SIM Card Recommendations for Traveling

[Mower Man]

Good day to you all,

What sim cards do people use for the internet in a motor home/caravan? How much data are we likely to use if we are away approx 1-2 weeks a month and sometimes travelling abroad? Can you purchase one that you can disable when not using and then reactivate when needed and what are the best networks?

Many thanks

 

[Wanders from Glos]

Hi tesco mobile ..you can use your data abroad no extra charges at the moment..

That's what we do, just tether from our phones. It seems to work well.

 

[MichaelT]

That's what we do, just tether from our phones. It seems to work well.

Until next year.

 

[Laughing Gravy]

Hi tesco mobile ..you can use your data abroad no extra charges at the moment..

Yeah Tesco mobile until 2025 (assume January) they say but the guys in the store say it might be extended. As said the only provider that doesn’t impose a ‘fair use’ (read restriction) policy of up to 25G

 

[Laughing Gravy]

Good day to you all,

What sim cards do people use for the internet in a motor home/caravan? How much data are we likely to use if we are away approx 1-2 weeks a month and sometimes travelling abroad? Can you purchase one that you can disable when not using and then reactivate when needed and what are the best networks?

Many thanks

I tried GLOCALME which is supposed to use the strongest mobile signal and convert to WI-FI. In theory it sounds great but I didn’t find their plans that cheap. Maybe things have changed

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[Neil S]

Another vote for Popit Mobile
No restrictions- 100gb a month
As previously said you can pause for £1 a month
And NO VPN required to watch live UK TV
Were in the Pyrenees at the moment and it works just fine with good 4G coverage

 

[starquake]

Another vote for Popit Mobile
No restrictions- 100gb a month
As previously said you can pause for £1 a month
And NO VPN required to watch live UK TV
Were in the Pyrenees at the moment and it works just fine with good 4G coverage

I'd be wary to reccomend Popit to anyone;

Roaming Europe with a Popit Data SIM - There's a Catch Folks! - Our Tour Motorhome Blog

We’ve just used a Popit Mobile Data SIM for internet access throughout a month-long motorhome tour of Europe. We have no affiliation with Popit, we’re not trying to sell you anything (maybe the opposite in this case). We just to pass on our experience of using this SIM. Update Sep 2024: Popit...

ourtour.co.uk

^ explains it well, but you need to use as much in UK as abroad to maintain roaming compliance. Given UK sims cost as much per YEAR as popit costs a month, it's likely way more expensive, or many £75 fines to cancel. (I'm comparing with the Three 80Gb a month as its closest to 100Gb.., which work out at £2 ish a month when prepaid over 2 years).

My reading of their policy is you need to effectively double all their prices, as HALF the data has to be used in UK to maintain compliance.

 

[Wanders from Glos]

Until next year.

I can’t worry about that until it happens.

 

[Wanders from Glos]

Yeah Tesco mobile until 2025 (assume January) they say but the guys in the store say it might be extended. As said the only provider that doesn’t impose a ‘fair use’ (read restriction) policy of up to 25G

It has been extended every year so far. I guess they will stop it eventually and at that point we will review it but until then it seems the easiest solution.

 

[Wanders from Glos]

Another vote for Popit Mobile
No restrictions- 100gb a month
As previously said you can pause for £1 a month
And NO VPN required to watch live UK TV
Were in the Pyrenees at the moment and it works just fine with good 4G coverage

Sounds a good alternative. Do you have MiFi or does the SIM go in your phone?

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[starquake]

It has been extended every year so far. I guess they will stop it eventually and at that point we will review it but until then it seems the easiest solution.

I agree, but it isn't suitable for all. I'm also aware it's quite expensive per month when you are in UK and not roaming. Bear in mind you are comparing £2 ish a month for 80-100Gb sims to £5/mo for UK only sims that are unlimited these days. If you want to compare with EE Unlimtied those are £11 ish a month for unlimited on a UK only prepay deal.

Effectively I keep a EE and Three sim in the van so have both networks for less per month than a Tesco unlimited one would cost me -> so although it's an easy roam deal as majority of our motorhome use is in UK, we would be paying heavily for it. That was our logic for not picking Tesco (and it's not because it's not a good deal, it is the easiest option as you say now). Thankfully we travel with friends (when in France) who already have a mifi with this deal so we will "borrow" their Internet whilst we get a local sim.

Arguably when in UK it's also using the company with the least amount of spectrum too (O2) on 4G. Thats not speculation, they have around half of the capcity of EE or Three, so more likely to be congested in busy cellsites. (on 5g it's reasonable, but they don't have 5g where we typically take the motohome).

 

[alasdairandannie]

IQ Mobile is very good, we recently used it in Spain and Portugal BUT you are limited to 3 months in any 12 for your roaming.

 

[Neil S]

Sounds a good alternative. Do you have MiFi or does the SIM go in your

Huawei Mi-Fi , works pretty good

 

[stevel]

Good day to you all,

What sim cards do people use for the internet in a motor home/caravan? How much data are we likely to use if we are away approx 1-2 weeks a month and sometimes travelling abroad? Can you purchase one that you can disable when not using and then reactivate when needed and what are the best networks?

Many thanks

Tiekom. 400Gb for Spain, 200Gb elsewhere in Europe (but not Switzerland as I found out this year!). Good value and great customer support.

 

[Neil S]

I'd be wary to reccomend Popit to anyone;

Roaming Europe with a Popit Data SIM - There's a Catch Folks! - Our Tour Motorhome Blog

We’ve just used a Popit Mobile Data SIM for internet access throughout a month-long motorhome tour of Europe. We have no affiliation with Popit, we’re not trying to sell you anything (maybe the opposite in this case). We just to pass on our experience of using this SIM. Update Sep 2024: Popit...

ourtour.co.uk

^ explains it well, but you need to use as much in UK as abroad to maintain roaming compliance. Given UK sims cost as much per YEAR as popit costs a month, it's likely way more expensive, or many £75 fines to cancel. (I'm comparing with the Three 80Gb a month as its closest to 100Gb.., which work out at £2 ish a month when prepaid over 2 years).

My reading of their policy is you need to effectively double all their prices, as HALF the data has to be used in UK to maintain compliance.

Not in my experience that’s incorrect
My popit sim has been on hold since last September when we came back from Europe
I used it for two weaks back in the UK and then suspended it .
Just reactivated it recently for 1 week before leaving used exactly 1gb of data in the UK
And were into our 3 week out here
No issues

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[Wanders from Glos]

Huawei Mi-Fi , works pretty good

Us too, need to work out how works through

 

[starquake]

Not in my experience that’s incorrect
My popit sim has been on hold since last September when we came back from Europe
I used it for two weaks back in the UK and then suspended it .
Just reactivated it recently for 1 week before leaving used exactly 1gb of data in the UK
And were into our 3 week out here
No issues

It's literally in their terms and conditions now. It will work when you abroad as you say, the issue is the T&C's now state you have to use the same again in the UK before you can cancel & pay a £75 fine for being out of compliance, or you use the same amount you used in EU, then you can cancel for free (but at cost of £25 of data).

(I'll paste the relevant section of their T&C's taken from website a moment ago).

These terms were put in since last September, (there was a thread on here about it) -> if you are using your sim in UK month by month and also using in UK there is no issue, but they specifically say on website now their sims are NOT for sole EU roaming as may of us would do (ie, you can't use 100Gb in EU, then cancel in UK on £1 a month as you say). They actually tell you on website if you are exclusivly roaming (or high percentile, to contact them for a special price, but it won't be their standard £25 for 100Gb deal).

Please don't take personally a lot of these providers have changed terms since last year, and many deals available then are now not as good as they were, mostly as EE is charging the providers a lot more to roam, and popit was one that was badly impacted by the changes in terms & conditions. It's why UK only sims are falling in price as there is less "costs" involved.

ie, roaming with Popit now is NOT the value it was in 2023 given it requires you to ALSO use the same amount of data in UK as a minimum.

 

[Neil S]

It's literally in their terms and conditions now. It will work when you abroad as you say, the issue is the T&C's now state you have to use the same again in the UK before you can cancel & pay a £75 fine for being out of compliance, or you use the same amount you used in EU, then you can cancel for free (but at cost of £25 of data).

(I'll paste the relevant section of their T&C's taken from website a moment ago).
View attachment 921582

These terms were put in since last September, (there was a thread on here about it) -> if you are using your sim in UK month by month and also using in UK there is no issue, but they specifically say on website now their sims are NOT for sole EU roaming as may of us would do (ie, you can't use 100Gb in EU, then cancel in UK on £1 a month as you say). They actually tell you on website if you are exclusivly roaming (or high percentile, to contact them for a special price, but it won't be their standard £25 for 100Gb deal).

Please don't take personally a lot of these providers have changed terms since last year, and many deals available then are now not as good as they were, mostly as EE is charging the providers a lot more to roam, and popit was one that was badly impacted by the changes in terms & conditions. It's why UK only sims are falling in price as there is less "costs" involved.

ie, roaming with Popit now is NOT the value it was in 2023 given it requires you to ALSO use the same amount of data in UK as a minimum.

Like I say my sim was on hold for nearly 8 months and I reactivated it recently
When I get back I'll use for a month and then suspend it
I had the sim for two years I've not had an email to say they are changing the T&Cs
Even if it does cost me extra I'm hardly worried over an extra month or so .

 

[starquake]

Like I say my sim was on hold for nearly 8 months and I reactivated it recently
When I get back I'll use for a month and then suspend it
I had the sim for two years I've not had an email to say they are changing the T&Cs

Terms and Conditions / Fair Usage Policy / Privacy Policy - Popit

Terms and Conditions for Popit These Terms and Conditions ("Agreement") outline the rights and obligations between you (referred to as "Customer," "You," or "Your") and Popit Mobile (referred to as "We," "Us," or "Our") regarding the provision of mobile phone services. Please read this Agreement...

www.popitmobile.co.uk

8.1 We reserve the right to modify or update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Any changes will be effective upon posting the revised Policy on our website or providing other notice as required by law.

(The Privacy policy invludes the Fair usage policy. Sneaky eh!).

BTW the blog I linked to isn't even mine, it annoyed a LOT of us when they changed their terms. I'm just informing you so you realise you'll need to use same as you used in EU to avoid fees.

 

[starquake]

Even if it does cost me extra I'm hardly worried over an extra month or so .

The issue is more for people here that roam for 3 months, thye have to pay for 3 months in UK of same data (& use it) to get back into compliance. Thats the sneaky bit, as for 1 month trips, like you I'd say hardly worrying. But for 3 months it's doubling your roaming costs (it makes Popit cost near enough same as Starlink).

Given the above it's likely better to instead use a rival UK sim (which doesn't do this stupid Popit/Lebara like compliance thing) OR buy a local sim from one of the EU providers in the country where you spend majority of time, ie, Spain or France for most of us.

Buying a local sim does need a VPN, but it's also usually around 300Gb for 20 euro from a provider in France of Spain, so if you do use it heavily it's also a lot more economical than taking ~ 3 100Gb sims with yout.

Tierkom also has a good reputation here for doing Spanish data (400Gb) cheap.

BTW I would have agreed with you Popit WAS a good deal in 2023. It's just not now they've snuck the new terms in.

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[tribalbrit]

Good day to you all,

What sim cards do people use for the internet in a motor home/caravan? How much data are we likely to use if we are away approx 1-2 weeks a month and sometimes travelling abroad? Can you purchase one that you can disable when not using and then reactivate when needed and what are the best networks?

Many thanks

Smarty. 120g for £12. 200 for £17 free roaming, no contract, sim only. https://smarty.co.uk/plans/200gb-data

 

[starquake]

Smarty. 120g for £12. 200 for £17 free roaming, no contract, sim only. https://smarty.co.uk/plans/200gb-data

I'd highly advise against Smarty, it's the lowest prioritised 3 class of data on their network. I tested our Smarty sim side by side with a 3 personal contract (I have one) and a 3 business contract (owned by my Ltd) all in same device. The Smarty was about 3Mbit in same place the 3 business was giving 12..

It's also EXPENSIVE. 500G on Three a month is £4 a month if you prepay for 24 months (deals on amazon, £99 for 3 years service). Again "no contract" it's a prepay sim limited to UK use only.

The roaming (on smarty) is also limited to 12Gb (we use that a day!)

 

[MichaelT]

IQ Mobile is very good, we recently used it in Spain and Portugal BUT you are limited to 3 months in any 12 for your roaming.

120 days if you have other sims

 

[Andycap]

I am in France now bought a Tesco sim £30.00 100gb used it last couple of years no problem no contract would recommend

 

[Soycd]

Any thing to know about iQ sim install in router?
Got iQ sim arriving today and will install it before Friday when we head off.

I just stuck the sim in the router and it worked. I didnt have to change the APN settings, not sure I would know how to on the router either.

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[Ducatian]

I came across these if you want unlimited data, obviously more expensive but no limits...

Holafly | International eSIM card for travelers

Buy an eSIM card for travel and don't pay for roaming abroad. Holafly is the highest rated eSIM store by travelers.

esim.holafly.com

69 euro for one month the website says.

 

[grasscutter]

The only thing that I can add is that we were with Vodafone for many years. As we travel in Europe as much as Schengen allows the unlimited Vodafone contracts we had were limited to 25gb fair use policy. Add on to this that they then imposed a daily roaming charge it made the Popit sims a viable alternative as our permanent sims.

 

[JoshnPen]

Another vote for IQ in a huawei mifi, its worked a dream for us whilst travelling to Europe in the moho, and I've been known to pop it in a suitcase and take it on a plane with me too, rather than contend with rubbish signal when on hols. and with the fam. where there's a high demand!

 

[matbic]

I came across these if you want unlimited data, obviously more expensive but no limits...

Holafly | International eSIM card for travelers

Buy an eSIM card for travel and don't pay for roaming abroad. Holafly is the highest rated eSIM store by travelers.

esim.holafly.com

Look at https://www.airhubapp.com/ much cheaper for 30 days unlimited in Europe. I find it works very well.

 

[Mower Man]

I'd be wary to reccomend Popit to anyone;

Roaming Europe with a Popit Data SIM - There's a Catch Folks! - Our Tour Motorhome Blog

We’ve just used a Popit Mobile Data SIM for internet access throughout a month-long motorhome tour of Europe. We have no affiliation with Popit, we’re not trying to sell you anything (maybe the opposite in this case). We just to pass on our experience of using this SIM. Update Sep 2024: Popit...

ourtour.co.uk

^ explains it well, but you need to use as much in UK as abroad to maintain roaming compliance. Given UK sims cost as much per YEAR as popit costs a month, it's likely way more expensive, or many £75 fines to cancel. (I'm comparing with the Three 80Gb a month as its closest to 100Gb.., which work out at £2 ish a month when prepaid over 2 years).

My reading of their policy is you need to effectively double all their prices, as HALF the data has to be used in UK to maintain compliance.

Wow, thank you for that infor

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[Mower Man]

Smarty. 120g for £12. 200 for £17 free roaming, no contract, sim only. https://smarty.co.uk/plans/200gb-data

That sounds good