4 ms·
Ask HN: What's currently the best way to get global phone service?
I'm looking to upgrade my dinosaur-age mobile phone to an Android. I'm currently living in the States, but I'll be in Puerto Rico for a couple of months during the winter and going to Hungary for a year or so in the spring. I don't know when I'll be back in the States. Never, maybe. Or maybe next fall, just depending on how life turns out.
The question: is it better just to get new service in Hungary, or is it practical to have a global service of some kind?
- Vivtek 15y ago(And of course I could always just do everything through Twilio. I think I'm in love.)
- kitcar 15y agoGlobal SIM cards tend to use VOIP dial-back tricks to use the "free incoming calls" features of most countries to make outgoing calls "free" as wel1 - but they still charge you for the outgoing call. I find this results in poorer general service (as sometimes the call doesn't connect), and you get seriously degraded call quality as a result. After trying the Worldsim for a number of years I found a better solution for my needs: Get an unlocked phone, buy a SIM card locally, and then redirect a SIP # for didww.com or similar to your local number so people in the US can still call you easily / you can maintain your US phone #. You'll get the service quality of having a local provider (as well as the affordable cost), as well as the convenience of having your number from home. When you jump to a new country, just re-forward your DID. You will pay long distance for the DID forwarding, but it will be minimal for most countries (1-2c /min)
- runjake 15y agoBuy an unlocked GSM phone. When you arrive in-country, buy a prepaid SIM card. Put it in your phone. It might also be ideal to get a Google Voice # and temporarily forward it to whatever your temp # is.