I went to the airbaltic website to check it out:

Free incoming/forwarding countries:

Airbaltic: 134 (they say more than 140 but I could count only 134)
Onesimcard: 154

Furthermore, many of the regions Onesimcard provides free service in aren't even in the Airbaltic rates list.

Of course, most of these regions are considered overseas territories of some countries, but many companies still charge them differently.

The list below of 20 + 134 = 154 which equals the number of free regions served by Onesimcard could have us think that they are considering these regions as parts of other countires.

The question is, does Airbaltic offer service in these regions or not? And are these regions free (as with Onesimcard)?

I have sent them an email to inquire about this. We'll see.


Regions:

Aland Islands
Azores
Bonaire
Canary Islands
Christmas Isl.
Curacao
Easter Island
Guernsey
Isle of Man
Jersey
Reunion Island
Saba
St. Barts
St. Eustatius
St. Maarten
St. Martin
Svalbard
Tibet
US Virgin Isl.
Zanzibar

I am going on a trip to Europe and will travel to Denmark, Germany, Czech Republic, Austria, Hungary, France, and Spain.

I too went with Piranha Mobile, TruPhone, and Toggle Mobile.

TruPhone states it will cost me $0.09 per minute to receive calls in all of my listed countries. And $0.32 per minute to make calls to other phones within the same country. I think it is $0.11 to send SMS messages. They provide a US phone number.

Piranha rates vary from country to country. Receiving calls cost $0.06 to $0.08 per minute. Making calls to other phones within the same country cost $0.17 to $0.23 per minute. Sending SMS always seems to be $0.15. They provide a US and UK (not Isle of Man) phone number.

Toggle Mobile in the "local number" countries of Denmark, Germany, France, and Spain. 3 pence (UK) per minute to land lines, 9 pence (UK) per minute to mobile, 9 pence (UK) per SMS. Calls/SMS are to phones within the same country. Free incoming calls in these countries. They provide a UK phone number and then a phone number in each one of the countries. I believe that the UK number is NOT an Isle of Man number.

the free incoming countries are same for onesimard and airbalticcard. airbaltic also offer free uk mobile number +4475207prefix with surcharge of only 0.15eur.per call!

from airbalticcard website for credit expiry:

What are the expiration terms of airBalticcard mobile and my balance?
There are no expiration terms imposed. The card is blocked if 2 years pass without activity on the card (phone call, SMS, credit refill). Left-over balance is returned at the customer's request within 2 years of the last activity from the card (call, SMS, balance refill) in accordance with the "General Terms and conditions".


a very good UK +44 alternative roaming simcard is mysims2go http://www.mysims2go.com/document.aspx?iid=1060&lang=en very cheap rates and stable service based on cloud9 service http://www.cloud9mobile.co.uk/.
free incoming calls in 101countries

Yes, very valid points.

Not necessarily a sip client, it also offers callback, local access numbers, and also works with any sip enabled phone.

But I agree, a good option in your situation would be what we discussed earlier:

1. open an account with anveo (cheap numbers) or callcentric (free US number and easier to use than anveo).
2. forward the incoming calls on that number to your sip address (free)
3. forward your sip provider to your phone (cost €0.005 to UK mobile, France mobile, etc... Free to US mobile, €0.07 to Estonia mobile) (with the betamax clones the forwarding setting is only available in the windows application. Once set it works for all incoming calls).

This way you give your contacts only 1 number, and you can change that forwarding to any SIM you are using at the time.

Even if you move to another SIM, people can reach you on the same number.

MBK how do you forward your sip provider's incoming number from siemens c610ip? in which menu is that possibility? i want to forward my sip incoming number to a +372 number via a betamax clone

Yes, the UK number is a regular lycamobile UK number charged at regular UK mobile rates (the same in the Toggle countries as Toggle uses the Lyca backend).

Furthermore, Toggle Mobile have announced that the US numbers (with free incoming!) are currently in testing and that they will be available soon (using the Lycamobile US platform).

Toggle Mobile Launching Enhanced SIM Card, United States Numbers Coming Soon | TruTower

The best is to forward directly with the sip provider.

But if you want to forward with the c610ip:

Settings > Telephony > Call Divert > "Call number"

"Call number" will be forwarded according to your dialing plans.

i want to forward my sip incoming number to a +372 number via hotvoip.. what is the best way?

If your sip provider allows forwarding to sip addresses, you can do it directly without going through the c610ip:

1. Forward to username@sip.betamaxclonename.com
2. Install the betamaxclone windows application (can't do it from the website)
3. in the windows application settings set forwarding to +372xxxxx.

All calls arriving at username@sip.betamaxclonename.com will go to +372xxxxx. and you will be charged the rate for a call to +372xxxxx.

If the incoming sip allows direct forwarding to sip addresses, see above post.

If it doesn't, but at least allows free calls to inum numbers (+883 - most sip providers do it for free) you can do this.

1. open an account with callcentric.com (you get a free INUM number + if you want, a free US number).
2. forward your sip to your callcentric INUM (+883xxxxxxxxxxxxxx)
3. with callcentric forward incoming calls on the +883 to username@sip.hotvoip.com
4. hotvoip windows application: forward to +372.

forwarding via c610ip to username@sip.hotvoip.com isn't possible?

Using +372 numbers seems to be way too complicated,expensive and time consuming, especially for something that may or may not work.:???:

I don't think so (not sure).

But you can do this:

1. c610ip : Settings > Telephony > Connections > add hotvoip (settings: HotVoip | Sizzling hot deals )
2. Settings > Telephony > Dialling Plans > make +372 go out via hotvoip

But keep in mind that this will be subject to the reliability of your c610ip Internet connection. It's much better to forward directly with hotvoip.

Complicated? : for technophobes perhaps. They are free to juggle with X number of SIMs and pay more for worldwide coverage if they prefer.

Expensive? No, it is cheaper if used properly.

Time consuming? Not at all.

+372 has been working rock stable for 2 years here (More stable than EKIT). This is the top quality of mobile phone roaming, used every day, day in day out (onesimcard is my primary phone number. Even my home phone is showing my +372 as caller ID -> reachable on 1 number worldwide). Even better network quality than the very expensive national mobile contracts I had (don't need them anymore :)), as it allows me to roam on several networks within the original country (which is not possible with the national providers - only 1 network).

As for the betamax voip clones, they have been working great for me for the past 7 years . Meanwhile I have seen SIMs suggested here come and go: United Telecom, Isle of Man sims, etc...

But of course, for the technophobes, if callback is too complicated, there are other more expensive "normal" options that can be cheaper than "normally used" +372 (=without callback) as several people have suggested.

So you say its MUCH cheaper than any other card on the market or mentioned in this thread, i do a lot of traveling to US and Canada, so i have taken these 2 countries as examples.

Call cost back to UK from US using .
Tru $0.15 calling a landline $0.33 calling a mobile, SMS $0.15
Piranha $0.14 calling a landline $0.17 calling a mobile, SMS $0.15 Data $0.30 MB
OneSimcard $0.45 calling a landline $0.45 calling a mobile SMS $0.40 Data $1.00 MB

Call cost back to UK from Canada using.
Tru $0.54 calling a landline $0.54 calling a mobile, SMS $0.45
Piranha $0.23 calling landline $0.26 calling mobile, SMS $0.15 Data $0.38 MB
OneSimcard $1.25 calling a landline, $1.25 calling a mobile, SMS $0.40 Data $1.00 MB

cost of card.
Tru $30.00 with $15.00 credit
Piranha $18.00 with $7.50 credit
Onesimcard $30.00 no credit.

these are approximate costs so i maybe 1 or 2 cents out, but my maths says the most expensive card by far is Onesimcard. If i am missing something please feel free to correct and when Toggle launches it will be cheaper still.

Keep in mind that I am talking about worldwide roaming (the subject of this thread), while you are talking about regional roaming.

But let's see:

Onesimcard with callback (Single SIM - only onesimcard): US to UK

US Incoming: FREE
UK Landline: €0.07 incoming callback + FREE landline UK = €0.07 (+ one time €0.01 data to trigger the callback if not on WIFI)
UK Mobile: €0.07 incoming callback + €0.005 mobile UK = €0.075 (+ one time €0.01 data to trigger the callback if not on WIFI)
SMS UK using SIM menu: $0.15
SMS UK using Fishtext with WebSMS app on android: €0.03 (+ ~€0.03 data to send the SMS if not on WIFI)

Onesimcard with callback (dual-SIM - callback on 2nd local/regional SIM, showing +372 caller ID or any other caller ID): US to UK

US Incoming: FREE
UK Landline: FREE incoming callback + FREE landline UK = €0.00 (+ one time €0.01 data to trigger the callback if not on WIFI)
UK Mobile: FREE incoming callback + €0.005 mobile UK = €0.005 (+ one time €0.01 data to trigger the callback if not on WIFI)
SMS UK using SIM menu: $0.15
SMS UK using Fishtext with WebSMS app on android: €0.03 (+ ~€0.03 data to send the SMS if not on WIFI)


In any case, for data the best is a 2nd local SIM with local data bundles in the dual-sim phone (but if only to trigger the callbacks the Onesimcard is good enough).

Canada to UK: same rates as US above.


Airbaltic card is €10 with 0 credit if this is an issue (€35 with 30 credit and €50 with 50 credit).

(€ 15 for "Airbaltic American Dream" SIM if you want free incoming in US & Mexico)


Yes, Toggle Mobile already is my 2nd SIM in the dual-SIM phone for Europe.

so where do they advertise these rates, I have looked at Onesimcards website rates and i can only find the rates i published, as per there site, SIM Card - International cell phone rates

+1

I can't see this rate or understand how this works.

Here for a comparison of all the betamax clones per country:

Call rates comparison table

(select the countries you want holding CTRL to filter for a clear view)

To use them conveniently you need the MobileVOIP iphone & android application (sends SMS extremely cheap too):

https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...rea.MobileVoip


The good thing is that you can use this with any phone or SIM card (even Piranha if you prefer). :)

(you can use the MobileVOIP app, but you can also trigger callbacks via the web, or use local access numbers, or the windows application, or SIP - check the chosen provider's "ways to call" page)


edit: if you have WIFI or good 3G you can call directly without callback (saving the callback costs), but callback usuall gives the best call quality.

------------------------
------------------------

edit: I use this to trigger the callback as it uses less data than the MobileVOIP application (we are talking about 2 or 3 cents here :p) :

https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...x.internetcall

--------------------------

As I have also quoted the Fishtext.com SMS rates, this is optional for a cheap SMS alternative (the above mentioned MobileVOIP also send SMS for almost as cheap already, but Fishtext gives you SMS delivery reports):

For Fishtext SMS you need to install these 2: WebSMS + Fishtext connector on Android:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...android.websms
https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...ector.fishtext


SMSDroid allows full integration of WebSMS like the system SMS application:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...droid.smsdroid

The Betamax/Finarea/Dellmont group has been in business for a least 10 years. It has been working very well for me for the past 7 years (from home phones, Mobile, on the way using hotel phones, etc...).

To make it very simple here is the procedure to get going:

1. choose the provider that best fits your rates for the countries you need: Call rates comparison table
2. make an account on the provider's website (add .com to the name)
3. charge 10€ credit
4. install https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...rea.MobileVoip (or for iphone get it from the iphone market).

And start saving big while calling. :)



edit: call quality can be a little lower than a direct call from time to time depending on the countries. But with such rates I think there's nothing to complain about.

Forget all the 3rd party stuff. Comparing receiving and making calls directly on the sim, there are better options than onesimcard. Calling out with onesimcard is about $1 or more from the countries I am likely to visit. Couple that with the insanely high rates most charge to call the +372 number, it certainly makes no sense for my travel needs. If it works for you, so be it!

Using the 3rd party dialer is exactly the same as using the stock phone dialer. No difference.

But if you feel safer when you pay more, more power to you (but then, why go through the trouble of juggling with your 5 SIM cards when you could just stay with your AT&T contract.)


edit: But many thanks to you. Network infrastructures need a lot of investments, and it is thanks to people like you who prefer to pay more that we, the users of 3rd party systems, can benefit while calling for extremely low rates, often even for free. :)

Are you saying: (please give me a straight answer this time):???::

That the rates you have been quoting do not exist on the OneSimcard site, unless you download a 3rd party VoIP app, sign up and pay $10.00 on top of the $30.00 plus credit lets says another $10.00 you just paid for the onesimcard, before you even start. Then down load another app for SMS, sign up to them pay another $xxx for credit. Tell all your friends family and work to do the same if they want to call you cheaply or sign up to some other callback service, and this is cheap and simple:eek: no thank you, when you started this thread i was under the impression that you were talking about onesimcard being so cheap and simple to use, this is clearly not the case and very misleading.

Someone please tell me i have the principle right, i am getting very confused by this thread.:???:

Yes.

Airbaltic card is €10 if the onesimcard is too expensive for you.

No. You don't need this. This was just another option to send SMS even cheaper (1 or 2 cents cheaper than MobileVOIP).

(SMS is already in the 3rd party dialer I linked to - MobileVOIP - you pay 2 to 5 cent per SMS depending on the country you are sending to.)

No. (But you can if you want).

I am paying for my calls, how much other people pay for their calls in not my concerns (friends/family I give my local dual-SIM number).

But as I said, if you don't want people to call you on +372 and don't have a dual-SIM phone, one option out of several is:

1. get a US landline number on Callcentric.com (Free) (or any other country)
2. forward the incoming calls to your +372 with hotvoip.com (€0.07/min)

So, this way your contacts can call you for free and it costs you €0.07/min to receive the call in 154 countries, which comes out cheaper for incoming calls than Piranha in most countries.

If you have a dual SIM phone even better, the forwarding can cost you as low as €0.005/min in many EU countries including UK (even Free in several countries like Thailand, US, China,...).

Furthermore, this incoming number stays with you for life, even if you move to another SIM card operator you just redirect the forwarding to the new number.

10€ to buy an Airbaltic card (if you don't need the other onesimcard functions)
10€ credit reload increments on hotvoip.com (or any other one from the list)

And with single SIM (callback on +372):
0.075€ to call the UK, France, Thailand, US, etc... (landline & mobile)

With dual-SIM (callback on local SIM):
0€ UK landline, US landline + mobile, Thailand landline+mobile, etc...
0.005€ UK, France, Germany, etc... mobile

SMS: ~ 2 to 5 cents depending on destination countries.


Very cheap, yes.

If following these 3 simple points is too complicated for you (to be done only once, after this you are setup for life), then please pay for your expensive rates as no one can help you.

For calls & SMS:

1. choose the provider that best fits your rates for the countries you need: Call rates comparison table
2. make an account on the provider's website (add .com to the name) and load 10€ credit
3. install https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...rea.MobileVoip (or for iphone get it from the iphone market).

edit: this callback is the same thing most roaming SIMs do, but you are doing it yourself, much cheaper.

All very long winded for something that may or may not work, and the possibly of sacrificing call quality to save a few cents is not worth it.

I would like to add that there is no need to get all defense about it i.e then please pay for your expensive rates as no one can help you.

I like to deal in facts and the fact is you started a thread saying Onesimcard was best Roaming Sim Card on the planet and the cheapest, the facts do not show this, unless you go through many different operations and 3rd party apps, do you not agree. I know you are trying to help people but you have to bear in mind not all users of this website have smart phones or are technically minded, they are just looking for best deal which will save them money while roaming, without having to get to complicated.

Seriously?

1. check rates
2. load 10€
3. install dialer

A simple 3 steps procedure, long winded?

I am curious, how do you manage to order an international roaming SIM online and get it to work?

As I said, it has been working with no issues for 7 years for me (longer than some SIMs that were recommended on these forums - i.ex: United Telecom, etc...).

There are forums full of people using this, with no issues.

But you, instead of being glad for having one more option available to every one, even if it doesn't fit your needs, you prefer to be negative. :chair:
Not only a few cents, they add up quickly, you now.

Yes, quality is good but can sometimes be a little lower depending on the countries and the time (sometimes perhaps not recommended for a business call, but good enough for everything else). But quality is usually lower on mobile calls anyway, so this really isn't an issue imho.

But you prefer to pay a lot more to be sure to get 100% call quality all the time. No problem with this.


Well, you have a problem then. Because your facts are wrong. :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by gkeeper (Post 43764) and the fact is you started a thread

No, I didn't start the thread.

I replied to the thread to offer another option to choose from.

Quote:

Originally Posted by gkeeper (Post 43764) saying Onesimcard was best Roaming Sim Card on the planet

No, I said it was imho the best for worldwide roaming if used properly (=with callback). This is not the same.

And once again, you (or some people here) are talking about SIM cards that are good for limited regional roaming. I am talking about worldwide roaming.

Juggling with X number of SIMs (but you said you didn't like complicated) is not the same as 1 SIM.

Quote:

Originally Posted by gkeeper (Post 43764) and the cheapest,

When used properly (=with callback)

Quote:

Originally Posted by gkeeper (Post 43764) the facts do not show this, unless you go through many different operations and 3rd party apps

What are the many operations and several apps you are talking about?

Again: check rates > load credit > install 1 app

Quote:

Originally Posted by gkeeper (Post 43764) I know you are trying to help people but you have to bear in mind not all users of this website have smart phones or are technically minded, they are just looking for best deal which will save them money while roaming, without having to get to complicated.

At last, I get something nicer for all the time I spent. :)

Please allow me to rephrase your negative post:

Thank you MBK for taking so much time to show us another option. It is great to have more choices to choose from for everyone so we can all find what suits us best. I unfortunately don't have a smartphone, so what are the best options in my case?

It is very clear from your response and not only to my posts but others, that you are very touchy when it comes to +372 high termination rate numbers and onesimcard. Enough said:rolleyes:

Unbelievable. More negativity from you, but I guess you have nothing else to contribute to this forum.

Yes. Enough said.

Here is the reply from Airbaltic customer support (this seems strange to me... no support in Jersey, Isle of Man, Canary Islands.... - I was thinking they were all using the same platform?):

But good point for them: they reply within a few hours.

MBK, actually I appreciate your comments. It is interesting to learn about different options. I'll be honest and admit I likely will not use your technique of a +372 SIM card plus a VOIP provider. But reading about it, it does seem like you can get pretty cheap rates using it.

I think myself and other people see the steps to enable this and think it appears substantially more complicated than just purchasing a SIM card and using it. But I may get motivated to investigate it more thoroughly before my trip.

I do think though to state OneSimCard is better than XXXX, is a bit disingenious. Now saying that you think OneSimCard when used with a VOIP provider (e.g. hotvoip . com ) and then something like callcentric can be the most cost effective solution you know sounds correct. When I was reading things originally I could not figure out why you thought OneSimCard was so good. Not until it became clear that the VOIP provider was needed did it become clear. And it does seem like a very cool solution to do this.

Thanks again!

I'd just like to mention that in the past whenever we have found some incredible bargain on calls to premium rate numbers, the deal has only lasted for a while and then either the rate went way up or it quit working. This happened with calls to UM and a number of other premium rate services. So, my advice to MBK is to keep a close watch on the system he has chosen, make sure it actually works and have a backup plan.

Yes, absolutely. We all have our different use cases or preferences and all the options offered in this thread are valid.

Keep in mind that the callback system I was referring to can be used with any phone. If you want you can make a trial callback call here (one of the betamax clones - warning this one is cheap to some destinations and expensive to some others - but its a good trial as all of them are using the same platform):

(registration is free, you don't have to pay anything for the trial).

http://www.voipdiscount.com/free_trial_call


Yes, it seems I wasn't clear enough in the beginning. My bad.

Thanks for the nice comment!

Yes, you are right. I also had the issue with Jersey numbers suddenly switching from €0.02 to €0.11.

The many free and other low rates have not really changed in 7 years (they are always going down), so I am not worried about them. But regarding the +372 rates, the betamax clones seem to be stable for more than a year now, adding more and more clones at the lower rates as time passes.

But of course this can change. What will I do if this happens?

• I'll still keep the +372 as primary number (free incoming/forwarding in 154 countries)
• and only trigger the callback on the 2nd local/regional SIM in the dual SIM phone.

I can't find any mention of this on the website. Are you sure this is still valid?

Update:

• Airbaltic: free UK number +4475207prefix
• XXSIM: free US number (30 days only or no expiry?)
• Onesimcard: free US number 30 days only (can pay to keep the same number)
• Onesimcard: is the only one to offer local numbers in 35+ countries
• Travelsim & Onesimcard are the only ones to offer EU data packages (10Mb, 100MB, 200/250MB, 500MB) The travelsim packages seem to be a little cheaper.

I think this is where many of us differ. We do care about how much it cost other people to get a hold of us.

The many options and variants you have described are a valid addition to the knowledge base here.
In fact, I can think of no other place on this planet where these would be more useful and likely to be used by some of the users than here.

Thank you also for your research on the +371 using group of providers.

Hello MBK,

I must agree with rfranzq on this aspect. Nevertheless I'm still very interested in xxsim. The main reason is 'best of both worlds'.

Great worldwide coverage and a normal US number for free, permanent.
So for 15 eurocent I'm done. Or even lower in combination with VOIP.

2 additions to the KB on travelsim providers:

- Why not directly at travelsim? They do not offer extra numbers
- Is the US number at xxsim permanent and free. Yes, you can even get more additional number for free such as germany and united kingdom.

At all readers:

I would like to connect my international sims to Google Voice. The issue (as decribed in the thread) is however that Google Voice goes to voicemail after 25 second and building up the connection international can sometimes take long.

So I have 2 options:
- Rebuild the whole Google Voice setup myself at Anveo (which offers US numbers with SMS and can forward sms to all numbers worldwide, for 2 dollars a month) - but then with voicemail picking up after 60 seconds.
- Have a VOIP provider "pick up" the line on time, provide a notification and then try to connect to multiple international sims - and thus bypassing voicemail.

Does anyone have experience with these kind of setups? Or suggestion for easier anternatives?

I think I now understand your problem. Your issue was at first difficult to grasp for me, this is why:

I have been living in parts of the world (including European countries), where mobile phone calls were charged ~$0.70 ten years ago, progressively dropping to ~$0.30 today.

We see it like this: (notwithstanding the fact that we see +372 as expensive, and still prefer our loved ones to be calling us for cheaper)

• when we take our car to go visit someone, we don't expect our host to pay for gas for us
• in the same way, when we take out phone to call someone we don't expect them to pay for the call for us (doing otherwise doesn't really make sense to us - other than being a courtesy, like the car point above)

But for you in the States:

1. Regulations have imposed the same rates for local and mobile calls. So as I understand, the called party is paying for the mobile call.
   
2. Furthermore, most US companies are handing out 0800 toll free numbers (whereas in our parts of the world, even the US companies' subsidiaries are less inclined to handing out 0800 numbers - they tend to be mostly offering 08xx local rate numbers - some even charge customers for high rate 08xx numbers, this makes us angry).

These 2 points seem to be the foundation of your habits of the receiving party paying for the call.

Knowing this, I can understand that people could get frustrated (even more so business contacts), having been used to calling the mobiles at landline rates forever.

So, you need a different option, of course.

Thanks for your feedback!

This is what I am thinking as well.

Oh, right! (unfortunately I can't edit the comparison post anymore).

This is a great option, indeed!

I am surprised you can't change this in the GV settings, but so be it.

The Callcentric delay is also 60 seconds.

I have been looking at the SMS issue and have tested several providers. I haven't tested Anveo enough with SMS, but to me it seems to be the only one that might be able to do it properly. All the others I tried had issues delivering messages to certain countries.

Please report back with your findings.

Anveo, Voip.ms and callcentric all can do this, and divert back to voicemail after everything else fails / doesn't pickup if you don't press a defined key to answer the call (i.ex: you hear :"Incoming call from number xxxxxxx, press 1 to take this call". If you don't press 1 it goes back to voicemail, or continues ringing other phones, as you wish).

The simplest and most convenient to use, while also being one of the top quality voip providers with highest reliability is callcentric (look for the "call treatments tab" which does what you want).

Callcentic offers less options and fine tuning than Anveo or Voip.ms, but I think it has the best interface as is easier to use for most users. (it doesn't handle SMS incoming though, but can send SMS alerts i.ex on new voicemail).

Summary: if GV is really limiting you at 25 seconds, and if you need incoming SMS forwarding, Anveo is your only reliable (?) and (relatively) simple option as far as I know.


Please come back to tell us how it works out.

Mbk do you have a web link of travelsim data packages?
Update:
Just found it.
Just tried and the 250mb package also work on my airbalticcard sim, greatt

Please note that the 4475207 free UK number that airbalticcard offer has only 0.15eur. per call surcharge!not per minute as onesimard pen numbers or xxsim incoming numbers

Great! Thanks for the feedback.