Best strategy to get a cheap long-term mobile SIM card for the US?
I travel to US every year (sometimes once every 2 years). Every time that I arrive in a country, I buy a cheap prepaid SIM card. The problem is that all these cheap SIMs have a short inactive life, due to their pay-as-you-go nature. For example, most of them will die after 3 months of inactivity, and it is almost impossible to reactivate them.
Is it possible to buy a SIM, which work for a long time regardless of its activity? I wish to have a permanent mobile number in the US. I can get US numbers via Google voice and such, but then I need to buy a separate SIM card and set up forwarding and such, which can get complicated. (If this is the best option, I need a step by step explanation of how to make it work).
I'm looking for either a prepaid solution (with a 24-month lifespan) or a postpaid solution that I can activate to an expensive plan while there, and a cheaper plan (less than $10/month, i.e. around $100 of unnecessary annual costs) when not there, and an expensive data plan while there. If it works worldwide (as I hear T-mobile's $70/month plan does), that would be a bonus.
Supporting calling over WiFi would also be good for using the SIM card elsewhere.
So far the strategies I've identified are:
- Get a postpaid US number
- Get a prepaid number with online refill/recharge and roaming capabilities, so that you can use the sim once in 3 months.
- Get an online US number (skype($60/year), google(free + some $ recharge) and use that as primary, forwarding to local throwaway sim while in the US.
My question is are there any other strategies that people have used successfully?
Best Answer
I use Google Voice as my stable US number and I am happy with that approach. I simply buy a cheap pre-paid SIM card in each country that I visit, including the US.
The Google web page (voice.google.com) is very straightforward; setting up call-forwarding to another number is self-evident.
If you have the voice.google.com web page open, you can also receive incoming calls over the browser.
Even if you don't setup call-forwarding to another number, Google will transcribe incoming calls to text (remarkably accurate) and send them by e-mail to you.
A huge advantage of Google Voice (and the main reason I use it) is that it supports incoming SMS messages in most (but not all) cases. This is important for 2-factor authentication when you are logging in to a US website from abroad.
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What is the cheapest of SIM card in USA?
If you want to access one of the cheapest SIM cards in the USA, then Fi's Flexible plan is the way to go. It includes a free data-only SIM for free at a minimum of $30 per month for one GB.Which prepaid SIM card is best in USA?
The Best Prepaid SIM Card for USA Travel- T-Mobile Prepaid SIM with Unlimited Data.
- Three Prepaid SIM with 12GB Data.
- AT&T Prepaid SIM Card with 22GB Data.
- Orange Holiday World SIM Card with 10GB Data.
- LycaMobile Prepaid SIM Card with 4GB Data.
How do I get a temporary SIM card in the US?
You can purchase an AT&T SIM card along with a prepaid plan online, or you can head to an AT&T store. Other retailers such as Target, Best Buy, and Walmart sell AT&T SIM cards for around $10, which is more than you would pay online but always an option.Can a foreigner get a SIM card in USA?
Make sure your phone is unlocked, before buying a sim card in the USA. Foreign sim cards only work in unlocked phones. If you are not sure about this ask your provider in your home country before your trip.Buying a Sim Card in the USA in 2022 🇺🇸
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Answer 2
EDIT: In 2020-2021, Google stopped providing Google Hangouts Dialer and eventually broke existing installations. Fortunately most of the functionality has been moved into the Google Voice App, which is now capable of making calls in data-only mode on both wifi and SIM-based data without making SIM-based calls. Their support information is vague and doubtful about whether you can use it outside the US. As of 2021, it is still working well enough for me to use it, but not well enough for me to recommend it to others. Only time will tell whether Google Voice remains a viable solution for travelers in the future.
What I did is use a Google Voice number. To get one initially, you must be in the US and have another US number, but you can keep the Google Voice number once you have it as long as it doesn't sit unused for too many months.
Rather than dealing with forwarding settings, I got Google Hangouts Dialer for Android, and changed its settings to ring for incoming calls. This enables you to make and receive US phone calls using your Google Voice number, by using the Google Hangouts Dialer app. In this case, don't install the Google Voice app which would depend on forwarding settings and making calls using your SIM card.
The advantage of the Google Hangouts Dialer setup is it only uses data, so you can use it equally well from anywhere in the world that you have data, either Wifi or mobile data. It will work with your throwaway SIM as soon as data is working, both in the US and other countries. The disadvantage is it has slightly poorer sound quality than a regular mobile phone (much poorer if your data connection is bad). The other disadvantage is it doesn't work right with apps like Uber that want to make phone calls directly. I still used Uber but I had to text the driver to call me. The other disadvantage is you can't log into the Google Voice website from outside the US, so you need to make sure you like your settings before you leave the US.
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