Piranha Mobile Sim Card

[PSIM]

Originally Posted by borjeg

No, answer here! He asked the the question here, so you'll give the answer here.

The same question was posted on the Piraha Website Forum by the same user, and the said question has been answered.

PSIM

[davidtheprof]

thanks to Piranha support for rapid response,
had to go into Applications and clear data for Acrobits, then re-enter the username and password - now it works, will test the background-push mode.

[davidtheprof]

just got a second Piranha for wife for upcoming trip,
in testing, I found that calls to UK number are much more than to regular mobile:
using google voice, it's 10c/min to an Orange UK number, and 21c/min to a Piranha UK number ( 7418-xxxxxx). Any thoughts?

[rfranzq]

Originally Posted by davidtheprof

using google voice, it's 10c/min to an Orange UK number, and 21c/min to a Piranha UK number ( 7418-xxxxxx). Any thoughts?

Somebody does not like Telna.

International Numbering Plans

Information on phone number range +44 74185XXXXX
Number billable as mobile number
Country or destination United Kingdom
City or exchange location
Original network provider* Telecom North America Mobile Inc

[davidtheprof]

back from a cruise to Baltics, was using multiple sims.
Piranha overall was the best, in terms of rates and accessing numbers in multiple countries. Was often able to get data several miles offshore, and phone signal 10-12 miles.

And data rates in Europe have been reduced from 53c to 38c/MB. Goodbye Truphone! didn't bother to even try Tru, as their rates for non-EU residents are uncompetitive. Call back generally reliable, but occasionally had to try multiple times.

But SMS didn't work at all on Piranha, in or out, only got the "welcome to x country" message. I should have switched the "active" number to the UK one instead of US, but still, outgoing SMS didn't work at all.

Piranha's VOIP on Acrobits is excellent and cheap, and I love the fact it uses the same numbers as the main sim.

(For data, I also used O2 sim in old phone as wifi hotspot, initially 25MB for GBP 2 (2 pounds) - then they reduced to 15MB half way! Also, can only use for phones, when I tried to connect laptop, it locked up after a few mins, O2 must have tethering detection.

One weird thing, after nearly a week on cruise, the piranha sim started locking on to the ship's Cellular at Sea network - as phones "check in" and use data every 30 mins or so, this started costing me 2 pounds an hour (min 100kb charge, 10 pounds/MB), before I noticed and disabled data.

[tux]

Truphone rates aren't convenient even for EU residents. ATM they're ignoring the EU regulation. (but I haven't tried if they have only to update their rates checker or if they're still charging the old rates.)

[davidtheprof]

Kudos to Piranha, without any prompting from me (except perhaps the message above), they credited me for the data charged while connected through cruise ship. I'd be interested to see what their rates are for cruise ships, I think this is a new service.

[reeder]

Originally Posted by davidtheprof

Kudos to Piranha, without any prompting from me (except perhaps the message above), they credited me for the data charged while connected through cruise ship. I'd be interested to see what their rates are for cruise ships, I think this is a new service.

Cruise ship rates are listed under Calling From:"On Waves", as far as I'm aware. They've been in the system for several months, as I asked them to add it for a Celebrity Cruises Transatlantic trip earlier this year. It only has Wireless Maritime Services & Maritime Communications Partner at the moment but rates have been lowered based on my notes. Seanet, GSM on the ship, and Navitas were removed from the rate calculator.

Actually, my Siminn Iceland Frelsi sim also picked up the ship's cellular signal. That sort of makes sense since OnWaves is a Siminn subsidiary. It didn't seem to allow for 3G data, though, which was probably too much to hope for considering the price differences between Siminn and general maritime 3G data. My Siminn sim isn't enabled for roaming outside of Iceland (requires a Credit Card registration for billing).

[misterbill]

Originally Posted by davidtheprof

back from a cruise to Baltics, was using multiple sims.
Piranha overall was the best, in terms of rates and accessing numbers in multiple countries. Was often able to get data several miles offshore, and phone signal 10-12 miles..

Interesting post, since I am about to leave for a Baltic cruise and was looking for a SIM with a US number. I had been planning to use Telestial Passport (wasn't sure which one to order), but I hate their confusing rates (with different products being higher for one thing and less for another so neither is optimal) and someone on another board suggested Piranha, whose rates seem to be cheaper all around and have the US number so my kids can easily call us. I am a bit troubled by SMS not working since I did plan to use that. Was there something you found out after the fact that you could have done to make it work? Should you be able to receive and send texts on the US number?

How long does it generally take to receive this if shipped to the US?

[Bossman]

It took about 10 days to receive my sim. My advice is to make sure you have a backup. My Ekit sim saved me when my Piranha sim acted up earlier this year.

Originally Posted by misterbill

How long does it generally take to receive this if shipped to the US?