PrePaidGSM.net Forum (Archived)

PrePaidGSM.net Forum (Archived) (https://prepaid.mondo3.com/forum/index.php)
-   International GSM prepaid cards (https://prepaid.mondo3.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=25)
-   -   Yackie or Hop Mobile?...or another? (https://prepaid.mondo3.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1940)

teothx 12-04-2007 17:24

Yackie or Hop Mobile?...or another?
 
Hi! I'm interesting in an international sim card. I see the rate of Yackie and Hop Mobile (international) are the best. But I see that all two cards are very expensive, so what's the best to choose one of this?

I see that with Yackie it's possible to choose also an Italian number (in my case I can choose Milan) if I understand...

What do you think?

Or you can tell me another good international sims.

Thanks a lot
Matteo

srickrode 12-04-2007 18:16

Stay away from Yackie - nothing but bad experiences all over this forum, whether it is performance or billing issues.

teothx 12-04-2007 18:23

Yes, I had read...

but something less expensive of Hop Mobile?

Przemolog 12-04-2007 19:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by teothx (Post 14315)
Yes, I had read...

but something less expensive of Hop Mobile?

In what countries do you want to use the card the most?
Do you want mainly to receive calls or to make calls and where - to Italy, to the country you are in. elsewhere?

teothx 12-04-2007 19:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by Przemolog (Post 14316)
In what countries do you want to use the card the most?
Do you want mainly to receive calls or to make calls and where - to Italy, to the country you are in. elsewhere?

I need a sim card to use in all the world, I know that in most countries there's also roaming cost, but where there aren't I can cut the cost ;)

I need only, for the moment, make call to Italy, or else where, but not to receive.

Przemolog 12-04-2007 22:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by teothx (Post 14317)
I need a sim card to use in all the world, I know that in most countries there's also roaming cost, but where there aren't I can cut the cost ;)

I need only, for the moment, make call to Italy, or else where, but not to receive.

Well, Hop has the same rate worldwide $0.95/min + $0.20 setup fee and one second rounding but its coverage is good in Africa only. In Europe, it doesn't cover even all the EU countries. The best coverage (=no. of countries) is in Yackie Mobile (but its reliability is close to zero :-P) and 09. If you care the most about outgoing call rates, GT-SIM might be your choice. In many countries they charge €0.26/min to landlines and €0.38/min to mobiles. Coverage is about 115 countries.

teothx 12-04-2007 22:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by Przemolog (Post 14318)
Well, Hop has the same rate worldwide $0.95/min + $0.20 setup fee and one second rounding but its coverage is good in Africa only. In Europe, it doesn't cover even all the EU countries. The best coverage (=no. of countries) is in Yackie Mobile (but its reliability is close to zero :-P) and 09. If you care the most about outgoing call rates, GT-SIM might be your choice. In many countries they charge €0.26/min to landlines and €0.38/min to mobiles. Coverage is about 115 countries.

Yes, I've just visit the site, but I didn't consider it because there are many php/mysql errors and it doesn't work, so I can't buy it.... :(

Przemolog 12-04-2007 22:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by teothx (Post 14319)
Yes, I've just visit the site, but I didn't consider it because there are many php/mysql errors and it doesn't work, so I can't buy it.... :(

I've also noticed that something wrong is happening with gt-sim site :-(.

teothx 12-04-2007 23:00

I've found also a GT-Sim.com.au site, the rate are in AUD.
But if you see in the FAQ there are:

"Which currency is the GT-SIM account kept?
All GT-SIM accounts are in European Euros. "

...so it's the same...

I'll waiting for the .de site, because it's ok for me :)

Thanks a lot

P.S. and "my cherry mobile"?

snidely 13-04-2007 00:03

I think the general consensus here is that Hop is the most expensive of any of the intl. SIMS. Outgoing, at 95 cents is quite high. In fact, you can roam in many countries w. a U.S. T-Mobile or Cingular/att phone for 99 cents for outgoing.
When you factor in the cost of calling a Monaco mobile, incoming is about 50 cents - again higher than anybody else (intl. SIMS) in most places.

Just realized i forgot about the 20 cent surcharge on each outgoing call with Hop. A few weeks ago I posted here a complete rate comparison chart comparing UM, TravelSIM, and CelTrek. (Also included the U.S. carriers, which would not be of interest to a "foreigner"<G>)
CelTrek can provide a UK, French, or U.S. number for the same basic cost. Don't know about Italy.

...mike

...mike

teothx 13-04-2007 00:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by snidely (Post 14323)
Where will you be using it?

In USA (california), but I need a international sim card for future use ;)

P.S. I see there are "jolt Mobile", but it work only in u.s.a....

Effendi 13-04-2007 07:21

If you need a card for the USA buy a US card, not an international one...

Bossman 13-04-2007 10:08

Yep! For the USA, you are better off with a local sim rather than any of the international sims. Pretty much all the international sims have high termination rates in the US...obviously that's due the kind of phone system we have .

Quote:

Originally Posted by teothx (Post 14324)
In USA (california), but I need a international sim card for future use ;)

P.S. I see there are "jolt Mobile", but it work only in u.s.a....


herve75 13-04-2007 10:15

personaly, I just bought a 09 sim (not yet received) because its coverage is the best. I don't know if quality etc is OK ...
and I don't really care about their rates because I'll combine the use of the 09 sim with a cheap prepaid Hiboo (40cts/min to many places from the Iceland number of 09)
and validity of both is : unlimited as long as I place ONE call in 9 months

andy 13-04-2007 10:56

We realise Hiboo is your favourite, but don't call it cheap. There are callback services around half the price.

teothx 13-04-2007 11:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by andy (Post 14340)
We realise Hiboo is your favourite, but don't call it cheap. There are callback services around half the price.

Now I've visited the Hiboo mobile site, they rate USA to Italy only 0.20€

I think it's cheap...

snidely 13-04-2007 21:28

1. It doesn't pay to use any of the "Int'l" SIM cards in the U.S. Most have to charge $1.00 to $1.50/min. Prepaids here are less than 25 cents and most are under 15 cents/min.
2. Calling an Italy landline would be under 3 cents/min. on most dial up LD carriers like pingo.com and onesuite.com. To call a mobile is less than 25 cents. IOW, all you would spend to call Italy from you U.S. prepaid SIM is the airtime + 3 cents. If there were a payphone handy, you dial a toll free number (no coins needed) and pick up a dial tone, enter your PIN number and call Italy for 4 cents. (You wouldn't need to enter a PIN when calling from your cell once you set up your LD account with most all LD dial around carriers.

...mike

Przemolog 13-04-2007 22:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by snidely (Post 14323)
I think the general consensus here is that Hop is the most expensive of any of the intl. SIMS. Outgoing, at 95 cents is quite high. In fact, you can roam in many countries w. a U.S. T-Mobile or Cingular/att phone for 99 cents for outgoing.

I think you're wrong - Hop is expensive in Europe or Australia but e.g. not in USA, Cuba ot India to compare with other international SIMs. Their policy of the same rates worldwide that brings such an effect....

Quote:

Originally Posted by snidely (Post 14323)
When you factor in the cost of calling a Monaco mobile, incoming is about 50 cents - again higher than anybody else (intl. SIMS) in most places.

You should count the rate to Monaco mobile only if both participants of the call are using the same budget (family/business). If someone "stranger" calls you, it's his/her problem how much it costs :). OK, I know that America is RPP and Europe is CPP and that's affect the way you think...:)

teothx 13-04-2007 22:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by snidely (Post 14363)
1. It doesn't pay to use any of the "Int'l" SIM cards in the U.S. Most have to charge $1.00 to $1.50/min. Prepaids here are less than 25 cents and most are under 15 cents/min.
2. Calling an Italy landline would be under 3 cents/min. on most dial up LD carriers like pingo.com and onesuite.com. To call a mobile is less than 25 cents. IOW, all you would spend to call Italy from you U.S. prepaid SIM is the airtime + 3 cents. If there were a payphone handy, you dial a toll free number (no coins needed) and pick up a dial tone, enter your PIN number and call Italy for 4 cents. (You wouldn't need to enter a PIN when calling from your cell once you set up your LD account with most all LD dial around carriers.

...mike

I see pingo.com and onesuite.com, very good rates...and if I understand also with mobile phone....

snidely 13-04-2007 23:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by teothx (Post 14366)
I see pingo.com and onesuite.com, very good rates...and if I understand also with mobile phone....

In the U.S. you can dial any number from a cell phone that you can dial from a landline. There are numerous companies like pingo and onesuite. Another that seems to be popular on various forums is "tel3advantage.com" They almost all have the ability for you to "register" phones you will be using so you don't have to enter a PIN number. Just dial the LD carrier's number, a second later you'll hear a voice saying "please enter the number you are calling". Most of these services have allow you to enter speed dial numbers into the system so you just need to press a couple of keys. Pingo has PINless dialing but no speed dial. I use them because they have low rates to Costa Rica.
Rates to first world countries are pretty much the same no matter who you use.

...mike

snidely 13-04-2007 23:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by Przemolog (Post 14365)
I think you're wrong - Hop is expensive in Europe or Australia but e.g. not in USA, Cuba ot India to compare with other international SIMs. Their policy of the same rates worldwide that brings such an effect....


You should count the rate to Monaco mobile only if both participants of the call are using the same budget (family/business). If someone "stranger" calls you, it's his/her problem how much it costs :). OK, I know that America is RPP and Europe is CPP and that's affect the way you think...:)

Of course those of us in the USA would use our regular phone - and, supposedly it is illegal for us to go to Cuba. Travelers have to go hours out of the way via Mexico (or Canada), even though Cuba is only about 150km away! Cingular and T-Mobile, for that reason, don't allow their customers to roam there.

Many of us forward all incoming calls to our cell when we are away from home or office. We don't want people to have to dial an intl. number. Most friends, clients etc. won't do that. The rates charged for intl. calls vary quite a bit. One problem is that a majority local landline companies don't allow you to forward to intl. numbers. I now use VoiceStick to do that. That is one reason Yackie and CelTrek are interesting to U.S. customers.

...mike

snidely 13-04-2007 23:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by Przemolog (Post 14365)
I think you're wrong - Hop is expensive in Europe or Australia but e.g. not in USA, Cuba ot India to compare with other international SIMs. Their policy of the same rates worldwide that brings such an effect....

You should count the rate to Monaco mobile only if both participants of the call are using the same budget (family/business). If someone "stranger" calls you, it's his/her problem how much it costs :). OK, I know that America is RPP and Europe is CPP and that's affect the way you think...:)

Of course those of us in the USA would use our regular phone - and, supposedly it is illegal for us to go to Cuba. Travelers have to go hours out of the way via Mexico (or Canada), even though Cuba is only about 150km away! Cingular and T-Mobile, for that reason, don't allow their customers to roam there.

Many of us forward all incoming calls to our cell when we are away from home or office. We don't want people to have to dial an intl. number. Most friends, clients etc. won't do that. The rates charged for intl. calls vary quite a bit. One problem is that a majority local landline companies don't allow you to forward to intl. numbers. I now use VoiceStick to do that. That is one reason Yackie and CelTrek are interesting to U.S. customers.

...mike

Przemolog 14-04-2007 09:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by snidely (Post 14371)
Of course those of us in the USA would use our regular phone - and, supposedly it is illegal for us to go to Cuba. Travelers have to go hours out of the way via Mexico (or Canada), even though Cuba is only about 150km away! Cingular and T-Mobile, for that reason, don't allow their customers to roam there.

Yes, I realise that. But the "thread starter", Teothx is from Italy and is interested in the entire world...

Quote:

Originally Posted by snidely (Post 14371)
Many of us forward all incoming calls to our cell when we are away from home or office. We don't want people to have to dial an intl. number. Most friends, clients etc. won't do that. The rates charged for intl. calls vary quite a bit. One problem is that a majority local landline companies don't allow you to forward to intl. numbers. I now use VoiceStick to do that. That is one reason Yackie and CelTrek are interesting to U.S. customers.

Yes, again I know about that - it has been mentioned by US forumers here. After all, I agree that being accessible under one national number worldwide is one the main ideas (and advantages) of international roaming - the "only" issue is the price for that "pleasure" :-P. But again, the thread was started by a European who may think different (but I don't claim I know what he really thinks :)).
Somehow OT - if the Americans don't like int' calls so much, how do they avoid calling to Canada or Carribean/Pacific nations which also use +1 NANP numbering??? Does anybody know "at a glance" that the given 3-digit area code is from USA or not???

andy 14-04-2007 10:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by teothx (Post 14341)
Now I've visited the Hiboo mobile site, they rate USA to Italy only 0.20€

I think it's cheap...

For a moment I thought you meant Italy mobile, so I checked

USA - Italy 20 cents; USA - Italy Mobile 50 cents

compare (1st figure US mobile - Italy; 2nd to Italy mobile)

Enlinea (US cents) 6c 28c

Mywebcalls (US c) 2.7c 22-25c

Voipbuster - 1.2c 28.6c

Vyke - 3.36c 25.7c

Voxalot + Voipcheap - 1.2c 14.3c

So, some of us could call an Italian mobile cheaper than Hiboo could reach a landline; that's why I said it is not cheap. 60 or 70 cents between 2 European mobiles is poor (GSM2world is 30c, Voxalot + Voipcheap can be less), and 20 cents between 2 landlines is atrocious. The 40c rate for Iceland mobile only beats 09 Mobile's own 39c tariff by saving the connection fee.

Don't forget that using callback with a US mobile, you'll still be paying for the incoming call, so using a callthrough arrangement is likely to be as good.

teothx 14-04-2007 17:55

I'm try to understand what's the best rate to Italy: with international sims or prepaid card, it's not important how...

I say that Hiboo it's cheap because I'll make only (or maybe) mobile to landline (Usa to Italy).
And I don't understand if pingo.com and others works by mobile phone...because I think that are the very best alternatives to international sims ;)

snidely 14-04-2007 20:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by Przemolog (Post 14381)

Somehow OT - if the Americans don't like int' calls so much, how do they avoid calling to Canada or Carribean/Pacific nations which also use +1 NANP numbering??? Does anybody know "at a glance" that the given 3-digit area code is from USA or not???

We can NOT tell at a glance if an area code is intl. (like Canada). It isn't a problem, usually, because when the old Bell system was broken up, you have to pick a separate carrier to handle LD calls. Calls to Canada are cheaper on some carrier than calls to U.S. numbers - because termination rates are cheaper in Canada.
Egregious exceptions are there. Eg. Our office in the S.Eastern U.S. in Bell South territory has a plan for the landlines with unlimited local and LD (within U.S.) for $50/mo. IF, unknowingly, you dial a Canadian number, you pay over 50 cents/min.
To avoid that happening, we pd. them $5/line extra to block intl. cals. Their own system doesn't recognize calls to Canada as being intl and they show up on the bill. Each month someone has to call them to have the charges removed.

...mike

snidely 14-04-2007 20:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by teothx (Post 14391)

And I don't understand if pingo.com and others works by mobile phone...because I think that are the very best alternatives to international sims ;)

Hope we don't "have a failure to communicate".<G> Just to repeat, you can use pingo.com and others from ANY phone - landline or cell. You can call ANY number from landline or cell including toll free (what you may call "free call") numbers from landline or cell. With a cell you pay for airtime no matter what kind of number you call.
You are right - a MUCH CHEAPER alternative to intl. SIMS.

...mike

teothx 14-04-2007 21:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by snidely (Post 14396)
Hope we don't "have a failure to communicate".<G> Just to repeat, you can use pingo.com and others from ANY phone - landline or cell. You can call ANY number from landline or cell including toll free (what you may call "free call") numbers from landline or cell. With a cell you pay for airtime no matter what kind of number you call.
You are right - a MUCH CHEAPER alternative to intl. SIMS.

...mike

Thanks! :)

teothx 28-04-2007 00:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by snidely (Post 14396)
Hope we don't "have a failure to communicate".<G> Just to repeat, you can use pingo.com and others from ANY phone - landline or cell. You can call ANY number from landline or cell including toll free (what you may call "free call") numbers from landline or cell. With a cell you pay for airtime no matter what kind of number you call.
You are right - a MUCH CHEAPER alternative to intl. SIMS.

...mike

But with Pingo.com, onesuite.com, tel3advange.com, if I call the toll free number by mobile, I'll pay for receive in USA, because it's a call-back number, so it's not so cheap...or there are a possibile to make a direct call?

And I see that pingo, for example, as a montly tax.....

So...what's the best to call from a mobile phone to...the world?

snidely 29-04-2007 01:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by teothx (Post 14578)
But with Pingo.com, onesuite.com, tel3advange.com, if I call the toll free number by mobile, I'll pay for receive in USA, because it's a call-back number, so it's not so cheap...or there are a possibile to make a direct call?

And I see that pingo, for example, as a montly tax.....

So...what's the best to call from a mobile phone to...the world?

I've lost track of what you are doing. Are you going to be using a U.S.. SIM, like from Cingular or T-M.?

...mike


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 16:48.

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2025, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
© 2002-2020 PrePaidGSM.net