Travelling overseas with a Kogan (One.NZ MVNO) SIM experiences

Forums › One NZ (including Farmside) › Travelling overseas with a Kogan (One.NZ MVNO) SIM experiences

lchiu7

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#311312 5-Jan-2024 12:24

I am using Kogan which although has great deals on data, is pretty expensive for roaming. $12 for 500MB and 100 minutes and 100 texts for 3 days so I decided to pass on that and purchased an eSIM for data only resigning myself to if people call me, they will get VM and if a text, then silence.

Surprised to receive a text from DHL telling me when a package I was expecting was about to arrive. So checked with a friend and asked them to send me a hello SMS which I got. So it seems while I have no roaming turned on, I can get SMS and I can call back using another means if needed.

I did note when I arrived in the overseas country I did get a SMS from Kogan saying Welcome to Kogan and an invitation to buy a roaming pack which I didn't.

heavenlywild

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#3177956 5-Jan-2024 12:37

Cool interesting to know, thanks for sharing your experience. The roaming bit was what stopped me from moving over from 2D.

mdf

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#3177962 5-Jan-2024 13:11

I was in Australia for a couple of days with Not-so-Little Miss MDF, who is on Kogan. We paid for the Kogan prepaid roaming 3 day pack. Which worked for one day then stopped. Needless to say, never got a response to follow up queries. Clearly YMMV but my (one off) experience is that Kogan isn't the most reliable roaming experience.

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#3177964 5-Jan-2024 13:20

Receiving SMS whilst roaming has always been free for most operators that offer roaming in AU/NZ.

MMS, Data and calling in any direction is always chargeable (eg. Covered by a pack, charged in dollars) unless explicitly whitelisted (eg. Some calls to customer support may be free or traffic for telco apps).

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lchiu7

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#3178188 5-Jan-2024 21:10

cokemaster: Receiving SMS whilst roaming has always been free for most operators that offer roaming in AU/NZ.

MMS, Data and calling in any direction is always chargeable (eg. Covered by a pack, charged in dollars) unless explicitly whitelisted (eg. Some calls to customer support may be free or traffic for telco apps).

I am actually roaming in Asia and it works there also. Good to know since it means I can always get SMS and can call back using my VoIP account provider.

Slightly OT but since I am the OP I can do this :-) When my Kogan SIM expires (alas in 10 months ) I am going back to real provider, not a MVNO. It's really annoying not be able to reply to short SMS codes like confirm your upcoming appointment etc. Or I might port my actual number to an eSIM on a cheap prepaid plan and use the Kogan SIM for data.

cokemaster

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#3178190 5-Jan-2024 21:35

The premium SMS issue on Kogan is a result of their plan construct and how shortcodes are billed in NZ. I suspect any MVNO that allows for prepaid balances or excess charges.

One thing to consider if you are looking at other providers and roaming::
- Some providers charge for call diversion to voicemail whilst roaming. Check to see if that’s the case (some providers allow you to disable call forwarding outright).
- Some providers have subscription packs that auto enrol on certain events (eg. One NZ postpaid, 2 Degrees etc)
- Some providers allow for Wifi calling OVERSEAS (One and 2Degrees)… this allows you to sidestep roaming if used tactically.

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ANglEAUT

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#3178192 5-Jan-2024 21:55

mdf: I was in Australia for a couple of days ... We paid for the Kogan prepaid roaming 3 day pack. Which worked for one day then stopped. ...

What I object to is that the roaming pack take effect immediately on purchase. If you buy it in NZ before boarding the 4-15hr flight, you loose that time on your roaming pack. Then, who's to say you have data available on the other side to purchase the roaming pack? Daft!

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#3178245 6-Jan-2024 08:50

cokemaster: Receiving SMS whilst roaming has always been free for most operators that offer roaming in AU/NZ.

MMS, Data and calling in any direction is always chargeable (eg. Covered by a pack, charged in dollars) unless explicitly whitelisted (eg. Some calls to customer support may be free or traffic for telco apps).

Trying to grasp this. Does free also apply to replying to the text? So am overseas, no roaming purchased, not in a wifi zone, I receive a text from NZ then reply with a text, does my reply text get charged from my existing NZ plan if it’s flush or does my reply not go through?

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#3178257 6-Jan-2024 10:02

Replying to a SMS or sending a SMS will be charged differently than domestically. You’ll incur additional charge or require a pack to cover it.

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freitasm

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#3178264 6-Jan-2024 10:36

You can receive SMS/calls in two ways (depending on the operator):

Aeroplane Mode off (connected to a mobile operator).
Wi-Fi Calling (connected to a WiFi access point, depending on operator and phone model).

If your phone is not in aeroplane mode, make sure it also has mobile data off, or apps will start using data behind the scenes. You can use WiFi when you want to check your apps.

Also, remember:

You can turn Wi-Fi or Bluetooth On/Off even if Aeroplane Mode is on.
You can dive into settings and turn Data Roaming On/Off for each SIM card on your phone. This will stop mobile data access while away but will not interfere with voice and calls, which is ultimately managed by Aeroplane Mode.

This is to remind you that there's lots of ways to have money going out of your account.

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lchiu7

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#3178341 6-Jan-2024 13:18

freitasm:

You can receive SMS/calls in two ways (depending on the operator):

Aeroplane Mode off (connected to a mobile operator).
Wi-Fi Calling (connected to a WiFi access point, depending on operator and phone model).
If your phone is not in aeroplane mode, make sure it also has mobile data off, or apps will start using data behind the scenes. You can use WiFi when you want to check your apps.

Also, remember:

You can turn Wi-Fi or Bluetooth On/Off even if Aeroplane Mode is on.
You can dive into settings and turn Data Roaming On/Off for each SIM card on your phone. This will stop mobile data access while away but will not interfere with voice and calls, which is ultimately managed by Aeroplane Mode.
This is to remind you that there's lots of ways to have money going out of your account.

I can confirm that without a roaming pack, outbound SMS does not work on the Kogan SIM And while the operator I am using does support WiFi calling, it does show up as a menu choice on the SIM menu (Pixel 8). I suspect that is because I am not using a local SIM possibly but roaming on the Kogan SIM.

Wakrak

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#3178526 6-Jan-2024 16:40

mdf:

I was in Australia for a couple of days with Not-so-Little Miss MDF, who is on Kogan. We paid for the Kogan prepaid roaming 3 day pack. Which worked for one day then stopped. Needless to say, never got a response to follow up queries. Clearly YMMV but my (one off) experience is that Kogan isn't the most reliable roaming experience.

Recommend buying a Kogan AU e-SIM plan in the future if you're just after data. Worked well for me last time I went. A$5 for 10GB. Just remember to cancel before you leave the country and untick the Kogan FIRST box.

Amazing Value Mobile Phone Plans | Kogan Mobile

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lchiu7

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#3178565 6-Jan-2024 18:33

Wakrak:
mdf:

I was in Australia for a couple of days with Not-so-Little Miss MDF, who is on Kogan. We paid for the Kogan prepaid roaming 3 day pack. Which worked for one day then stopped. Needless to say, never got a response to follow up queries. Clearly YMMV but my (one off) experience is that Kogan isn't the most reliable roaming experience.

Recommend buying a Kogan AU e-SIM plan in the future if you're just after data. Worked well for me last time I went. A$5 for 10GB. Just remember to cancel before you leave the country and untick the Kogan FIRST box.

Amazing Value Mobile Phone Plans | Kogan Mobile

That's a good deal. I'm paying a lot more for my Nomad eSIM in Asia.

jonb

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#3439479 2-Dec-2025 11:37

Had an issue roaming with Kogan in Australia just now - with data roaming enabled in Sim settings and a pack bought via the Kogan website, was still getting no service.

Needed to manually select a network to get it working.. then can change to automatic

(unlocked the thread to ask for help, but then got it sorted so leaving this up for helping someone else in the future)

openmedia

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#3439511 2-Dec-2025 13:33

jonb:

Had an issue roaming with Kogan in Australia just now - with data roaming enabled in Sim settings and a pack bought via the Kogan website, was still getting no service.

Needed to manually select a network to get it working.. then can change to automatic

(unlocked the thread to ask for help, but then got it sorted so leaving this up for helping someone else in the future)

I travel to Oz quite a bit and I almost always have to force my sim to connect to Optus or Telstra when I land to get Roaming to work on Skinny as well. Once I've connected I can change to automatic and it will generally swap between the two networks. Even in Sydney I regularly hit dead spots with no coverage.

Generally known online as OpenMedia, now working for Red Hat APAC as a Technology Evangelist and Portfolio Architect. Still playing with MythTV and digital media on the side.

CYaBro

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#3439515 2-Dec-2025 14:01

Anybody been to Aus and tried the free Optus Network 7 day trial?

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