Best U. S. based cell phone carrier for international use?

Posted by Material-Struggle-75@reddit | expats | View on Reddit | 37 comments

Backstory: I am an active duty service member previously stationed in Japan and currently been living in Sicily for the last 3 years. I have been with AT&T for just over 3 years. When I signed up I specifically requested an international plan that INCLUDED Europe and Japan. The AT&T rep sold me an international plan that would cover exactly what I needed. Should have been roughly $225 a month. She lied. For three years I’ve been paying over $350 per month for coverage. Yes, I could have used my perks in the military to freeze my contract but I would have owed them 3 years either way and we intend to do another tour overseas if possible.

We have a chance to go stateside before we roll into the next set of orders. I will be canceling my plan with AT&T and looking for a new coverage plan with an honest and quality company. Activating a Google Fi phone overseas can be very difficult (if I need to replace one). Who should I go with? I haven’t lived in the states for almost 8 years so I am very out of the loop with a lot of things. Thank you.

[-]

No7an@reddit

T-Mobile’s plans have a high speed data allotment that includes international roaming. Once that (call it) 5GB is up it simply moves to lower speeds (no additional cost).

I’ve been an expat in Europe for 7 years and could probably get away with that T Mobile plan (+ WiFi).

I would recommend having T-Mobile as your anchor plan (ideally shared with a family, as incremental lines are $10). You can layer a local number on top for €35 per month and set it to primary.

It sounds like you’re optimizing for both continuity (friends and family being able to access you via the same number) + local speed of access, constrained by expense.

My T-Mobile bill is $180 for six lines, two of which are my wife / myself in The Netherlands (I pay for my parents / siblings in the U.S.). We also have Odido (formerly T-Mobile) in NL and it’s about €35 each.

There are probably cheaper options but this is what has worked for us for a long time.

[-]

Funny_Edge5946@reddit

Scusami, vorrei capire meglio. Io vivo in Italia ma devo ricevere sms/Text dagli USA quando mi registro sui vari siti. Mi serve un numero valido negli usa, con area-code USA. T-Mobile può funzionare così?

[-]

No7an@reddit

That’s my situation — but I do have a U.S. address / identity card that was used to sign up.

My wife and I have dual SIM phones with both U.S. and NL lines. If I need to do a dual-factor authentication to my U.S. number it comes through when I’m in the Netherlands, no problem.

[-]

jeffepops@reddit

One of our family members moved up to Canada for work as a professional athlete. After about 4 months, he was notified his service would be suspended -- as he needed to be in the U.S. more than in Canada over long periods of time. He was able to get it reinstated, but it was suspended again after a few months.

He was NOT the primary subscriber

As far as I know, every U.S. phone plan - including Google Fi -- requires the subscriber phone be pinged within the U.S. on a regular basis. If that hasn't happened, consider yourself lucky.

[-]

Primary_Data_3979@reddit

What tmobile plan are you on? We just recently switched to google Fi because i was seeing that it was fine so long as we were stateside every 6 months at least. But today i found a thing saying theres now a 50 day max....big difference so we may be moving on.

[-]

No7an@reddit

I’m on the “Simple Choice” with 6 total lines. Note that only 2 of the lines are operating abroad (my parents and brothers are in the U.S.).

I also have the U.S. SIM cards set to secondary. I’m set to a Netherlands SIM as the primary voice / data when I’m in Europe and pivot the primary to the U.S. T-Mobile when I’m in the U.S. (about 2-3 months of the year).

Also I just went in to check this and saw / nuked some phone insurance my parents had put on their phones and that’ll reduce the bill by $36 from the $180 above.

Realistic-View-412@reddit

That is crazy. Ive been using my us number for years just paying 6$ a month

manirana54@reddit

Which network have you been using.

Tello. I can give you referral and we both get 10$ send me dm

BobcatSpiritual7699@reddit

Never pay for international plan, eSIMs work brilliantly and are infinitely cheaper.

Reasonable-Start9757@reddit

I have used Airolo and it was fine, although a little complicated for going across lines. It’s hard to give up my primary number, however, especially for text confirmations from banks, cc, airlines, etc.

Minute_Hurry7809@reddit

US Mobile. I've been using them for a year on my trips. Actually even home. they have the best roaming and 20GB international data, which even goes around the local filters/blocks, like in China or Thailand.

TheMuse81@reddit

I have them. I am wondering can I keep them for long term living. The rep told me that I could but I had to enable WiFi calling but he also warned that if I was outside the US for too long there was a chance id have to return because the service may stop.

HurryAcceptable9242@reddit

I literally just had this happen. I set up a US Mobile number FROM Australia using a VPN, and bought international roaming, used it for one month. This billing cycle, the roaming expired and I went to renew it. They told me sorry you haven't used it domestically so you can't have international roaming any more. What? I can't travel for more than a month and keep my US Mobile number? Nope, because it was never "used" on the USA cell network, just internationally.

So if you're living long term in another country and you just stupidly left your prepaid USA cell number behind like me, you're kind of screwed. I can't get confirmation codes now from my bank or 401k login. Sigh.

I'm hearing Trello is the way to.go for this. Thanks for sharing, you just saved me a huge headache! Hopefully the Trello suggestion solves yours. That's where I'm going. 🥂

No snark, just Googled and found out it's Tello, not Trello. 😊

😂 I felt like something was off when I put that R there but hell YOLO!

"Unless otherwise explicitly stated on our website, Tello eSIMs may only be activated by individuals who are physically located within the United States, excluding Puerto Rico."

Sigh.

https://www.reddit.com/r/expats/s/K5sKCPpv63

The person earlier in this thread says he uses Tello for 2FA for banking which would be my primary need is just being able to get those authentication messages. The only other one I'm seeing is Popcorn mobile advertising everywhere. Have you checked that one?

Material-Struggle-75@reddit (OP)

Living overseas, I would need a carrier plan that is unlimited everything, talk text data. Another major must have is my original phone number. I’ve had it over 20 years and I do not want to change. The amount of changes to every single account I have for things I use is insane. The Verizon plan seems solid. I just can’t keep paying what I’m paying. It’s a literal car note for phone usage.

Impressive-Sky2848@reddit

Google fi will give you talk & text, but they will drop your data service if they notice you have been out of the US for a few months. Data service will work again when you are back in the US. Google fi on an esim preserving your US number and a second local provider for a local number and data works pretty well.

Strange_Legend@reddit

Can't you use a VPN to ping it in the states?

A VPN can change the apparent internet location seen by websites, but it cannot influence the cellular carrier connection because that connection is established at the radio and mobility management layers before any VPN tunnel exists.

Exciting_Royal_8099@reddit

If you just want one carrier to roam around with you, I'd check out Verizon. Their top end plan is \~$100/m and has unlimited roaming for the vast majority of the world. The 'unlimited' caps out, check the fine print for the limits, after that it's still unlimited, but slows (3g style). My parents use TMobile and have something similar.

x3medude@reddit

I don't understand why you'd need unlimited calling, texting, AND data. Why not TELLO and a local plan?

Dense_Grape3430@reddit

Have a look at Fonus

Cyndagon@reddit

A lot of people I work with in Germany have Google Fi. Friend of mine got a euro phone recently and activated on his plan no problem. From my understanding it's just the activation of the plan that's the issue, not a new phone.

Some_Sea7898@reddit

For Verizon's Unlimited Ultimate you get included talk, text, and 15GB high-speed international data (then 1.5 Mbps) in 210+ countries, plus data in Canada/Mexico; for longer trips, add TravelPass ($12/day, $6 in Mexico/Canada) for pay-per-use unlimited, or the $100 Monthly Plan for extended stays, or look for the TravelPass Days perk on Unlimited Plus for 3 free days monthly. Your Options for International Travel Included with Unlimited Ultimate (formerly Get More) Data: 15 GB high-speed data per month, then unlimited at 1.5 Mbps (good for streaming 480p video) in 210+ countries, say Verizon and www.palowilltravel.com. Canada/Mexico: Included talk, text, and data. No need to add anything for these benefits.

For one line no contract $90/month.

you can use a Verizon number (on a physical SIM or eSIM) and a second eSIM (for data or another carrier) simultaneously on a Dual SIM/Dual Standby (DSDS) phone, allowing you to keep your US number active while using the eSIM for cheap data abroad, but you must set the eSIM for data and keep your Verizon line for calls/texts to avoid roaming charges. Each line has its own number, so you can't use the exact same number on both, but your primary number stays intact while the eSIM provides data.

If you are active military, Verizon has incredible discounts you would qualify for.

Also, Verizon customer service is available 24/7 and it is excellent. Been using Verizon for 16 years.

Verizon Unlimited Ultimate plan, your international high-speed data resets monthly with your billing cycle, giving you 15 GB of high-speed data per month in over 210 countries, then unlimited data at slower 1.5 Mbps speeds for the remainder of that cycle.

yorhaPod@reddit

Depends on what your usage requirements are.

Regardless, two of the most popular choices are Tello (https://tello.com/buy/custom_plans) and UltraMobile PayGo (https://www.ultramobile.com/paygo/).

You can also search through almost every plan available in the US with this handy site (https://prepaidcompare.net/). That said, I would avoid the ones that seem too good to be true (like the free ones because they have serious caveats, especially for those overseas).

texas_asic@reddit

For data and a local number, get a local sim. For a US number, you just need wifi calling and a provider that will give you text and minutes. tello is popular; red pocket (from ebay: $30/yr) can also work, if you're visiting the US to activate. With your US number, also get a google voice number.

I use my tello number for bank 2fa, google voice for almost all other 2fa and phone calls, and my local sim for data and a local phone number

LegendarySmokeStory@reddit

Get an international eSIM for ~$50 bucks a month and a Google voice number. I use Holafly