xdeb.org

ReadySIM prepaid short-term plans in the USA works well with unlocked iPhone

ReadySIM sim card

Ready SIM is a relative new mobile service in the USA that I first read about in this Ars Technica article Ready SIM offers cheap, short-term, and disposable mobile service.

When I needed a mobile solution for a trip to the USA recently I luckily remembered that article. I looked in to some other options but ReadySIM seemed to be the best and easiest.

  • You can get the SIM-card delivered to you home address if you can order it a couple of weeks in advance.
  • To activate it you only need to send a single SMS with the area code you want a phone number for.
  • Another SMS will get you the APN settings.

Other solutions seemed to require time consuming registration processes and that the SIM was bought at a airport or a local store in the USA.

Upon arriving to the USA I switch SIM-cards in my phone and did the setup while waiting in the immigration queue. It just worked and both reception and data speeds was decent. Overall a pleasant experience.

One annoyance is that I received quite a lot of SMS spam. Not sure of the best way to stop that, never looked in to it since I was there for only a week.

The cost for me was 55 USD for a 30 day plan and 2 GB data (really only needed a week but wanted more data). That also included unlimited talk and SMS.

The price seems to be competitive in the USA but it is expensive when compared to services like OCN mobile ONE in Japan. There I pay around 11 USD per month for 3 GB data with excellent reception and data speeds.

Here in Sweden Telia, Telia Refill, seems to charge around 18 USD per month for 3 GB data with good reception and data speeds.