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]

Thanks. The phone can take eSIMs, it also takes to SIM cards so that will be the alternative.

In Europe we use our UK SIMs which are O2 because they don’t have any roaming charges. You simply use the data in your contract as normal. We used over 60Gb last month with no additional cost.

 

[carolyn]

Thanks. The phone can take eSIMs, it also takes to SIM cards so that will be the alternative.

In Europe we use our UK SIMs which are O2 because they don’t have any roaming charges. You simply use the data in your contract as normal. We used over 60Gb last month with no additional cost.

If you’ve got proper dual sim phones like Nick I think you will find the proper physical local sim as cheap and it will certainly be more use as you’ll be able to make local calls with it. You will also be able to keep your whatsapp messaging to home fine to family.

 

[gus-lopez]

There must be a company out there that you can buy an unlimited data sim payable monthly and easy to cancel,100mb is not enough per month as we are in europe for the max 90 days
If anybody has any suggestions they would be very welcome

Digi 20€/month for unlimited data +calls. Works exactly the same in the Uk but restricted to 30gbhttps://www.digimobil.es/movil/ilimitodo

appears to be 15€ now

 

[Wanders from Glos]

If you’ve got proper dual sim phones like Nick I think you will find the proper physical local sim as cheap and it will certainly be more use as you’ll be able to make local calls with it. You will also be able to keep your whatsapp messaging to home fine to family.

Thanks that sounds the best solution.

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[starquake]

We are just looking at eSIMs for our trip to Cambodia and Vietnam. Our phones are not locked to any provider, but do we need to do speak with our current provider or can we just buy the one that looks the best, load it and that’s it? It’s blowing my mind a bit!

We done Thailand twice. We always buy a local sim there it's cheaper and easier than roaming. CAmbodia and Vietnam are exact same.

We tend to avoid eSims as it adds to the translation difficulties, the airports even in Thailand have shops from each of the networks selling a sim. You hand over passport, some cash (usually it's cash) or card -> and they hand over a sim good for duration of your trip with unlimited data (we got Unlimited hotspot use (in Bangkok near everywhere supports the wifi the sim enables), plus unlimited 4g for about £25 for the 3 weeks we were in Thailand). It even allowed hotspotting so we purchased "one" and then enabled the hotspot for our other devices (so we only needed one sim for effetively 2 phones).

One "useful" tip is to bring some sellotape and a firm backed book -> best tip is to take your UK sim and paste to the back page of a hardback or firm notebook (on the inner side). Then it's both protected from elements and you know where it is. First trip I have to admit LOSING the UK sim and having to get a replacement back home.

Swap on each country is our general rule if we there over 4 days. Also remember some sims limit the hotspot use (I think ours had a generous 500Gb or so, so would never run out) so it's not truely unlimited, but near enough.

 

[carolyn]

We done Thailand twice. We always buy a local sim there it's cheaper and easier than roaming. CAmbodia and Vietnam are exact same.

We tend to avoid eSims as it adds to the translation difficulties, the airports even in Thailand have shops from each of the networks selling a sim. You hand over passport, some cash (usually it's cash) or card -> and they hand over a sim good for duration of your trip with unlimited data (we got Unlimited hotspot use (in Bangkok near everywhere supports the wifi the sim enables), plus unlimited 4g for about £25 for the 3 weeks we were in Thailand). It even allowed hotspotting so we purchased "one" and then enabled the hotspot for our other devices (so we only needed one sim for effetively 2 phones).

One "useful" tip is to bring some sellotape and a firm backed book -> best tip is to take your UK sim and paste to the back page of a hardback or firm notebook (on the inner side). Then it's both protected from elements and you know where it is. First trip I have to admit LOSING the UK sim and having to get a replacement back home.

Swap on each country is our general rule if we there over 4 days. Also remember some sims limit the hotspot use (I think ours had a generous 500Gb or so, so would never run out) so it's not truely unlimited, but near enough.

They have dual sim phones so don’t even have to worry about losing the home Sim. Son and girlfriend said the Sim shops were so good and used to foreigners they’d just sellotape their UK sims inside the phone case. Unless they could just see Matthew coming of course!

 

[Wanders from Glos]

We done Thailand twice. We always buy a local sim there it's cheaper and easier than roaming. CAmbodia and Vietnam are exact same.

We tend to avoid eSims as it adds to the translation difficulties, the airports even in Thailand have shops from each of the networks selling a sim. You hand over passport, some cash (usually it's cash) or card -> and they hand over a sim good for duration of your trip with unlimited data (we got Unlimited hotspot use (in Bangkok near everywhere supports the wifi the sim enables), plus unlimited 4g for about £25 for the 3 weeks we were in Thailand). It even allowed hotspotting so we purchased "one" and then enabled the hotspot for our other devices (so we only needed one sim for effetively 2 phones).

One "useful" tip is to bring some sellotape and a firm backed book -> best tip is to take your UK sim and paste to the back page of a hardback or firm notebook (on the inner side). Then it's both protected from elements and you know where it is. First trip I have to admit LOSING the UK sim and having to get a replacement back home.

Swap on each country is our general rule if we there over 4 days. Also remember some sims limit the hotspot use (I think ours had a generous 500Gb or so, so would never run out) so it's not truely unlimited, but near enough.

Sounds perfect, didn't realise the SIM shops were at the airports, that's ideal.

 

[starquake]

Sounds perfect, didn't realise the SIM shops were at the airports, that's ideal.

Just past the cash machines and security as you enter landside at Bangkok and Chaing Mai (both places I've purchased). Bangkok at least had a booth for each of their major networks ran directly BY the network, so it' wasn't even a "concession" ran by an entrepeneur either.

I'm actually genuinely surprised Eurostar at the French/English terminal doesn't do similar as you go on or come off the train thinking about it given the high costs of roaming these days (French sims are similarly a LOT cheaper than buying a UK sim with roaming). It's something the far-east does very well.

A friend went to Japan and said he picked up his Japanese sim at the airport too ; along with a mifi device as a backup (as Japan uses different frequencies to rest of world, you need a Japanese specific device for 5g apparenlty). It's very common in far east -> ONly exception is India, as when I worked out there it was best to get a local to get you a sim, as the "tourist" price was a lot higher than that for people living there -> as I have friends in India we worked that out before I arrived and a sim was left in room.

(One thing for certain is you do not want to roam in far east, as both India and Thailand were a £2 a Mb level when I checked on a UK sim).

 

[matbic]

We tend to avoid eSims as it adds to the translation difficulties,

Not sure I understand what you are saying here. All the eSIMs I have purchased were from websites/apps that were written in English and required no translation. You don’t need to visit a shop and can install them at any time using just your phone.

Local plastic SIM cards require to deal with different languages and you have to find and visit a shop in each country you visit.

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[starquake]

Not sure I understand what you are saying here. All the eSIMs I have purchased were from websites/apps that were written in English and required no translation. You don’t need to visit a shop and can install them at any time using just your phone.

Local plastic SIM cards require to deal with different languages and you have to find and visit a shop in each country you visit.

I'm meaning local eSIMS not ones you buy ahead of time. Some are difficult as need activation in a shop in some countries (not all have a nice online portal, and no, not all of the portals are in English). When I had a Thai sim, although the website had an English mode, the top up was entirely Thai language. Thankfully we didn't need to do it as we purchased enough Gb for the trip at the airport on that trip.

ie, not all eSIMs are friendly, I do admit most are, but saying they all are in English is rather missing the point, I can assure you not all the websites are in English as I've expererienced a few.

That said, my mifi device (which we put the sim in mostly if not using one of our phones) doesn't support eSIM's so for ease, it's easier to have a physical sim to swap between phone and mifi. Moving sims between 2 devices if they are eSIM is a LOT harder than a physical sim. I Would therefore only buy an eSIM if I had a single device ...

 

[matbic]

I'm meaning local eSIMS not ones you buy ahead of time. Some are difficult as need activation in a shop in some countries (not all have a nice online portal, and no, not all of the portals are in English). When I had a Thai sim, although the website had an English mode, the top up was entirely Thai language. Thankfully we didn't need to do it as we purchased enough Gb for the trip at the airport on that trip.

ie, not all eSIMs are friendly, I do admit most are, but saying they all are in English is rather missing the point, I can assure you not all the websites are in English as I've expererienced a few.

That said, my mifi device (which we put the sim in mostly if not using one of our phones) doesn't support eSIM's so for ease, it's easier to have a physical sim to swap between phone and mifi. Moving sims between 2 devices if they are eSIM is a LOT harder than a physical sim. I Would therefore only buy an eSIM if I had a single device ...

So because there may be others who are reading this who might be a bit confused by your comments - I hope you don’t mind if I give a quick summary of eSIMs and how they work for me.

An eSIM is a completely electronic method of paying for and activating a mobile device on to the network. It is an alternative to purchasing a plastic SIM card. Your device phone, router or MiFi must be capable of using an eSIM most new phones and a few routers do support them but older devices will most likely not. Going forward many phones will only be working with eSIMs and will have no slots for plastic SIMs

If you have a compatible device you can purchase an eSIM on-line from a large and rapidly growing number of companies. You do not need to visit a shop or get someone to install one for you. You do it in your phone when and where you like.

Your choice of eSIM suppliers now includes most of the traditional network companies and a whole set of new eSIM only companies. Just to get people started here are a few that might be a good start for someone looking to travel.

eSIM Data - Airhub App-an exquisite esim experience for travellers

To stay connected wherever you may be, get your data eSIM plans on your eSIM device within minutes.

www.airhubapp.com

ConnectPls eSIM, Unlimited Data, No Contract, Full Flexibility | ConnectPls

ConnectPls provides unlimited eSIM for people on the go. No device, contract or fee. Experience freedom with ConnectPls’S unlimited plans.

connectpls.com

Orange Travel | Buy and recharge your international SIM and eSIM cards | Orange Travel

Explore Orange Travel's prepaid SIM & eSIM cards. Stay connected abroad, share moments & avoid roaming fees. Perfect for leisure & business trips.

travel.orange.com

It would be great if others on the forum could add to this list as there are so many!

The companies I listed, and many others, will let you select from a single country eSIM or a regional one. For example when I am wandering about Europe I can purchase one that covers all the countries of the EU. Sometimes there is a better deal for a single country eSIM.

You will get a lot of options on how many days the eSIM is valid for and how much data it includes - I prefer the unlimited data ones but if you have less requirements you can save money by purchasing less.

With eSIMs you purchase just what you need, there are no contracts. You can get one for a day, a month or one that lasts forever.

You can install one instantly you purchase it - the company sends you an email with a code or special graphic (QRtag). This you install in your phone/router by clicking a few buttons on the phone, most of the eSIM companies have guides for the various phones some have made it almost automatic with a helpful app. You do NOT need to go to a shop to activate them. However you do need to be online so you must install them before you run out of data or when you have a Wi-Fi connection.

My iPhone can hold many eSIMs and lets you switch from one to the other when you need. So I can install all the eSIMs I need for a trip and switch them in and out when I need them. My phone allows two to be active at the same time and will switch automatically between them if one is out of coverage. The same is true of my Pepwave router in the van.

You can have a combination of plastic SIM and eSIM. As an example I have a plastic Vodafone SIM which is good for UK and some time in EU. Then I get a eSIM for the weeks I am away travelling to cover the countries I am visiting to get me more data.

All of this can be done on English language websites/apps, when and where you need 24/7. It’s so much more convenient than rushing around trying to find a shop and hoping they speak good English.

I find it particularly convenient that I can get all the eSIMs I need purchased and installed before I travel. Also there are non of the restrictions found with plastic SIM cards about registering then at home before travelling so if you run out when travelling you just top up or get a new one.

A couple of things to watch with eSIMs:
1) Once installed on a device you can NOT move them to another device. This does not turn out to be much of a problem as I purchase ones that last for just long enough for my trip, at the end I delete them and get another one the next time I am travelling.
2) Some, but unfortunately not all, eSIMs can be topped up, which is extra convenient if you are travelling for more than about a month - it saves the need to delete and install a new eSIMs. Look out for that when selecting.
3) eSIMs are always in roaming mode so the better ones will get a signal from whatever network they can. This is a massive advantage when travelling about. So look for eSIMs with lots of partner networks in each country. This is usually what accounts for the difference in price between eSIMs, the more expensive have multiple networks in each country and give much better chance of getting a good signal as you travel.

So I hope this helps anyone new to eSIMs - there are several years to go yet but they are going to become the main stream. Phones will come with them pre-installed (like the Apple Watch does now), plastic SIM cards will be phased out (like all new iPhones in USA) and installing them is getting easier with some recent new telecom standards. If I was purchasing any new equipment I would defiantly make sure it supported eSIMs.

PS : I have found the roaming feature is also very useful when at home in the UK I have an eSIM on my phone can connect to 3 different UK networks so I get almost 100% coverage as there is always one that works.

I hope this helps those wondering about eSIM! Happy travelling.

 

[starquake]

So because there may be others who are reading this who might be a bit confused by your comments - I hope you don’t mind if I give a quick summary of eSIMs and how they work for me.

An eSIM is a completely electronic method of paying for and activating a mobile device on to the network. It is an alternative to purchasing a plastic SIM card. Your device phone, router or MiFi must be capable of using an eSIM most new phones and a few routers do support them but older devices will most likely not. Going forward many phones will only be working with eSIMs and will have no slots for plastic SIMs

If you have a compatible device you can purchase an eSIM on-line from a large and rapidly growing number of companies. You do not need to visit a shop or get someone to install one for you. You do it in your phone when and where you like.

Agree, but eSIMs are ALSO available from each network (as in the real ones you use) like EE, Three etc in UK, and in Thailand from their providers locally in country.

However, when you buy from a network and not one of the online portals linked above you often legally need to show ID at a store prior to them activiating the sim (this is case in many countries). It's also usually FAR cheaper.

There are advantages, yes, in a eSIM from a multi-provider, in terms of the multi-network coverage but it's rarely cheap if you need over 50Gb of data. We used 500Gb in 3 weeks in Thailand... for around £30. (Plus had more via their wifi hotspots which were everywhere).

That said, I did just google, and AIS (who I used in Thailand) now offer the same unlimited data (but on eSIM) that I had activatable before travel via https://www.ais.th/esim-traveller -> and they now have a far more English website. It's now $50 USD though so it's gone up about £10 in last 4 years. Only thing that puts me off is it can't move between devices.

Actually thinking about it probably should upgrade the mifi to one supporting eSIM at some point given the above exists. That would make travels in the land of smiles much easier and save a trip to the airport counter.

 

[matbic]

Thanks for the update on Thiland.

Yes eSIMs are becoming very attractive for those travelling.

I encourage anyone getting new equipment to ensure they have an eSIMs facility built in. There are some products that can convert an eSIM in your a plastic SIM card:

JMP: eSIM Adapter

jmp.chat

Has anyone tried this out? It could be very useful for all of us with older routers/mifi.

 

[Birdy67]

I am a complete newbie on this subject so please excuse the stupid question but if you have an e sim installed and you are out of wifi range do your phones apps work as usual? So I arrive in Dubai airport for instance, will my emails and text messages come through as usual or do I have to switch between the e sim and the physical sim to get my latest messages? If someone calls my mobile number will it ring as usual but will the call be made using the e sim? if there's no flipping between sims and you effectively have both working alongside each other seamlessly then I see a massive benefit in having an e sim installed. But I've never used one and tend to just try and find wifi somewhere or pay the £2 per day charge to roam with my sky mobile.

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[cyberyacht]

Can you tether from an E-SIM?

 

[starquake]

Can you tether from an E-SIM?

Its the same as a normal sim in use, so yes, but it depends on the provider, AIS in Thailand allowed it when we last went, one of the rival operators who was selling at the airport did not, so we went with AIS.

I am a complete newbie on this subject so please excuse the stupid question but if you have an e sim installed and you are out of wifi range do your phones apps work as usual? So I arrive in Dubai airport for instance, will my emails and text messages come through as usual or do I have to switch between the e sim and the physical sim to get my latest messages? If someone calls my mobile number will it ring as usual but will the call be made using the e sim? if there's no flipping between sims and you effectively have both working alongside each other seamlessly then I see a massive benefit in having an e sim installed. But I've never used one and tend to just try and find wifi somewhere or pay the £2 per day charge to roam with my sky mobile.

So this depends on the sim. Your normal number will NOT be active if the esim is, so you cannot receive calls or old school sms texts. The esim can be data only or voice+data. Depends on your phone as to how it works with it, an iphone can be roaming on it's "normal" sim for inbound voice calls (which you pay for as NORMAL on your old contract) and text messages, and there is an option when an eSIM is installed ALONGSIDE the normal sim as to which sim is used for data. That means all DATA will use the eSIM and NOT your normal sim at £2 a Mb.

However having both active at once does "risk" your phone deciding to use data on the normal contract, personally I disable the "normal" sim and just use the both number and data on the eSIM or foreign sim when travelling.

Howeevr, apps like Whatsapp, and iMessage do tend to work as your number is tied to your account, not your device in general. I have succesfully texted out from Whatsapp and iMessage both ways before, despite the old sim card containing my UK number being in my bag, offline at the time. There is an option buried in the iphone settings as to which identity to text from on imessage, mine contains 3 numbers as I have > 1 contract. I can text from other devices as one of my other identities or from my email address. If you use imessage a lot it's usually better to set your "normal email" as your outgoing text identity rather than a number. This sounds rather complex, but it's buried in icloud settings under imessage on your phone. I have no idea how it works on Android, sorry!

Remember where you use these typically it's a LOT more than £2 a day.

(Sky Mobile 2023 rates:
It's 'rest of the world' so not cheap.
36p per MB of data. (Not GB) -> so £360 A GB.
Calls 72p/min.
Receiving calls 14p/min.
Texts 14p.
)

Hence why I would reccomend anyone going outside EU and friendly rate zones to seriously look at eSIMs and foreign sims in general given on a 2 week holiday a local sim will be $50 USD or so, and be unlimited data, unlimited calls and unlimited texts (ie, similar to the £2 a day you pay on a 14 day holiday in EU). Equally a £2/day roaming is usually limited to 12, 32Gb or a simiilar small limit, given I use 150Gb a week, thats useless to me.

 

[Minxy]

Birdy an esim works exactly the same as a physical sim so you don't need WiFi if you can get a phone signal on your esim and have roaming enabled, just as you do with a physical SIM.

They work independently and alongside each other so both can be kept active at the same time (assuming your phone allows dual sims).

 

[starquake]

Birdy an esim works exactly the same as a physical sim so you don't need WiFi if you can get a phone signal on your esim and have roaming enabled, just as you do with a physical SIM.

They work independently and alongside each other so both can be kept active at the same time (assuming your phone allows dual sims).

Worth noting not all phones allow both sims active at same time. iPhones do, but it depends on the phone, not the operating system on other devices, as it depends if they have the hardware to support dual operation. Dual slots does not always = dual operation.

Worth also noting I believe the first iphone to support eSIM was the iphone 14 -> earlier models like my old X do not work at all.

 

[Minxy]

However having both active at once does "risk" your phone deciding to use data on the normal contract, personally I disable the "normal" sim and just use the both number and data on the eSIM or foreign sim when travelling.

You don't need to disable the normal sim, just don't allow roaming, that way it can still receive calls and texts as usual, then if you want to send a text or make a call, what's app, browse etc, just use the esim.

You just go into the phone settings and set which sim to use for making calls and using data.

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[starquake]

You don't need to disable the normal sim, just don't allow roaming, that way it can still receive calls and texts as usual, then if you want to send a text or make a call, what's app, browse etc, just use the esim.

Thats the problem if you disable roaming it in general doesn't receieve texts from past experience. (I needed a text from bank to approve a transation so had to turn it on temporarily). You can disable data on the sim though via the menu, but I would warn non-techinical people you can get this wrong...

My view is it's safer to just have it disabled if you don't need the text or to be reachable. I text anyone in Blighty via Whatsapp my temporary number or iMessage them it for normal texting.

Equally who wants to pay for junk callers calling you at 19p a minute as most calls to my mobile these days are junk calls.

 

[Minxy]

If anyone wants to try using an esim then you can get an Eskimo one for 1p, I got one just to check my new phone worked with an esim, which it did.

Free 1GB Global eSIM Data for 2 Years at Eskimo - New Customers Only | hotukdeals

www.hotukdeals.com

 

[Minxy]

Thats the problem if you disable roaming it in general doesn't receieve texts from past experience. (I needed a text from bank to approve a transation so had to turn it on temporarily).

I always ensure roaming and data are disabled for my UK SIM but this has never prevented me getting texts from my bank etc. I don't have to change anything to be able to receive them. I assume you're turning off the sim totally rather than just disabling roaming, obviously if the sim isn't live it can't receive anything.

You can disable data on the sim though via the menu, but I would warn non-techinical people you can get this wrong...

It's not difficult, in the settings you just set the esim to be the default one for data. What makes you imply it's a problem?

 

[Eddieb]

Please excuse my ignorance on these matters - is there a sim card with a one off payment for a set amount of data that does not run out after a month and is suitable to go in my wifi router

 

[Birdy67]

Thanks guys. That all makes sense and I will give one a try I think.

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[cyberyacht]

It was much easier when all you did was toss your pigeon into the air.