Sim card for USA

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grdwalker

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#295441 29-Mar-2022 16:27

So we've decided to book a trip to the USA for the end of the year and I'm looking into Sim card options. In the past I have usd a t-mobile Sim I bought in the states for approx $60-70 for a few GB, calls &. Texts. Roaming with skinny will be almost $80 for the month and get me 1gb every 7 days.

Couple of questions. Has anyone bought a sim from simcorner? They appear to offer USA specific simcards for $50-$70 which seems reasonable with free shipping as well. Which might be nice to have before leaving. They also do UK cards, one of which I suspect is the 3uk 12gb PAYG card which apparently covers roaming for the USA. Is anyone in the know if this is the same card. Its closer to $40 which is more data as well.

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#2893601 29-Mar-2022 16:53

I bought a pre-pay sim from an AT&T store for about US$36 IIRC in April 2019. Used it for a month, and still have it in a cupboard somewhere. You're welcome to it if you think it might be useful, but it's probably expired. I only bought an AT&T sim so I could get Android updates because my phone was a refurb AT&T phone. Burnt up a fair amount of hotel/airport Wifi getting them! I used roaming on a previous trip, and it was a PITA and expensive. Seemed like there was something every day to invisibly kick off another $5, and often more.

If you haven't been to the USA in the last 5 years, free Wifi is available in pretty much all hotels and motels (except bedbug-pits) and airports and malls. If you didn't want to make/receive calls or texts you could probably do without a SIM, depending what you were planning. I used Navigator for driving, which allows you to download maps to your phone via Wifi so didn't need network connectivity for directions. I believe Google Maps does that too now.

Kiwifan

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#2893634 29-Mar-2022 18:45

Yes we have purchased from Simcorner and can recommend them for service and having a product that just worked as soon as we put the sims in our iPhones. We purchased the USA/Canada/Mexico sim which worked well in the two former countries but as we didn’t travel to Mexico I can’t comment on service there.

One issue that we had is the sim only lasts for 30 days and our trip was for 36 days so had to purchase another local sim. We did this at T-Mobile in Charleston SC and apart from the cost being horrendous the customer service was beyond hopeless. Basically unless you want to start up an account they don’t want to know you. Had the same issues with Bell in Canada, AT&T in SF and T-Mobile in Hawaii but at least the service was pleasant at least.

Safe travels.

grdwalker

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#2895499 1-Apr-2022 18:06

cheers for the responses. good to know that simcorner is legit.

Fortunately im only going for 30days max, so getting the single sim pre-activated will sort us out.

i have dealt with US mobile shops before and i agree, they have atrocious customer service.

Using wifi will be a possibility but we'll be out and about in places where having cell service is a must, and everywhere over there requires phone calls to book things. Rather behind the online times to an extent.

Handle9

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#2895513 1-Apr-2022 19:16

T-mobile store was fine for me in July last year. We used roaming for the first 24 hours and then got a local SIM. In and out with a prepaid SIM in 10 minutes.

Dochart

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#2895519 1-Apr-2022 20:54

https://www.bestphoneplans.net/

This site might be useful for you in deciding which mobile network and plan to go to in the USA.

unowho08

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#2895532 1-Apr-2022 22:10

Do you have a phone that is compatible with eSIM? If so, there are several good options (e.g. Mint Mobile which is a T-Mobile MVNO and US Mobile which is a Verizon MVNO).

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stw

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#2895585 2-Apr-2022 10:22

This is the best Option,

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/t-mobile-esim/id1437014693

Thanks Sam

grdwalker

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#2895858 2-Apr-2022 18:46

unowho08:

Do you have a phone that is compatible with eSIM? If so, there are several good options (e.g. Mint Mobile which is a T-Mobile MVNO and US Mobile which is a Verizon MVNO).

Hmm, just looked. S21 so yes apparently. Won't lie not that familiar with esims. But seems simple enough. Mint mobile are data calls & text? Honesty that looks fairly simple to use and $45 for 3months (15 p/m) isn't too shabby. Unfortunately only 1 month needed.

Thanks for the suggestion.

unowho08

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#2896187 3-Apr-2022 12:53

grdwalker:

unowho08:

Do you have a phone that is compatible with eSIM? If so, there are several good options (e.g. Mint Mobile which is a T-Mobile MVNO and US Mobile which is a Verizon MVNO).

Hmm, just looked. S21 so yes apparently. Won't lie not that familiar with esims. But seems simple enough. Mint mobile are data calls & text? Honesty that looks fairly simple to use and $45 for 3months (15 p/m) isn't too shabby. Unfortunately only 1 month needed.

Thanks for the suggestion.

Sounds like US Mobile will be a better option using their Shared Data plan. You can choose the amount of data you want at US$2/GB. As an example, you can get unlimited talk and text with 5GB of high-speed priority data on Verizon for US$19.48 including taxes and fees. You can add additional family members for US$9 per line and scale up/down the data at US$2/GB as required. Their eSIM works with WiFi calling so you can set it up before you leave NZ.

lissie

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#2902991 16-Apr-2022 16:32

I have no answer but a warning - don't buy surfroam. I just wasted eur25 on it. I liked the idea of one SIM which worked worldwide - but after an hour of trying to get it to work in a late-model iphone - nope -connects to Spark well - but no actual internet connection.

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Linux

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#2902996 16-Apr-2022 16:51

@lissie What APN are you using?

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lissie

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#2902999 16-Apr-2022 17:08

Linux: @lissie What APN are you using?

globaldata

roaming ON

4G OFF

volt4 OFF

as per their instructions. Have you managed to get it to work in NZ?

The one thing I can't figure is how my credit is associated with the sim's number? The credit is there if a login to my.surfroam - I can't find the app they talk about its not in the appstore . I'm wondering if basically they are a shell company which is still selling but not really functioning post Covid.

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stw

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#2903002 16-Apr-2022 17:15

I wound have to think you need 4G on to get internet…

Thanks Sam

lissie

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#2903003 16-Apr-2022 17:17

stw: I wound have to think you need 4G on to get internet…

Hmmm no - we live in remote porirua - most of the connections are 3G

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#2903013 16-Apr-2022 17:37

Makes zero sense 4G has to be off! If no 4G in that location or no 4G roaming the handset would just attach to 3G!

Edit: VoLTE should not need to be turned off as well

They sound like a pack of roaming clowns and I would not be dealing with them!

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