# Mobile phone sim card



## Kayeberry (Sep 22, 2014)

I will be in Cascais for 4 weeks this summer and would like advice on SIM cards. I live in USA currently and have a small unlocked cell phone purchased in Australia. I plan to use the phone to call and receive calls from the U.S. occasionally and I am wondering if I should purchase an international roaming SIM card while still in the US or wait and purchase a SIM card in portugal. I may need to make a few local Portuguese calls also.
Any ideas of what I should do?
Ps I do have Skype on my regular us phone but I don't know what kind of Internet access I will have.
Thanks for your help.


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## MrBife (Jul 26, 2009)

One of these may be good, you can get the card in advance by post. Use it for a month and then bin it or give it to someone that is staying on. It has a VoIP App too that links to it and once you get your head around it you can call family for free.

Lycamobile | Low Cost international calls | Best international SIM card | Free SIMs

The Portuguese GSM system is world class especially in greater Lisbon area


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## Kingfibber (Mar 23, 2013)

If you are flying into Lisbon, try the Vodaphone shop in Arrivals.
They stock a variety of SIM cards which offer different Tariffs depending on your needs.
I have purchased from there many times.

Sent from my iPad using ExpatForum


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## ddrysdale99 (Apr 3, 2014)

Make sure your phone is not locked to one network.


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## advolex (Mar 8, 2015)

*Go with MrBife*



MrBife said:


> One of these may be good, you can get the card in advance by post. Use it for a month and then bin it or give it to someone that is staying on. It has a VoIP App too that links to it and once you get your head around it you can call family for free.
> 
> Lycamobile | Low Cost international calls | Best international SIM card | Free SIMs
> 
> The Portuguese GSM system is world class especially in greater Lisbon area


Or get an activated US SIM from Lycamobile before you go, and let the world call you without roaming costs in Portugal and 16 other countries. US is one of them. The slogan is: "No roaming charges when using your Lycamobile abroad in 17 destinations". I think this beats every traveller SIM anytime. As long as you confine yourself to the 17 countries. But I've never seen any VoIP app "that links to it".


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## DavidBelons (Sep 30, 2015)

In my experience it is best to use local sim cards in every country. When I travel to Europe I always buy local pre-paid sim cards instead of roaming sim cards. It's way cheaper. Just got from Vilnius, Lithuania. Used "ezys.lt" card, I suggest you doing the same- buy local one  good luck


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## advolex (Mar 8, 2015)

*Local SIM*



DavidBelons said:


> In my experience it is best to use local sim cards in every country. When I travel to Europe I always buy local pre-paid sim cards instead of roaming sim cards. It's way cheaper. Just got from Vilnius, Lithuania. Used "ezys.lt" card, I suggest you doing the same- buy local one  good luck


Yes, I completely agree with M. Belons. I got myself a local SIM pre-paid from Vodafone and use that for mobile internet and portuguese national calls. But most of my international calls are with people in the 17 destinations, which carry no roaming costs whatsoever. Downside is you need to maintain and carry two cell phones. That's probably why dual-SIM phones are so popular here


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## LooseBoots (Sep 5, 2014)

*i-phones*



advolex said:


> Yes, I completely agree with M. Belons. I got myself a local SIM pre-paid from Vodafone and use that for mobile internet and portuguese national calls. But most of my international calls are with people in the 17 destinations, which carry no roaming costs whatsoever. Downside is you need to maintain and carry two cell phones. That's probably why dual-SIM phones are so popular here


Fortunately or unfortunately we bought I phones when we moved to Panama. The only reason I mention it is that is that the SIM card has to be trimmed down to almost half the size of the original sim to fit the phone. Which means it is not interchangeable with other phones.
We mainly use free wifi but obviously need a sim card to be able to get 3G functions.

Would the Vodafone be able to the i phones. Plus is the coverage for Vodafone good in Portugal.??


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## azoreseuropa (Nov 10, 2013)

ddrysdale99 said:


> Make sure your phone is not locked to one network.


She did say unlocked.


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## siobhanwf (Mar 20, 2009)

The micro sim card is easily available from providers in Portugal.... just ask. No cutting needed


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## LooseBoots (Sep 5, 2014)

Thats great , thanks. Will they have those at the airport?


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## Kingfibber (Mar 23, 2013)

Hi looseboots,

I use a vodaphone micro sim in my iPad or iPhone when I visit Portugal. I then use this as my personal hotspot for the rest of the family to connect to. We used ours to Facetime family in the UK at Christmas.

Vodaphone offer a couple of tariffs for wifi, but I find the 4gb for 7 days for about €12.5 the best value.
Coverage is very good, even in remote rural areas. I get 4G signal in Central Portugal,
just south of Coimbra. There is an app which will help you monitor usage. Just remember to switch it off when not in use, as your device will still continue to use data to update apps & the like.

Top ups can be done via internet, multibanco / ATM, or payshop.

Vodaphone shops in most towns & cities, as well as Lisbon arrivals.

Happy surfing!

Sent from my iPad using ExpatForum


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## advolex (Mar 8, 2015)

LooseBoots said:


> Fortunately or unfortunately we bought I phones when we moved to Panama. The only reason I mention it is that is that the SIM card has to be trimmed down to almost half the size of the original sim to fit the phone. Which means it is not interchangeable with other phones.
> We mainly use free wifi but obviously need a sim card to be able to get 3G functions.
> 
> Would the Vodafone be able to the i phones. Plus is the coverage for Vodafone good in Portugal.??


You'll need a nano-SIM for later iPhones. My old 4S was the last iPhone with a micro-SIM. I have cut a few micro-SIMs from mini-SIMs, but wouldn't cut the even smaller nano-SIMs myself. Just ask for nano-SIM in the shop or better still let them fit the SIM-card. Yes, vodafone.pt has good coverage here. Lycamobile here uses Vodafone network as in some other countries, whether you roam or use a Portuguese SIM.

The only downside I found in using a vodafone.pt SIM card in my iPhone is that the app to check and control your data consumption (they have 4G coverage, but not for alla accounts) is only in Portuguese and you can only get it from the Portuguese App Store, thus you need to register a local Apple-Id also. Maybe you can circumvent that requirement somehow, but I don't know.


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## LooseBoots (Sep 5, 2014)

*Nano sim*



advolex said:


> You'll need a nano-SIM for later iPhones. My old 4S was the last iPhone with a micro-SIM. I have cut a few micro-SIMs from mini-SIMs, but wouldn't cut the even smaller nano-SIMs myself. Just ask for nano-SIM in the shop or better still let them fit the SIM-card. Yes, vodafone.pt has good coverage here. Lycamobile here uses Vodafone network as in some other countries, whether you roam or use a Portuguese SIM.
> 
> The only downside I found in using a vodafone.pt SIM card in my iPhone is that the app to check and control your data consumption (they have 4G coverage, but not for alla accounts) is only in Portuguese and you can only get it from the Portuguese App Store, thus you need to register a local Apple-Id also. Maybe you can circumvent that requirement somehow, but I don't know.


Hmm.I have a 5c my partner has a4s I think. We are 2 weeks in the Lisbon area before moving to Safara . So I suppose I could get away with just connection to wi fi rather than a data package, maybe.
I won`t know if my Panama number works until i get there. Some countries it does , others not. e.g It works in France but not U.K.


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## advolex (Mar 8, 2015)

*Data Plan or WiFi?*



LooseBoots said:


> Hmm.I have a 5c my partner has a4s I think. We are 2 weeks in the Lisbon area before moving to Safara . So I suppose I could get away with just connection to wi fi rather than a data package, maybe.
> I won`t know if my Panama number works until i get there. Some countries it does , others not. e.g It works in France but not U.K.


If it "works", your Panama SIM will probably carry awful roaming charges when you're called. To avoid these roaming charges I would either transfer (port) my cell phone number to a Lycamobile SIM from any of the 17 free roaming countries (Portugal being one of them) or further investigate the Piranha Mobile option. That option comes with a UK SIM card with a UK number and a US phone number included in the package. Of course this is only necessary if you need to be available everywhere anytime. If not, WiFi is the preferred way to communicate, as the cell phone carriers like to restrict and control your communications. Unless the data plan specifically allows VoIP (Skype, SIP etc.) it may well be useless for other purposes than email and web browsing.

You and your partner have different generations of iPhones, which have different requirements. You need a nano SIM and your partner a micro SIM. If you can find an adapter you might both use nano SIMs, but I'm not sure it would work very well. Anyhow, you shouldn't have difficulties finding the right size SIM either at the airport or in the city.

If you're staying in Portugal for some time I would definitively suggest a local SIM card with a Portuguese cell phone number. PTG or Pay-To-Go for the flexibility.


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