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SIM For The Americas? SIM For The Americas?
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Communications Connecting - internet cafes, laptops, smart phones - how to connect, use, which one, and intercom/radio systems.
Photo by Alessio Corradini, on the Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia, of two locals

I haven't been everywhere...
but it's on my list!


Photo by Alessio Corradini,
on the Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia,
of two locals



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  #1  
Old 3 Mar 2010
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SIM For The Americas?
Evening all
Will soon be going from Ushuaia To Alaska and need to know what is the best idea is for a sim card. Should i just get a pay as you go from here (uk), or get different ones in different countries as i go? I will only be making a few calls back home but i dont want to get charged if someone calls me.
Are the international ones any good and a good price?
Any opinions welcome
Cheers
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  #2  
Old 4 Mar 2010
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I'd be buying them as I go - I took my Australian SIM with me went I travelled through Russia and it ended up costing me a fortune in roaming charges alone - I didn't realise that every time I changed cell I was hit for a roaming fee.

By comparison, last week I was in Thailand and I bought a local SIM for $1.50 which gave me enough value to cover all my calls / texts for the week.
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  #3  
Old 4 Mar 2010
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Skype charges .02/minute from South America to the States. That's cheaper than any cell phone. You might look into it and post what you find here.

I've put my phones at the bottom of my panniers, and no longer even bother charging them up. I'll dig them out when I get close to home in four or five months, but in the meantime I just use my netbook when necessary.

Hope that helps.

Mark
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  #4  
Old 6 Feb 2011
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+1
I use skype all the time, as well as a program called Fring, which I can operate from my android smart phone. This allows me to use my phone as a handset and make VOIP (Voice over internet protocall) calls over any available wifi network. Skype does the same thing. It's pretty handy. I keep my phone on me when I am travelling as a handy contacts list, gps, and internet calling device. However my netbook can do all of this as well.
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Old 15 Apr 2011
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Yeah if you need to make calls, bring your iphone with skype, or a netbook and you will be sweet. Sims are under $5 in each country as well
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  #6  
Old 22 Oct 2012
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Ok, I know this thread is a bit old, but for the sake of others who stumble upon it, here's some more info.

Skype is certainly the #1 option, but internet speeds are often too slow to connect successfully. I have to make a scheduled conference call every week, so this wasn't reliable enough for me.

We used prepaid SIM cards all the way from Seattle to Bolivia and intend to do the same through the rest of the continent. The prices range, but never more than $10 and the more expensive ones usually come with free time.
Always ask the owner of the Kiosk to activate the SIM for you. Some countries (Mexico & El Salvador, and others) require an ID number to activate. Kiosk owners can generally call in and provide their ID number to get you going.

If you are calling internationally ask about promotions, packets or calling cards. All can save a ton of money and they are usually very easy to activate.

Because we are working and traveling we keep records of this crap on our website, if you want detailed phone/wifi by country check this page out: Central and South America Internet and Phone Reports | Life Remotely
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