I know there are threads on regional prepaid Sims (eg for EU, or specific countries)

I do want a cheap prepaid sim for data, works in a lot of countries, not throttled, decent expiry policy, can be topped up online. Don't need voice

In my own country, ideally it'll be on a different network for backup/congestion purposes. Internationally, helpful if I'm doing a long RTW trip

Google Fi ($20/month plus $10/GB) <- too bad about the monthly fee, though u can pause up to 90days


Ais sim2fly (esim/physical) has 2700 baht(USD$90) for 15GB, valid for a year (around USD$6/GB). 50+ countries. Voice calls usually available at ($0.20-$1/minute)

Red Pocket Global (physical), USD$9-15 monthly for 1GB, but data rolls over and can buy per GB, 50-150 countries

3 UK 12GB/1 year (USD$45, so $3/GB). 70+ destinations. Think there's some fair usage limits

Any others? A lot of the "global" sim plans charge something like $0.01/MB (or $10/GB), trying to beat this price

Global data tends to be pricier. You're not going to improve on that price much. Regional or country-specific data packs can be had for lower prices, since providers can offer lower prices if you travel only in low cost regions and they don't need to worry about you burning data in more expensive countries.

Alright, how about regional sim(EU, Asia etc) that has decent expiry ? A lot of them expire after 1 week or 1 month, or don't roll over

Basically, I don't mind (pre)paying for a larger bucket of data that can be used over multiple trips in a year, within a decent coverage of countries

Otherwise, I'll need to buy a separate bucket of data per trip (and data expires), making the price/GB a little higher

Take a look at FlexiRoam.

Please link to this. All I'm finding is a mobile broadband sim that is only usable in a tablet, dongle or mifi device, if I'm reading correctly.

http://store.three.co.uk/view/search...wanceInMB=12GB

or

Was referring to that second link to amazon. Can't find more details on the official 3 site though , and Amazon reviews aren't that great

I believe both links are to the same product. It would be nice if it worked in a phone rather than just tablet, etc.

This link will download a pdf from 3: Link Document

The Amazon description did say that phones worked?
Let me check the pdf

Generally they market it as tablet only, because voice setvice isn't available. Hard to reason why they would be whitelisting/blacklisting imeis?

Global data more expensive (about $20+/GB for 6+month expiry)

Regional data isn't that bad, but it only goes up to 30days ? (Europe, $4/GB)

just wondering if you have access to T-nobile
I get free data almost around the world.. at no extra charge and no limits on data useage

I have TMobile. 64-256kBit/s (so 8-32kByte/s) sucks

Enough for backup purposes...

If you own a Xiaomi or Oppo phone, you can try elinking from Malaysia

See this reddit post on how to install it outside of Malaysia

sorry to hear that.. I guess for me , I use it mostly to text and send emails when traveling in other countries

Doesn't work well for Uber/Lyft (maps take forever to load/request ride). Downloading offline maps on gmaps app doesn't help (Uber/Lyft doesn't use that cached map data)


Agree, pure text/email is fine

Elinking is mostly Asia, and still a little pricey

I've been using the T-Mobile 256kbps free data all over the world for the past few years and find it adequate for mapping, navigation, email & texts. It does depend upon the carrier you are using though. Sometimes the automatic choice is not the best or fastest, so if you are getting poor service you can generally find another carrier that is better. I also use off line maps on occasion, (I Like Pocket Earth Pro) but generally find that the Apple Maps works well enough. Plus you get free FaceTime Voice or Video calling to others with iPhones in the same country.

I do experiment with the less expensive data services, so I am currently evaluating Airalo and Stork for my upcoming trip in the Spring. I'll only drop $10-$15 and hopefully find another cheap alternate to the free roaming data service.