Shulou(Shulou.com)06/03 Report--

This paper takes the four ways of surfing the Internet abroad as an example to analyze which one is the cheapest. If you encounter this problem in your daily work, I hope you can get something according to this article.

1. Domestic operators launch international roaming services.

China's three major operators (China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom) all have independent international roaming business departments. You can turn on the international roaming service with your own SIM card belonging to domestic operators and surf the Internet overseas.

However, there are still two problems to be faced. First, the opening process is tedious. The three major operators all have relatively strict standards for opening international roaming services, for example, they need to have a deposit fee of more than 200-500 yuan, and for example, they have to enter the network for a certain period of time. And it may not be handled directly through the online business hall and customer service phone. It is possible to go to the offline business hall before it can be handled. This may be fine for business people who go abroad all the year round, but for some tourists, it is really troublesome.

The second problem is the cost of international roaming. With the implementation of the "Belt and Road Initiative" policy, the three major domestic operators have reduced prices many times in the past two years, and the "sky-high roaming fees" that have been exposed may become less and less, but the premise is that you need to handle the corresponding traffic package, if you do not handle the traffic package, high fees may still be deducted according to the consumed traffic. There are a variety of traffic packages, and the price in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan has basically been reduced to about 20 yuan, and other countries and regions are also charged at the price of 30 yuan, 60 yuan and 90 yuan per day. You need to send a specified text message to handle the traffic package, which may not be convenient for users who go abroad temporarily.

The picture shows the international roaming service package of a domestic operator.

2. Rent Wi-Fi equipment for departure with you.

Carry-on Wi-Fi devices are another artifact that has emerged in recent years, also known as Wi-Fi boxes. This kind of Wi-Fi device often has a SIM card built in, through which the SIM card can surf the Internet abroad, and then transmit hot spots through the device. Visitors can use their mobile phones to turn on the Wi-Fi function, search and connect to the hotspot to access the Internet.

Outbound Wi-Fi devices are suitable for many people to use, but if too many people use them together, it will slow down everyone's Internet speed. And the device itself consumes electricity, so when you charge your phone, you also have to charge the Wi-Fi device to ensure its normal operation. There are many domestic companies and brands that can provide this kind of portable Wi-Fi equipment, including the equipment itself and the built-in network card, the quality is uneven, so the stability is not enough.

Wi-Fi equipment itself has a certain cost, so the more common mode is leasing. You can choose the country and time you want to travel in advance, and then pay a full deposit, and you can basically pick up the equipment directly at the exit airport or port. When you return to China, you will receive the deposit when you return the equipment. This rental model is relatively cumbersome and is not suitable for visiting multiple countries or temporary trips at a time.

However, Wi-Fi equipment still has certain advantages in terms of price, as long as 10-20 yuan per day in many countries and regions, but network speed and stability are not necessarily guaranteed.

The picture shows an introduction to the outbound Wi-Fi service provided by a domestic travel website.

3. Purchase foreign local mobile phone SIM card

The purchase of foreign local mobile phone SIM card can be called a "do as the Romans do" solution, but there are also many problems.

The first problem is to buy. Although you can search for mobile phone cards from all over the world on the omnipotent Taobao, there are different styles and specifications, a variety of packages, and some mobile phone cards cannot be used at all. Just imagine if you bought a SIM card on Taobao and found that you couldn't use it until you went abroad, what should you do? If you go to the local area, there is also a lot of trouble to buy a SIM card. Although some airports and convenience stores can buy a mobile phone SIM card directly, recharging the phone fee, opening a package, and checking the balance are all troubles, and it is difficult to figure it out completely when the language is not clear. Some countries may even need a passport with a real name to buy it.

The second problem is to use, after all, domestic and foreign mobile phones are not completely compatible in terms of standards, such as customized mobile phones of domestic operators, may not be able to use foreign local SIM cards. And some mobile phone SIM cards may have to add APN to access the Internet, if you are not familiar with how to operate, you will encounter a lot of trouble.

The local mobile phone SIM card is more suitable for people living abroad for a long time, because many local packages are in the form of a monthly plan, and if you only go for a few days, it is not necessarily uneconomical.

The picture shows a wide variety of mobile phone cards sold on Taobao

4. Mobile phone built-in roaming service using virtual SIM card technology

OPPO international Internet access, vivo I roaming, nubia roaming. More and more mobile phones have built-in overseas roaming services, which are basically provided by Black Tea Mobile, which is based on vSIM/eSIM technology, that is, using a virtual SIM card in your phone to play the role of a physical SIM card, and this virtual SIM card can dynamically match local network resources. For example, when you arrive in Hong Kong, this virtual SIM card is a Hong Kong mobile phone card. When you go to the United States, this virtual SIM card matches the mobile phone card of the United States.

This method does not rely on the physical SIM card at all. You do not need to activate the international roaming service for your original mobile phone card, nor do you need to purchase a local mobile phone card. You can directly purchase a package in the mobile phone app and start this virtual SIM card at your destination. Buy a few days if you want to, and buy as much traffic as you want, which will not be wasted at all. It is not only flexible, but also convenient and fast!

The price of this service is also very competitive now, basically can do 10-20 yuan / day, promotion may be lower, such as 5 yuan / 100MB price, or even cheaper than the domestic tariff!

At present, the only disadvantage of this method is that it has certain limitations, and only some mobile phones and models can be used. But since this is a trend and there are so many benefits, there will be more phones with this service built into it in the future.

The picture shows an introduction to the built-in virtual SIM card service of a brand mobile phone.

Some mobile phone models that support virtual SIM cards (as of April 2018)

To sum up, each of the four ways of surfing the Internet abroad has its own advantages and disadvantages, and one of them should be chosen according to its own situation. If you want to know more about related articles, you are welcome to follow the industry information channel.

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