Skinny roaming in Europe

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › Skinny roaming in Europe

Lewk

572 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 256

Trusted

dns4me

Lifetime subscriber

#251016 5-Jun-2019 09:24

Has anyone used their Skinny mobile with the overseas roaming add-on in Europe? We are renting a car for three weeks in August and travelling through Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Germany and Switzerland. I want to connect my Skinny mobile to my TomTom for live traffic updates. I know the add-on is supposed to work in Germany, France and Switzerland but unsure if it would work in the other countries with the European roaming rules.

Is anyone able to report how it has worked for them in those countries?

1 | 2

5889 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 2094

ID Verified

#2251783 5-Jun-2019 09:34

If the car you're renting has CarPlay/AndroidAuto, just use Google Maps, will be better than a TomTom.

As for roaming, when I was there last year (did three weeks driving France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Netherlands and Belgium I used the Vodafone $5 a day deal on my phone which worked perfectly. We got an Orange Holiday Sim in Paris for the wife's phone and that worked fine too. If the Skinny website doesn't mention the other countries, don't assume it will work there.

nzkiwiman

2585 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 390

Subscriber

#2264191 25-Jun-2019 15:29

I have just been in Europe; I purchased a 7 day/1GB roaming plan to use in Singapore for approx 30 hours, and then I used it around Heathrow (without any issues) before I purchased an EE UK SIM card for the rest of my travels because I was heading to Hungary which was not on the Skinny Roaming countries list.

In Hungary - just for fun - I did put in the Skinny SIM card again, and while it did connect to a network, I did not get any data and could not access anything on the internet (after multiple restarts)

On the way back through Germany I once again put in the Skinny SIM to activate it for my 96 odd hours in Hong Kong. Rather than putting the EE SIM card back in for ~30 minutes of use, I just used the Skinny roaming - with no issues.

TLDR; for the countries on the list, the Skinny Roaming works fantastic.

lissie

495 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 27

#2271939 8-Jul-2019 16:53

nzkiwiman:

I have just been in Europe; I purchased a 7 day/1GB roaming plan to use in Singapore for approx 30 hours, and then I used it around Heathrow (without any issues) before I purchased an EE UK SIM card for the rest of my travels because I was heading to Hungary which was not on the Skinny Roaming countries list.

In Hungary - just for fun - I did put in the Skinny SIM card again, and while it did connect to a network, I did not get any data and could not access anything on the internet (after multiple restarts)

On the way back through Germany I once again put in the Skinny SIM to activate it for my 96 odd hours in Hong Kong. Rather than putting the EE SIM card back in for ~30 minutes of use, I just used the Skinny roaming - with no issues.

TLDR; for the countries on the list, the Skinny Roaming works fantastic.

So is the 7days not consecutive? I assumed if you bought it on say Monday 9am - it would run until middnigh the following Sunday? Or does it only count if you use it on a day?

I help authors publish their books - DIYPublishing.co.nz

robjg63

4160 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1425

Subscriber

#2272023 8-Jul-2019 18:53

It's consecutive. Purchase at midday Monday and you can use it until midday the next Monday.

Nothing is impossible for the man who doesn't have to do it himself - A. H. Weiler

Lewk

572 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 256

Trusted

dns4me

Lifetime subscriber

#2274335 10-Jul-2019 21:02

Thanks for all your feedback on this.

Because we will are covering a number of countries in Europe that are not in the Skinny roaming plan, we are looking at picking up a Vodafone UK SIM when we pass through Heathrow on our way to Copenhagen and taking out a Prepay with them. While the UK is still part of the EU the roaming for Vodafone UK in Europe is free (50 Countries I think). They have a few reasonable Prepay plans.

Has anyone done this and did it work out for you?

We will also need to be able to use our Mobiles in the USA when we get there. Skinny roaming works there but because we are there for over three weeks perhaps getting a USA SIM would also be better?

lNomNoml

1840 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 521

ID Verified

#2274340 10-Jul-2019 21:11

Lewk:

Thanks for all your feedback on this.

Because we will are covering a number of countries in Europe that are not in the Skinny roaming plan, we are looking at picking up a Vodafone UK SIM when we pass through Heathrow on our way to Copenhagen and taking out a Prepay with them. While the UK is still part of the EU the roaming for Vodafone UK in Europe is free (50 Countries I think). They have a few reasonable Prepay plans.

Has anyone done this and did it work out for you?

We will also need to be able to use our Mobiles in the USA when we get there. Skinny roaming works there but because we are there for over three weeks perhaps getting a USA SIM would also be better?

Just get a SIM from the country you are in, it generally works out cheaper.

Dyson

Shop now for Dyson appliances (affiliate link).

nzkiwiman

2585 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 390

Subscriber

#2275397 12-Jul-2019 15:43

Lewk:

Thanks for all your feedback on this.

Because we will are covering a number of countries in Europe that are not in the Skinny roaming plan, we are looking at picking up a Vodafone UK SIM when we pass through Heathrow on our way to Copenhagen and taking out a Prepay with them. While the UK is still part of the EU the roaming for Vodafone UK in Europe is free (50 Countries I think). They have a few reasonable Prepay plans.

Has anyone done this and did it work out for you?

We will also need to be able to use our Mobiles in the USA when we get there. Skinny roaming works there but because we are there for over three weeks perhaps getting a USA SIM would also be better?

I had planned to purchase a Vodafone SIM card in Heathrow from the SIM card provider (a separate company that resold SIM cards from UK phone companies)
However I had overlooked that I wasn't arriving into Heathrow (as in, entering the arrivals area where this company had located its store), but transiting between flights. Thankfully in Terminal 3 there was an electronics store had had 3 different SIM cards semi hidden - I choose EE (otherwise known as T-Mobile) as they were my second choice

allan

2073 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 899

ID Verified

Lifetime subscriber

#2275409 12-Jul-2019 16:19

Lewk:

Thanks for all your feedback on this.

Because we will are covering a number of countries in Europe that are not in the Skinny roaming plan, we are looking at picking up a Vodafone UK SIM when we pass through Heathrow on our way to Copenhagen and taking out a Prepay with them. While the UK is still part of the EU the roaming for Vodafone UK in Europe is free (50 Countries I think). They have a few reasonable Prepay plans.

Has anyone done this and did it work out for you?

We will also need to be able to use our Mobiles in the USA when we get there. Skinny roaming works there but because we are there for over three weeks perhaps getting a USA SIM would also be better?

Yes used a Vodafone UK SIM both there and through Europe last year, which worked just fine. There was one location where we seemed not able to get any data, but it may have just been an odd cell tower glitch. Can't remember where now. Possibly Switzerland or France somewhere.

Transited back through Hong Kong and just used Spark roaming pack while there.

rscole86

4999 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 462

Moderator

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2275467 12-Jul-2019 17:17

I have used prepay sims from VF UK, VF HU and Telenor HU throughout Europe without any problems.
I'm not sure if it has changed, but last time I checked there is no VF store in Heathrow.

I just didn't bother using my Skinny sim as it wasn't cost effective.

Lewk

572 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 256

Trusted

dns4me

Lifetime subscriber

#2275484 12-Jul-2019 18:41

nzkiwiman:
Lewk:

Thanks for all your feedback on this.

Because we will are covering a number of countries in Europe that are not in the Skinny roaming plan, we are looking at picking up a Vodafone UK SIM when we pass through Heathrow on our way to Copenhagen and taking out a Prepay with them. While the UK is still part of the EU the roaming for Vodafone UK in Europe is free (50 Countries I think). They have a few reasonable Prepay plans.

Has anyone done this and did it work out for you?

We will also need to be able to use our Mobiles in the USA when we get there. Skinny roaming works there but because we are there for over three weeks perhaps getting a USA SIM would also be better?

I had planned to purchase a Vodafone SIM card in Heathrow from the SIM card provider (a separate company that resold SIM cards from UK phone companies)
However I had overlooked that I wasn't arriving into Heathrow (as in, entering the arrivals area where this company had located its store), but transiting between flights. Thankfully in Terminal 3 there was an electronics store had had 3 different SIM cards semi hidden - I choose EE (otherwise known as T-Mobile) as they were my second choice

Yes, we arrive into Terminal 3 and will be departing from Terminal 5 after a 5 hour transit. Hopefully we can pick up a Vodafone UK SIM either in Terminal 3 or Terminal 5. Vodafone UK advised me to talk to the information Kiosk as they will know where the pop up Vodafone site is and I can get a free SIM from them. Failing that, hopefully I will pick up one from a store in one of the terminals.

alykov

5 posts

Wannabe Geek

#2279191 18-Jul-2019 18:16

I had a problem to connect to the Internet in Italy, but It works now.
you must create a new APN with wapaccess.co.nz to fix that issue.

Dell

Shop now for Dell laptops and other devices (affiliate link).

Linux

12173 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 8467

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2279196 18-Jul-2019 18:33

alykov: I had a problem to connect to the Internet in Italy, but It works now.
you must create a new APN with wapaccess.co.nz to fix that issue.

@alykov You don't need to create a new APN to use data roaming as that APN should be used when in New Zealand the way roaming works you should never have to change any settings / phone setup

alykov

5 posts

Wannabe Geek

#2279203 18-Jul-2019 19:25

By default I had telecom APNs in my phone, so Im not sure if they were working in NZ, but they are definetly wrong in roaming.

Linux

12173 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 8467

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2279205 18-Jul-2019 19:29

Skinny in the GGSN will have the Telecom APN in the list to allow it to connect as an alias to the Skinny APN

old3eyes

9158 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1364

Subscriber

#2279231 18-Jul-2019 20:13

Linux:
alykov: I had a problem to connect to the Internet in Italy, but It works now.
you must create a new APN with wapaccess.co.nz to fix that issue.

@alykov You don't need to create a new APN to use data roaming as that APN should be used when in New Zealand the way roaming works you should never have to change any settings / phone setup

I'm in AU at present and I had to change both the internet and MMS APN to get them to work. The default Telecom ones shown above don't work on roaming.

Regards,

Old3eyes

1 | 2