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Piranha is at the moment the best possible option for a decent travelsim card
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I am always looking for other options, but as far as I can see the best possible worldwide option is a Travelsim line of SIM (Onesimcard, Travelsim, Airbaltic card,...) with an Iphone/Android callback dialer (free incoming in 154 countires, 0.09£ to call you.) As for Europe & USA, Piranha is a lot more expensive than Toggle (I.ex France: Landline 0.09£ vs 0.03£, Mobile 0.11£ vs 0.09£). Furthermore, Pirhana charges for incoming calls which are free with Toggle and serveral other SIMs. France 0.04£, Germany 0.05£ for incoming calls. Germany is even more expensive with Piranha (0.14£ Mobile). And look at Switzerland! : Mobile 0.30£, Landline 0.13£, Incoming 0.09£ (with Toggle always the same 0.03£, 0.09£ and free incoming). Next month I'll be in Thailand: Piranha incoming 0.12£/min, free with Toggle for a 0.19£ flat rate per call (and of course always free with the Travelsim line of SIMs). Piranha is perhaps good in some limited cases, and data rates seem good. But for general use, imho: Best EU & US: Toggle mobile. Best general worldwide: Travelsim line of SIM + iphone/android callback dialer. I have been using both in my dual SIM phone, daily and exclusively; and never had the need to use any other SIM for the past year. There's nothing cheaper if you don't want to juggle with local sims (and Toggle is even cheaper than local sims in some countries). If anyone knows of a better worldwide option where I never have to use more than the same 2 SIMs (dual sim phone), I am always interested. Unfortunately, Piranha comes out too expensive. |
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1. Toggle have great rates i agree and i use one myself, but they are limited to 13 countries, as soon as you go outside of those countries you are paying a lot more, for instance outside of the Toggle countries but still in EU, example Austria. Toggle charge Making calls 0.23£/min Receiving calls 0.19£ Send SMS 0.07£ Data 0.67£ per Mb Piranha charge Making calls 0.09£/min call-back or 0.12 direct dial Receiving calls 0.04£ Send SMS 0.09£ Data 0.10£ per Mb 2. outside of the EU toggle is very expensive for instance Thailand. Toggle charge Making calls 1.64£/min Receiving calls 0.19£ Send SMS 0.48£ Data 1.34£ per Mb Piranha charge Making calls 0.32£/min direct dial Receiving calls 0.12£ Send SMS 0.20£ Data 0.20£ per Mb big difference and don't even think of making a local call on Toggle in Thailand, not at 2.35£ per min and looking at Piranhas rates for local its 0.33£, and to receive a call in Germany is 0.05£ and not 0.14£ as you have stated. 3. Travelsim/Onesim/Airbaltic may have free incoming but they use high termination rate numbers which are very expensive for the caller to call. Its great if you don't mind your friends and family picking up a very large bill. I have looked and taken what i think is the cheapest card with high term numbers, Airbalticcard Thailand to UK for example. Airbaltic charge Making calls 0.62£/min Receiving calls 0.0£ Send SMS 0.35£ Data 1.50£ per Mb Piranha charge Making calls 0.32£/min direct dial Receiving calls 0.12£ Send SMS 0.20£ Data 0.20£ per Mb Calling a Airbalticard from UK can cost anywhere between 0.50£ and £1.50£ depending on operator. Calling a Piranha UK number between in bundle and 0.25£ Calling the US number between 0.01 and 0.25£ You also have the added extra on Piranha of VoIP which is globally free to receive and attaches all your numbers for outgoing and incoming calls. Please feel free to disagree. If i have missed anything in my calculations, anyone reading, please correct me. I do like this site and there is some very good info for travelers everyone opinion is great, but we need to give them the correct info and deal in facts. |
double post
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toggle requirement for activity every 90 days is unacceptable, for me at least. plus their rediculous minimum topup amount. just to add that outside toggle-countries their voice and data rates are very-very expensive!
just to add that with Piranha you can receive free incoming calls to both the US &UK number through their voip, so if you have a sip client installed in your mobile and a wifi connection is totaly free. even with their new reduced data rates (lowest in the market) it is cheaper to use data connection in some countries just to receive voip calls Piranha has become my only interantional simcard.. i only have a airbalticcard for backup outgoing calls but never used it so far. |
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I try to limit my data use to WIFI. On the go, the Toggle and Travelsims cost less than 1 cent to trigger the callbacks and when I really need data on the go I also plug a local SIM. (if I really need data on the go the only option is a data plan, Piranha here once more isn't really useful as it comes out too expensive again). If I didn't have the Toggle SIM, I would use a local SIM + the Travelism in the dual sim phone for the worldwide free incoming calls and call forwarding. |
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I agree that if you use copious amounts of Data the only way forward is to buy a local Data Sim Package. But for low usage Piranha comes out well in front. If i am mistaken can you send me link of any other card with V/D/SMS (only have single Sim iPhone) that is cheaper or similar and that i can use in Europe and beyond, its always good to have a spare. As for free roaming, i have never come across anything free in this business and i would not like my like my friends and family to get caught with a huge bill for calling high rate numbers. I like my friends and family too much, but that's just me.:>) |
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And both SIMs are used with iphone/android callback. Quote:
So as I use callback I call 50+ countries landlines for free & cheapest worldwide mobile rates from Austria using the Toggle SIM. The same goes for the 20 countries where Toggle has free incoming. Then I pay 0.19£ per call (no minute charge) in the 16 other countries where Toggle charges 0.19£ per incoming call, or 0.09£/min with the Travelsim. All of the other countries where it is more expensive, are more expensive with Piranha also; this means Piranha is of absolutely no use to me. Quote:
Or I can use the Travelsim: 0.09£/min callback. Piranha is more expensive even with callback because they charge so much for incoming calls. The only good point for Piranha is the cheaper data, but then if you really want to use data properly 0.20£/Mb is again too expensive. The only viable option is a data plan and this means a local SIM (or perhaps the new T-Mobile, AT&T, Vodafone, etc... world data plans. Anyway, Piranha is a gain out of the window). Quote:
Or again: 0.09£/min to call Thailand with callback on Travelsim. Piranha is 0.33£/min? -> Out of the window. Quote:
"France 0.04£, Germany 0.05£ for incoming calls. Germany is even more expensive with Piranha (0.14£ Mobile)." 0.14£ to call German mobile phones with Piranha which is more expensive. Quote:
Otherwise, today everyone has internet at home and so everyone tends to be using SIP calling for telephone calls (even the telecom providers are offering home internet + phone bundles and these phones connected to internet routers are SIP calls). This means, today people are using SIP phones at home. So, they add a cheap SIP provider in their phone settings and it costs them 0.09£ to call me on the Travelsim (and they also have all of the other advantages : 50+ countries free landline calls and cheapest mobile calls worldwide). Those who don't have internet at home or those who don't have an EU calling plan can call a local landline number. And those who don't want to do anything to call cheaper and prefer to call with an expensive provider, that's their choice. |
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Even a quick 0.005 cent data charge once every 90 days is enough to keep it going. Yes it would be better without the 90 days requirement, but all of the other options are so much more expensive. Quote:
The credit never expires as long as you use the SIM at least once ever 90 days (as I said, even 0.005 cents data is enough to keep it going). I agree the 10£ topup was better, but as it never expires, the 20£ top up is not an issue for me. Quote:
Today callback with iphone/android applications has become so transparent for the user, there is absolutely no reason to pay more for a direct call. Regarding data rates: again, really using data requires a data plan. This means local sim or worldwide data plan. Piranha doesn't have this. For quick data without a plan, between toggle coverage and the onesimcard (travelsim) it's good enough. Quote:
Piranha is charging for incoming calls, and as I am using callback it comes out a lot more expensive for me. |
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Furhtermore, if you use VOIP the same providers I am using for callback also have VOIP, cheaper than Piranha (your example: Thailand is free to call landline & mobiles, UK: free to landlines, 0.005(half a cent) to mobiles). -> Piranha is even more expensive for VOIP. ==> Toggle + callback (= good call quality/availability) is cheaper than Piranha VOIP in the 20 Toggle countries. So with Piranha you have only 2 choices: 1. You use Voip but you have quality & availability issues. 2. You pay a lot more than the other SIMs with callback. Piranha is out of the window for me. Perhaps only good in specific situations / countries for data and for the people who don't want to use callback on their iphone/android. This means, for voice, it's good for the people who prefer to pay more to make a direct call (but given how transparent the iphone/andoind callback applications have become today, why pay more? And in most countries you pay A LOT more.). |
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I use a local UK incoming number with Piranha which i know is in bundle from either land line or mobile which makes it extremely cheap for friends and family to call me, there is however a monthly charge of £1.25, this is on a one months rolling contract, I know they have other local numbers available in many countries, but i am unsure of the costs i am sure they will vary, and if i have access to a good WI-FI connection its free to receive calls. So far i have never had any major issues with the VoIP quality, in fact sometimes on a good WI-FI connection the quality is better than most GSM networks, and that should be the same case for most VoIP providers. Question on VoIP, which provider do you use and can you use your toggle or Travelsim numbers for incoming and outgoing calls, do you have to top up the VoIP or is it linked to one of your Sims, if not whats the min top up limit required, and if possible what Betamax call-back app and requirements for use. Thanks in advance for info. |
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But anyway, what you are describing doesn't concern the usual prepaid roaming user who already went through the trouble of ordering a prepaid SIM from the Internet, as it is even easier to get the app from the phone's app store than it is to order a SIM from some website. Quote:
As I said, today carriers are replacing the old home phones with SIP phones all over the world. And once you have a SIP phone you add any cheap provider you want. And these cheap providers also offer landline numbers in the major countries. I.ex: you call the UK landline and then you dial the number you want, i.ex: 0.09£ to call the +372 mobile (or free to call the +1 Toggle number, 0.005 to UK Toggle number). It's so easy, stop looking for excuses to pay more. But if you prefer to pay more, please do so. :) Quote:
And BTW, calling your friends back after they ring you comes out cheaper for you than using Piranha to receive the call. (for convenience and worldwide coverage I am assuming a dual-SIM phone setup with Toggle + AnyTravelsim with betamax callback). Quote:
They have nothing to do with the SIM. I even recommend to setup the home landline phone with this, as it is much cheaper than anything else. Minimum top up is 10$. Rates here: http://progx.ch/home-voip-prixbetamax-3-1-2.html They allow callback, local access numbers, SIP and VOIP. You can set any caller ID you want. So, for example, if you set your Mobile number as caller ID people don't even know you aren't calling directly with your phone. |
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With Toggle you also have the UK number, and you receive the call for free in 20 countries. (now add a betamax callback to this - perhaps even on the +1 Toggle number which is free to call with betamax if you don't want to pay for the 0.005 it currently cost to call the UK number - and see how cheap it gets... with free outgoing to 50+ country landlines, even some mobiles :) ). From Toggle SIM (with betamax) completely free calls to mobiles in US, Canada, Puerto Rico, Thailand, Singapore, China, Malaysia, South Korea, ... 0.005 to many EU mobiles. And then generally, the countries that are cheaper than Toggle with Piranha, come out cheaper with a Travelsim + betamax (most of the world will be a lot cheaper). Quote:
But yes you are right, VOIP will be good with a solid connection. |
One more thing:
Even with 0 credit you can still receive free incoming calls in 154 countries with the Travelsims. With 0 credit, call forwarding also keeps working to the same 154 countries (landlindes and all mobiles in the 154 countries). With Piranha, what happens when your credit suddenly runs out, especially when you find yourself in a difficult or urgent situation, lost abroad? Does Piranha leave you hanging out to dry in the sun? :o Piranha may be good in some situations / use cases. But it certainly isn't the best international SIM. |
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These people are not ripped off by the +372 numbers (termination isn't more than 0.15$ -- this also means that betamax is cheaper than the official termination rates). They are ripped off by their own carriers who are charging so much to call these numbers. If people still keep using companies that are abusing them, they are free to do so. But as I said, re the contacts this is an issue for, it is cheaper for you to call them back (via callback on Toggle + Travelsim) after they ring you than it is to accept the incoming calls with Piranha. Quote:
The only issue I had was when new area codes where released which some telcos didn't know about and so the calls didn't terminate until they corrected their routing to terminate properly to these new area codes (i. ex: the new +372-8x). Quote:
But I agree, if you prefer to call direct, Piranha looks like a good choice outside of Toggle (but then again, betamax call back is working so well, why would anyone want to pay so much more for their calls?). You see, a long time ago after some multiple outrageous bills I have made the choice to not let myself get abused anymore. My landline phones have been set up to call out exclusively with betamax for the past 8 years; the same applies to my mobiles. The result? My phone bills went down from several hundreds to less than 10$ per month (some countries I was charged up to 1 or 2$/min to call were suddenly even free to call). It is cheaper also for local calls. |
MBK which callback company you use? Betamax require internet connection to trigger a callback
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Yes it needs to enable the data connection to trigger the callback, but this is so cheap it's irrelevant imho. With Toggle in Toggle countries the data cost is less than 1 cent to trigger the callback (in my account it is often showing 0.002). With the Travelsim perhaps 1 or 2 cents?. On android I use phone2phone for this, it uses less data than mobilevoip (mobilevoip also checks the balance, the callerid, etc.. and this uses a little more data -- but here we are talking only 1 or 2 cents more, less with Toggle). Of course some countries have very high data rates. But even then the callback amount to a couple cents only. Also, on android I have installed a firewall (free download from app store, there are several, Avast mobile security also includes a firewall) to allow only 2G/3G data connections for the app triggering the callback. This is to make sure the phone will not use more than the 1 cent (or less with Toggle). This way you don't have dozens of apps on your phone connecting to the internet as soon as you enable the connection. |
Change is coming in US networks
OK. I was going to write about my experience of switching between T-Mobile and AT&T networks in the USA. But I was unable to logon to switch and test. I called to verify why I could not log on and the person who answered the phone said they were doing maintenance and it would be a few hours before it would be back up.
I asked a question about US networks and he said in about '2 weeks' they would primarily be using T-Mobile and that it would have better data rates than AT&T. He actually expressed it in terms of dropping AT&T. I mentioned that AT&T did have better coverage and he indicated that they could keep people on AT&T if they requested it. So this is a 'heads up' to anyone in the US who cares about which network they use. If AT&T is crucial to you, you might send them an email now so they can know how important this change might be to/for you. |
the core network seems to be now in poland (see IMSI code)... my SIM is gone ^^
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it's a joke !!! IMSI was on IT 10 minutes ago and now IMSI is US !!!
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They have changed the web interface about two weeks ago so that when you edit the SIM there is a choice: Translation Profile with a choice of France, International, Israel, UK & US. Unfortunately I find nothing about this on the website. I will let someone else experiment with this! |
now the IMSI comes back to a PL IMSI began with 26006... and also no network...
so piranha have 3 core networks, IT, PL and US... of course a FR sim card works well. PS: after a phone reboot, no IMSI code now. |
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Long term Piranha need to pressure their supplier to overhaul the STK from automatic only to a Toggle Mobile style IMSI selector. Another reliable approach is that used by eKit on their multi IMSI cards - prefixed PIN numbers - 1+PIN is IMSI 1, 2+PIN is IMSI 2, 3+PIN is IMSI 3 etc. |
sorry your message is too technical for me...
(due to my email to the CS ?) now card works well on the US network (31084 what MNO / MVNO or full-MVNO is ???) after 7/8 manual tries, i lost #2 MNO FR named SFR network access compared to old TIM (telecom italia) IMSI.... IMHO they negociate lower prices ^^ |
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it might take a little while to find the new network.
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Piranha also lets you switch to AT&T network by accessing your account web page. You would want to use AT&T because their data rates are cheaper---all other rates are higher. I just switched to AT&T from T-Mobile and it took less than 15 minutes. That is a record for me. I turn on the phone and get the wrong [current] network. I then manually select the right [new] network and it does not accept the new network. Then I turn off the phone [with auto network select on] and then turn the phone on again. After about 5 minutes a message comes up and says it might take a little while to find the new network. Eventually it does. I would suggest anyone who might change networks and lives in the US to experiment with this so they know how to do it if needed. And know how fast it might take to change network. |
now they use 26006 network (poland) and it works... SFR is still lost... why these changes on the fly with no manual requests ???
for them, now the MNO/full-MVNO/MVNO is adjusted on the fly X times per day depend of prices sic ! I know it is a low-cost offer but..................... |
Change translation profile. Example: if you choose the US profile you can call another
US number without having to use the full international code, more profiles will be added over time http://www.piranha-mobile.com/image/...ser_Manual.pdf |
it is an idea yes... normally the core network is not associated with this... it is only a cosmetic change, not in relation with my comment ;) but tks for the tip in all cases
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now the PL roaming partner use for #1 FR network Orange a callback method
to call... the US number is lost whatever the FR network (Orange or Bouygues Télécom) funny moments with this MVNO.... :chair::chair::chair: |
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PSIM |
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We ran a series of tests to your US number with your assistance and no issue could be found, all of the tests conducted ( with your help) came back 100% clear of fault.:D PSIM Support |
of course:
Before your tests, the US number does not works. (10 fail, 0 OK) After your tests, the US number work half of time (5 fail, 5 OK) Now (7h17 FR time): ( 8 fail, 2 OK) a big thanks to my REDIAL button landline phone => no KB number bad typing error ;) for sure, it is a connexion problem between my classical FR provider and your US gateway *OR/AND* your US gateway and your PL partner. |
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PSIM |
in Greece no connection problems with any of the 3availiable networks
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Experience with Piranha in Europe and Canada
just back from Austria, UK, and Canada.
I really want to like Piranha, best rates, UK/US numbers included free, the VOIP integration with same numbers.... BUT: data does not always work reliably, seems to come in and out. The selection of carriers seems somewhat random, in Austria, I was sometimes on a carrier that allowed direct dial, sometimes not (A1) and carriers have significant differences in phone and data charges. The callback system worked OK in UK, but not in Austria at all. Before I left, I asked for UK number on SIM to be primary, so that people could call me back on local number, but then texts didn't work at all, in or out. (customer service did warn me this might be a problem, but it really needs fixing!). Wife was using UK Orange SIM card, and no problems, but they don't have good PAYG bundles for EU. Also used Truphone as backup. |
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Since you are in U.S., wouldn't it be much cheaper to switch to T-Mobile which includes among its 100 roaming partners all the EU for free data and text and 20¢/min. voice in and out to all those countries (and back to U.S.) when roaming? |
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