KeepGo - Data sim for travelling review
About six months ago I tested out a product called KnowRoaming. Conclusion was I wasn't sure if this product was for me, especially with the issues I faced with my phone. KnowRoaming did contact me and looked to improve the product. I haven't tried it since then though, but might do in the future if they maybe lower prices and increase their coverage (incidentally if you do want to sign up to KnowRoaming and use code RUPSH10 you will get 30% off and US$5 free credit).
I did stumble upon another travelling sim product called KeepGo*. The premise for this is similar, used data when abroad without getting charged for data roaming by your mobile provider. The execution, however is not the same.
With KeepGo you need to buy a separate sim card or mobile hotspot. You then buy data, rather than paying per day. The sim card costs US$58.65 and the hotspot costs US$109.65 (these prices are based on using the above referral link which gives a 15% discount, otherwise the regular rates are US$69 for the sim card and US$129 for the mobile hotspot). With your initial buy you get 1GB worth of data. This data can be used anywhere where KeepGo has coverage (i.e. an agreement with a local provider). At present KeepGo has coverage in 64 territories. Coverage in North America and Europe is pretty solid, but in Asia you are limited to just China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Thailand.
I decided to give the KeepGo sim a try. For shipping they offer free delivery within North America and Europe, but shipping to Asia is not cheap, at US$20. Luckily, as I had family coming over from the UK, I was able to ship there for free and family brought the sim package with them.
You get a nice little sim kit, which is the size of a credit card. The actual sim is a Nano sim, but the kit comes with different types of adaptors:
The sim kit also comes with basic instructions to get the sim working (either enter the information manually, or download the relevant app Android / ios and install via the apps. At its very basic, for the sim to work you need to make sure data roaming is enabled and the relevant KeepGo apn is saved (and obviously you will need to swap out your regular sim with the KeepGo sim when abroad). I found the android app to be quite basic, and not really that informative. For example to find out your remaining balance, you had to type in the last six digits of your sim number every time. The app however did have a bunch of useful information and help guides (which were missing from the KeepGo website).
The KeepGo sim should automatically select a network if you are in one of its coverage territories (otherwise it won't work). My phone is a dual sim phone, so the network wasn't selected automatically and I had to manually select the network. KeepGo keeps a list of its network partners.
I used the sim when I had a layover in Germany and again for a weekend trip to Bangkok. Overall, apart from having to select the networks manually, the service worked great. There were some minor network issues in Bangkok, but this was to do with KeepGo's partner network there, rather than KeepGo itself. Connection speeds were great (3G services only, which is advisable anyway, as you are being charged per data rather than per day / hour, etc). In terms of actual data used, I only used about 100MB of data, which included checking emails, basic web-browsing, various messaging and Google Maps.
The 1GB data has an expiry of one year, and if you top up, that expiry extends by another year. Top up prices vary from US$49 for 1GB to US$194 for 5GB (US$38.8 per GB). These are supposed to be "promotion" prices, but seem to be the regular price.
So, is KeepGo worth it? While actually using the data sim is fine, there are quite a few issues with the service. Clearly, if travelling, getting a local sim card is by far the cheapest option. Also, if you intend to use a lot of data while abroad, KeepGo is going to work out very expensive, and there are going to be cheaper options (such as higher a mobile hotspot for a daily fixed fee). The coverage, especially in Asia is limited. Whilst KeepGo does cover China, their roaming partner is China Mobile, which does not have a standard 3G network, so you would be limited to 2G speeds there. The sim is limited to data only, and whilst it is possible to make voip calls, this will chew up into your data allowance. Another Asia consideration is the expensive cost of receiving the sim kit, for the size of the kit, a US$20 charge is frankly way overpriced. At the very least, if KeepGo can sort out better coverage in Asia and lower the price of receiving the sim kit in the region, I think their proposition would be a bit more appealing.
However where I can see KeepGo being utilised is for things like stopgaps away from wifi points (such as in your hotel) and you need something while away from wifi points to check messages and use Google Maps. In my case I found it useful for a short trip to Bangkok, where I didn't need / want to hassle of sorting out a local prepaid sim card (which requires some registration details).
[* referral link]
I did stumble upon another travelling sim product called KeepGo*. The premise for this is similar, used data when abroad without getting charged for data roaming by your mobile provider. The execution, however is not the same.
With KeepGo you need to buy a separate sim card or mobile hotspot. You then buy data, rather than paying per day. The sim card costs US$58.65 and the hotspot costs US$109.65 (these prices are based on using the above referral link which gives a 15% discount, otherwise the regular rates are US$69 for the sim card and US$129 for the mobile hotspot). With your initial buy you get 1GB worth of data. This data can be used anywhere where KeepGo has coverage (i.e. an agreement with a local provider). At present KeepGo has coverage in 64 territories. Coverage in North America and Europe is pretty solid, but in Asia you are limited to just China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Thailand.
I decided to give the KeepGo sim a try. For shipping they offer free delivery within North America and Europe, but shipping to Asia is not cheap, at US$20. Luckily, as I had family coming over from the UK, I was able to ship there for free and family brought the sim package with them.
You get a nice little sim kit, which is the size of a credit card. The actual sim is a Nano sim, but the kit comes with different types of adaptors:
The sim kit also comes with basic instructions to get the sim working (either enter the information manually, or download the relevant app Android / ios and install via the apps. At its very basic, for the sim to work you need to make sure data roaming is enabled and the relevant KeepGo apn is saved (and obviously you will need to swap out your regular sim with the KeepGo sim when abroad). I found the android app to be quite basic, and not really that informative. For example to find out your remaining balance, you had to type in the last six digits of your sim number every time. The app however did have a bunch of useful information and help guides (which were missing from the KeepGo website).
The KeepGo sim should automatically select a network if you are in one of its coverage territories (otherwise it won't work). My phone is a dual sim phone, so the network wasn't selected automatically and I had to manually select the network. KeepGo keeps a list of its network partners.
I used the sim when I had a layover in Germany and again for a weekend trip to Bangkok. Overall, apart from having to select the networks manually, the service worked great. There were some minor network issues in Bangkok, but this was to do with KeepGo's partner network there, rather than KeepGo itself. Connection speeds were great (3G services only, which is advisable anyway, as you are being charged per data rather than per day / hour, etc). In terms of actual data used, I only used about 100MB of data, which included checking emails, basic web-browsing, various messaging and Google Maps.
The 1GB data has an expiry of one year, and if you top up, that expiry extends by another year. Top up prices vary from US$49 for 1GB to US$194 for 5GB (US$38.8 per GB). These are supposed to be "promotion" prices, but seem to be the regular price.
So, is KeepGo worth it? While actually using the data sim is fine, there are quite a few issues with the service. Clearly, if travelling, getting a local sim card is by far the cheapest option. Also, if you intend to use a lot of data while abroad, KeepGo is going to work out very expensive, and there are going to be cheaper options (such as higher a mobile hotspot for a daily fixed fee). The coverage, especially in Asia is limited. Whilst KeepGo does cover China, their roaming partner is China Mobile, which does not have a standard 3G network, so you would be limited to 2G speeds there. The sim is limited to data only, and whilst it is possible to make voip calls, this will chew up into your data allowance. Another Asia consideration is the expensive cost of receiving the sim kit, for the size of the kit, a US$20 charge is frankly way overpriced. At the very least, if KeepGo can sort out better coverage in Asia and lower the price of receiving the sim kit in the region, I think their proposition would be a bit more appealing.
However where I can see KeepGo being utilised is for things like stopgaps away from wifi points (such as in your hotel) and you need something while away from wifi points to check messages and use Google Maps. In my case I found it useful for a short trip to Bangkok, where I didn't need / want to hassle of sorting out a local prepaid sim card (which requires some registration details).
[* referral link]
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