Matrix sim cards and mobile broadband for use abroad - are they any good?

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vishalrao

vishalrao

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I might have to travel to London for work shortly and am looking for a good GSM connection. Just remember about Matrix (ads are running now on my Tata Sky) about their SIM cards and I also remember when I'd applied for my visa last year they also offered mobile broadband... both post paid.

Question is, are they any good? I will not pay them in advance rather take the post-paid option so in case their service is lousy you just dont need to pay...
 
^^ better get a connection from there. Any one here who has been there would be able to suggest. I could have for Canada and China :)
 
Yes I did that last time (when I went last year) my UK boss got me a SIM and 3G dongle. Its hard to get it yourself because they need some sort of local ID for security purposes. So I wanted to try Matrix if they are not rip-offs since its post-paid and you get the SIM/dongle in hand before you leave to no hassles obtaining after you reach... I'm just wondering if they (Matrix) are safe or cause hassles...
 
They are very good. I've used them in Germany, Greece, China, Bangkok and the US.

Rates are quite cheap. For Germany, Greece and Bangkok, incoming calls were free. It was very very convenient. For the US and China, incoming calls were charged. For the US trip, they gave us a number of free minutes which lasted us for probably 15-20 days. At the end of the trip, our total bill was about 7k. for 35 days.

And we talked a lot on the phone. My mom had to keep in touch with her parents and used to call practically everyday to Bangalore. My dad and me had to keep in touch with our office. All of us had to keep in touch with the various relatives in the US to plan various things. Also, there were many times where my mom used to chat with my aunt on the phone. We used it much more than we expected and the bill still was about 7k. I think that's very good value.

Also, for the US trip, we also had a USB dongle with a sim card so that we could connect to the internet via 3g anytime, anywhere. Quite useful in some ripoff hotels where Wi-fi is not complimentary. That cost us 150$ for 35 days. Unlimited downloads/uploads.
 
Matrix sim card for UK - :)

Incoming -- FREEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Outgoing SMS -- 12rs. INR

And yes, it works! perfectly!

Roaming on ur current GSM connection will be very expensive. Airtel had given me rate of 100 rs. incoming and 80 rs. outgoing!....and outgoing SMS - 25 buks per sms.

Also, register and buy credit from www.call2.com :) this will help you to make calls from the UK back to India! at ~ 9 buks per minute. The system is very nice and if people back here want to call you from India they can use the service too.
 
Excellent, thanks folks, looks like I'll try Matrix this time... (yea in no way was i going to use my airtel SIM in roaming mode abroad hah!)
 
in the UK, i had a very bad experience... the service which it used over there (forgot which one it was) didnot have any signal whatsoever in almost half the city.

i think it would be easier to get a prepaid card over there

the only advantage is the incoming free so that the indians can call you from the landline :bleh:

the scheme was.. u deposit 10000, no monthly rental. Only usage charge, and the balance was returned.
 
hmmm, 10k initial deposit eh? i'll let my office handle that :) even the local UK services had patchy signal quality... like Vodafone would work nicely in one area but not so nice elsewhere... There are other providers like "3" and Tmobile. I will find out from them whose network they work on...assuming I get to go, i'll be in central london mostly...
 
Matrix is the best. But for broadband, ask someone to get you a local USB stick, unless are going to multiple countries.

If you are a Citibank card holder, you get some 'special' discounts on matrix cards.

If you dont have a phone compatible for the region (e.g. Japan) they give you a handset and charger too.
 
thanks... local USB sticks come with an approx initial GBP 50-100 non refundable charge on top of the usage charges (things might have changed now) so i guess i will also give matrix's 3g dongles a shot this time to save that amount... if their 3g sticks also operate on tmobile then they should be good enough from what i recall from last year...
 
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