data sim card

[dsmitt7]

with internet so slow in hotels I am looking for an international data sim card.
any suggestions?
cheers

[Superpilot]

Wouldn't advise it. The ones that look like good deals are next to useless and the ones that do work are expensive. On top of that, depends where you are staying with respect to civilisation. Poor Internet in hotels is normally due to poor infrastructure in the surrounding area. You can therefore bet that mobile data coverage isn't going to be that much better. Instead choose hotels that embrace the 21st century and that realise you cannot service 200+ rooms with a single 1Mb connection! :ugh:

[Capetonian]

The most effective solution I have found is a 'dongle'. If you can get an unlocked one, you only need a SIM for each country you visit regularly, and depending on how many countries that is, it may or may not be practical, but it works for me across the 6 or so countries that I visit regularly.

The UK network Three' offers free roaming in several countries (I think it's branded 'Feel at Home'.

It's not a very fast solution, but it works fairly well, avoids high charges and slow speeds in hotels, and is not expensive.

[mixture]

I am looking for an international data sim card

Such a thing does not exist.

Once you are outside of your home turf, you are in roaming territory.

Your best bet is to :

•Shop around your home country for the provider with the best bundled roaming deals (e.g in the UK 'Feel at Home' from Three, or 'EuroTraveller' from Vodafone). Switch your primary contract to that provider (or activate the bundle if you are already with them).

• For the locations you visit on a regular basis where the roaming falls outside of the aforementioned bundled package, buy a PAYG SIM card in a local shop in the destination country and top that up a little bit each time you visit in order to keep it active. Upon arrival in said country, swap your SIM.

• There are other options out there such as Truphone ... but they are more business type solutions with the associated price tag, so for the average punter such as yourself, the old SIM-swap game is likely to be the way forward.