Google Fi activation oversea

[boom23]

Originally Posted by B4A

I'm looking forward to get to the French islands were I can get a EU seem card that will work in the whole Med, since recently the European Union abolished roaming charges.

But I still want to preserve my US number, sometimes banks or other institution require one.

I wish there were no roaming charges/restrictions in EU with an EU country SIM card... Unfortunately, if you read the SIM card company fine print, you'll see that they usually limit data when you're out of the originating country. Maybe one day things will change...

I have Google Fi to maintain my USA phone number, and a local SIM card for cheap local calls and data. If I stay in one country for a while, I also buy a data-only SIM card for my GSM router so that I can have WiFi on the boat. It works great so far!

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by boom23

I wish there were no roaming charges/restrictions in EU with an EU country SIM card... Unfortunately, if you read the SIM card company fine print, you'll see that they usually limit data when you're out of the originating country. Maybe one day things will change...

If you've been in Europe in the last couple of years, roaming charges have been almost completely abolished. The only limitation is "fair use".



You can use voice and data like in the home country of your SIM card up to certain limits (varies by carrier, by on mine it's 10GB per month outside of your home region), and even after those limits they can't charge you more than about €4.20 per gigabyte.


There are some parts of Europe where groups of countries are treated like home. For example, I have a Finnish SIM card which considers all Nordic and Baltic countries as home, and I have totally unlimited 100+mbs Internet there. In the rest of Europe, up to 10GB a month then €4.20 per gigabyte. This is really good. I also have a UK number which gives up to 15GB per month anywhere in Europe.



Life is pretty good in Europe.

[boom23]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

If you've been in Europe in the last couple of years, roaming charges have been almost completely abolished. The only limitation is "fair use".



You can use voice and data like in the home country of your SIM card up to certain limits (varies by carrier, by on mine it's 10GB per month outside of your home region), and even after those limits they can't charge you more than about €4.20 per gigabyte.


There are some parts of Europe where groups of countries are treated like home. For example, I have a Finnish SIM card which considers all Nordic and Baltic countries as home, and I have totally unlimited 100+mbs Internet there. In the rest of Europe, up to 10GB a month then €4.20 per gigabyte. This is really good. I also have a UK number which gives up to 15GB per month anywhere in Europe.



Life is pretty good in Europe.

I was in the Med (France, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece) the whole last season. I bought prepaid SIM cards from the top companies in every country I entered. Every SIM card contract said that I was allowed much less GB if I used the SIM card outside the issuing country.

For example, I bought a 200 GB data-only SIM card in Italy (TIM) which allowed only 75 GB if used outside of Italy. That's exactly what happened when I went to Greece.

Maybe, we're talking about something different? I want to be wrong on this...

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by boom23

I was in the Med (France, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece) the whole last season. I bought prepaid SIM cards from the top companies in every country I entered. Every SIM card contract said that I was allowed much less GB if I used the SIM card outside the issuing country.

For example, I bought a 200 GB data-only SIM card in Italy (TIM) which allowed only 75 GB if used outside of Italy. That's exactly what happened when I went to Greece.

Maybe, we're talking about something different? I want to be wrong on this...

That's the "fair use" limit. But 75 GB is a pretty decent amount of traffic, no? You pay around €4 a GB above your limit when roaming.

Remember we're having this conversation in the context of the Google FI plan where your 75 GB of roaming data would cost you $752.

[boom23]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

That's the "fair use" limit. But 75 GB is a pretty decent amount of traffic, no? You pay around €4 a GB above your limit when roaming.

Remember we're having this conversation in the context of the Google FI plan where your 75 GB of roaming data would cost you $752.

I got it...

For me though, "fair use" is a other term for roaming. At the end, it costs more per GB outside the SIM issuing country.

I'm not arguing. I'm just pointing out that EU and its countries, is not like USA and its states.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by boom23

I got it...

For me though, "fair use" is a other term for roaming. At the end, it costs more per GB outside the SIM issuing country.

I'm not arguing. I'm just pointing out that EU and its countries, is not like USA and its states.

Well, it's not actually another term for roaming. It means that if something is called "unlimited", it's not actually unlimited -- there is a "fair use" limit to the unlimitedness. U.S. "unlimited" data plans also have "fair use" -- you get throttled if you go over a certain amount of data in a month.


So in this case -- roaming is supposed to be "unlimited" and "free", but not if you abuse it, hence "fair use limits".


But of course you are absolutely right and this is not quite the same as a completely open market where all the mobile phone plans worked the same everywhere. Europe is not as integrated as the U.S., but what integration there is has made life mostly a lot easier for those of us who like to wander around in Europe from country to country.

[boom23]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

Well, it's not actually another term for roaming. It means that if something is called "unlimited", it's not actually unlimited -- there is a "fair use" limit to the unlimitedness. U.S. "unlimited" data plans also have "fair use" -- you get throttled if you go over a certain amount of data in a month.


So in this case -- roaming is supposed to be "unlimited" and "free", but not if you abuse it, hence "fair use limits".


But of course you are absolutely right and this is not quite the same as a completely open market where all the mobile phone plans worked the same everywhere. Europe is not as integrated as the U.S., but what integration there is has made life mostly a lot easier for those of us who like to wander around in Europe from country to country.

I understand, but I'm not talking about "Unlimited." I paid for 200 GB of data in Italy and when it's used up, I have to pay again. But, outside Italy I only get to use 75 GB, and I have to pay again.

I didn't ask for Unlimited data, just what I paid for...

Anyway, it is what it is...

Happy New Year!

[tanglewood]

Originally Posted by LeaseOnLife

We activated our new to us US-FI in Mexico, with a semi supported iphone 6S. It didn't work at first, it didn't connect to any carrier. Tech support did mention I should activate it in the US but continued to be helpful. They made me do the usual things like reboot. As a last trial, tech-support made me select the carrier manually, I had three choices, tried them one by one, and then it connected to the last one and started working.



To connect to tech support, we needed a working wifi connection first, a restaurant in our case.

I encountered something similar in Mexico with an already activated (in the US) Google Fi phone. It didn't do well selecting and switching between the various Mexican cell networks, and more often than not I needed to manually select them until I found one that worked well.

[tanglewood]

There are so many variations and permutations to all this..


For us, based out of the US, the Google phone was the only service that offered WW data roaming without all the fine print restrictions of other carriers, and without the un-published restrictions of the other carriers. Data is not throttled, and they roam on the good networks e.g. LTE etc.


But the cost per GB is definitely more than buying a local SIM, at least in many instances.


For us, it's all about convenience, and that's worth a few $$. Cruising, where you are changing countries with any frequency, it's a pain to have to go on a SIM card quest as soon as you arrive, especially if you are anchoring out. And I find it really handy when traveling by air as well. It gives me a roaming wifi hotspot wherever I am. So I can leave Boston on local service, land in Japan for a layover, but have internet the whole time. Then land in Taiwan and keep on going. I just have my regular phone on wifi-calling connected to the google phone, and it works fine with the phone number everyone knows. The only down side is that I have to carry two phones.


That said, if I'm going to be in one place for any length of time, I would seriously consider getting a local SIM card. I've done that in New Zealand and it was cheap and straight forward. For me, it's all about how long I plan to be there, and how much it's worth not having to do the SIM card shuffle.


Oh, another aspect of this is that for years our on-boat internet was via USB cellular modem. However despite all the talk of unlocked devices and dropping in any SIM car and getting on line, I never once saw that actually work. Not once. My Telus SIM only worked in the USB modem I got from Telus, and Verizon SIM only in the Verizon device, and ATT SIM only in the ATT device. So buying a local SIM always turned into buying a new USB modem too. So I dumped them all and went with google in prep for heading to mexico, and haven't turned back.

[B4A]

I received the Google FI SIM and I confirm that despite what Google says, it can be activated from oversea using a VPN. My phones are activated and the data speed is fantastic compared to T-Mobile.

[iTom]

Sorry for digging up this older thread, but I have recent experience on this topic (today). I joined a GoogleFi group (cruising friend) and got the SIM Card shipped from the US. Switched my Android Phone to US Playstore (help of VPN) and downloaded the GoogleFI app. Put in the new SIM Card, GoogleFi App recognized it and activated successfully. GoogleFi App says you are good to go.
However: I was not able to connect to any carrier here in Colombia. All say (forbidden) in the text and I could not connect to a single one. After a lot of troubleshooting steps with very responsive support they finally figured out that my account is blocked as I have not been in the US in the last 6 months. I asked to unblock but they said its only possible for us military and government employees with an assignment.

Maybe these rules are new, but this means GoogleFi is not a use case anymore for me cruising around the world. Looking for alternatives...

Hope this helps others.

[Boatguy30]

So six months is the limit? Used it that long mostly in the Caribbean last year, but made 2 short trips back to US. Currently in Panama and maybe get a local SIM

[SV Bacchus]

Originally Posted by italienf

But this is the point which normally isn't working. Nomally fi only workes if you activated it in the US.


So how do you crack the activation system?

A friend in Grenada this past winter used a VPN set to a US location. I can only assume Fi thought it was in the US.

They had no problems with activation and last I talked to them, about a month ago, it was still working extremely well.

[SVHarmonie]

Be sure you read the fine print on your Google Fi agreement. You did right???

It says, in effect, that it is intended for customers based in the USA and for occasional use overseas. If you end up using so much overseas data that you become unprofitable, they can unplug your ass without notification.

Now I have never heard of that actually happening... but they COULD.

[SV Bacchus]

Originally Posted by SVHarmonie

Be sure you read the fine print on your Google Fi agreement. You did right???

It says, in effect, that it is intended for customers based in the USA and for occasional use overseas. If you end up using so much overseas data that you become unprofitable, they can unplug your ass without notification.

Now I have never heard of that actually happening... but they COULD.

Yes, I have read that and yes, I am waiting.. So far it has been a year. I am presently in the VIs, a US territory. I wonder if that counts as US based?