Ulysse Mobile - £45 for unlimited data + calls in USA 7 days

notken

Has anyone any experience of https://www.ulyssemobile.com ?

I'm heading to Vegas next month, and the peace of mind of unlimited data, unlimited calls and (to US-only) SMS seems a pretty good deal at £45 for 7 days. You get a London number for friends and family to contact you, and a US number for while you're there.

I know it's not a tiny amount of money, but it would do me knowing that I'm always online and can receive and make calls without worrying about the cost. Problem is I'm a bit wary because I can't find any reviews!

Looks like they use T-Mobile and AT&T so decent networks too (full coverage in Vegas).

Thanks!

sdduk

Golden rule of any company is to check they have a physical address.There is only a phone contact for this company.
Also remember that the company T&Cs sate they are subject to the state laws of Florida so if anything goes wrong it is going to be very tricky to get redress.
I have no idea if they are good or not but personally I would not part with my money.

notken

Thanks for your feedback and concerns. It's an interesting viewpoint.

I know it's not very "MSE" but the money worries me less than the quality of the service. No one likes wasting money, but I'm more concerned about relying on it and it not being up to the job.

So more than anything I'm hoping there's someone out there that has used them and can, hopefully, say it's worth having!

nathou75

hi, I came back two weeks ago from the States. I was told about Ulysse mobile by a friend of mine who tested their offer and he told me it worked well. I decided to test it too as I had a very bad surprise last year when I came back from my holidays in Greece ( I actually cried when I saw my phone bill...)

I was a little bit worried at first but it worked perfectely well and I had exactly what I paid for.. I took the one week unlimited data and calls, and I renewed it when it expired directly from their website when I was still in the US

Before my departure they provided me with a Sim card with two numbers, an american one and an English one
I could unlimitedly call and get called in the US, call and get called from England, send sms in the US and I had unlimited internet on my mobile
45£, no extra costs...

notken

Sorry to be so demanding, but can anyone else verify what nathou75 is saying? Please forgive me, nathou75, if you are genuine, but I'm naturally suspicious of a newly registered user with their only post saying that a company or service is brilliant when I can't find *anyone* else who has used Ulysse. I'm beginning to suspect that it is too good to be true.

Neil49

Personally I would find a free wifi hotspot and make Skype to Skype (or similar) calls for free.

If anyone wants to talk to you they can just send a text message from the UK to your UK number for free and you call them back. You can also surf the web for free, probably at an acceptable speed depending on location.

Forget about your phone and enjoy your time out there. I've just saved you £45 that you can lose on the slot machines.

Have a nice day.

notken

Yep, I think you're right. Find some wifi and put up with emergency roaming charges on the phone. No traveller ever seems to have anything good to say about their experiences with data on US PAYG SIMs.

reclusive46

I had no issue with red pocket. For 60 USD I got unlimtied calls, texts and 2Gb of data while over there. Worked great on my iPhone 4S and 3G data speeds were great. Seemed similar to what friend who lives over there gets on normal AT&T

notken

Looks like an option. There's not much info on their Web site, though. Do they post the SIM to the UK, and do you need to pay the extra $20 for the SIM (which seems a bit steep) on top of that $60?

mcarbl

Hi. Often a lurker on this board (regularly visited for advice & tips!), I decided to register to give some feedback on my recent Ulysee experience, as I came across this thread when scouring the web for some advice before I went to America this month.

I wanted to be able to use my iPhone in America, exclusively for its data really. I didn't want to be stung by a big bill and data black-out from O2 after 12 hours of being in America! I was on a 'do it yourself' tour and, really, wanted access to Google search & the maps/directions function.

I bought the two week unlimited package for £76. Basically this is my experience:

1. After paying with PayPal, I got an email from Ulysee with a PDF instruction booklet. In this booklet, they explained that they rent out a number on T-Mobile's "Simple" Network. This gave me some reassurance that it was legitimate as it was a network I was familiar with.
   
2. No mobile was given to me at this point. I was worried that I had wasted £76.
   
3. A week later, a SIM card arrived in the post. It was in a hand-addressed envelope, which had been posted from a French address. At this point, I was convinced I had been conned. The letter with the SIM card explained that, if people wanted to phone me, they should ring an 020 (London) landline number, which would be patched through to my American mobile number - the ringer would only be charged local rate for this. I was told that my America mobile number would be emailed to me on the date of departure.
   
4. 24hrs before I was due to leave, I received the email with my America number in.
   
5. Upon arrival in America, I put the micro sim into my iPhone 4, and it worked straight away. Calls & texts were no problem (though I needed to register the new number with iMessage; but this is not compulsory.) I called people, they called me...a bit of a delay on the line, but that's normal with trans-atlantic calls.

So all was good. There were, however, two down sides to the Ulysee service; neither of which were mentioned until after I had subscribed:

01. The data connection was Edge only. No 3G. This was annoying; had I have known this, I probably would not have forked out the £76. Having said that, Edge in the major cities (such as LA) was as fast as 3G in the UK!! Edge in Vegas was not very good!

02. The numbers are obviously rented out from T-mobile; I had a couple of text messages off people who knew whoever rented the number out before me. This wasn't a problem though, as both of the mystery senders, turned out to be local residents who didn't mind pointing out which bars & shows to hit!!!! Quite friendly really lol.

48hrs before you leave, you get another email, asking if you want to extend your rental, but I didn't, as I was coming home.



So, anyone thinking of doing this - if you just want to use the phone part of your mobile....go for it! If you want Internet, be warned that you may be stuck with Edge, like I was. But you get used to it and there were only a couple of places 'out in the sticks' where it didn't work. You'll be ok in major cities.



I hope this review helps someone in the future

carol1979

I just came back from the US, and bought a Ulysse Mobile sim before my departure. I was also worried as i always am when i buy something over the internet. Anyhow, i got my card a week later, my US phone number was sent to me on day prior to my departure. And it all worked well. I was also on 3G most of the time, but i guess that depends on where you are or maybe just the phone you are using. Hope this helps! Enjoy the USA