Sim/Cell Cards

[isabellea]

Airalo works fine in Orlando. I have used for multiple trips since Jan 2020.

I have Public Mobile, so I can add just a phone plan for $8/10 days while the US , so if I need calling, I add that and use in correlation with Airalo. You can set one SIM for Voice Calling, other for Data.

With PM I am still able to receive SMS messages for no cost. So for example when you check in for ADR, I can still provide my Canada number and I get the text message.

So incoming texts do not activate roam like home? I am with Telus and I don't want to have to pay the fee just because someone sent me a text.

 

[lilsonicfan]

Thanks for the info! Can we tether other phones for the data using Airalo?

Yes you can tether, but you do have to make sure that your personal hotspot name is the same as the APN for the eSIM!

So incoming texts do not activate roam like home? I am with Telus and I don't want to have to pay the fee just because someone sent me a text.

I have Telus and have signed up for Easy Roam (side note: I was previously with Rogers, switched during Covid. With Rogers, you were automatically signed up for Roam Like Home, so I didn't realize that with Telus you had to actually opt in - how stupid). This weekend in the US I got a text from Telus that said "you'll only be charged $12 on days you access your canadian plan's data, or make a call or text in the US. All incoming texts are free."

 

[CanucksRock]

What previous poster said, typically incoming texts are free, as you cannot control who will send you a text. I have had no issue receiving texts for things like TP Res Finder. ADRs, apps that need for MFA.

Also used as hot spot with no issues. My cousin did this often on trip in January because his GF had older phone so could not get eSIM.

 

[isabellea]

Yes you can tether, but you do have to make sure that your personal hotspot name is the same as the APN for the eSIM!



I have Telus and have signed up for Easy Roam (side note: I was previously with Rogers, switched during Covid. With Rogers, you were automatically signed up for Roam Like Home, so I didn't realize that with Telus you had to actually opt in - how stupid). This weekend in the US I got a text from Telus that said "you'll only be charged $12 on days you access your canadian plan's data, or make a call or text in the US. All incoming texts are free."

Awesome for both answers! It's a good thing we are not going to the USA before July because I really need to carefully consider my options.

From reading online on Airalo, it looks like Waze+Apple CarPlay doesn't work with Airalo due to an IP address in Hong Kong?!?! Unfortunately, that is a deal breaker for us if true as we are driving south from Montreal with stops in Charleston and Amelia Island before WDW.

I'm also looking into US Mobile. Anyone with experience with them?

 

[pigletto]

Airalo works fine in Orlando. I have used for multiple trips since Jan 2020.

I have Public Mobile, so I can add just a phone plan for $8/10 days while the US , so if I need calling, I add that and use in correlation with Airalo. You can set one SIM for Voice Calling, other for Data.

With PM I am still able to receive SMS messages for no cost. So for example when you check in for ADR, I can still provide my Canada number and I get the text message.

I have PM too. So you just add the talk plan for $8 and still get your SMS messages? I was thinking I would have to add the Talk and Text plan. That’s great !
Thanks for confirming airalo works well in Orlando. I was thinking it would. I didn’t have any problems with it in town this weekend but a lot of the drive was rural so nothing would have worked well.

 

[CanucksRock]

I have PM too. So you just add the talk plan for $8 and still get your SMS messages? I was thinking I would have to add the Talk and Text plan. That’s great !
Thanks for confirming airalo works well in Orlando. I was thinking it would. I didn’t have any problems with it in town this weekend but a lot of the drive was rural so nothing would have worked well.

You doing need any plan to receive SMS messages. I just leave PM as the Default Voice Line and receive SMS with no problem. I add the Talk plan if I have a need to place/receive phone calls. (Normally I don’t, so I just add if needed) …I have an iPhone so most text messaging is via iMessage. Which works just fine with Airalo. (Any Android users I text with, I use messenger)

 

[lilsonicfan]

Awesome for both answers! It's a good thing we are not going to the USA before July because I really need to carefully consider my options.

From reading online on Airalo, it looks like Waze+Apple CarPlay doesn't work with Airalo due to an IP address in Hong Kong?!?! Unfortunately, that is a deal breaker for us if true as we are driving south from Montreal with stops in Charleston and Amelia Island before WDW.

I'm also looking into US Mobile. Anyone with experience with them?

I have never used Waze, and our rental car didn’t have CarPlay or maybe we just didn’t use it, I tend to use google maps or the Apple maps option.

My Airalo US eSIM was from “Webbing”, and there were no issues with an IP address being located anywhere else!

 

[starvenger]

From reading online on Airalo, it looks like Waze+Apple CarPlay doesn't work with Airalo due to an IP address in Hong Kong?!?! Unfortunately, that is a deal breaker for us if true as we are driving south from Montreal with stops in Charleston and Amelia Island before WDW.

This report sounds dubious, as SIM cards do not have an IP address, and are assigned an IP by the local data provider.

So the only way you could have a HK IP address is if you have a VPN on your phone that can spoof an IP, or you are in HK.

 

[MTH]

I just bought a Keepgo data only eSim. There were multiple packages available - I bought 5 gigs of data that I can use in the US and Europe. What I liked about it is that the data does not expire after a certain period. As long as I add data to it once a year ($3) then the data is available to me forever. Will be trying it out next week!

 

[lilsonicfan]

I just bought a Keepgo data only eSim. There were multiple packages available - I bought 5 gigs of data that I can use in the US and Europe. What I liked about it is that the data does not expire after a certain period. As long as I add data to it once a year ($3) then the data is available to me forever. Will be trying it out next week!

Sweet, I'll look into this one too. Look forward to your report after using it!

 

[MTH]

For those who may still be following this thread - recently back from a couple weeks at WDW. The Keepgo eSIM worked amazingly well. I just turned off the roaming on my primary plan (which is with Telus), did not allowing plan "switching" and see the cell data to the Keepgo data plan. No issues at all. Plus I could still received and make phone calls on my primary number with wifi-calling enabled. Will definitely use this product again!

 

[isabellea]

For those who may still be following this thread - recently back from a couple weeks at WDW. The Keepgo eSIM worked amazingly well. I just turned off the roaming on my primary plan (which is with Telus), did not allowing plan "switching" and see the cell data to the Keepgo data plan. No issues at all. Plus I could still received and make phone calls on my primary number with wifi-calling enabled. Will definitely use this product again!

Was the data LTE or 5G (if your phone is 5G-enabled)? Where did you get your eSIM?

 

[MTH]

Was the data LTE or 5G (if your phone is 5G-enabled)? Where did you get your eSIM?

The company is called keepgo - I bought directly on their website. There are multiple eSIMs to choose from. I chose one called Orion, which works in US and Europe. According to their website data is 3G or LTE.

 

[mullysisters]

I have an older Andriod phone. The network we use is 2.4G. We are out 8n the country. I don't believe we can access 5G. We are going to Alaska on a cruise and need to call home from Skagway, Juneau and Ketchikan. We don't need to use our phones on the ship. We were told by Roger's we would not be able to use our phones in the US after July 1st? Can anyone comment on this and how can we make phone calls while on vacation? Thanks

 

[starvenger]

I ended up buying an airalo esim for my trip to SoCal in July. Will report back.

 

[EddieValiant]

Awesome for both answers! It's a good thing we are not going to the USA before July because I really need to carefully consider my options.

From reading online on Airalo, it looks like Waze+Apple CarPlay doesn't work with Airalo due to an IP address in Hong Kong?!?! Unfortunately, that is a deal breaker for us if true as we are driving south from Montreal with stops in Charleston and Amelia Island before WDW.

I'm also looking into US Mobile. Anyone with experience with them?

You're an IPhone user with eSim right? I think you can activate at&t prepaid on eSIM https://www.att.com/prepaid/activations/#/activate.html without needing to go into a store. (I'm not an Iphone user). If you can't activate yourself, there's an AT&T store right off 87 in Plattsburgh. Prepaid is $30 for 5 GB, $40 for 15 GB.

 

[EddieValiant]

I have an older Andriod phone. The network we use is 2.4G. We are out 8n the country. I don't believe we can access 5G. We are going to Alaska on a cruise and need to call home from Skagway, Juneau and Ketchikan. We don't need to use our phones on the ship. We were told by Roger's we would not be able to use our phones in the US after July 1st? Can anyone comment on this and how can we make phone calls while on vacation? Thanks

You need to get phones that support voice over LTE. AT&T got rid of 3G already and TMobile gets rid of it on July 1st. Avoid buying from Rogers. Get an unlocked phone from a store like Best Buy, or direct from the phone manufacturer.

 

[mullysisters]

Sorry, clueless. After we buy the voice over lte, unlocked what kind of SIM card do we need. An American one off of Amazon for instance. Thanks.

 

[EddieValiant]

Sorry, clueless. After we buy the voice over lte, unlocked what kind of SIM card do we need. An American one off of Amazon for instance. Thanks.

Once you get compatible phone(s), you can either just roam on Rogers or get an American sim card off Amazon. Be careful with buying anything on Amazon that use T-Mobile, T-Mobile does not have native service in Alaska! Check coverage maps carefully. Ideally, get a sim that works on AT&T.

 

[mullysisters]

Thank you!