Piranha Mobile Sim Card

[snidely]

Originally Posted by misterbill

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?

Took 7 or 8 days for us to get SIM earlier this year. The only "problem" we noticed was that the first time you hit a new country it can take 2 hours to first register on the system. After that, no problem reconnecting to system. Excellent rates in most countries.

[misterbill]

Originally Posted by snidely

Took 7 or 8 days for us to get SIM earlier this year. The only "problem" we noticed was that the first time you hit a new country it can take 2 hours to first register on the system. After that, no problem reconnecting to system. Excellent rates in most countries.

I decided not to bother with Piranha since they never responded to a question I submitted asking about shipping and was not comfortable about getting it in time for my trip. I was going to give in and buy the ekit Passport but then realized that Verizon is actually reasonable for data if I do the bundle ($25 for 100mb, cheaper than Pirahna) and texts (5c to receive, 50c to send). Voice they're not cheap on, even if you buy the $4.99 calling plan. But the ekit Passport Lite only costs $10 on Amazon and comes with 30 minutes of free incoming calling (plus $5 of credit, but the calling rates are high)! So I ordered that and will use it in my spare unlocked feature phone and between the two will figure out a way to make it work, plus I'll have a backup in case there are problems.

[misterbill]

Originally Posted by snidely

The only "problem" we noticed was that the first time you hit a new country it can take 2 hours to first register on the system. After that, no problem reconnecting to system. Excellent rates in most countries.

That could be a bit of a problem for me since I will be on a cruise and will only be in many countries for 6-8 hours!

Does the ekit Passport SIM have the same problem?

I should mention that the Piranha person contacted me as a result of my post here and apologized for not responding to my question and has sent me a SIM (although I have not yet received it). I leave for my vacation next Friday, so hopefully I will get it soon. Then I decide whether I use it in my Smartphone, or go with Verizon as I had originally planned and use the Piranha SIM in my unlocked phone (where I currently have the Passport Lite).

[jeffg1998]

[QUOTE=misterbill;43533]
Does the ekit Passport SIM have the same problem?

QUOTE]

I have both a Piranha and E-Kit SIM cards. It is true that Piranha can take a long, long time to register on a network. Sometimes it is quick, but you can't count on it. They do have the best rates, though.

My E-Kit SIM pretty much registers within minutes and always seems to work wherever I am. (Usually on cruises).

My advice is if you get your Piranha on time, try it and leave it in your phone starting at about 1 hour before docking (you'd be surprised how far out a phone can get a signal) and see if it registers. If not, plan B... Ekit.

[rfranzq]

Originally Posted by misterbill

Then I decide whether I use it in my Smartphone, or go with Verizon as I had originally planned

Your Verizon phone already has a Verizon SIM for international use, right?

[davidtheprof]

I just tested SMS, and it works in and out on the US number, but cannot send to the Piranha UK number - perhaps because it is not primary. But can call to both numbers no problem.
takes about a week for sim to arrive.
Enjoy!

[misterbill]

Originally Posted by davidtheprof

I just tested SMS, and it works in and out on the US number, but cannot send to the Piranha UK number - perhaps because it is not primary. But can call to both numbers no problem.
takes about a week for sim to arrive.
Enjoy!

So you said "I should have switched the "active" number to the UK one instead of US, but still, outgoing SMS didn't work at all." Were you trying to text to/from the UK number? I guess I have to read the documentation to figure out how this works and you select one number over the other.

But it sounds like you would definitely recommend it over the ekit Passport.

PS how was your cruise .

[davidtheprof]

for the European cities, with the new EU roaming rates, a national sim (I used O2) is not too expensive and more reliable. O2 and Vodafone have good EU data roaming packages as well.
for Piranha you have to call them to switch primary number. Not sure why outgoing didn't work earlier and does now.
Piranha is call back, not everyone likes that. But overall it works well at low cost.
Messing around with sims and mifi was most exciting part of cruise... we were 'reluctant cruisers', part of larger family group celebration... Ports are interesting, and get your own guides, not the ship tours.

[misterbill]

What happened to their Android VoIP dialer? On their site, it says

Piranha Android VoIP Download:
Notice: we are currently working on a new VoIP dialler please check back later.

[gkeeper]

Originally Posted by misterbill

What happened to their Android VoIP dialer? On their site, it says

Piranha Android VoIP Download:
Notice: we are currently working on a new VoIP dialler please check back later.

I use the Acrobits dialler they recommend, works very well for me and now has a push data feature which also works well. They did inform me when questioned that they were working on a new free version, but they have not released it yet.