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Roaming on U.S. carriers
Verizon: $25 per each 100MB when Gobal Data feature is activated. Exorbitant calling rates.
AT&T:
T-Mobile: Simple Choice plans (postpaid-only which requires credit pull, but you can cancel anytime) include unlimited data roaming at 2G speeds in 120+ countries. Calls between any of these countries are $.20 /min.
Sprint: - For some reason its a bit complicated - https://www.sprint.com/landings/openworld/index.html - http://www.sprint.com/landings/international-value-roaming/ - http://support.sprint.com/global/pdf/support/BizMultiCountryDataPack.pdf
intlroam.sprint.com
 


International SIM cards

Google Fi
All plans include coverage in the US, Canada, and Mexico. Unlimited Plus and Flexible also come with data in 200+ international destinations, and 5G in select countries for supported Pixel and Samsung phones. Try Fi for free: Test our coverage to see how we keep you connected. Our 7⁠-⁠day trial works right on your phone alongside your current service.

Toggle Mobile:
Covers the U.S., many European countries (though not Italy or Belgium), and Australia. Rates from these countries are £.03 to all USA and UK phones both mobile and landline, £.03 to landlines and £.09 to mobiles in many other countries, £.06 to Israel landlines and £.15 to Israel mobiles. SMS to most (looks like all) countries is £.07. Data bundles start at £5 for 500 MB in the UK and £20 for 1GB in the other Toggle countries. Incoming calls are free in 20+ countries.

SIMs can be ordered online and shipped free to many countries. You automatically receive a free permanent U.K. number. Before each trip you must register online for a local incoming number in the countries you are travelling to, which activates the roaming plan and lasts 30 days at no cost. You can pay £5 a year to keep numbers permanently.

Golan Telecom:
The 99₪ unlimited talk/text/internet/international calling plan, which also gives you up to 2 virtual foreign numbers, also includes for many countries (not all have launched yet) unlimited global data roaming (6GB high-speed), incoming calls & texts, and calls & texts to Israel.

Alternatively, Golan also offers a ₪29 per day data-only roaming plan which gives 100MB a day in these countries (all have been launched). These roaming options can be very useful for foreigners regardless of whether they need Golan for Israel.


VOIP calling apps

Vonage Mobile: Free calls to US/CA, very cheap int'l rates (see link). Uses your real number for outgoing caller ID, and also for incoming calls if you are a tmobile/AT&T customer and activate ReachMe roaming in the app.

Google Hangouts: Uses your Google Voice number over VOIP. Free calls to US/CA, very cheap int'l rates (see link).


Local SIM cards

Israel: See wiki on this thread.

Global MiFi
FreedomPop $10/500mb
https://www.freedompop.com/worldwide


eSims

See PlatinumGuys post for more info.

Perhaps this is common knowledge, but I was just mindblown. In 60 seconds online, I was able to buy a data package in a different country from Airalo and install it on my iPhone - keeping calls on the primary Verizon SIM and data on the Airalo eSim.

FWIW, they offer 15GB in Israel for $15 - and you can buy more easily online if it runs out, but I don't know which network Annatel resells

Airalo promo code FOUNDERS30 for 30% off up to $7 (I don't benefit in any way)

Another vendor is https://esim.knowroaming.com, I guess you have to compare destination to destination.
https://esimdb.com is a great database for vendors in different locations.

« Last edited by Suave on September 19, 2023, 07:25:51 AM »

Author Topic: International Sim Discussion  (Read 161714 times)

Offline Joe4007

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Re: International Sim Discussion
« Reply #340 on: April 29, 2014, 08:26:16 AM »
Just put in a Golan Sim into my s5 (I didn't call Verizon first) and my phone read the Sim and started working. I needed to set up an APN for internet. Otherwise simple.
Yup. Same goes for the S4.

Offline rots5

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Re: International Sim Discussion
« Reply #341 on: April 29, 2014, 08:26:44 AM »
Yup. Same goes for the S4.
never had it so easy with my s4
If you have any questions please search and then ask. PM me for detailed help.

Offline Joe4007

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Re: International Sim Discussion
« Reply #342 on: April 29, 2014, 08:27:12 AM »
never had it so easy with my s4
I did. What issues did you experience?

Offline Emkay

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Re: International Sim Discussion
« Reply #343 on: April 29, 2014, 08:29:08 AM »
T-mobile reps are the most clueless reps I've ever seen.
 
I just used them for my international trip, I took the prepaid plan for $50 a month unlimited in the USA, international is $0.20/min for talk, text and 2G data are free. I canceled when I got home  :)
Which plan is that?

Offline Emkay

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Re: International Sim Discussion
« Reply #344 on: April 29, 2014, 08:30:03 AM »
Good to know, just looked through the list - http://www.t-mobile.com/cell-phone-plans/simple-choice-international-plan-countries.html?cm_sp=THE%20SOURCE_TMO-_-Upgrades%20%26%20Plans-_-see_included_countries_txt

Everywhere I'm going is included except GIB - even Israel!

Anyone know how many gb you get for the $50?
am i locked in a contract with this

Offline @Yehuda

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Re: International Sim Discussion
« Reply #345 on: April 29, 2014, 08:49:28 AM »
am i locked in a contract with this
ilherman said he got rid of it when he got back. Pretty sure Tmobile doesn't have contracts, but I'd double check that.
1 potential issue is phone. Might have to buy a Tmobile smartphone, and without a contract, I doubt you can get an iPhone for $100.
I also want to find out if my wife will be another $50 or if she can be like an add on line.

Offline cozmohoot

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Re: International Sim Discussion
« Reply #346 on: April 29, 2014, 09:21:08 AM »
I did. What issues did you experience?
s4 had some issues with setting up apn.


never had it so easy with my s4

Offline ilherman

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Re: International Sim Discussion
« Reply #347 on: April 29, 2014, 09:21:51 AM »
ilherman said he got rid of it when he got back. Pretty sure Tmobile doesn't have contracts, but I'd double check that.
1 potential issue is phone. Might have to buy a Tmobile smartphone, and without a contract, I doubt you can get an iPhone for $100.
I also want to find out if my wife will be another $50 or if she can be like an add on line.
No contract. I think you can add on a line. You can use any unlocked phone.
You can say what you think when you think what you say.

Offline Joe4007

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Re: International Sim Discussion
« Reply #348 on: April 29, 2014, 09:35:18 AM »
s4 had some issues with setting up apn.
Verizon's S4? Interesting, as it comes unlocked out of the box.

I know Sprint's S4 had issues with the APN settings.

Offline @Yehuda

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Re: International Sim Discussion
« Reply #349 on: April 29, 2014, 09:57:06 AM »
No contract. I think you can add on a line. You can use any unlocked phone.
Thanks!
Just spoke to Tmobile, and they confirmed I can use my Sprint iPhone once it's unlocked - that's awesome!
Rep confirmed everything you said except they said the internet is actually 3G. My Sprint phone rarely picks up 4G, so 3G will be more than fine for me.

So, for $50 you get:
Unlimited talk in US and in their list of 100 countries EXCEPT if your in one of the countries on the list and you're calling US. Then it's $0.20/min. (To avoid that, I'll sign up for GrooveIP.)
Unlimited text worldwide (worldwide means in their 100 countries)
Unlimited 3G worldwide
1GB 4G worldwide
1GB Hotspot worldwide

On the bottom of this page, you can find the rates for countries that are not on their list. Ex. Gibraltar is $1.49/min for talk, $0.50 to send text, receiving is the same as your domestic plan (in this case unlimited) and there's no data service. Obviously here, you'll need wifi and can then use GrooveIP for calls and iMessage/WhatsApp for texting.

To add a line with all the same features for your wife, it'll be $80 total per month.
Tmobile sim card costs $0.99 and you can take care of everything over the phone.

The will do a credit check on you and reports in Google say that it was actually a hard pull even though the reps claim it's soft.

Offline ilherman

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Re: International Sim Discussion
« Reply #350 on: April 29, 2014, 10:16:25 AM »
Thanks!
Just spoke to Tmobile, and they confirmed I can use my Sprint iPhone once it's unlocked - that's awesome!
Rep confirmed everything you said except they said the internet is actually 3G. My Sprint phone rarely picks up 4G, so 3G will be more than fine for me.

So, for $50 you get:
Unlimited talk in US and in their list of 100 countries EXCEPT if your in one of the countries on the list and you're calling US. Then it's $0.20/min. (To avoid that, I'll sign up for GrooveIP.)
Unlimited text worldwide (worldwide means in their 100 countries)
Unlimited 3G worldwide
1GB 4G worldwide
1GB Hotspot worldwide

On the bottom of this page, you can find the rates for countries that are not on their list. Ex. Gibraltar is $1.49/min for talk, $0.50 to send text, receiving is the same as your domestic plan (in this case unlimited) and there's no data service. Obviously here, you'll need wifi and can then use GrooveIP for calls and iMessage/WhatsApp for texting.

To add a line with all the same features for your wife, it'll be $80 total per month.
Tmobile sim card costs $0.99 and you can take care of everything over the phone.

The will do a credit check on you and reports in Google say that it was actually a hard pull even though the reps claim it's soft.
DROPR DROPR  >:( >:(


It's a TU hard pull. And it's NOT 3G it's 2G - again they are way too clueless..
You can say what you think when you think what you say.

Offline ilherman

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Re: International Sim Discussion
« Reply #351 on: April 29, 2014, 10:19:41 AM »
Make sure you get the prepaid plan. Only the post paid plan sim is 0.99, the prepaid sim is $10 (though they have it on sale sometimes for 0.99 as well)
You can say what you think when you think what you say.

Offline @Yehuda

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Re: International Sim Discussion
« Reply #352 on: April 29, 2014, 10:31:32 AM »
Make sure you get the prepaid plan. Only the post paid plan sim is 0.99, the prepaid sim is $10 (though they have it on sale sometimes for 0.99 as well)
What was the point of me calling, I should have just verified everything with you :)

Thanks for the tips. So finally, you suggest this over individual country sims?

Offline ilherman

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Re: International Sim Discussion
« Reply #353 on: April 29, 2014, 10:35:44 AM »
What was the point of me calling, I should have just verified everything with you :)

Thanks for the tips. So finally, you suggest this over individual country sims?
Yes, though in Israel get a local sim card.

You will not enjoy GrooveIP on 2G even 3G would be crappy.
You can say what you think when you think what you say.

Offline Emkay

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Re: International Sim Discussion
« Reply #354 on: April 29, 2014, 10:38:17 AM »
DROPR DROPR  >:( >:(


It's a TU hard pull. And it's NOT 3G it's 2G - again they are way too clueless..
thanks, any idea bout what I can do to get data on my laptop with this?

Offline @Yehuda

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Re: International Sim Discussion
« Reply #355 on: April 29, 2014, 10:42:41 AM »
Yes, though in Israel get a local sim card.

You will not enjoy GrooveIP on 2G even 3G would be crappy.
Why? Israel is included on the list, so calling is free except to US. How many times do I need to call US that can't wait till I have wifi?

thanks, any idea bout what I can do to get data on my laptop with this?
There's 1 GB of Hotspot, so it'll be running the speeds of 2G, but it can power your laptop.

Offline ilherman

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Re: International Sim Discussion
« Reply #356 on: April 29, 2014, 02:29:05 PM »
Why? Israel is included on the list, so calling is free except to US. How many times do I need to call US that can't wait till I have wifi?
There's 1 GB of Hotspot, so it'll be running the speeds of 2G, but it can power your laptop.
Whete fo you get wifi?
You can say what you think when you think what you say.

Offline Emkay

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Re: International Sim Discussion
« Reply #357 on: April 29, 2014, 02:34:06 PM »

Offline ilherman

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Re: International Sim Discussion
« Reply #358 on: April 29, 2014, 02:43:20 PM »
hotel?
Yeah but on a honeymoon you're not in the hotel all day. You can get unlimited sims in Israel for dirt cheap. I was only there for 2 days so I didn't bother but if you're there for a while check out the Israel SIM card thread.
You can say what you think when you think what you say.

Offline Emkay

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Re: International Sim Discussion
« Reply #359 on: April 29, 2014, 02:45:03 PM »
Yeah but on a honeymoon you're not in the hotel all day. You can get unlimited sims in Israel for dirt cheap. I was only there for 2 days so I didn't bother but if you're there for a while check out the Israel SIM card thread.
that still dosnt do it for europe