I'm getting fed up with T-Mobile's slow data in some countries.
So, I'm thinking of installing an Airalo esim.
But in some countries, it says I may only get LTE speeds rather than 5G.
What has people's experience been in any of the following countries:
Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Germany, the UK, Austria and Italy.
I can't speak to Airalo, but Nomad gave me excellent speed (I believe 5G) in Germany, UK, Finland and Estonia last summer. And from a practical perspective, aside from streaming high-speed video while simultaneously editing photos stored in the cloud, I have had no worse experience with 4G than with 5G. The really important factor is signal strength in either case. Even here in the US, if the 5G signal isn't strong enough, my phone might find a 4G or even 3G signal to connect to.
We used the Airalo Europe package in Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia last month. No issues except for Estonia. Several times I got a message saying I had no internet connection. It created a real problem when arriving at the bus station and when trying to call a Bolt at 5am to get to the airport. I intended to question Bolt about the issue but have not done so yet.
I have used Airalo eSIM recently in Italy and UK. UK worked beautifully, no issues at all. I did have some challenges in Italy so needed to turn on my AT&T international plan which worked in one case in which Airalo didn’t. Overall, I was happy with the speed and performance and have subsequently used Airalo in Portugal and will do so for my upcoming trip to Greece.
Note: if you do have any issues/questions, you can’t call Airalo, you need to email. They respond quickly, but not in real-time.
Of your list, I have only used it in Austria and the UK - both with no issues and at speeds that satisfy me.
I will be in the Baltics and Finland in the fall, so no real-time experience there yet. If you try it, report back.
Recently used Airalo for Japan (2 weeks - Tokyo, Yokohama, Hakone) and Trinidad & Tobago. Worked beautifully! Super convenient, connected to the network the moment I switched off Airplane Mode, great speeds, fairly priced. Leaving for Europe on Friday and will be doing a regional one to cover Iceland, England, and France. And last summer my parents used Orange's tourist eSIM (https://travel.orange.com/en) for England, France, Switzerland, and Italy; it also worked well.
My only caution on Airalo: Do not scan the QR code and install the eSIM until the night before you leave! In most cases, it will activate right away and start ticking down your time/data. Customer service is a bit slow if you screw this up, heads up.
We installed Airalo a week before we left. We kept our home SIMs active and had the Airalo SIMs off. We turned them on before we landed and before turning off airplane mode. The Airalo SIM started counting down from the time it was activated in our destination country and not before.
The Airalo SIM started counting down from the time it was activated in our destination country and not before.
Noted! I wonder if it varies by destination? Or the phone + operating system. For Japan on an iPhone 14 Pro it automatically turned on. Thankfully, I had a 30-day SIM for a 14 day trip, so it was no biggie.
What countries did you have problems in? So we know when to look for Plan B.
I remain a bit bemused that Airalo gets so much run here, while Nomad seems to be virtually unknown. Ah well, we who know, know.
How difficult was it to install Nomad?
Nomad only offers 4G service in Europe while Airalo does have some countries with 5G.
I'm also reading a lot about Holafly.
Too many choices.
Plus I'm looking for the easiest to install.
How difficult was it to install Nomad? Nomad only offers 4G service in Europe while Airalo does have some countries with 5G.
Nomad is very easy to install, and they provide a foolproof set of instructions to help. Nomad absolutely offers plans with 5G; not sure why you believe it doesn't. Look at the "36 Countries" plans for Europe.
Question about going back to my regular sim upon returning to the US....is it just as simple as turning off the esim and reactivating my regular sim card?
And while using the esim, I can still receive calls and texts via my regular sim card?
I have a Samsung Galaxy.
I used Nomad recently while in the US.
Easy to set up. Instructions are on their website. Bought and installed while in the UK, then on arrival in US simply activated.
Could continue to receive and send the occasional text message on my UK number (giffgaff) though now at 30p a text. But all data came via Nomad - think it used AT&T and Verizon networks (5G and 4G). Once back in UK simply turned the eSim off and now all back on Giffgaff.
It's the future!
Question about going back to my regular sim upon returning to the US....is it just as simple as turning off the esim and reactivating my regular sim card?
Upon returning to the US, you simply go into your SIM Manager (search your Settings) and make your regular SIM primary. I actually do this immediately after I put my phone in airplane mode on my last leg of flights to the US.
And while using the esim, I can still receive calls and texts via my regular sim card?
You can indeed receive calls and texts on your US SIM. I put mine on Do Not Disturb, with exceptions for family and important clients so they can reach me in emergencies.
I have a Samsung Galaxy.
So do I. :o)
We are currently using an Airalo eSIM in the Puglia region of Italy and mostly connected via 5G. I installed it before leaving Canada, turned off my main eSIM while on the plane, and turned on the Airalo upon landing. It took a few minutes to connect but has worked flawlessly since. This is the first European eSIM I’ve used and would not hesitate to purchase another for our next trip. I hope this is helpful.
I'm still trying to figure out if you have TMobile ... why?
