In Taiwan. Need a prepaid Taiwan SIM card with unlimited data..

[fuzzybabybunny]

So I just got into Taiwan and I'll be here until the 10th, about 2 weeks. I need a prepaid SIM card or something with preferably unlimited data and some small amount of minutes for a few Taiwan to Taiwan calls. I'll use the unlimited data for Skype/VOIP calling. Unfortunately the stores were closed at the airport when I flew in, so now I need to find a place to get a SIM card in the actual city itself.

I tried MyFone places - the pay as you go cards have stupidly high rates for data. The only cards without high rates are those thar require a 1yr contract. The cards that are valid for 5 days with unlimited data require a frickin' Taiwan resident card, which obviously we wouldn't have. It's ass backwards.

Any ideas?

 

[scott916]

You might have better luck asking at HowardForums.

 

[EvilYoda]

Get a resident to buy you a 5-day card?

 

[Lifted]

I'll use the unlimited data for Skype/VOIP calling.

There's your problem. They know this and make sure tourists can't get around their international calling rates.

You're best bet is (would have been?) to set up something with a VOIP service such as callcentric. They don't have local access numbers in Taiwan (others may) but you could always make a quick call to your number and have it set to dial you back. Then when it dials you back, at a flat rate of 8 cents per call, it gives you a dial tone to make whatever call you want at the cheaper VOIP rates, which I think are around 2 cents per call to the US now.

It's a bit of a pain in the ass, but at 8 cents per call instead of $2 per minute, it can be worth it.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

There in lies your problem. They know this and make sure tourists can't get around their international calling rates.

You're best bet is (would have been?) to set up something with a VOIP service such as callcentric. They don't have local access numbers in Taiwan (others may) but you could always make a quick call to your number and have it set to dial you back. Then when it dials you back, at a flat rate of 8 cents per call, it gives you a dial tone to make whatever call you want at the cheaper VOIP rates.

It's a bit of a pain in the ass, but at 8 cents per call instead of $2 per minute, it can be worth it.

That just totally blew my mind. How the hell does that work?

I call my number and then hang up.
My number somehow calls me back on my Taiwanese number.
I pick up, and there's a dial tone? And then I make another call... while I'm on the phone... with myself? WTF?

And CallCentric is VoIP... meaning it's using my data connection, right?

 

[Lifted]

That just totally blew my mind. How the hell does that work?

I call my number and then hang up. Yes
My number somehow calls me back on my Taiwanese number. Yes
I pick up, and there's a dial tone? And then I make another call... while I'm on the phone... with myself? WTF? Yes

And CallCentric is VoIP... meaning it's using my data connection, right?

No, it's making a regular call to you from the US, though it's routed through the internet via a SIP trunk, then connected to the local Taiwan telco at a data center. I'm not sure about Taiwan, but other places in Asia didn't charge for inbound calls on mobile phones, and if they did it was pretty cheap, so you're only paying the callcentric rate of 8 cents per call to Taiwan, plus the call that you then make, which if it's to the US would be 2 cents per call.

It's basically a calling card functionality, and instead of the dial in number being a local or toll-free call, it's calling you first.
http://www.callcentric.com/calling_card/
Actually, it looks like callcentric doesn't provide native callback and you need the below app. I used to do this from my asterisk server, and never through callcentric, so I'm not sure if they support. If you do a search for callback services you should find some.

Actually voip.ms appears to have native callback, and their rates are similar to callcentric.
http://wiki.voip.ms/article/Callback

2. How do I place a call using the Callback service?
Dial your access number the same way you would dial a US phone number from your country. After dialing the access number, wait for the first ring and hang up the phone. In a few seconds, your phone will ring, and there will be a message prompting you to dial your destination number.

This app let's you dial a number from your iPhone, then calls you back at your phone and connects you to the number you just dialed. http://www.callcentric.com/support/device/iphone/callcentric

 

[MaxFusion16]

I was in Taiwan back in 2009, things shouldn't have changed too much. I was able to buy a prepaid sim at the airport, unlimited 3G data for like a dollar a day, no resident card needed.

Don't trust the info online, just go to a phone shop and ask.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

No, it's making a regular call to you from the US, though it's routed through the internet via a SIP trunk, then connected to the local Taiwan telco at a data center. I'm not sure about Taiwan, but other places in Asia didn't charge for inbound calls on mobile phones, and if they did it was pretty cheap, so you're only paying the callcentric rate of 8 cents per call to Taiwan, plus the call that you then make, which if it's to the US would be 2 cents per call.

It's basically a calling card functionality, and instead of the dial in number being a local or toll-free call, it's calling you first.
http://www.callcentric.com/calling_card/
Actually, it looks like callcentric doesn't provide native callback and you need the below app. I used to do this from my asterisk server, and never through callcentric, so I'm not sure if they support. If you do a search for callback services you should find some.

Actually voip.ms appears to have native callback, and their rates are similar to callcentric.
http://wiki.voip.ms/article/Callback


This app let's you dial a number from your iPhone, then calls you back at your phone and connects you to the number you just dialed. http://www.callcentric.com/support/device/iphone/callcentric

Hmmmm... when I get called back and I have to enter the number I wish to dial, I have to manually enter it, right? Digit by digit? VOIP apps like Skype or Vopium allow you to just select a contact from your address book and hit their icon to call them. You don't have to enter their number in digit by digit (who knows their contacts' numbers digit by digit anymore anyway?).

 

[MotionMan]

I was in Taiwan back in 2009, things shouldn't have changed too much. I was able to buy a prepaid sim at the airport, unlimited 3G data for like a dollar a day, no resident card needed.

Don't trust the info online, just go to a phone shop and ask.

Yeah, OP, can you get back to the airport to pick up a card there?

MotionMan

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Thanks! We got it working at MyFone / 台灣大哥大.

We had to use our tour guide in Taiwan, had her bring two forms of ID, translate between each other, spend an hour and a half with us in the store, tip her for her time, and after messing around with the APN settings and paying $2000 NT for 30 days (no 15 day option) of unlimited data + 60 local minutes, we finally got it working, sorta. What a fucking nightmare. At the end of our stay we'll have 15 extra days so I'm just going to give the SIM card to my tour guide for her use.

Either that or buy a 1yr contract with my existing USA IDs and cancel it after 15 days and pay an early termination fee.

But we got it! Yay for Taiwan SIM card policies!

 

[The_Dude8]

i thought you were in Mexico op?

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

i thought you were in Mexico op?

I was. In Mexico (Bahia Asuncion, tiny fishing village) for spearfishing and freediving for a week and a half. We were behind on time so I wasn't able to get a Mexican SIM card, but the type of SIM I wanted to get was easy to obtain with the standard 2 forms of ID in the city of Ensenada, and the people working there spoke English.

Afterwards we drove back to LA and had 2 days of diving for spiny lobster. One of our guys got a few lobster the size of a typical housecat.

Now I'm in Taiwan with my parents for 2 weeks. Taiwan is way more confusing for me than Mexico, the single reason being there's no alphabet in the Chinese language so I can't make heads or tails of anything that's written. No signs, no menu items, nothing. And I even speak and understand Chinese on a 2nd grade level. I can't speak or understand Spanish for shit, but at least they have an alphabet so I can figure out what things are and attempt to sound out the word. In Chinese I can be staring at a word for "restaurant" and not know it, even though I know how to say it, and when I do figure it out I'll remember what the pictograph character looks like for all of 5 seconds and bam, I no longer have any idea what the character for "restaurant" looks like, again.

 

[ponyo]

Sounds like fun. Especially the fishing and diving part.

How is the Captivate working out? I assume you got it unlocked no problem if you're using it outside of the US. I don't know if you know about GrooveIP app on the Android Market. It's $5 paid app but it allows you to make and receive calls anywhere in the world for free as long as you have wireless data or Wifi connection. The app uses Google Voice for the calls.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Sounds like fun. Especially the fishing and diving part.

How is the Captivate working out? I assume you got it unlocked no problem if you're using it outside of the US. I don't know if you know about GrooveIP app on the Android Market. It's $5 paid app but it allows you to make and receive calls anywhere in the world for free as long as you have wireless data or Wifi connection. The app uses Google Voice for the calls.

yes, unlocking was not too bad. the captivate is a pain to type on, battery life sucks, already has scratches on the glass unlike my epic, the gps is worthless as nd never locks, and it is slippery as fuck and is just begging to be dropped. but it was cheap and works well as an international phone I would never have this as my daily use phone though.

I will for sure check out grooveip!