Australian SIM - avoid Lycamobile

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  1. #1

    Join Date
    Mar 2007
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    Gold Coast Marina
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    17,934

    Australian SIM - avoid Lycamobile

    A review of Lycamobile I just posted on an Australian review website, for the information of anyone who, like me, picks up a local SIM when they travel. My Optus one expired (an entirely different and annoying story!) and I thought I would "give this a go". A huge mistake I would recommend others avoid! Turns out it uses the Telstra 2G network but none of that appears on the advertising for the SIM.....

    I live in HK and just wanted a SIM for a few days in Perth, mainly for internet. I thought the 24$ deal was acceptable so I took it. Firstly getting the SIM to work at all was TERRIBLE. It requires a phone or an internet connection (which of course I didn't have because THAT WAS WHY I WAS BUYING THE SIM. Then the internet does not work and you have to ring up for settings - and they say they will SMS them but they don't. So I rang up again and they said they would email in 24 hours (hopeless since I was only here 2 days!). So eventually I got them to read the settings to me ... but the internet is SOOO slow it's useless. Drops out all the time (Perth CBD). Utterly useless and very expensive for a couple of days of internet.
    I would only get this in Aus if I did a LOT of phone calling; for a smart phone it's useless. Just purchased an OPTUS SIM and will write off the $32 dollars wasted on lycamobile. Never again. Just wanted to warn others.

  2. #2

    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Posts
    14,414

    Moving

    You're seriously unlucky! Did you break a mirror recently?


  3. #3

    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Gold Coast Marina
    Posts
    17,934
    Quote Originally Posted by jimbo:
    Moving

    You're seriously unlucky! Did you break a mirror recently?
    LOL. We make our own luck. I made the "mistake" (for business reasons) of taking a red-eye flight from Singapore to Perth in economy overnight Wednesday night ... NOBODY makes good decisions on zero sleep!

  4. #4

    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    Hong Kong side
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    1,824

    I am in Adelaide now using the smarttone overseas roam data package for hkd168/day forget what the limit is but its enough if you dont download videos etc:uses the Optus network which does not need any setup or the stupid registration by phone they do here but its very very slow cf hongkong and drops a lot but it seems the Australian s accept this as normal


  5. #5

    Join Date
    May 2007
    Posts
    599

    Smartone roaming day package is BAD...only 50 MB per day, whereas the other providers give you unlimited data.

    For SIMs in Australia, I've found amaysim to be okay. Uses Optus network, data quality is variable (but most networks in Australia are). I think that every prepaid SIM that you buy requires you to activate online as they need personal information by law.