Mobal

Cheap but unreliable – Ordered 2 data only 16 day SIMs for a trip to Japan. Worked for a day and a half and then decided my internet connection needed to be throttled to unusable speeds. I cannot even load a normal website with the connection. Usage prior to this included watching a few small videos watched on how to be a tourist and lots of searches "how to do this",… Read more

"how to get to a location", "what do others think of location", etc. Used maybe 1-2Gb out of the 60Gb in the SIM package.

Tried to reset phone mobile settings to default, tried to restart phone, tried to switch to roaming on my Optus SIM and then back again. Followed their instructions to ensure APN configuration was right. Nada. The fact that it was working for a day and a half and then decided not to honour my use of the SIM suggests the issue lies with the Mobal Docomo network used.

Tried to reach out to their support and realised it takes them 2 business days to respond. Submitted the request anyway and got no response at all during my trip (2.5 weeks). Not even this day, 10+ days after I got home from Japan.

I tried to switch to SIM number 2 (backup) with its own data plan. Worked for abit and again, failed mid way through. Used about a fraction of the 60Gb promised/sold to me.

In the end, I paid for Optus daily roaming. $5 for 5Gb of data. Not too bad but can add up so be careful (30 days = 30 x $5 = $150 a month). I think Telstra only offers $5 for 1Gb of data.

Moral of the story: Do not buy Mobal SIMs. They may appear to be cheap when compared to others but their SIMs fail before you can make good use of it. You will never get your month worth.

Watch for delayed charges – I am still getting charges on my credit card after disconnecting my account 5 weeks ago. This can be annoying as the cost of phone calls is hidden. Stick to a data only sim choice to avoid this.