Is Maxroam working?

[Bossman]

I seriously doubt that will happen, and will be surprised if they still assign free DID's. They have removed any reference to a free DID from their website. There is only one mention of DID in their FAQ and it mentions there is DID for a small fee. I do not thinks it's too bad though at 4 euro/month for a DID (althought there are cheaper options) as long as I can add and remove as I choose, and I am not required to rent it for more than 1 month. For now, I see a way to add it on the website but not to remove it.

Another observation is that maxroam's rates in general a not cheap.

Originally Posted by Grampa

I was told by customer service that they still intend to assign the DIDs we got when we purchased the card, but that problems with their numbers provider have delayed the assignment. He did not say when the assignment would take place, but I think he intended to say "when Hell freezes over."

[GadgetKen]

Will be in Bermuda next week (vacation) and will use my Digicel Bermuda and Maxroam sim cards. At least the Maxroam sim card WORKS and they do respond promptly to any questions I've had (unlike my Yackie, UM, UM+, Riing, and BuyTel sim cards or my Slingshot CDMA USB key; some of these might be resurrected in the future but I'm not holding my breath on it) but the dialout procedure is cumbersome on my Razr, and they still haven't assigned an incoming DID. Think I'll try to use up a chunk of the MaxRoam starter balance in Bermuda, and see if they fix the other issues in the future (if they do I'll add money to the card).
Since my travel is now mostly US (my AT&T or T-Mobile MVNO sim cards) or Caribbean and Bermuda(Digicel), an international callback sim card isn't as critical for me. The Digicel card works in multiple countries where they have networks and I have my Iridium phone if networks go down or I'm not near a tower. Plus I can always use a low tech calling card at a payphone...

[snidely]

Originally Posted by GadgetKen

networks and I have my Iridium phone if networks go down or I'm not near a tower. Plus I can always use a low tech calling card at a payphone...

What is a payphone? Do they still exist?

[mingelli]

So there is a charge of 1 minute as soon as callback is answered, after that billing increment is 10 seconds for both outgoing and incoming calls. DID are not free anymore but can be added for 1 month only as well. Customer support is good, reply is provided by email in 24 hours. Rates are not great but coverage is good. Billing increment of 10 sec after 1st minute is a plus as well.

[Stu]

If you use a Callback system in Bermuda always trigger the call from a different phone. Bermuda has anti-callback technology and after a couple of calls with a no connect followed by a ringback, they will kick in the countermeasures.

[GadgetKen]

Originally Posted by Stu

If you use a Callback system in Bermuda always trigger the call from a different phone. Bermuda has anti-callback technology and after a couple of calls with a no connect followed by a ringback, they will kick in the countermeasures.

Thanks for heads up. May just stick with my Digicel Bermuda card then for my Razr. If use MaxRoam call-back sim, will probably put it in my unlocked AT&T Tilt, so if it is blocked, I can still use the other phone (I did use a UM call back sim in Bermuda a couple of years ago, but only for a couple of calls; most calls were from payphones with a local calling card).
"What is a payphone? Do they still exist?" [snidely]
LOL, yeah they still have them around the island. Vending machines and markets sell calling cards. Usually a souvenir picture on the front.

[Stu]

Let me clarify what I said about callback systems. The technology seems to only block callbacks on Bermudan phones. I don't think that a roaming SIMs method of callback will be a problem.

If you have data on your phone and a Google Voice account, what is really slick is to register your forwarding DID (voicestick) whatever with Google Voice and use their mobile app as your dialer from your Tilt. It will look exactly like an inbound call on your Digicel. I don't recall whether you get free incoming on a Digicel Bermuda phone. I thought it was like 25 cents, but Voicetrading has a route to Bermuda mobiles for 2.5 cents a minute.

[GadgetKen]

OK, understood, the callback restriction would just apply to callbacks on Bermudian landlines, not a callback sim.
Digicel Bermuda is currently doing a promotion with free incoming on both prepaid flex (my account) and postpaid accounts...but the catch is that is only for calls from other Digicel callers.
Calling will mostly be one or two calls home each day plus maybe a local call or two, so will just use the balance on my Digicel card as-is on my Razr.
Do have Skype installed on the Tilt so that would be a cheap call if I'm near free wi-fi that doesn't block VOIP; but tend to use that phone just for US prepaid data (email, light web browsing, occasional light tethering) and installed software. Might try to access personal email via wifi or a Digicel or Maxroam data connection as an experiment.

[motif1]

Originally Posted by Bossman

Actually, based my comparison of a few countries, celtrek is cheaper. Even up to 30% - 40% cheaper in some places.

I have not been very happy with Maxroam and am close to giving up on them. With the no more free DID, what is the advantage? I looked at the Celtrek/Globalroaming site, and it looks suspiciously like the service details (countries, etc) offered by Maxroam, but consistently cheaper.

Is Maxroam basically just reselling Celtrek now, and tacking on their fee?

Is there any way to get other country DID from Celtrek? If anybody has experience with both systems (Maxroam resurrected and Celtrek), is there any reason to choose Max over Cel?

[Bossman]

I do not think you are the only one that feels this way about maxroam. I will travel next month and plan on using up my maxroam credit.

At this point celtrek does not have any DID period. They did say they plan on having some soon though. Both maxroam and celtrek use the same Belgium company for their sim cards. However, as I mentioned (and you did also), celtrek is cheaper than maxroam in just about every country I checked.

Originally Posted by motif1

I have not been very happy with Maxroam and am close to giving up on them. With the no more free DID, what is the advantage? I looked at the Celtrek/Globalroaming site, and it looks suspiciously like the service details (countries, etc) offered by Maxroam, but consistently cheaper.

Is Maxroam basically just reselling Celtrek now, and tacking on their fee?

Is there any way to get other country DID from Celtrek? If anybody has experience with both systems (Maxroam resurrected and Celtrek), is there any reason to choose Max over Cel?