Any recommendations for the best way to roam in Australia?

Forums › 2degrees (including Slingshot, Orcon, Flip, Stuff Fibre, MyRepublic, 2talk and Vocus) › Any recommendations for the best way to roam in Australia?

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Stu1

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#1877454 4-Oct-2017 20:18

i founds Vodafone roaming was great 5$ per day, i found so much free wifi at hotels and around Sydney CBD hardly used any of my own data, even airport wifi was free

tripper1000

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#1892457 30-Oct-2017 10:15

I usually pick up a local SIM in Aussie. They can beat any roaming deal in every aspect except convenience. Price is better, voice quality is better, and data is so much much faster than roaming. Things may have improved in the last 12 months but 2DM roaming data was terribly slow last time I was in Perth CBD - Ookla Speedtest app was timing out. An Optus sim in the same kiwi phone, same location got 40mbit down on LTE. Mates on Vodafone NZ roaming had OK data, but still not as fast and cheap as the local companies.

A couple of things to be aware of:

1) Telstra run the same frequencies as Spark/Skinny, so don't buy a Telstra SIM unless your phone is Spark Compatible. Optus/Voda there use the same frequencies as 2DM/Voda here, so are the safer bet's.

2) The Australian phone companies require an official ID (and a physical address) to connect a prepaid SIM, so take your passport along when buying the SIM - if you have time to sort it out at the airport it can be smoother to do it there because the sales people there are used to dealing with foreign addresses - the sales people in the mall's seem to struggle to enter a NZ address into their computer. I've used my hotel address a few times to simplify things for them.

RC

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#1892498 30-Oct-2017 11:13

Agree that data roaming is bad. Australia on 2 Degrees 2 years ago was sub 56KPS dial up speeds. USA and England 1 years ago (on Vodafone this time) was also terribly slow to the point of near useless.

Someone told me that the data has to be routed via NZ (2 degrees) or NZ and the Netherlands (Vodafone roaming). So, unless you don't need data, I'd put your NZ sim in a lightweight small handset for calls and texts and buy a local SIM card in Aussy.

SaltyNZ

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#1892508 30-Oct-2017 11:25

RC:

Someone told me that the data has to be routed via NZ (2 degrees) or NZ and the Netherlands (Vodafone roaming). So, unless you don't need data, I'd put your NZ sim in a lightweight small handset for calls and texts and buy a local SIM card in Aussy.

Roaming data is always routed back to your home network. So if you are the Netherlands and attempt to load a local Netherlands restaurant web site, the request goes:

Handset --> SGSN (local)
SGSN --> GGSN (across GRX network to NZ)
GGSN --> Netherlands web site (across the internet)
Web site --> GGSN
GGSN --> SGSN
SGSN --> Handset

So, two round trips to NZ. Same is true for Australia although obviously Australia is closer so it is less excruciating. LTE doesn't change that although the boxes have different names (MME and SGW/PGW). So no matter whose network you are on at home, if you need speed, get a local SIM or use Wifi.

iPad Pro 11" + iPhone 15 Pro Max + 2degrees 4tw!

These comments are my own and do not represent the opinions of 2degrees.

scottjpalmer

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#1892845 30-Oct-2017 22:08

I roamed on 2D for 12 days last week with no issues - on VF AU in Brisbane then Telstra in Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne.

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