Piranha Mobile Sim Card

[kctopitz]

Originally Posted by fsotirop

i set a different caller-id via contacting their customer service on their online chat.

Just to clarify, this means you can have Piranha customer service setup your service so that when you call someone the number that shows up on caller ID (of the person receiving your call) when calling over GSM is different from the one they give you? I assume you have to prove you own the other number, but if this is the case, this is a great feature, and may have sold me on getting a Piranha SIM.

[rfranzq]

Originally Posted by squawk1200

Anyone else notice that the battery life with a Piranha SIM is greatly reduced? My Tru and Telna SIMs can sit in idle mode for about a week... My Piranha SIM, the battery only lasts a day and a half in idle mode... Same phone, same battery....???

From another thread:

Originally Posted by Bossman

I am currently in Nigeria, using the Piranha sim........... In my experience, it seems like the Piranha sim is doing a lot of checking or connecting and disconnecting from the network. And that uses the battery a lot. Besides that, it works fine.

Perhaps you are not alone.

[Bossman]

I mentioned I will get a chance to test this sim for my incoming US calls, when I was in Nigeria the last 2 weeks. However, between the sim logging on and off network and searching for network, and going to emergency mode most of the time, until I restarted the phone. I resorted to my Ekit sim quickly! Not a single issue with Ekit - The thing worked perfectly.

Piranha may have lower rates, but it certainly did not work out for me in Nigeria.

Always make sure you have a backup.

[squawk1200]

Originally Posted by Bossman

Piranha may have lower rates, but it certainly did not work out for me in Nigeria.

Always make sure you have a backup.

I'm truly beginning to see a floor in the international SIM niche. Sure my home carrier may have ridiculous rates as compared to a Piranha, but 'it works'. I'm not sure if it has to do with the maturity of the equipment and software (SIM) or it is truly just a pricing issue... [I'm still on the fence as I seem to be addicted to collecting SIM cards.] Some days I lean toward just paying the higher rates for convenience, other times I want to root for the underdog. In the end, it comes down to trying to support someone on the other side of the world that can't get thier phone to work... Growing tired of being the sounding board for service that 'may' work and saving money.... Who knows.. http://www.prepaidgsm.net/forum/images/smilies/cool.gif

[snidely]

Shipped on Monday, arrived in California on Saturday. It took about 15-30 minutes for the SIM to first register.
Although our last trips the past couple years we've relied on having wifi at hotels and restaurants (Vietnam, Cambodia etc.) - we weren't sure we'd have universal wifi in China (never been there) and I have business needs that might not wait and wife has mother to deal with who is in a care home.
While I got it mainly to put in a dumb phone for phone calls, their data rates are quite reasonable at 47 cents per Meg. I'll use my Blackberry for email - unlimited at 67 cents/day.
My wife's ipad is locked, but I might take my Android Tablet.

[kctopitz]

I've been using a Piranha SIM for the past month in the US, and thus far I would hesitate to recommend it to anyone. On paper it's a great product. In reality, it seems that they have some serious bugs that need ironing out.

Some experiences:

- Within the first few days, I noticed I was not receiving text messages being sent to my Google Voice number (i.e. I saw them online at Google Voice, but they were not being forwarded). With further testing I discovered that it had nothing to do with Google Voice, and direct phone-to-phone text messages were not going through to my device. I contacted Piranha online and the problem was quickly resolved.

- A couple weeks ago on a road-trip to Chicago, my phone service stopped working completely. No reception at all. I was able to see T-Mobile's service (Piranha's US provider) when I did a manual service search, but was unable to connect. Despite restarting my phone and reinserting the SIM numerous times, nothing helped and service was unavailable for hours - even in areas I had used Piranha and T-Mobile before. I tried an actual T-Mobile SIM in my phone just to make sure it wasn't a T-Mobile outage. The problem was clearly on Piranha's end. I contacted Piranha online and the problem was quickly resolved (confirming my suspicion that it was a problem on their end). In my email I asked to speak with a supervisor, as not having service for such a long period is a serious fault. I received an email suggesting this was to do with T-Mobile's 3G bands and an incompatibility with my device - which it wasn't (I was using GSM and have used T-Mobile's GSM for years). Despite asking again, I've still received no explanation as to why I had no service for hours on end, nor any assurance that it won't ever happen again.

- Once your balance goes below 3 pounds (remember it's a UK service), you receive a low balance SMS after EVERY call or SMS sent that reduces your balance further. Highly annoying. I've just contacted them asking for this to be disabled or at least reduced so that only one such notification is sent out per day at maximum.

- On the plus side, they do allow you to change your outgoing caller ID info to another number. To do this simply contact customer service through their website. I changed my outgoing CID to my Google Voice number, and this plus the free incoming SMS (an unusual feature in the US market) make this ideal for using with Google Voice.

So, if they can just fix the first 3 problems I'll continue using them. As it is now, if you're considering a Piranha SIM, I'd hold off if you can to see how things pan out. I'll definitely report back here if things get better or worse.

[rfranzq]

Originally Posted by kctopitz

- Once your balance goes below 3 pounds (remember it's a UK service), you receive a low balance SMS after EVERY call or SMS sent that reduces your balance further......
............... plus the free incoming SMS (an unusual feature in the US market) make this ideal for using with Google Voice.

Incoming SMS is free but the ones they send you about low balance are not free??

[kctopitz]

No, sorry - I should have worded that better. What I meant was that any billable action (calls made and received, SMS sent -- but NOT SMS received since that's free) results in an low balance notification by SMS. So, send 3 SMS over the course of 5 minutes, receive 3 low balance notifications over 5 minutes. It's stupid.

[PSIM]

Originally Posted by kctopitz

I've been using a Piranha SIM for the past month in the US, and thus far I would hesitate to recommend it to anyone. On paper it's a great product. In reality, it seems that they have some serious bugs that need ironing out.

Some experiences:

- Within the first few days, I noticed I was not receiving text messages being sent to my Google Voice number (i.e. I saw them online at Google Voice, but they were not being forwarded). With further testing I discovered that it had nothing to do with Google Voice, and direct phone-to-phone text messages were not going through to my device. I contacted Piranha online and the problem was quickly resolved.

- A couple weeks ago on a road-trip to Chicago, my phone service stopped working completely. No reception at all. I was able to see T-Mobile's service (Piranha's US provider) when I did a manual service search, but was unable to connect. Despite restarting my phone and reinserting the SIM numerous times, nothing helped and service was unavailable for hours - even in areas I had used Piranha and T-Mobile before. I tried an actual T-Mobile SIM in my phone just to make sure it wasn't a T-Mobile outage. The problem was clearly on Piranha's end. I contacted Piranha online and the problem was quickly resolved (confirming my suspicion that it was a problem on their end). In my email I asked to speak with a supervisor, as not having service for such a long period is a serious fault. I received an email suggesting this was to do with T-Mobile's 3G bands and an incompatibility with my device - which it wasn't (I was using GSM and have used T-Mobile's GSM for years). Despite asking again, I've still received no explanation as to why I had no service for hours on end, nor any assurance that it won't ever happen again.

- Once your balance goes below 3 pounds (remember it's a UK service), you receive a low balance SMS after EVERY call or SMS sent that reduces your balance further. Highly annoying. I've just contacted them asking for this to be disabled or at least reduced so that only one such notification is sent out per day at maximum.

- On the plus side, they do allow you to change your outgoing caller ID info to another number. To do this simply contact customer service through their website. I changed my outgoing CID to my Google Voice number, and this plus the free incoming SMS (an unusual feature in the US market) make this ideal for using with Google Voice.

So, if they can just fix the first 3 problems I'll continue using them. As it is now, if you're considering a Piranha SIM, I'd hold off if you can to see how things pan out. I'll definitely report back here if things get better or worse.

Dear Sir, as you rightly stated we quickly resolved your Google Voice SMS issue, we did however explain to you that T-Mobile for 3G works on the 1700 MHZ band and that you may have had an issue if your handset did not support the 1700 MHZ service, (we do have a notice on the website stating that a 1700 MHZ handset is recommended when roaming in the US). if your handset does not support 1700 MHZ it will revert to default 2G, which has less coverage than 3G, you have since informed admin that your handset does not support 1700 MHZ, we also explained that T-Mobile were re-farming there 1900 MHZ network to get around this issue and that they are hopeful all works will be completed by the summer 2013. You were given a full explanation regarding the T-Mobile roll out and 1700 MHZ bands. The low balance SMS service (standard in most PAYG services) is there for all users, unfortunately at this time we do not run a bespoke service for individual users.

PSIM

[kctopitz]

Originally Posted by PSIM

Dear Sir, as you rightly stated we quickly resolved your Google Voice SMS issue, we did however explain to you that T-Mobile for 3G works on the 1700 MHZ band and that you may have had an issue if your handset did not support the 1700 MHZ service, (we do have a notice on the website stating that a 1700 MHZ handset is recommended when roaming in the US). if your handset does not support 1700 MHZ it will revert to default 2G, which has less coverage than 3G, you have since informed admin that your handset does not support 1700 MHZ, we also explained that T-Mobile were re-farming there 1900 MHZ network to get around this issue and that they are hopeful all works will be completed by the summer 2013. You were given a full explanation regarding the T-Mobile roll out and 1700 MHZ bands. The low balance SMS service (standard in most PAYG services) is there for all users, unfortunately at this time we do not run a bespoke service for individual users.

PSIM

Wow, interesting that you (and I assume you are a representative of Piranha) decide to reply in a public forum and state the same thing as your email - an email which I replied to and in which I addressed this issue of T-Mobile's 3G bands - and to which I never got any further reply. But since you seem to have either "missed" it or you just want to revisit this issue in the open, let me copy and paste it for the benefit of you (and everyone else) here:

(Email from me to Piranha Mobile on April 18, 2013)

I'm very aware of T-Mobile's 3G bands and their current refarming of their 1900MHz spectrum. Unfortunately it doesn't apply to me at the moment as my current Android device is 900/2100 only (I live in Europe much of the year). I can tell you though that T-Mobile's 2G network is just as good as their 3G network in terms of coverage in urban areas, and better in rural areas, which I covered many during the time of this outage. Let me explain (and repeat much of what I've already said).

I first noticed that I wasn't getting any service in downtown Chicago at the beginning of a drive northwest to Madison, Wisconsin, on a major interstate highway (I-90). As I was a rider in the car I was able to check my phone throughout the entire 150-mile trip, and at no time was I able to get a working signal -- this despite the fact that I was in an area which T-Mobile clearly shows as having 2G coverage, but more importantly, I began doing manual searches for service during the trip to try to get a working connection. T-Mobile (and AT&T) came up every time, but despite repeated attempts to connect, the SIM was unable to register on the network. I tried AT&T as well (just in case) and upon crossing the border from Illinois into Wisconsin, I even tried connecting to a small regional GSM provider. I tried rebooting the device and re-inserting the SIM card numerous times. Nothing worked. I concluded that either the entire T-Mobile network in this 150-mile stretch was down, or the problem was on the Piranha end of things (my money being on the latter, given my experience with SMS not coming through a couple weeks ago). Upon arriving home, a location that I know has working coverage, I inserted an actual T-Mobile prepaid SIM card into my phone just to see if it was a T-Mobile problem or not. The T-Mobile network came up fine. I began this "conversation" by emailing Piranha, and not long after that, I was able to get service again.

So, on my end of things, it seems quite clear that it was something on Piranha's end. I just want to know what, and whether to expect this kind of service (or lack thereof) in the future. The fact that I'm getting the run around doesn't bode well, and certainly doesn't put me in a position to recommend Piranha's to others. This is why I asked to speak to a supervisor. On paper, I think your service is ideal for a certain group of people, including myself. I can sympathize with small businesses: I know very well that starting out there can be hiccups, and I'd like to see you guys succeed because I like your product on paper -- but right now I'm feeling that I've wasted $20 and a good deal of time on a half-baked service.

Thanks for reading (if you got this far)
(End of email)

Now, just in case that long-worded email wasn't clear enough, let me say it outright: My extended lack of service with my Piranha SIM had NOTHING to do with T-Mobile's 3G bands. I keep my Android device set to "GSM only" in the US because I know it doesn't get T-Mobile's 3G network, and I've been using T-Mobile's 2G network for the past 7 years directly with T-Mobile's own prepaid service. In fact, that was one of my reasons for buying a Piranha SIM: because Piranha uses T-Mobile in the US, and I knew from experience that T-Mobile's service works for me.