European sim card / data plans for boat wifi

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DreJen

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After some good conversations on my last thread on wifi setups (routers and antennas), I'm now wondering if anyone has had much experience with the European e-Sim plans that work throughout all of Europe for the boat wifi?

I've taken a look at Maya Mobile, Holafly, Airalo, Roamless, Nomad and esimeuro.

All seem relatively similar although the only ones that seem to allow unlimited tethering are Maya Mobile, Roamless and esimeuro. They all however seem to be limited to 30 day options and are not the most reasonably priced.

Wondering if anyone has any experience with these and if anyone has any recommendations?

I technically don't require coverage in all of Europe but will be travelling to a few different countries this summer and it seems like a cleaner option than buying local sims for the router every time and easy online top-ups.

Thanks!
 
there are many data resellers, and when you google, you mostly get resellers that you have never heard of, and the plans vary widely.

Most devices today use e-sims

if you look at the reviews of the resellers, and focus on the negative ones, you will find that nearly all of them have to do with problems activating the esim on the device, and inability to get help from the seller.

So, I decided to buy one from Orange, figuring the support might be better.

I was not buying all of Europe, but they have those plans too.

I bought it online, and the "automatic" activation (using a QR code) didn't work, but manual activation did work. They provided the instructions, and I just followed them.

I figured that if I couldn't get it to work, I could always go into a retail store, and someone there would get it to work.
 
westernman said:
30 days sim card for free in France is 20 euros and includes 350GB in France and 35GB in 110 other destinations including all of Europe.

35GB is not enough to stream a film everyday though, but plenty for emails, web browsing etc.

Forfait Free sans engagement pour vos vacances en Europe
Click to expand...
Isn’t another limitation with Free that one needs to go to a Free boutique or kiosk to renew, each month, or have I misunderstood that? I asked in two Boutiques while in France recently, but emerged none the wiser.
 
Laser310 said:
there are many data resellers, and when you google, you mostly get resellers that you have never heard of, and the plans vary widely.

Most devices today use e-sims

if you look at the reviews of the resellers, and focus on the negative ones, you will find that nearly all of them have to do with problems activating the esim on the device, and inability to get help from the seller.

So, I decided to buy one from Orange, figuring the support might be better.

I was not buying all of Europe, but they have those plans too.

I bought it online, and the "automatic" activation (using a QR code) didn't work, but manual activation did work. They provided the instructions, and I just followed them.

I figured that if I couldn't get it to work, I could always go into a retail store, and someone there would get it to work.
Click to expand...
Thanks for this. Just spoke to Orange on live chat who unfortunately informed me that their e-sims can only be used in routers in France. Would've definitely gone with Orange if this wasn't the case.
 
stranded said:
Isn’t another limitation with Free that one needs to go to a Free boutique or kiosk to renew, each month, or have I misunderstood that? I asked in two Boutiques while in France recently, but emerged none the wiser.
Click to expand...
It looks like you can order it on line, but it seems that the address has to be in France. Sorry.....
 
Sticky Fingers said:
I though that all normal data-on;y SIM plans include EU roaming as standard included in the monthly subs?
Click to expand...

Alternatively if anyone knows of any good data plans/sims in Italy that have EU roaming included that can be used in a 5g router then that would also be helpful!
 
Sticky Fingers said:
I though that all normal data-on;y SIM plans include EU roaming as standard included in the monthly subs?
Click to expand...
Certainly the data only sim in my router includes EU roaming, I think by law they have to include all of the EU for roaming, my sim is from Telenet as that is my service provider for GSM and internet.

Telenet is expensive for what you get, there are cheaper options out there, this data sim was included in the home/mobile package I have with a 1GB connection at home, not top tier here but fast enough for surfing and multiple users streaming videos at the same time
 
Alicatt said:
Certainly the data only sim in my router includes EU roaming, I think by law they have to include all of the EU for roaming, my sim is from Telenet as that is my service provider for GSM and internet.

Telenet is expensive for what you get, there are cheaper options out there, this data sim was included in the home/mobile package I have with a 1GB connection at home, not top tier here but fast enough for surfing and multiple users streaming videos at the same time
Click to expand...
A lot of the EU sims have limited data, and even more limited data when roaming.
Watch out that you do not exceed those limits as the charges above the limit can be eye watering.

A roaming Starlink might be worth considering.
72 euros/month unlimited data, or 40 euros/month with 50GB. It will cut off on reaching the limit unless you order more.

Starlink

We use Starlink at home as we have no fibre connection. It works well. We use it for streaming TV, Amazon Prime, etc and consume about 400GB data/month.
 
westernman said:
A lot of the EU sims have limited data, and even more limited data when roaming.
Watch out that you do not exceed those limits as the charges above the limit can be eye watering.
Click to expand...
Especially when you hop back across to the UK, it's why I have a nano sim for Telenet and an esim from EE in my phone and switch priority as needed. The EE sim is more limited than the Telenet one mind you, they are both pay monthly but I constantly have to watch how much I use the EE sim.
 
Sticky Fingers said:
I though that all normal data-on;y SIM plans include EU roaming as standard included in the monthly subs?
Click to expand...

All SIM's here in Latvia give EU coverage and you choose the GB allowance for data .. its literally dirt cheap ! No need for the 'go-anywhere' SIM deals as before.
Only time I look at another SIM is when I travel outside of EU.

I believe some Providers have similar deal UK - EU ...
 
Refueler said:
All SIM's here in Latvia give EU coverage and you choose the GB allowance for data .. its literally dirt cheap ! No need for the 'go-anywhere' SIM deals as before.
Only time I look at another SIM is when I travel outside of EU.

I believe some Providers have similar deal UK - EU ...
Click to expand...
As I have business interests in the UK I have the UK data/call allowance on my Telenet account costs €4 extra per month.
While it is changing where we live, Telenet is/was the only internet supplier for wired/fibre connection, other parts of the town have other options, we were on the edge of the town when we bought the house now the street is just about full.
 
In Spain, we all use the Lobster (lobster.es). PAYGO. Their cheapest plan is 10 euros a month for 100Gb but best not to think of it like that because you can freeze it whilst you are away. If you use all your data up in a month, you simply buy another month from that date. When you freeze it (they call it parking), you have a whole year to keep it parked. When you need it again, you simply unpark it and carry on with the unused data / days that were left when you parked it. As a result, it can be a very cheap package for boaters. It can be used to roam out of Spain but I don't think it is as good as when used in Spain. I use mine 24/7 but I also have a spare fitted in a spare router. Great service with English speaking help desk. Designed for British Ex Pats.
 
The differentiator is how much data do you need when outside the country you buy the sim in?
If you want to stream movies you need a lot - we get through 400GB a month for that. Then you probably need a sim per country or you need to think about going Starlink or similar.

If it is just for email, weather forecasts and reading this forum, then most European sim cards will give you enough roaming data for that.
 
stranded said:
Isn’t another limitation with Free that one needs to go to a Free boutique or kiosk to renew, each month, or have I misunderstood that? I asked in two Boutiques while in France recently, but emerged none the wiser.
Click to expand...
I use Free and once you have your sim from the kiosk you can log into the Free site and set up a direct debit. Once active you also have the ability to downgrade to a 1 euro tariff temporarily if you're not using it. In the past, when the
data allowance was only 100gb I'd just buy another sim and discard at the end of the month.
 
westernman said:
A lot of the EU sims have limited data, and even more limited data when roaming.
Watch out that you do not exceed those limits as the charges above the limit can be eye watering.

A roaming Starlink might be worth considering.
72 euros/month unlimited data, or 40 euros/month with 50GB. It will cut off on reaching the limit unless you order more.

Starlink

We use Starlink at home as we have no fibre connection. It works well. We use it for streaming TV, Amazon Prime, etc and consume about 400GB data/month.
Click to expand...
No good if the OP is in the SE UK - Starlink is at capacity and not accepting new contracts.

Last time I was in France, I got a 350 GB deal for about 20 euros - but beware other EU countries have stricter SIM registration rules.

(And if people are really getting data deals in Gb, then they're being ripped off)
 
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