A SIMple cautionary tale

[The Tall Luthier]

I have a French SIM card, it gives superior download speeds and works all over Europe or so I thought.

Recently we caught the ferry from Cherbourg to Portsmouth and my iPhone pinged twice, once was BT telling me I’d used up my credit limit and once from Free.fr telling me I had used up their credit limit. My phone has two SIM cards!

This made no sense as I was well within both data limits. £40 + 60€ for less than 20Mb usage.

It transpired that The Channel counts as Maritime Usage so the charges are not reversible.

BT reversed the charge. Free would not.

So my advice would be, turn your data off if you’re sailing. We usually Eurotunnel

Otherwise the free eSim is excellent 20€ per month, no fixed contract 121Gb of 5G data.

 

[Barbara]

On a ferry you are using a connection to the maritime satellite network via the ship. Your phone will show you which network you are connected to. If you have your phone on as you go into the car deck you will lose connection onto the UK network and if you have the phone set for network automatic selection and roaming it will find what is available. What is available is that via the ship. The maritime charges will also apply to calls and texts as well as data. It is the same on aeroplanes that provide the ability to use your phone.

When you go out on the deck it may reconnect to the UK or France as you pass near the land. You could turn off roaming until you leave the ship and then you will not roam onto another network. Also either stop your phone connecting automatically or put it in airline mode before you get on the ship. If you stop automatic connection you will have to chose the network when you get to France.

If you set airline mode you can turn WiFi and Bluetooth back on separately to the mobile network.

I too have a dual SIM phone I turn off roaming ( each SIM is done separately) and put in airline mode before getting on the ship.

 

[The Tall Luthier]

Thanks Barbara, that explains a lot as I did complain that we were still in prt when it happened. The distinction for them is that the phone signal was going through the ferry's systems. Thanks

 

[Whistler]

It can happen on the Liverpool to Belfast Ferry as well. Stena did warn about it - on their website I think. So just turned roaming off for the duration of the crossing

Sent from my SM-A515F using Tapatalk

 

[uniqueadventures]

Is this a recent change or just on certain routes?
I used to do Newhaven Dieppe fairly regularly and never had a problem?

 

[The Tall Luthier]

Is this a recent change or just on certain routes?
I used to do Newhaven Dieppe fairly regularly and never had a problem?

I don’t know. My assistant in the French phone shop seemed knowledgeable enough to make me think it was an established practice.

 

[BigJohn]

Is this a recent change or just on certain routes?
I used to do Newhaven Dieppe fairly regularly and never had a problem?

It probably depends how sophisticated the boat is as to whether they have their own mobile network or not. We have done a couple of Mediterranean cruises and you have to be really careful to switch roaming on and off all the time to not get caught out - the maritime rates are extortionate!

 

[Barbara]

Is this a recent change or just on certain routes?
I used to do Newhaven Dieppe fairly regularly and never had a problem?

I assume not all ships have the maritime system available for public use. Also you may not have been in an area where you lost connection to a UK or French network when you have wanted to use it. It may have depend where you were on the ship and it you could pick up a land network. Ships are metal and can block network connection just like you can lose connection in some buildings.
Maritime network is expensive but useful for those that need to be connected. Best not to risk connection by tuning off roaming.

I used to visit Geneva for work when roaming was really expensive and it was important to see which networks I was connected to. I had a French SIM which in some parts of Geneva would connect to the required French network but I did not want to roam to Switzerland.
Those were the the days when traveling though Europe I had to keep switching SIMs but now UK is out of Europe free roaming is starting to come to an end they may be coming back.

 

[Mr B]

I assume not all ships have the maritime system available for public use. Also you may not have been in an area where you lost connection to a UK or French network when you have wanted to use it. It may have depend where you were on the ship and it you could pick up a land network. Ships are metal and can block network connection just like you can lose connection in some buildings.
Maritime network is expensive but useful for those that need to be connected. Best not to risk connection by tuning off roaming.

I used to visit Geneva for work when roaming was really expensive and it was important to see which networks I was connected to. I had a French SIM which in some parts of Geneva would connect to the required French network but I did not want to roam to Switzerland.
Those were the the days when traveling though Europe I had to keep switching SIMs but now UK is out of Europe free roaming is starting to come to an end they may be coming back.

Free EU Data Roaming Abroad | O2

Unlike other major networks, we don’t charge anyone extra for EU roaming, up to 25GB.

www.o2.co.uk

O2 still do free roaming if you are unlucky enough to be with them.

 

[Ting Tong]

Free EU Data Roaming Abroad | O2

Unlike other major networks, we don’t charge anyone extra for EU roaming, up to 25GB.

www.o2.co.uk

O2 still do free roaming if you are unlucky enough to be with them.

25gb roaming limit tho on O2 and extortionate charges after that!

iDmobile currently have no limit.

 

[Mr B]

25gb roaming limit tho on O2 and extortionate charges after that!

iDmobile currently have no limit.

Three doesn't work for me in my location so I can't use that option as my day to day but the SIM only deals do look good.

I'm luckily on a Vodafone contract that I signed up to well before the Roaming changes so I get free roaming anyway abroad although but only upto 25GB... but that did my last trip to Norway and back with no issues.

I will get an IDMobile SIM though when I next go to Europe though, as £10 for 60GB data looks really good value on a 1 month contract.

 

[The Tall Luthier]

Three doesn't work for me in my location so I can't use that option as my day to day but the SIM only deals do look good.

I'm luckily on a Vodafone contract that I signed up to well before the Roaming changes so I get free roaming anyway abroad although but only upto 25GB... but that did my last trip to Norway and back with no issues.

I will get an IDMobile SIM though when I next go to Europe though, as £10 for 60GB data looks really good value on a 1 month contract.

View attachment 99774

This looks good. One benefit of going with Free in France is network speed. My Bt versus Free connectivity is night and day when in Europe. When in Italy and Spain it is less stark though.

 

[Anthony1]

I have a French SIM card, it gives superior download speeds and works all over Europe or so I thought.

Recently we caught the ferry from Cherbourg to Portsmouth and my iPhone pinged twice, once was BT telling me I’d used up my credit limit and once from Free.fr telling me I had used up their credit limit. My phone has two SIM cards!

This made no sense as I was well within both data limits. £40 + 60€ for less than 20Mb usage.

It transpired that The Channel counts as Maritime Usage so the charges are not reversible.

BT reversed the charge. Free would not.

So my advice would be, turn your data off if you’re sailing. We usually Eurotunnel

Otherwise the free eSim is excellent 20€ per month, no fixed contract 121Gb of 5G data.

O2 in Europe is the same as in the UK, calls and data from your allowance.