$20 per line. https://support.google.com/fi/answer/9462098?hl=en
No 5G yet. I use Verizon as my primary eSIM so I'm not missing anything. I only use Google Fi for international data.
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Carrier eSIM not great for international travel!
- Thread starter TurboJobo
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No 5G yet. I use Verizon as my primary eSIM so I'm not missing anything. I only use Google Fi for international data.
Google Fi for international data is the way to go. I don't think any other carriers in the US come close in that respect. I do use it as my primary provider, which means visual voice mail through the Google app only (good transcription, though) and no 5G yet. If those are deal breakers to you, then I'd pick a primary carrier and leave the Fi account as a secondary eSIM.
Fi implemented WiFi calling and data tethering while roaming for iPhones recently, so Google is still improving iPhone compatibility.
Fi implemented WiFi calling and data tethering while roaming for iPhones recently, so Google is still improving iPhone compatibility.
On the $20/line Flexible plan it’s $10 per GB which is more than T-Mobile’s International Passes…but I’d be saving $50 monthly on the line itself. Gotta do the math, Google Fi might be the answer because I spend more time outside of the US.
Yeah really depends on your data consumption habits. Fi isn’t great if you’re going to do more than 90 days consecutively abroad though.
If you use Fi just for international, you can also start/pause service as needed allowing you to keep your primary service and just pay for Fi when you need international data.
try 2...Check back with us in 5-10 years and see if any phone still uses a physical sim
well i'm an american that travels a neighbouring contry known as mexico and even the same company that works here (at&t) have issues with esim. Most of you might not know but at&t has been a mayor wireless carrier in mexico for a couple of years now competing with telcel and movistar the two largest cell providers in mexico.
I used to buy local SIM when I travelled overseas. But these days, I just buy a T-mobile pass which makes my phone as if I am in the US for data and calls. 1 day $5 and 10 days (5GB) $35 or 30 days (15 GB) $50. For Canada and US, my plan is same as US. Google Fi works out expensive for me on top of T-mobile local US plan.
AT&T has a similar international pass as well. If you are on an unlimited plan, you get unlimited talk, text and data while roaming for $10 a day. And it only charges you on the days you use it. This is in addition to the free talk/text/data in Canada and Mexico.
Your response is ignorant. I use local carriers , not as simple as as one may assumeCheck back with us in 5-10 years and see if any phone still uses a physical sim
You are just drinking that kool-aid hard huh? World wide, there are several factors against eSIM.Check back with us in 5-10 years and see if any phone still uses a physical sim
You’ll have a choice till the technology gets completely replaced. At some point a physical SIM card will be like a floppy disk. That’s how technology works is things change. At some point there won’t be a new phone available with a physical SIM. Of course I think this is probably at least five years down the road so nothing to worry about now.
An easy solution to this if you want an iPhone with a physical SIM is by one overseas. This should be relatively easy if you’re traveling all the time.
I’ve always been interested in Google Fi. Is the coverage good in the USA? Also, I’m guessing they don’t have support for data devices like iPads or Apple Watch?
Ah yes, just pounding that Kool-aid… if by kool-aid you mean observations of how technology and the cellular industry work, and observations of trends by carriers both domestic and foreign by someone who worked in said industry for the past 15 years… sure!
SIM cards are identifiers at this point, nothing more, nothing less. While the worldwide standard at this point on GSM networks is to use the SIM for that identifier, let’s not forget that two of the prior largest US based carriers were CDMA (Verizon and the former Sprint) based and did not really use SIM cards to identify their devices on their network until around 2011… and wasn’t until recently that most manufacturers either committed to or have already stopped producing CDMA radios for phones for use in phones on those networks, finally fully adopting GSM domestically.
Prior to GSM, let’s not forget there was TDMA which also did not use SIM cards, and instead used a devices ESN to identify to a network. The difference between now and then though is the advancement in automated technology that is now able to utilize web and application integration to allow eSim identifiers to be used to identify devices to networks not only almost instantaneously, but with consumer only input as opposed to needing to have a representative from the carrier involved.
T-mobile has a really cool way of testing this out with their Network Pass available through their app. Have an e-sim enabled phone? You can have a phone number with talk/text/data available on your device in the matter of minutes, no physical sim involved. Once the majority, and eventually all of carriers implement their own automated systems, physical sims will most likely be a thing of the past, and it’s not unreasonable to see that happen within 5-10 years, especially when you have companies getting pressure to do so by one of the largest handset manufacturers who are is longer producing phones with eSim in one of the largest mobile markets worldwide.
But yeah, let’s just attempt to hurl insults without any reasonable argument to back them up. I’m cool w/ it.
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The deal with it is that eSIM doesn’t work when you want to have a more cost effective option because most low cost carriers don’t have eSIM.
If you don’t care about paying a yearly price for a month or week of data usage then eSIM works for you. If you need a local phone number and data and a much more competitive option then you are out of luck.
This is without factoring all other issues in regard to connecting and downloading an eSIM, etc.
If you don’t care about paying a yearly price for a month or week of data usage then eSIM works for you. If you need a local phone number and data and a much more competitive option then you are out of luck.
This is without factoring all other issues in regard to connecting and downloading an eSIM, etc.
For one, I know the history on GSM, no need for a badly done rehash. Second, the world has regulations outside of US regulations. You can't just wish for eSIM everywhere cause Apple wants so.
Haha, nobody said anybody is wishing for anything… however all signs point to the fact that the worldwide cellular industry will eventually be free from physical sim. I think we’ll see this happen within the next decade. Again, not unreasonable to think.
Again, you are believing that just cause Apple is feeding it to you. Carriers have no incentive at the moment to move to eSIM.
Go to LATAM, not many carriers (if any) are embracing it even with eSIM having been out for years now. There is just no difference and hence no true incentive to do so.
Lol, who are you to tell me not only what I believe, but why I believe it?
I just got back from 10 days in Ireland and the UK. I used the Airalo app as soon as we landed in Dublin and the esim installed without issue. Travelled extensively by train and bus including up to Belfast. Perfectly good speed and no drops in coverage. Will recommend it to all my traveling friends.
you still have a choice. Most older folks went the majority of their lives without a mobile phone.
I dropped tv a long time ago, and dropped my ISP a couple years back because they were complete dicks. it's too bad I can't convince others to do the same, but either way, my family and I have been happier and better-off since.
the real world is a much better place to live when people aren't controlled by chasing this junk.
I am scratching my head with one thing. When you want Apple or 3rd party to fix your phone, you need another working phone to swap SIM card with. With e-sim you will need to go to your carrier, ask to move SIM card to temporary phone, when main get fixed you have to ask once again or they can give you temporary e-sim which will be disabled when you log into main phone?
For the past 11 years, I traveled all over the world for work averaging 250,000 butt in seat air miles per year. In all that time, I never once used a physical sim purchased locally. I did however use a combination of physical sims (Google FI & T-Mobile) in the early days, and more recently (since iPhone XS) eSims.
I can unequivocally say that the eSim performance and sim performance are exactly the same. If you had issues in Mexico, it wasn't due to eSim technology... rather a carrier issue (your carrier or roaming partners).
With the advent of apps like airalo, international travel has become easier and cheaper! Just got back from a trip to Germany and Italy where I used 2 different eSims from Airalo, and they worked brilliantly. Cheaper than US carrier rates (AT&T, FI, T-Mobile etc) and less latency due to not routing all traffic back to the USA. Not only that, but I didn't have to worry about getting nastygrams from my US carrier about excessive roaming.
Frankly the only time I might be tempted to get a local sim is if for some reason I need a local phone number. However now that nobody under 30 makes phone calls, and everyone over 30 makes them via Whatsapp, Wechat, Telegram, Line, Signal etc... there is no more need for a local# for short-term travel.
eSim is the future, and for anyone who isn't a long-term traveler (>1 month) , there is zero reason to keep the physical sim tray.