Piranha Mobile Sim Card

[davidtheprof]

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.

[snidely]

Originally Posted by davidtheprof

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.

David -
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?

[davidtheprof]

thanks, actually been on T-Mob for years, but would need to pay hefty fee to go to "simple choice" plan before 2 yr contract is up... The new plan kicks in next week, I'll try on next trip. But I'll miss the SIM card fun!

Do you have experience with T-Mob? data is meant to be very slow, not sure if adequate for maps, weather, etc. And I would still want to give local folks in EU a UK number, so I'd use a Piranha SIM to forward to my US number.

[UKSTEVE]

I have a EuropaSIM (Voda Italy repackage) which gives me 500MB a day across Europe for 3 euros.

Interestingly on a trip to Germany last year I was only able to get on to 2.5G services, but the MiFi whirred along at 100Kbps - more than enough for most email, and light Web surfing.

+Steve

[snidely]

Originally Posted by davidtheprof

thanks, actually been on T-Mob for years, but would need to pay hefty fee to go to "simple choice" plan before 2 yr contract is up... The new plan kicks in next week, I'll try on next trip. But I'll miss the SIM card fun!

Do you have experience with T-Mob? data is meant to be very slow, not sure if adequate for maps, weather, etc. And I would still want to give local folks in EU a UK number, so I'd use a Piranha SIM to forward to my US number.

Several of us made use of the incl intl roaming right after it went into effect when we were in China for a wedding end of Oct. for a week and then stopped in Hong Kong for 4 days. There were 5 or 6 of us w. T-Mobile phones while in China. A speed test I did was exactly the 128kbs they advertised it would be. Email, Google Maps worked fine. Even gave traffic conditions like at home! I did a test of Pandora music for 15 minutes - didn't miss a beat. Listened to audio streaming of a college football game for 3 hours - perfect clarity. Wife even did her Facebook thing. AND, yes, we weren't blocked by the great Chinese (internet) Wall. Using TM's server seemed to avoid all that.
Maps probably did load about 30-45 seconds longer than usual - but once you have the area maps in, any minor updating that needs to be done is quick as you move about the same city. Wife didn't complain about Facebook. Voice and text worked perfectly - both locally and back to U.S.
We noticed no real problem looking up weather.

[davidtheprof]

thanks, good to hear you had positive experience, (with phone and wedding!)
this writer had more trouble with data speeds http://www.forbes.com/sites/marcwebe...-game-changer/
for maps, can pre-download google map areas, and I use OsmAnd+ for travel, uses pre-downloaded maps.

[gkeeper]

Originally Posted by davidtheprof

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.

Hi David,
I was in Sweden over the Xmas break and had the same issue where the Sim was changing networks. On the first day I found HG3 to be very good on both Voice and Data and I personally preferred the direct dial, which was a little more expensive but worth it (£0.02 per minute more), as reported the Sim did change networks a few times, presumably this was down to dominant network coverage.
I then manually selected 3HG and turned off auto search, the rest of my trip was hassle free and it stayed on network throughout. On my departure i put handset back onto auto roam for next stop. I am using an iPhone 5. Hope this helps.

Happy new Year to all. GK

[davidtheprof]

sometimes I tried manually selecting a specific network, but even when that worked (far from every time), there were long periods with no data - and I'd try the network that my wife's phone with UK Orange sim card was connected to, so I knew there was phone and data signal in the area.
I hear Piranha is rolling out some upgraded sim cards (I was asked to test-drive one, but didn't want to risk it just before traveling). Maybe these will fix some of the issues.

[rfranzq]

Lower USA rates on T-Mobile. Matches AT&T data rate at $0.15/MB.

Effective immediately we have made major call rate reduction while roaming in Mexico and the USA.
Please use our RATE CALCULATOR found here to view the new costs.
If you are in either one of these locations please power off your hand set and reboot.
This will allow the new changes to take effect and you to benefit from the new prices.
Regards Piranha Mobile Ltd
Administration Team