December 2024 update
Do you have an IOT setup and maybe no WiFi – do you want a SIM card so you can attach it to a cheap 3G/4G modem (or an old or new phone for that matter) to do nothing but send a small amount of data (and maybe the odd SMS), not at stunningly high speed – but you want it to last for months or years without maintenance – and paying monthly just isn’t practical?
This is what caught my eye about 1NCE. You buy a SIM with one-off cheap payment (£10). 500MB of data data included that and SMS messages can be used any time in the next decade? Really?
Initially, back in July 2021, 1nce sent me some samples to review and I dropped one of these into my (then Xiaomi) phone in Spain and it just WORKED.
I put the fresh SIM in the phone, I switched on the phone. The SIM was recognised, so next I went into the APN setting and entered iot.1nce.com and a name of 1NCE – that’s it – end of story (The name is I think optional but my phone needed the APN setting above).
That’s all you may need but if you want more – you simply use the password you picked on sign-up and your email address and go off to their WEB portal for info – usage etc. For €10 one-off charge you get 250 SMS messages and 500MB data at up to 1Mbps to use over the lifetime of the SIM (10 years) in any of over 100 countries without any extra charges. Here’s the link – I’m not on commission incidentally.
Please note, slight technicality, this offer is for business customers ONLY – it LOOKS like you have to have a registered business name to get the SIM(s). Worth checking with them though IMHO there are usually ways around actually having to have a company. Late 2024 I’m using one of the samples with a travel router to handle a Sonoff smart-socket (which I access from overseas) and it just keeps working.
Important – I wasn’t sure how much data I had left and looked at Soracom who’s site INITIALLY made it look all so simple – slightly more expensive but more data – but they simply could not be bothered to respond to requests for help to order the right SIM – when they finally did come back to me, all I got was a referal to their website – handholding beginners is clearly not their thing – another company who do cheap SIMS, SPUSU told me point blank (politely) that they don’t recommend or support the use of their SIMs in routers – so that’s two down.
Ultimately I went back to 1nce sales and within a day I got the help I needed to monitor data usage. It’s on their web control panel. After several months of remote control and checking of my UK-based smart switch via Home Assistant in Spain, I have 487MB out of 500MB left…. and out of the 10 years I have 6.6 years left. Marvellous -all for £10
Of interest (Dec 2024) I just tested my spare 1nce SIM in my Samsung phone – identical setup – only needed the APN to work. That one has 9 years to run. I’m sorry I even bothered to look at alternatives – hopefully I’ll be above to add another smart-socket into the mix without making a significant dent in the data lifepspan. If it ever stops raining while I’m over here in the UK I’ll go outside and set that up.
All sounds good – but what about the cost of a 4G travel router to make this possible? There’s a solution at least for UK users or anyone who can get to the UK temporarily – though Europe and the US will surely have sijmilar options – see related article – https://tech.scargill.net/low-bandwidth-inexpensive-smartsocket-options/ – esentially I get a second-hand Huawei travel router for £28 from eBay. Been in use for months unattended – using a simple, cheap phone battery pack to extend it’s ability to withstand power outages – no problems.
The one potential issue with this and several other travel routers is that after a power outage and after their internal rechargable battery then gives out – the power-up state is OFF (not negotiable) – hence the cheap battery pack to give a couple of days immunity to power outages (making sure you use a battery pack which doesn’t power down on low/no load – some do).
All in I seem to have a very worthwhile solution to my WiFi-less boiler-room problem. Magic.
I’ve been using RWG (https://rwgmobile.wales) for a while. They offer a totally free plan with 50 SMS + 250 MB per month or 75 SMS + 500 MB for £1 per month. Doesn’t seem widely known but rock solid. I’m using their SIM for a GPS tracker and it’s ideal for that sort of use.
but is that just for use in wales or anywhere in the world? Looks like the free plan has gone in 2024.
They’re an MVNO on the EE network, so anywhere in the UK with EU roaming until the end of this year. So no use, unfortunately, in Spain and elsewhere but it’s the cheapest I’ve found for low data use in the UK.
For the purpose of the blog I TRY to think wider than UK, obviously – and as of Covid+Brexit I’m in Spain for the long-term… I use a company called Simyo here for main mobile + broadband backup – not sure what their roaming is like (as you can imagine not much international travel this last year or so)…. but for the backup one one of my gl-inet routers – which feeds the main one – I can pay 4 a month for 7GB – but they keep giving bonuses with 3 month rollover so last month I paid €1 (500MB)…. they latch onto Vodafone. One of those things that seems like money wasted – but the key thing being my broadband here is ok download (30Mb) but CRAP upload (3Mb) so if I’m sending stuff to Youtube for the blog etc, the mobile is around 40-50Mb in both directions…I can just tell my PC to use the mobile-connected router…. my pal has a camera in Spain – very rural – solar power, NO broadband – he lives in the UK – I’m thinking one of those Once sims might work for him.. very occasional camera view and some IOT….
You may want to check Hologram.io
I have 1 Sim on their now obsolete “maker” plan providing 1 MB per month and a few SMS. Costed me a one off of 10€ or $. It can be topped up if needed.
Not meant for intensive usage.
I found that sending a SMS from my phone to that SIM was not cheap.
Yes, I agree!!
Do you know of an alternative that doesn’t cost much?
“doesn’t cost much” is a bit vague 🙂 As well as trying out these new SIMs, I use in Spain a company called Simyo who, despite having a useless support line have a good deals. If you wanted IOT data only they do €1 for 500MB a month… I pay them €4 a month for 7GB etc…add 50p for a few calls….
Doesn’t look bad, I’ll take a look. Thanks!
Only available for business customers.
Correct – I checked with the company. Thats a shame.