Is the need for an "International" SIM Card ending?

[bartolo5]

Originally Posted by petkow

... However, there are plenty of great offers for data on local SIMs which you can pick up cheaply and easily as you travel.

I beg to differ. Unless you plan ahead and do your research about what SIMs to get, what APNs to use and what tariffs are available on prepaid for data it's going to be difficult to get that info once you are on the country because most sales people at the stores have no clue about any of this and of course you won't have internet to research anything because that's what you are trying to get.

I was recently in France, tried to get SFR iPhone prepaid plan, 10 euro for a week of unlimited data (great deal) and getting it to work it was a total ordeal. The SFR store I went did something wrong and didn't activate the plan properly, I tried to add it manually through the phone and their automated service but SFR doesn't accept non french credit cards there (lame). Had to back to the store, have the guy call customer service and they did fix it, but they told me it would take two days for it to start working.. and it did take two days for it to start working. Another major problem was finding what APN to use; the guy at the stored configured every setting of my iPhone by hand from the instructions that he was given on the phone. Still, they configured wrong apn.. after some research on a free wifi hotspot I was able to figure out that the right apn was 'sl2fr' ..

In Italy not too long ago I had a similar story, had to walk a lot through Milan to find a TIM store, and then they didn't speak english so communication to have them add the right plan was shaky. They didn't accept credit cards in the store so I had to run to an ATM to pay them with cash because the store was closing soon.. I had researched the APN and this one just worked right off but the guys at the store had no clue about it.

In the USA there is simply no decent option for prepaid SIM data that I know of.

If you frequently visit a few countries and you've got the hang of what's the situation of prepaid data in each one of them then yes, local SIMs are a great way to go for data, cheap and they work. But what we really need, is some international deal that give good data prices in many countries... I'm putting my hopes on Truphone Local Anywhere SIMs although currently their data rates suck, but they say they are going to improved them soon.

[Grampa]

My experience in Italy was quite different. I found the TIM store in the Rome airport, and said "I want the 100 hour data plan." She spoke good English, understood the product, and got me on my way pretty quickly. As far as I know, if you need a LOT of data (say, over 1GB), there is really no alternative to the local SIM. The cost of anything else is prohibitive.

[monkeyboy]

Originally Posted by bartolo5

In the USA there is simply no decent option for prepaid SIM data that I know of.

not sure what your criteria are, but in case you didn't know, Tmobile has recently changed their prepaid pricing structure and now offers a Data DayPass for $1.49. So that's $1.49US for "unlimited" data, per day, although there are reports that speeds get throttled back after a certain amount of usage. And you of course would need to start by having a Tmobile PrePaid SIM. Still this is a vast improvement over Tmobile's previous data prepaid offerings...

[bartolo5]

Originally Posted by monkeyboy

not sure what your criteria are, but in case you didn't know, Tmobile has recently changed their prepaid pricing structure and now offers a Data DayPass for $1.49. So that's $1.49US for "unlimited" data, per day, although there are reports that speeds get throttled back after a certain amount of usage. And you of course would need to start by having a Tmobile PrePaid SIM. Still this is a vast improvement over Tmobile's previous data prepaid offerings...

Is this full unrestricted internet access? There seems to be something fishy about it because their prepaid rate for the month is $50 for 1GB. If you paid daily for 'unlimited' data it would come out to be just $45 so something doesn't add up

[Grampa]

Originally Posted by bartolo5

Is this full unrestricted internet access? There seems to be something fishy about it because their prepaid rate for the month is $50 for 1GB. If you paid daily for 'unlimited' data it would come out to be just $45 so something doesn't add up

I believe this is simply an add-on for Pay-As-You-Go voice customers. It would not be available without an existing plan. However, you could pay $10 for 30 minutes of prepaid voice (available for 90 days), and then get the data for $1.49 per day additional. I don't know whether this could be used with a smartphone or data device.

[monkeyboy]

Originally Posted by bartolo5

Is this full unrestricted internet access? There seems to be something fishy about it because their prepaid rate for the month is $50 for 1GB. If you paid daily for 'unlimited' data it would come out to be just $45 so something doesn't add up

well, its "full" in the sense that it is not "walled garden". But the rumor is that it is throttled after anywhere from 30-150MB. Also it won't work with Tmo's Android phones, although what people are doing is signing up with a dumb GSM phone, then swapping the SIM into their Android phone.

And yes, you need a Tmo Prepaid SIM+account to sign up, but that's just $10 on ebay...

[Grampa]

Originally Posted by bartolo5

In the USA there is simply no decent option for prepaid SIM data that I know of.

Actually there is: the AT&T data plan for the iPad is $25 a month for up to 2GB, no contract, and it can be stopped and started without activation fees.

However, to get it, you need an iPad, or you need to figure out the hack that lets you get the plan without an iPad.

[mingelli]

Hi,
can you please post the link for this ATT iiPad plan, with no contract.

Originally Posted by Grampa

Actually there is: the AT&T data plan for the iPad is $25 a month for up to 2GB, no contract, and it can be stopped and started without activation fees.

However, to get it, you need an iPad, or you need to figure out the hack that lets you get the plan without an iPad.

[GadgetKen]

I think the plan that @Grampa is referring to is here: Apple - iPad - Stay connected everywhere you go.

It's a no contract recurring credit card plan that can be canceled and restarted at any time.

[Grampa]

Originally Posted by GadgetKen

I think the plan that @Grampa is referring to is here: Apple - iPad - Stay connected everywhere you go.

It's a no contract recurring credit card plan that can be canceled and restarted at any time.

That's correct. There is also information on AT&T's site. You do need a credit card, and I'm guessing it would need to be attached to a U.S. address, so this plan would be difficult for non-residents to take advantage of.