EuropaSim feedback

Former_MSE_Becca

This thread is specifically to discuss feedback for

EuropaSim (Link)

If you've used EuropaSim abroad, we'd love to know how it was for you, so we can improve the guide. Click reply to leave your feedback.


To read about data roaming in general, read the main
Data Roaming guide.

Thanks for your help,
MSE Becca

phatchoonz1

I recently purchased a data sim from Europa Sim for use whilst I was away in Holland. I was driving there from the UK, through France, Belgium and into Holland.

To purchase the sim you make a one off payment of €39 (via paypal), you will be required to send a scan of your passport as proof of ID by email after the purchase.

Once this was done the sim was organised quickly, activated (at which point I was emailed the allocated phone number), and shipped out to me using registered post.
The Sim was delivered approximately 5 days after placing the order.

All dealings were with EuropaSIM, which appears to be a branch of a German based company called saveonroaming, but all emails were sent in English to me, and they kept very good contact throughout the transaction.

The sim itself is a vodafone sim, based on the Italian vodafone network.
All top ups are done online through the Europasim website, again via paypal.
It appears that the top ups are done manually by europa sim staff, and don't take place immediately - although mine was done the same day.
There is a charge of €3.90 added to each top up (regardless of the amount topped up).
You can check your remaining balance by sending a blank SMS from the sim to 404.

There are a couple of options of access point addresses they suggest using depending on the amount of data required.
There is a €2 / day option giving 100MB, and a €6 / day option giving 150MB.
Being an Italian sim there is also another option for use only within Italy giving even more data with €2 / day giving 500MB.

I used the €2 / day for 100MB, with the sim fitted in a MIFI unit with multiple devices tethered wirelessly, each days data allowance can be used across multiple countries within one day if necessary whilst travelling.

It's important to use a dongle / mifi unit that keeps a log of total data used for the day, and to reset the counter at the start/end of each day so you know where you are with it.

In summary, I felt the upfront cost is quite expensive, but once set up it is a very good service for heavy data users. I would definitely recommend it to others, and shall certainly be taking the sim with me next time i'm away in Europe!

Braindead

Hi

I received my EuropaSIM today and can confirm pretty much all the previous poster has stated.

A few extra points to note:

If it did have 5 Euro on it to start with then it certainly didn't by the time I sent a text to 404 to check. The supplier says it's likely to be that I didn't set the APN to mobile.vodafone.it on my MyFi before hand which would explain the situation. So, save yourself 4 Euro and set the APN before inserting the SIM.

Amongst the myriad of Italian SMSs I received I managed to pick up the URL to charge the account up with credit thus saving the 3.90 Euro fee charged by EuropaSIM. You can charge it via credit card or PayPal which is handy if you are dubious about the site.
So, either go to the italian vodafone site and look for a section called "Recarica Online" (Recharge Online) or you could use a direct link I found but MSE won't let me post URLs
I suggest using Google Chrome as this will make a good stab at translating the Italian to English. I recharged 5 Eur with PayPal, no problem.

I intend to recharge in small increments to start with until I'm 100% convinced of the charges.

So far so good. I shall use the SIM again at the weekend just to check all is as it should be.

We plan to take a couple of phones on holiday and will connect them to the MyFi unit. 100MB per day between two should be fine.

fs201401230

EuropaSIM.com seems to be shutting down, but existing SIM cards, it seems, may continue to work. As a new user, I'm not permitted to post links, but since I have the service, wanted to share the news. If you google "europasim terminated service" [without the quotes), you'll find helpful articles with the details. Kind regards.