Data Abroad

[husoi]

This refers to my personal circumstances and as you well know it all depends on your provider and what phone you have.

 

Being with O2 I get free EU roaming but when going outside that area I'm slapped with over £7/mb.

Because my phone have e-sim capability (I believe most newer phones do) I can take advantage of the innumerous e-sim data only providers.

 

My personal choice goes to www.Bytesim.com which offers great value for money.

For my next trip during the Xmas break I've bought 20 days @ 1gb daily allowance for under £18

Still getting to grips how the thing actually works and how the e-sim is installed.

For the look of it, it needs to be in the destination country (or countries if you go for that option) and once you have installed the sim it will automatically turns off your UK card and operated on the e-sim.

Yes, there is no phone connection on that sim. however, you can use chat apps like WhatsApp or any other data based app and still be in touch with whoever you want.

 

I find this quote handy to be able to use. Hence sharing the information  

[peepae]

That's very cheap - and if you have the e-sim capability a god send !!

 

I personally have no e-sim capability but use Lebara as my main sim and they offer quite decent roaming deals outside of EU. (I only pay 2.5gbp for 15gb here in the UK with them too.)

[Fiddlesticks]

I switched from Lebara to Smarty after a ruinously expensive jaunt to the Isle of Man.

[Steve_M]

50 minutes ago, Fiddlesticks said:

I switched from Lebara to Smarty after a ruinously expensive jaunt to the Isle of Man.

I’ve never been to the IoM but were a little concerned after receiving a text warning of roaming charges ‘cos we were connected to an IoM mast. We were in the Wasdale valley at the time. Something to be aware of next year as we’re taking our annual walking holiday based there. 

[Fozzie]

Nice, I've bookmarked that as I need an E-sim for Indonesia next year  

[Gerontious]

Apparently Andorra is horribly expensive too.

 

And it's a HUGE mistake using it on quite a few of the ferries. 

 

I am with 3 and they do charge for roaming. £2 per 24hr period.  I tended to keep data turned off when I was away in June. only turning it back on, for a few odd days. (otherwise I was using wifi)

My additional cost when I got back was £12

 

can't say that really ruined my day.

 

Though for some people on the FB touring groups. a charge like this is like the end of the world (as we know it)

 

Brexit benefits.

Edited December 1, 2023 by Gerontious

[husoi]

29 minutes ago, Fozzie said:

Nice, I've bookmarked that as I need an E-sim for Indonesia next year  

Interesting. That's where I'm going in 2 weeks  

[bonio]

8 hours ago, Fiddlesticks said:

I switched from Lebara to Smarty after a ruinously expensive jaunt to the Isle of Man.

No plans to go to the IOM at the moment, but who knows, and it's good to be forewarned.

[husoi]

Before I had the e-sim I would just buy a local prepaid SIM card and disable data on the UK one.

Which is pretty much what I do now 

[S-Westerly]

I bought my phone outright.  I've free data in Europe, North America, Australasia and Singapore. The rest of the world varies.

[Nute]

3 hours ago, S-Westerly said:

I bought my phone outright.  I've free data in Europe, North America, Australasia and Singapore. The rest of the world varies.

That’s a good deal, which provider are you with?

[S-Westerly]

4 minutes ago, Nute said:

That’s a good deal, which provider are you with?

O2 but with extra bits due to my job.

[Bender]

On 01/12/2023 at 12:20, husoi said:

This refers to my personal circumstances and as you well know it all depends on your provider and what phone you have.

 

Being with O2 I get free EU roaming but when going outside that area I'm slapped with over £7/mb.

Because my phone have e-sim capability (I believe most newer phones do) I can take advantage of the innumerous e-sim data only providers.

 

My personal choice goes to www.Bytesim.com which offers great value for money.

For my next trip during the Xmas break I've bought 20 days @ 1gb daily allowance for under £18

Still getting to grips how the thing actually works and how the e-sim is installed.

For the look of it, it needs to be in the destination country (or countries if you go for that option) and once you have installed the sim it will automatically turns off your UK card and operated on the e-sim.

Yes, there is no phone connection on that sim. however, you can use chat apps like WhatsApp or any other data based app and still be in touch with whoever you want.

 

I find this quote handy to be able to use. Hence sharing the information  

I have my main SIM as e SIM and the physical slot I just buy PAYG SIM on arrival, just plug and go, can toggle between what uses date calls etc.

 

 

[S-Westerly]

My issue is I'll be in a foreign country and access to local networks but can't access a local Sim card as I'm offshore or not allowed off the ship so getting a local PAYG isn't usually an option.

[JRH]

On 01/12/2023 at 13:54, Steve_M said:

I’ve never been to the IoM but were a little concerned after receiving a text warning of roaming charges ‘cos we were connected to an IoM mast. We were in the Wasdale valley at the time. Something to be aware of next year as we’re taking our annual walking holiday based there. 

I had a warning that I was connected to Vodafone France, we were walking along the cliffs at Dover at the time

[Bender]

19 hours ago, S-Westerly said:

My issue is I'll be in a foreign country and access to local networks but can't access a local Sim card as I'm offshore or not allowed off the ship so getting a local PAYG isn't usually an option.

I get that but most folk touring aren't in the same boat, literally

[Mawsley]

On 02/12/2023 at 13:38, S-Westerly said:

I bought my phone outright.  I've free data in Europe, North America, Australasia and Singapore. The rest of the world varies.

You sure about Singapore?

 

Despite me believing I was covered for the entirety of Asia, O2 attempted to slap me with a massive bill for three days there. It took a couple of very upset calls to unintelligible Indian call centres until ‘in this instance we are prepared to refund you the cost we’ve already charged you’.

[Bender]

3 cover a lot of the rest of the world with the included data in your contract 

[S-Westerly]

On my old contract in Singapore it cost me £6 per day for unlimited use. What I need to be careful with is depending where I am around the island the strongest phone signal may be from Malaysia or Indonesia and they are expensive.