Piranha Mobile Sim Card

[MBK]

Originally Posted by fsotirop

toggle requirement for activity every 90 days is unacceptable, for me at least.

Toggle has replaced my main local SIM in Europe, so the 90 days are no problem for me as I use it all the time.

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.

Originally Posted by fsotirop

plus their rediculous minimum topup amount.

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.

Originally Posted by fsotirop

just to add that outside toggle-countries their voice and data rates are very-very expensive!

Absolutely not an issue for me as I am using callback (and callback on the travelsim where Toggle charges for incoming calls).

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.

Originally Posted by fsotirop

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.

I am not using voip due to the low quality/stability issues.

Piranha is charging for incoming calls, and as I am using callback it comes out a lot more expensive for me.

[MBK]

Originally Posted by gkeeper

I am taking these rates direct from there web sites, if you want to use VoIP piranha is cheaper and is free to receive globally and comes with the same incoming and outgoing numbers i.e Thailand to UK £0.01 and free to receive, now you will not get much cheaper than that:>) but hey you stick with what makes you happy.

Voip has quality/stability/availability issues.

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.).

[gkeeper]

Originally Posted by MBK

Voip has quality/stability/availability issues.

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.).

Your solution is way to complicated for your average user who just wants to pop in a Sim and save some money while enjoying there holiday, and high termination numbers used BY FREE INCOMING SIMS (excluding Toggle) are very expensive for the caller to call. I have never heard of any operator giving international calling to high term numbers within there contracted bundled minutes, not without purchasing a bolt on, yes your friends and family can buy bolts ons and reduce the cost of calling your free roaming Estonian or Latvian number, but it will cost around £10.00 per month for a bolt on with 100 mins of calling time, and if you don't have a bolt on its £0.40 on standard contract and £1.50 on PAYG. (example taken from O2 UK).
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.

[MBK]

Originally Posted by gkeeper

Your solution is way to complicated for your average user who just wants to pop in a Sim and save some money while enjoying there holiday,

The only thing needed is to install a free app from your phone's app store (I recommend Mobilevoip or phone2phone, there are others), load some prepaid credit and you can start calling.

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.

Originally Posted by gkeeper

and high termination numbers used BY FREE INCOMING SIMS (excluding Toggle) are very expensive for the caller to call.

Not at all. It cost 0.09£/min to call.

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.

Originally Posted by gkeeper

I have never heard of any operator giving international calling to high term numbers within there contracted bundled minutes, not without purchasing a bolt on, yes your friends and family can buy bolts ons and reduce the cost of calling your free roaming Estonian or Latvian number, but it will cost around £10.00 per month for a bolt on with 100 mins of calling time, and if you dont have a bolt on its £0.40 on standard contract and £1.50 on PAYG. (example taken from O2 UK)

If your friends prefer to stop calling you because they prefer to keep calling with their outrageously expensive operators, I think it's better to look for some new friends. But that's just my opinion.

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).

Originally Posted by gkeeper

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.

I use the betamax providers. They have been working great for the past 10 years.

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.

[MBK]

Originally Posted by gkeeper

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.

Yes, I understand.

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).

Originally Posted by gkeeper

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.

When I was talking about unstable VOIP quality, I was meaning on the go (3G, wifi hotspots,...). This is why I am using callback.

But yes you are right, VOIP will be good with a solid connection.

[MBK]

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?

Piranha may be good in some situations / use cases. But it certainly isn't the best international SIM.

[gkeeper]

Originally Posted by MBK

The only thing needed is to install a free app from your phone's app store (I recommend Mobilevoip or phone2phone, there are others), load some prepaid credit and you can start calling.

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.



Not at all. It cost 0.09£/min to call.

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.




If your friends prefer to stop calling you because they prefer to keep calling with their outrageously expensive operators, I think it's better to look for some new friends. But that's just my opinion.

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).



I use the betamax providers. They have been working great for the past 10 years.

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.

No need to get personnel, there are to many horror stories of friends and family being ripped off by high termination numbers. To cap it all a lot of providers are now blocking calls, not all VoIP providers allow calls to +372 numbers. i am sure you will find many references to operators blocking calls to +372 numbers or charging more on this forum. Its a personal choice and so far i have had no issues with using Toggle or Piranha (outside of Toggle countries).

[MBK]

Originally Posted by gkeeper

No need to get personnel, there are to many horror stories of friends and family being ripped off by high termination numbers.

This is where you are wrong.

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.

Originally Posted by gkeeper

To cap it all a lot of providers are now blocking calls,

In the 2 years I have been using the +372 I never had any issue of carriers blocking calls.

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).

Originally Posted by gkeeper

Its a personal choice and so far i have had no issues with using Toggle or Piranha (outside of Toggle countries).

What I can say after having used the onesimcard (travelsim) for 2 years now, is that this SIM is on the same quality level as the most expensive contracts I have used (this means that it is much more solid than the Toggle SIM, which I am also using - sometimes incoming calls or SMS don't come through with Toggle, a minor issue which isn't really bothering me as the rates are very low).


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.

[fsotirop]

MBK which callback company you use? Betamax require internet connection to trigger a callback

[MBK]

Originally Posted by fsotirop

MBK which callback company you use? Betamax require internet connection to trigger a callback

I use betamax.

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.