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esim for Ireland

As I posted last year, my old standby GiffGaff now requires accessing a UK tower to trigger EU roaming, so that won't work for our upcoming trip, as it has so well for the last few.

I'd like to get an esim for data/text/calls with an IE number for the duration of our 3 week trip. Three does not do online sales to non-IE numbers, so I'd have to wait until I'm in the IE before acquiring an IE number (GiffGaff let's you setup from home in advance). Not knowing my number in advance means getting around all those two-factor authentications which is sometimes impossible, notifying friends & family, and whatever.

Is there an Irish equivalent of GiffGaff that will allow me to install the esim while still at home, and either by inspection or momentary activation, determine my IE mobile number? My home carrier wants $100/mo for international roaming, which is silly, plus I can't expect restaurants etc. to make international calls/texts to confirm reservations.

Posted by
247 posts

About 9 months ago, I bought a Three sim from the "Roaming Company" on Ebay for $7.40. It was a Pay as You Go plan (no monthly charge), so I added $20 to my paygo wallet with a U.S. credit card. When I got to Ireland, it worked fine. In fact, it still works here in Michigan, although I would be paying roaming rates for phone calls, text, and data. When I activated it, they assigned me a British phone number.

Regarding Giff Gaff, I had the same problem with not allowing roaming, as I had never been in the U.K. with that sim.

Posted by
865 posts

I think the GiffGaff problem was an EU tariff change, so I'm surprised Three (with a UK number) wouldn't suffer the same fate. Maybe if I turn my phone on as my flight goes into Dublin, I can ping a tower in Northern Ireland with my Giffgaff esim :-)