Well I have a trip booked to Egypt, for 2 weeks in April.
The hotel has patchy (and maybe not free) internet, which is unreliable outside the main block.
So assuming I can't live without it (I can't, not least as home want me to check in occasionally) can anyone suggest the cheapest way to get some internet minutes? There seem to be a few options so I'm interested to hear any real experiences. I can live without a massive data allowance but need something worthwhile - email & browsing (mainly keeping up to date with forums rather than general looking around).
I have just found this site which details the various locally obtainable SIM cards but it looks ridiculously cheap. prepaid-data-sim-card.wikia.com/wiki/Egypt
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I thought no one is travelling to Egypt nowadays!
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No-one sensible. That's what makes it cheap :-) Around £19 per night for an all inclusive 4 star hotel. That's just the lunchtime drinks bill if I'd gone to the States, as usual. Oh, and it is likely to be HOT.
There are no flights to Sharm at the moment though, so I'm off to Hurgadha. FO travel advice is that area is reasonably safe. In fact Paris has a higher sounding warning than Egypt.
Regarding my query above, I've dug around some more and it really does seem that a locally sourced SIM (from one of the thousands of mobile phone shops) will come in well under £20 (and maybe much less - depending on haggling skills!) but all three mobile suppliers have recently blocked VOIP services such as Skype or Viber. I'd still be interested to hear any real tales...
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Data usage is that cheap.
However, make an international phone call and you'll know all about it!!
If you might need to ring home, then don't rely on VOIP packages either. You need to use either a phone card (cheap but a pain) or something like Rebtel (which is what I use).
Services such as Rebtel give you a local voice call nymber which is then routed VOIP to your international number.
[For me, for example, I make a local call which is unlimited and then pay .25p per minute to a UK landline. The receiving number simply gets a voice call so needs no data contracts or special software or any of that faff.]
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........as for "real tales" I was last in Egypt about 3 yrs ago and then VOIP wasn't blocked, nor did I then use Rebtel although I did use a similar service so not much help.
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If all you are going to do is check in back home, I would just use my normal phone on roaming, and send a txt msg every two days.
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Yeah that's the fall back but I would like data anyway, if only just to keep an eye on you lot LOL.
I will take a portable hard drive with any multimedia I need, also can save pics to it.
My phone is with Virgin, who are quite expensive for any foreign use, even in Europe. I do need to contact home regularly as SWMBO is letting me go on my own which is good but she does fret....
The hotel supposedly has free WiFi but people are saying that it's only in the lobby and bar, and it slow and flaky. So if I really needed serious data I just make sure I start any downloads when I settle in for the evening in the bar!!
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I just installed Rebtel and verified my Android. It said internet calls are not available on my phone.
So when I get to Egypt how would it work? Would I need to get a local SIM with some minutes so I can call a local number which forwards my call?
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You don't want internet calls. Although I am mildly curious as to why it will not allow them.
>>Would I need to get a local SIM with some minutes so I can call a local number which forwards my call?
Exactly. I have Chilean, Brazilian, US and UK SIMS for exactly that reason.
You need to put on credit to your Rebtel account. You need to check the costs to assess how much. For each call you then pay for the local call on your local, usually peanuts, and count down your Rebtel credit.
I would recommend putting a tiny credit on Rebtel, its easy enough to increase in the future, that was you can make sure it all works as expected when you get there. Although I cannot think why it would not.
You will need to configure Rebtel for when you are in Egypt, you don't want it making a UK local call!!!
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BTW, I use Rebtel and I like it, but there are many others you could equally use.
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Well I thought Viber was similar but I think that's just VOIP.
Thanks for the Rebtel tips, I know you've mentioned it before and it's something I will have an increasing need for as I get to travel more.
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Viber, Whatsapp and the like all require a data connection and make data calls. They mostly require software installed on the other end.
The advantage of services such as Rebtel is that they make a simple local voice call at your end and at the other end there is no requirement for anything special.
There is other stuff which I find helpful;
e.g.
You can authorise other phones to use your account. And that includes FIXED line. So for example you could be on business in abroad, authorise your home phone, give your wife a dedicated local phone number for you, and she will be able to call you simply as usual. Or indeed authorise her mobile phone.
Last edited by: No FM2R on Tue 1 Mar 16 at 17:44
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>> The hotel supposedly has free WiFi but people are saying that it's only in the
>> lobby and bar, and it slow and flaky.
Ideal then, long hours spent in the bar coming up. The only way to safely drink the water is in beer format, everyone knows that.
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Egypt SIM for data - movilogo
