Sim/Cell Cards

[DnA2010]

Hoping on board- trip in September, previously I used a card bought from Roam Mobility.
I have an iphone 11, hubby has an older iphone (8 I think?)
We have a 5 day trip in September which we need data for- our cell phone plan is a specialty corporate one which does not allow us to pay to use our data down there.

Which solution do you guys think would suit us best? We need my phone running data for sure, but DH's also would be useful

 

[lilsonicfan]

Hoping on board- trip in September, previously I used a card bought from Roam Mobility.
I have an iphone 11, hubby has an older iphone (8 I think?)
We have a 5 day trip in September which we need data for- our cell phone plan is a specialty corporate one which does not allow us to pay to use our data down there.

Which solution do you guys think would suit us best? We need my phone running data for sure, but DH's also would be useful

The iphone 11 will support an eSIM, but an iphone 8 will not. If you think you might be together all the time you could always buy a bigger plan on an eSIM and allow tethering so that he can just use your phone as a hotspot. Otherwise, I think his option would be to use a physical SIM, like Roam.

 

[DnA2010]

The iphone 11 will support an eSIM, but an iphone 8 will not. If you think you might be together all the time you could always buy a bigger plan on an eSIM and allow tethering so that he can just use your phone as a hotspot. Otherwise, I think his option would be to use a physical SIM, like Roam.

Thank you for your reply, as Roam doesn't work anymore, do you have any suggestions for the physical SIM?

 

[lilsonicfan]

Thank you for your reply, as Roam doesn't work anymore, do you have any suggestions for the physical SIM?

I can't say that I have tried, but I know Amazon sells T-Mobile cards and also some data-only cards. Maybe worth a search there?

 

[krissynina]

I don't like how tethering slows down my phone and drains the battery. I got a GlocalMe for my last trip. It is a personal hotspot device that pulls data from what ever network is nearby. The battery lasts all day and the plans are reasonable. It even came in handy at home last month when we had a massive storm that caused week long power outages. A lot of the cell towers were down so I had no data on my phone but I still had some left on the Glocal from my trip.

 

[samsteele]

Sad that Roam folded with covid as it looked like the easiest and most convenient choice for many of us. I still haven't found anything simple to use as when on property without a rental car, no where easy to find a sim card to swap. Default choice still using free wifi but like to check with this thread to see if anything new pops up.

 

[starvenger]

Sad that Roam folded with covid as it looked like the easiest and most convenient choice for many of us. I still haven't found anything simple to use as when on property without a rental car, no where easy to find a sim card to swap. Default choice still using free wifi but like to check with this thread to see if anything new pops up.

I think if you're looking for that physical SIM card then something like those T-Mobile ones on Amazon are likely to be your best alternative. Some of the kiosks at MCO might sell SIM cards as well.

 

[samsteele]

Some of the kiosks at MCO might sell SIM cards as well

I hadn't noticed at MCO but a few years ago, there were vending machines with SIM cards in some of the resorts. At least they had a machine at AS Sports where the pay phones used to be across from the food court. I gave it a good look, didn't recognize the name as off brand and even lined up at the front desk to ask a CM if they knew about the machine, had any feedback from guests, etc. CM understandably said she wasn't allowed to comment and vending machine was not affiliated with Disney resorts (as is the norm). So a bit of a chill and I didn't buy. Maybe something to check out in the future.

 

[buyerbrad]

I am entirely new to eSims, but I am going to try it our this week. I just have a few points I need clarification on for the Airalo package I just purchased. I have an Iphone. We have not been out of the country in almost 3 years.

1. In the past, if I put my phone in "airplane mode", I would then enable wifi to connect when available, and still be able to get iMessages at no costs. Would regular texts and calls still come through? What would the charge be if I didn't answer the call? I get lots of telemarketing calls.

2. For Airalo, I don't enable "airplane mode", but instead change my Cellular Data to Airalo? Is this essentially like putting it in airplane mode? Will all my iMessages still come through? What happens with regular texts and incoming calls?

3. Where it says Cellular Plans under my settings, both my Personal and Airalo are on. Do I need to turn one of them off while in Canada? What about in the USA?

Thanks for your help!

 

[CanucksRock]

1. You will still be able to use iMessage. But if you turn off your voice line, the only thru your email adddresses.
2. You change cellular data to the eSIM. Disable cellular data switching if it is on.
3. You can leave your Default Voice Line as your home phone if you want to receive SMS texts. Phone calls will stop come thru, I would assume don’t answer if you don’t want extra charges. (I use Public Mobile, I leave it on, and iMessage then works fine with my home number. I have no risk if extra charges since it’s prepaid.)

 

[JeffjonesHfx]

If my wife and I are both using US T-Mobile sim cards with a US number, what is the best way to avoid charges for the people back in Canada we text, or that text us at the US number?

 

[Disney_Alli]

We used Telaway a number of times in the past for physical SIM cards. I’ve just checked and their website is still active. They were great on previous trips and as my husband still have an iPhone 8 Max that requires a physical SIM we’re thinking he might use them again on our next trip.

 

[deedubb]

Just back from DLR and headed to WDW in a few weeks, so I thought I would try a Mint Mobile e-sim which gives you a 3 month introductory price of $45 USD. It is owned by actor Ryan Reynolds. He apparently tried to bring it to Canada to give us reasonably priced phone plans but was unable to do so. At any rate, it worked really well at DLR.

It does ask for a US address when you sign up. I use crossborderpickups when I order from shopdisney so I used my crossborderpickups US address, but I think you can use any address since you don't receive any physical product. You could use someone you know who lives in the US. I paid via PayPal to avoid the issue of your address matching the credit card address.

 

[Fairytale2]

Great thread. I have a company phone line, but don't want to accidently over run data(still need to be able to receive phone calls). Appreciate this thread so much. Will look into Airalo. Seems like the ideal situation for us? I have an unlocked iphone so I can use a U.S. sim card if needed, but Won't be doing that with the option to just get data and keep the line running. You guys are all amazing, super grateful for this wealth of info.

 

[mort1331]

If my wife and I are both using US T-Mobile sim cards with a US number, what is the best way to avoid charges for the people back in Canada we text, or that text us at the US number?

We are here in Hawaii now with a T -mobile sim card..12day one off amazon...works great..we communicate with family and friens thru whats app..or fb messenger.

 

[JeffjonesHfx]

We are here in Hawaii now with a T -mobile sim card..12day one off amazon...works great..we communicate with family and friens thru whats app..or fb messenger.

Is it possible to receive and send texts using your CDN phone number while on wifi with the T-Mobile sim card in the phone? And by text, I mean iMessage (iphone to iphone). I wouldn't think this would incur any charges on either phone, but I might be wrong.

 

[lilsonicfan]

I am entirely new to eSims, but I am going to try it our this week. I just have a few points I need clarification on for the Airalo package I just purchased. I have an Iphone. We have not been out of the country in almost 3 years.

1. In the past, if I put my phone in "airplane mode", I would then enable wifi to connect when available, and still be able to get iMessages at no costs. Would regular texts and calls still come through? What would the charge be if I didn't answer the call? I get lots of telemarketing calls.

2. For Airalo, I don't enable "airplane mode", but instead change my Cellular Data to Airalo? Is this essentially like putting it in airplane mode? Will all my iMessages still come through? What happens with regular texts and incoming calls?

3. Where it says Cellular Plans under my settings, both my Personal and Airalo are on. Do I need to turn one of them off while in Canada? What about in the USA?

Thanks for your help!

1. I don't know the answer as to what will come through on airplane mode. However, I'm with Telus and the message I get when I arriev in the US is that incoming texts are free. Incoming calls are not, but I just wouldn't answer (unless it looked like an emergency.)

2. Correct, with Airalo you basically add on a secondary plan, which is the Airalo eSIM, and when you install it, your phone will ask you a number of questions - which plan do you want to use for imessage/facetime/calls (you would answer: your Primary line), which plan for data (that's the secondary Airalo line) . All imessages would still come through, it would use the data from the Airalo eSIM but would still be connected to your main line.

3. If you have bought the US-only eSIM then if it's on while you're in Canada there won't be much effect; however, you would have told your phone to use the data from the US eSIM which would not be possible while in Canada. Probably best to turn it off while you're at home. But while you're in the US, as long as you installed it properly, then you can leave thh Canadian line on.

If my wife and I are both using US T-Mobile sim cards with a US number, what is the best way to avoid charges for the people back in Canada we text, or that text us at the US number?

For me, it's either iMessage if people have iphones like me.... or a third party app like Whatsapp. Whatsapp is pretty much what I use for all group chats or chats with anyone who might not have an iphone. It uses data only and won't have the US to Canada texting cost issue.

 

[lilsonicfan]

Is it possible to receive and send texts using your CDN phone number while on wifi with the T-Mobile sim card in the phone? And by text, I mean iMessage (iphone to iphone). I wouldn't think this would incur any charges on either phone, but I might be wrong.

Yes - iMessage would work while using the data from the TMobile card, or while on wifi that is publicly or privately accessible. No charges. But anyone who doesn't have an iphone, that sort of text would send as SMS and if your primary SIM card wasn't in the phone, you wouldn't receive it. See above re: Whatsapp being an option.

 

[starvenger]

I just got back from San Diego/LA and would like to provide some insights into the Airalo eSim.

TL;DR version: it works, but you need to make sure your phone is compatible.

--------
Hardware: I have an iPhone 11. AFAIK, all iPhones 11 and higher have a regular SIM and an eSIM slot, so you should be good to go. My brother has an Android phone (can't remember the brand, but it's about 2 years old) and he did NOT have the slot. He ended up giving the Airalo eSIM to his wife (who has an iPhone) and bought a T-Mobile SIM to use instead.

eSIM: I got the 5GB/30 day package ($16 USD) since we were in the States for 9 days and I wasn't sure how much data everyone would use via hotspotting.

Setup: Airalo has some pretty good instructions on how to add the eSIM, so I won't repeat here. On the iPhone, you can label your phone plans, so I would recommend using names that are easy to pick out. Once you have the eSIM set up and topped up, you can, in theory, turn on the cellular plan as nothing will happen until you make it active for Cellular Data.

Speaking of which, make sure you have data roaming turned off for your regular carrier. That way, if you accidentally switch over, you won't get dinged for roaming.

Before I switched to Airplane mode on the flight, I turned my Cellular Data off. So basically no data for either SIM. When we landed at LAX, I switched out of Airplane mode, and set the Cellular Data to Airalo (with Data Roaming), while keeping the Voice Line with my usual carrier. It did take a few minutes to kick in, but once it did, I got connected to the T-Mobile network.

Usage: I will say that despite using my mobile all the time and hotspotting for the kids, we only burned through 1.5 GB. Still, better to pay the extra $5 and overestimate instead of getting throttled.

I used Waze to go everywhere with no issues. The kids looking up... whatever they were looking up via the hotspot had no issues as well. Similarly, my wife was able to easily retrieve her emails via the hotspot. There were some dead zones on the beach, and Catalina Island was very spotty (probably due to the high volume of cruisers that had a port day), but overall I think this was successful.

Phone: The phone, however, was hit and miss. I think that, because I was not in the "home" area of Canada, the calls were taking some time to get through. I did find that things were better using wifi calling and/or iMessage. so consider using your data to make calls.

Conclusion: I think this worked out great for us, and I'm going to try this again in a few weeks when I head down to Cleveland for a few days. Again, it's imperative that you ensure that you have one regular SIM slot and an eSIM slot. If you do, I think this is a great option to use.

 

[lilsonicfan]

Check here to see if your phone is compatible for an eSIM here: https://www.airalo.com/help/about-airalo/what-devices-support-esim