Sim Card For Router...not phone

[EdenRose]

We are going to be in Northern Europe for 6 months and need a Data Sim card that works in a wifi router on board. All the great Sim deals people recommend (the best for the area seems to be Lyca Mobile) claim they only work in a cell phone which they call a "mobile device."

Who knows how to get a sim card that will work in a wifi router? This is not a branded (Tmobile ATT etc) hotspot...generic one like a Pepwave. This is our first use of a wifi router with cellular sim slot.

We are looking for a 50GB a month plan.

We use Tmobile in the USA and they have a very good plan for Europe for our phones, but they say the sims are only guaranteed to work in phones, not a wifi router.

[Franziska]

In France there is a provider called "Free" last year we paid 5€ for their Sim and 25€ a month for enormous 150GB data in 4G quality.

Worked flawless in our onboard Teltonica router.
We could also use that connection for voice over ip calls.

It was recommended to us to get a new SIM every month to not fall into an auto renewal trap.

Not sure about other European countries. In Germany it's much more expensive.

Possible write here which countries you are visiting, northern European is not very precise.

[EdenRose]

Thank you for the response...to be specific:

Three months in Netherlands, Germany, Denmark and Sweden.
Three months in UK (Southern England and Channel Islands and perhaps Northern French Coast to Belgium.

Eden Rose

Originally Posted by Franziska

In France there is a provider called "Free" last year we paid 5€ for their Sim and 25€ a month for enormous 150GB data in 4G quality.

Worked flawless in our onboard Teltonica router.
We could also use that connection for voice over ip calls.

It was recommended to us to get a new SIM every month to not fall into an auto renewal trap.

Not sure about other European countries. In Germany it's much more expensive.

Possible write here which countries you are visiting, northern European is not very precise.

[EdenRose]

We have heard about the Free SIM cards from France, but that you have to purchase them in France. Know of any other way to get one?

Originally Posted by Franziska

In France there is a provider called "Free" last year we paid 5€ for their Sim and 25€ a month for enormous 150GB data in 4G quality.

Worked flawless in our onboard Teltonica router.
We could also use that connection for voice over ip calls.

It was recommended to us to get a new SIM every month to not fall into an auto renewal trap.

Not sure about other European countries. In Germany it's much more expensive.

Possible write here which countries you are visiting, northern European is not very precise.

[Franziska]

Unfortunately not, and afaik the deal gets a little less favorable when roaming with it in Europe.
Best is to buy a local card in the countries you are visiting.
I let others chime in on that.

[EdenRose]

What I am finding is that everyone is selling these wifi cellular router devices but the information on how to get a SIM for them is limited. The dealers of the hardware often offer some very expensive options ($150/month) for 50GB plans. All the internet searches for data only SIMS seem to be for mobile phone only.

[hjohnson]

What I would look for is tablet plans. The router on my boat is hanging off my main plan as an additional tablet. (I use it for monitoring my victron setup).

[ttex]

My wife and I have been using our cell phones as a mobile hotspot. Your cell phone can act as a router. Just get a SIM card for your cell phone and the appropriate data plan. What am I missing?

You can also get a Wi-Fi router and hook your mobile hotspot on your cell phone to the Wi-Fi router and then use the Wi-Fi router to access the internet on different devices.

[jordanbigel]

Originally Posted by ttex

My wife and I have been using our cell phones as a mobile hotspot. Your cell phone can act as a router. Just get a SIM card for your cell phone and the appropriate data plan. What am I missing?

You can also get a Wi-Fi router and hook your mobile hotspot on your cell phone to the Wi-Fi router and then use the Wi-Fi router to access the internet on different devices.

I think what you may be missing is that the OP says he already has a PepWave which I think is a WiFi router and 4G hotspot in one device.

The advantages of using a dedicated mobile hotspot device is that it does not tie up your phone. For example, if you use your phone as a hotspot and a call comes in, bye bye internet for everyone on the boat who is using it.

I have no idea why normal SIMs for phones won't also work in a mobile hotspot. I've always assumed the SIM card does not care what kind of device it is in. Following this discussion to learn more about that.

[EdenRose]

Originally Posted by jordanbigel

I think what you may be missing is that the OP says he already has a PepWave which I think is a WiFi router and 4G hotspot in one device.

The advantages of using a dedicated mobile hotspot device is that it does not tie up your phone. For example, if you use your phone as a hotspot and a call comes in, bye bye internet for everyone on the boat who is using it.

I have no idea why normal SIMs for phones won't also work in a mobile hotspot. I've always assumed the SIM card does not care what kind of device it is in. Following this discussion to learn more about that.

Thank you for clarifying my question for folks. I am thinking that a normal phone sim may not have a way to activate in a wifi router. The router does take the normal SIM format, it may be the plan that comes with SIM that is not compatible...like it is looking for the normal cell phone ID's etc.

[Brendan]

I have an "all you can eat" 5G mobile broadband SIM from Three (three.co.uk - belongs to a Hong Kong company called Hutchinson) that i use in the UK for about GBP 25 a month. I have roamed with this to Ireland, as UK three covers Ireland as a "feel at home country". Not sure about France and the Netherlands.

However to buy a SIM you have to be in the country, I don't think they would sell / send them to someone overseas. I think best thing to do is, and this is what I do, is when sailing to a new country, after clearing in, find a local phone shop, and buy a data SIM for that country. Then you don't have to worry about the extra cost for data roaming (which, if you stay in the EU might not be so bad).

Now, if you have a Peplink 4G or 5G dome mounted up your mast and don't have the (very expensive) SIM Injector for it down below, you'd be climbing your mast every time you needed to swap out one country's SIM for the next country's SIM. That would be a PITA.

[Danm1]

Just recently cruised with a friend who simply kept an old phone as a Hotspot. Never got any calls, always had service, and could usually get a phone sim with Hotspot service in any country for less than hotspot/data alone. And, sitting next to a portlight, it was more reliable than his Glomex on a mast.

[EdenRose]

I will likely do as you suggest. And thank you for answering for those of us with a wifi router as getting sims for a phone are super easy. It is just dedicated data sims that are hard to figure out. Some say a phone sim will work just fine, and others say they will not.

Originally Posted by Brendan

I have an "all you can eat" 5G mobile broadband SIM from Three (three.co.uk - belongs to a Hong Kong company called Hutchinson) that i use in the UK for about GBP 25 a month. I have roamed with this to Ireland, as UK three covers Ireland as a "feel at home country". Not sure about France and the Netherlands.

However to buy a SIM you have to be in the country, I don't think they would sell / send them to someone overseas. I think best thing to do is, and this is what I do, is when sailing to a new country, after clearing in, find a local phone shop, and buy a data SIM for that country. Then you don't have to worry about the extra cost for data roaming (which, if you stay in the EU might not be so bad).

Now, if you have a Peplink 4G or 5G dome mounted up your mast and don't have the (very expensive) SIM Injector for it down below, you'd be climbing your mast every time you needed to swap out one country's SIM for the next country's SIM. That would be a PITA.

[EdenRose]

Originally Posted by Danm1

Just recently cruised with a friend who simply kept an old phone as a Hotspot. Never got any calls, always had service, and could usually get a phone sim with Hotspot service in any country for less than hotspot/data alone. And, sitting next to a portlight, it was more reliable than his Glomex on a mast.

With our steel boat, hoping the external antenna helps things out.

[MoodyS]

A WiFi router with its own sim card is a mobile device. Almost all European mobile providers will happily supply a 'data only' sim. In Portugal, for example, an unlimited data only sim costs €30 / month (Vodafone) no contract, it can be replenished or replaced at will.