Prepaid Sims

[thejinx0r]

Originally Posted by andy

When I suggested DialNow, I'd understood that you might be roaming Europe with a UK SIM and maybe Vodafone Passport, O2 My Europe Extra or 3. When roaming they don't have cheap calls to Canada and USA, but calls to UK (Vodafone) or within Europe (O2, 3) are cheaper, hence the suggestion. If you're likely to decide to get a global roaming SIM instead, then I'd overlook DialNow (it might be useful with some single country SIMs though, those with cheap local calls rather than those designed as an mvno for int'l calls)

I don't know if you can add the T-mobile bundle or top-up while abroad; I don't recall anyone saying they managed it, but I'll wait to be corrected. I don't think the UK networks accept foreign credit cards themselves, though a shop here would

Any callback service, or indeed any other phone call, will use the tariff applicable to the destination number, not to where that phone happens to be at the time.

I was thinking of using YCW/DialNow while I'm London for that extra week. It makes sens to me. And so it's what I meant by the uk t-mobile / orange callabroad. It's because of that extra week.

And looking at the price, I'm guessing I'm gonna go for Yackie Mobile and then use enlinea in case that I blow through the 49$ of credit.

Anyways, is there another name for Iceland?
When trying to register, I cannot choose it as a country on Yackie. Or is there any other country that I should pick for Enlinea call back services?

[FBlack_111]

I have tried to contact Enlinea customer service to check on a few issues. They never answered their toll free number. Their rates from Cell phones do not look that cheap.

Since I have a UK mobile #447, it looks like I must use their Papaya Plan. Calls to the U.S. cost $.50. Same as with my Passport SIM provider. So it's easier to just recharge my SIM.

[MATHA531]

With enlinea (callbackworld also) you enter the country of where the sim is registered in calling from no matter where you're calling from...

Their best rates, right now, are with Iceland (but remember when using O9 or the icelandic number of yackie mobile), it's Iceland special (mobile)...it's listed as 16¢/minute US to call from Iceland special to USA which would be true anywhere in Western Europe except Switzerland where O9 (and Yackie) simply does not work for reasons they have tried to explain but I don't understand (O9 uses a Swiss carrier for many of its roaming connections but this causes the Swixx carrier to think O9 is domestic and doesn't allow anything to register on it in Switzerland or something like that)...Estonia mobiles come in at 29¢ on Enlinea, not too bad..German and French and Italian mobiles aren't too bad either but UK mobiles come in at 50¢¢/minute or threabouts on enlinea (can this be caused by the Jersey and Isle of Man numbers that the billing system cannot differentiate from other UK numbers????)..

So the best deal, right now, once leaving the UK is O9 (or Yackie) with the realization it will not work in Switzerland...also Enlinea does give a US toll free number (it is charged at the going rate for the mobile it is keyed to. in the case of O9, it would be 16¢/minute)...do remember enlinea bills in 6 second intervals but frankly the connections are not all that great...you can most assuredly hear a delay when talking to somebody but then given the price, that has to be expected...

So your plan to use Yackie when leaving the UK is probably a good one...most people feel Yackie has been working fine throughout Western Europe...although I wish the Yackie Mobile guy would come back to the forum with the latest news about Yackie but it does seem, for the present, to be stable.

[tcruiser]

Originally Posted by FBlack_111

I have a world Passport SIM from Telestial. EKIT has them too. It costs about 50 cents to call back to the US and free incoming to many European counties. It may not be the cheapest, but those free incoming calls are great. I just give my son a discounted international phone card and he calls me in Europe for about 4 cents a minute. They also have a free 800 number in the US so friends can call you for free and you pay an extra 39 cents.

I too have a Telestial SIM, and when I was in Europe in December (river cruise in Switizerland, France, and Germany) my SIM did not work at all. I have a quad band mobile but no matter where I was I got 'No Service'. Fortunately I was in Germany most of the time and had an E-Plus SIM which worked brilliantly, but rest of the time I was stuck roaming on my US t-mobile account which ended up costing me over $200, so I am very leary of depending on Telestial again.

[thejinx0r]

Originally Posted by MATHA531

With enlinea (callbackworld also) you enter the country of where the sim is registered in calling from no matter where you're calling from...

Their best rates, right now, are with Iceland (but remember when using O9 or the icelandic number of yackie mobile), it's Iceland special (mobile)...it's listed as 16¢/minute US to call from Iceland special to USA which would be true anywhere in Western Europe except Switzerland where O9 (and Yackie) simply does not work for reasons they have tried to explain but I don't understand (O9 uses a Swiss carrier for many of its roaming connections but this causes the Swixx carrier to think O9 is domestic and doesn't allow anything to register on it in Switzerland or something like that)...Estonia mobiles come in at 29¢ on Enlinea, not too bad..German and French and Italian mobiles aren't too bad either but UK mobiles come in at 50¢¢/minute or threabouts on enlinea (can this be caused by the Jersey and Isle of Man numbers that the billing system cannot differentiate from other UK numbers????)..

So the best deal, right now, once leaving the UK is O9 (or Yackie) with the realization it will not work in Switzerland...also Enlinea does give a US toll free number (it is charged at the going rate for the mobile it is keyed to. in the case of O9, it would be 16¢/minute)...do remember enlinea bills in 6 second intervals but frankly the connections are not all that great...you can most assuredly hear a delay when talking to somebody but then given the price, that has to be expected...

It's weird though, I can't choose Iceland when I'm on the yackie website.

Anyways, forget. I found a better solution. Because in Canada, you cannot distinguish between Cell and Landline. So, i'll probably go with a yackie local Canadian number and have enlinea call me on that number. 0.06 is pretty damn cheap. Unless there's something that I'm not understanding on Yackie's website about ordering a sim card and choosing a "local" number.

As far as Swiss, I'm only passing through. And for call quality: could care less since I'm only going to be calling home and checking up on them and letting them know I'm fine.

Anyways, Thanks so much for your help Matha and everyone else.

[FBlack_111]

I used my Passport SIM from Telestial in numerous countries last October. It worked in every country perfectly and even on a cruise ship. I did not get to Switzerland or Germany though. But it worked in Croatia, Greece, Italy, France, Turkey, Monte Carlo, Spain and Portugal.

I used a Samsung Z500 unlocked quad band phone. Did you test it in the U.S before you left? While it's expensive to test by making calls, SMS is cheap to send and free to receive.

[dg7feq]

Originally Posted by thejinx0r

It's weird though, I can't choose Iceland when I'm on the yackie website.

Anyways, forget. I found a better solution. Because in Canada, you cannot distinguish between Cell and Landline. So, i'll probably go with a yackie local Canadian number and have enlinea call me on that number. 0.06 is pretty damn cheap. Unless there's something that I'm not understanding on Yackie's website about ordering a sim card and choosing a "local" number.

If you get called on the assigned local numbers you will pay a surcharge of 29 ct/min for incoming calls.
Iceland is the mobile number of the SIM card. It is automatically assigned, so you can not choose it on the website...

Chris

[Bossman]

When was the last time your telestial sim worked? I believe Telestial's older passport sims used to use the +447924 numbers from callkey, and they had some problems last Summer.

Originally Posted by tcruiser

I too have a Telestial SIM, and when I was in Europe in December (river cruise in Switizerland, France, and Germany) my SIM did not work at all. I have a quad band mobile but no matter where I was I got 'No Service'. Fortunately I was in Germany most of the time and had an E-Plus SIM which worked brilliantly, but rest of the time I was stuck roaming on my US t-mobile account which ended up costing me over $200, so I am very leary of depending on Telestial again.

[thejinx0r]

Originally Posted by dg7feq

If you get called on the assigned local numbers you will pay a surcharge of 29 ct/min for incoming calls.
Iceland is the mobile number of the SIM card. It is automatically assigned, so you can not choose it on the website...

Chris

Oh ok.
Thanks.

It's what I thought, but I didn't know they would be giving away free DID's.

[FBlack_111]

Bossman:

My UK # is a +447924. I was in those countries from September 24th to October 20, 2007. It worked well and each city gave me a choice of 3 or 4 carriers to choose from.

Those calls to and from my Passport SIM are still logged on line. I checked and it was 65 calls to and from all those countries.