop that will sell a SIM card with a package that I want. I have multiple stories from 10+ years ago before EU roaming and T-Mobile's free international roaming where instead of going out and enjoying the sights in a city where I would only be there for a couple of days I would be sitting at the desk in my hotel room trying to activate a SIM card. The most egregious case was when I spent €50 on a SIM I purchased at FRA. The store employee said that it was €10 for the SIM, and I'd have €40 credit on the card. Furthermore, the verbally stated tariff was €1/GB per calendar day and €0.10/minute calling back to the US. I was going to be in Germany for about a month, so I figured this was perfect for data every day plus some calls back home. About 3 or 4 days into my trip the service quit working on my way into downtown Frankfurt, and I received a text message stating something like <<Message in German about topping up the account due to balance of 0,00 EUR>>. I went into a shop with the same branding of the SIM I had bought, and the employee there stated that, no, data was instead €1 per 100 MB without a calendar day limit, and, while calls to the US were €0.10/minute, there was a €1 connection fee. I managed to use €40 of credit in a couple of days. Buying an eSIM allows a customer to read the tariffs and T&Cs while avoiding ripoffs from unscrupulous SIM merchants. An online eSIM is often not the best value option when comparing solely $/GB, but convenience and peace of mind can be a part of the value proposition. I'm the same way. I have kept my Optus number active for when I go to Australia although it's now A$10 every 6 months since the A$5 option disappeared. Outside of the pandemic, I could usually time the expiration date to one of my annual trips, and Optus allows top ups using an international credit card. Taiwan Mobile is the same way. I also have a 3 UK SIM for trips to the UK, and I'll buy a top up voucher from WHSmith or Boots upon landing at LHR. Can you explain more about your 3 UK SIMs? Why? What's your use case? |
Originally Posted by lsquare
(Post 35328002)
Can you please explain why you kept your Optus and Taiwan Mobile numbers? Unless you need to make local calls, I would just roam with T-Mobile, which I get 5GB/month for international, or but a prepaid SIM if I'm there for a long time. Or I could always buy an eSIM.
Can you explain more about your 3 UK SIMs? Why? What's your use case? Well some SIMs you can keep topping up, so you don't have to get another SIM card again and you can give out the foreign numbers for other people to call you. Some SIMs will stay active without putting more credit on them for a few months. For instance, Vodafone Spain SIMs are like that. I had one for about a year that I recharged online every few months and used it for a couple of years whenever I went to Europe. All the traffic routed through Spain so the pings were kind of high but the speeds were good. Also included roaming in the US. Not all these foreign SIMs let you recharge online using a US credit card though. So they are destined to expire unless they take US credit cards. |
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