Google Fi covers more countries, now supports iPhones, with eSIM in the works, and is cheaper. I hope Apple follows Googles lead and offers an Apple plan that is unlimited world wide one day!
It doesn't support eSIM. It's only cheaper if you make it your primary carrier - If you want to use 5GB of data (like GigSky) then you're paying 70 bucks on Google Fi. Yes, you can use it just like the plan back home for calling and data, where GigSky is data-only, but GoogleFi is not yet coming close to the convenience that an eSIM provides for travel.
Excellent article by the way @vmarks . Informative post from @hill60 too
Man, what a great set of weasel words, 'designed' vs 'compatible'. Thanks for linking to this.
I could understand the iPhone not having full Fi support for things like fast switching between TMO and Sprint's towers, especially when Apple sells two separate models for those carriers (modem frequencies are what they are.) But eSIM is a standard. New, but standard. If GigSky can enable it with their iOS app, Google can probably afford to, too.
I have an Australian SIM, if I go to the states it'll cost $A5 a day added to my bill for that I get full access to my 54GB of data, unlimited calls and text.
Don't have to do anything just switch phone back on when I get off the plane, in any of these countries..
Thank you, useful to know. It's a bit odd this Australian carrier lists the four constituent parts of the United Kingdom, rather than just making one entry for the United Kingdom. My British carrier is similar to this Australian carrier, in that it offers inclusive voice, text and data roaming in the countries listed above. I'm somewhat surprised there's little mention of US cellular carriers offering similar plans, which would otherwise render the SIM offered by GigSky obsolete.
T-Mobile US prides themselves on international roaming. Google Fi (which is a TMO and Sprint MVNO) similarly prides themselves on international roaming. Verizon charges an additional 10/day for it. I think ATT used to charge me an additional 20/day when I had their service.
Another difficulty is, there's a lot of good in having a local number in the destination country - it makes it convenient for things that aren't even phone call related: apps to pay for parking in a city, apps to hail a taxicab, apps to rent a bicycle all have required an in-country number to set up.
I've used truPhone in Europe and it was awesome. Easy to set up before leaving, LTE connection and inexpensive.
For anyone shopping around, a good site to check is https://esimdb.com/. Select your country and it'll list out most of the available eSIM options for you.
This is an awesome link - but what it shows to me is that it's still cheaper to have a local sim in some cases (never mind the aggravation of getting the sim, getting the top up, etc.)
For example, the last time I was international, I paid 8 USD for 50 GB on a local sim (the sim itself cost 16 dollars). I was still cheaper than GigSky's and cheaper than the Verizon 10/day additional for my unlimited home data plan.
I've used truPhone in Europe and it was awesome. Easy to set up before leaving, LTE connection and inexpensive.
For anyone shopping around, a good site to check is https://esimdb.com/. Select your country and it'll list out most of the available eSIM options for you.
This is an awesome link - but what it shows to me is that it's still cheaper to have a local sim in some cases (never mind the aggravation of getting the sim, getting the top up, etc.)
For example, the last time I was international, I paid 8 USD for 50 GB on a local sim (the sim itself cost 16 dollars). I was still cheaper than GigSky's and cheaper than the Verizon 10/day additional for my unlimited home data plan.
Can definitely be cheaper to go with a local SIM. That's what I've done in the past, but it's always either meant arranging to receive a SIM well before travel or picking one up in country. I've done both and this was so much smoother of an experience I am definitely going to be looking at eSIM as a option for all future travel.
Google Fi covers more countries, now supports iPhones, with eSIM in the works, and is cheaper. I hope Apple follows Googles lead and offers an Apple plan that is unlimited world wide one day!
It doesn't support eSIM. It's only cheaper if you make it your primary carrier - If you want to use 5GB of data (like GigSky) then you're paying 70 bucks on Google Fi. Yes, you can use it just like the plan back home for calling and data, where GigSky is data-only, but GoogleFi is not yet coming close to the convenience that an eSIM provides for travel.
Excellent article by the way @vmarks . Informative post from @hill60 too
Man, what a great set of weasel words, 'designed' vs 'compatible'. Thanks for linking to this.
I could understand the iPhone not having full Fi support for things like fast switching between TMO and Sprint's towers, especially when Apple sells two separate models for those carriers (modem frequencies are what they are.) But eSIM is a standard. New, but standard. If GigSky can enable it with their iOS app, Google can probably afford to, too.
You're very welcome. I've no idea why there's a difference between "designed for" and "compatible with". The blog I linked even mentions them working with OEM's to make other company's smartphones "designed for" so apparently there's something technical involved.
Google Fi covers more countries, now supports iPhones, with eSIM in the works, and is cheaper. I hope Apple follows Googles lead and offers an Apple plan that is unlimited world wide one day!
It doesn't support eSIM. It's only cheaper if you make it your primary carrier - If you want to use 5GB of data (like GigSky) then you're paying 70 bucks on Google Fi. Yes, you can use it just like the plan back home for calling and data, where GigSky is data-only, but GoogleFi is not yet coming close to the convenience that an eSIM provides for travel.
Excellent article by the way @vmarks . Informative post from @hill60 too
Man, what a great set of weasel words, 'designed' vs 'compatible'. Thanks for linking to this.
I could understand the iPhone not having full Fi support for things like fast switching between TMO and Sprint's towers, especially when Apple sells two separate models for those carriers (modem frequencies are what they are.) But eSIM is a standard. New, but standard. If GigSky can enable it with their iOS app, Google can probably afford to, too.
You're very welcome. I've no idea why there's a difference between "designed for" and "compatible with". The blog I linked even mentions them working with OEM's to make other company's smartphones "designed for" so apparently there's something technical involved.
Having the right radios and radio firmware to allow them to handoff cell signal from GSM to CDMA towers and back is one detail that makes some Android phones more suitable than others for them. And that's true for iPhone, where GSM TMO and ATT models are separate from CDMA and rest of world GSM (Verizon, Sprint phones).
That's the technical part. Only implementing eSIM in the Android app is a choice, not a technical limitation.
I have an Australian SIM, if I go to the states it'll cost $A5 a day added to my bill for that I get full access to my 54GB of data, unlimited calls and text.
Don't have to do anything just switch phone back on when I get off the plane, in any of these countries..
Thank you, useful to know. It's a bit odd this Australian carrier lists the four constituent parts of the United Kingdom, rather than just making one entry for the United Kingdom. My British carrier is similar to this Australian carrier, in that it offers inclusive voice, text and data roaming in the countries listed above. I'm somewhat surprised there's little mention of US cellular carriers offering similar plans, which would otherwise render the SIM offered by GigSky obsolete.
They did that to clear up confusion, Ireland has seperate carriers.
I've used truPhone in Europe and it was awesome. Easy to set up before leaving, LTE connection and inexpensive.
I used GigSky and it worked really easily for my US trip. Just download the app, buy a plan, and activate.
I'm just setting my sister-in-law up with Ubigi for a Europe trip. It seems to be a bit harder - need to literally purchase the eSim via web, download a QR Code, download the app, then scan that into the app to setup and activate the eSim. Then buy a plan.
Try the MyTruphone App. Very similar to Gigsky but easier to use and cheaper. USA Plus plan works across 4 continents (including Europe) at lower rates then the local Gigsky US plan
Comments
Man, what a great set of weasel words, 'designed' vs 'compatible'. Thanks for linking to this.
I could understand the iPhone not having full Fi support for things like fast switching between TMO and Sprint's towers, especially when Apple sells two separate models for those carriers (modem frequencies are what they are.) But eSIM is a standard. New, but standard. If GigSky can enable it with their iOS app, Google can probably afford to, too.
T-Mobile US prides themselves on international roaming.
Google Fi (which is a TMO and Sprint MVNO) similarly prides themselves on international roaming.
Verizon charges an additional 10/day for it. I think ATT used to charge me an additional 20/day when I had their service.
Another difficulty is, there's a lot of good in having a local number in the destination country - it makes it convenient for things that aren't even phone call related: apps to pay for parking in a city, apps to hail a taxicab, apps to rent a bicycle all have required an in-country number to set up.
For example, the last time I was international, I paid 8 USD for 50 GB on a local sim (the sim itself cost 16 dollars). I was still cheaper than GigSky's and cheaper than the Verizon 10/day additional for my unlimited home data plan.
That's the technical part. Only implementing eSIM in the Android app is a choice, not a technical limitation.
What's TruPhone like?