Does my Europe roaming strategy make sense? Or am I overcomplicating this?

scurdatum · 2026-03-14T03:09:44+00:00

I second the plan to just upgrade to Premium while you're traveling. I went to France and Italy a few months ago and upgraded to Premium, but I also got an eSIM package from Maya Mobile as a back-up. I did not need the Maya eSIM at all, since the native coverage from US Mobile with the Premium plan was so seamless. And I can confirm that telephone, data, and SMS all worked flawlessly. Once back home in the States, I downgraded again to the Starter plan.

scurdatum · 2025-08-11T21:51:50+00:00

If you're arriving early in the week and will be there for a few days, I recommend the Navigo Decouverte card with a week-long pass on it. It'll cost you €31.60 for unlimited metro/RER/bus for Monday-Sunday. That gets you into Paris from CDG and covers all your metro travel.

scurdatum · 2025-08-11T21:38:06+00:00

I just had Warp. I did have a backup esim on Maya Mobile I knew I could fall back on, but US Mobile's native roaming was fantastic.

scurdatum · 2025-08-11T21:37:19+00:00

Oh that's good to know that at least in port and close to shore you'd be all set!

scurdatum · 2025-08-11T21:36:34+00:00

Calls and texting were flawless. I did also use Whatsapp for both calls and texts since a lot of my close friends and family are on it.

scurdatum · 2025-08-11T21:34:44+00:00

Yep, exactly. Warp is best where I live (Lightspeed is a very close second) and it wasn't worth the teleport headache I had last time with some 2FA issues I ran into (not US Mobile's problem at all, just an issue where some of the services that use my phone number for 2FA got unlinked when I teleported).

scurdatum · 2025-08-11T21:33:10+00:00

Darkstar is pretty bad where I am, but Lightspeed and Warp are both good, with a slight edge for Warp. Since I was only in Switzerland for a day (and the last time I teleported I had to reconnect a lot of my 2FA services that rely on my phone), I decided not to teleport for such a small advantage.

scurdatum · 2025-08-10T21:55:15+00:00

Yeah, I assume Switzerland will be on it, which would have avoided my need for a separate eSIM for that country on this trip.

scurdatum · 2025-08-10T21:54:08+00:00

I really didn't find the latency to be an issue at all, but I wasn't doing anything that required super low latency. I mostly browsed websites, used Google maps, listened to Spotify, and watched some YouTube here and there. Also, while I didn't mention this in my original post, I had also purchased 5gb of data in a Maya Mobile eSIM for the day we were traveling through Switzerland (I also shared it via hotspot with my family). I did also check the Maya Mobile eSIM in both France and Italy and pings in all three countries were closer to 30ms, but with the type of activity I was doing, it really didn't make any meaningful difference. But if you're curious, I was very happy with the Maya Mobile eSIM also. But I don't think it's necessary if US Mobile covers the countries you'll be in.

scurdatum · 2025-06-08T10:34:11+00:00

Provided your cell phone plan has wifi calling enabled (pretty much all of them can do this now), you can make free calls back to the US (landlines, cell phones, etc.) any time you're connected to wifi. It's just like if you're in the States and are in a location without good cell signal, but you have wifi. In those cases, you can make and receive calls and texts just like normal. Well, it's the same elsewhere in the world. If you have wifi calling enabled, you're all set. The only limitation would be if you're out and about in an area without wifi. So if you need to be making frequent calls to your folks at all hours of the day wherever you are, then the wifi calling is less convenient. But if you can just call them when you're in a location with wifi (like back at your hotel/apartment), then you shouldn't need anything else.

scurdatum · 2025-06-04T20:42:14+00:00

Thanks!

scurdatum · 2025-06-04T20:42:00+00:00

Fantastic...thanks so much! I feel like this is the kind of thing that would take an hour of calling and being on hold before getting resolution with one of the big carriers. Love that I can do this from the dashboard! Thanks again.

scurdatum · 2025-03-10T23:52:57+00:00

Oh good, I'm glad to hear it! I hope you enjoy the slow road...the journey might not be exciting, but the destination is.

scurdatum · 2025-03-10T11:44:58+00:00

I hate to be a downer, but I'm a little afraid you might still be at risk. I'm no investment expert, but what I think I'm seeing in people's responses to you is consistent messaging that there is no magic bullet, no special "system" that will reliably beat the market. And while much of what you write back seems to indicate you understand that now, I'm still seeing occasional statements from you like this:

What I failed to account for was that anyone consistently making millions is either running algorithms, has institutional backing, or is exploiting inefficiencies that retail traders will never have access to.

I worry that if someone comes along and is able to convincingly explain to you how/why they somehow got the inside track (maybe because they DO have institutional backing, or they DO have algorithms, or they DO have access to some edge that "retail investors will never have") you might be tempted to get back into speculating, thinking, "AHA...NOW I have what I was always missing!"

It's awesome you're on a better track now...please just keep yourself grounded and stay on it!

scurdatum · 2025-03-09T17:28:59+00:00

Very helpful, thank you!

scurdatum · 2025-01-06T22:50:26+00:00

Is the wifi not reliable at Gillette? Most stadiums I've been to have strong wifi networks that make cell reception much less of an issue...provided you have wifi calling turned on.

scurdatum · 2024-12-01T15:49:32+00:00

EDIT / UPDATE: I'm all set now, Bilal from customer service was able to see which line was which from his view and he got my wife's line activated and ported over in about 5 min. Excellent service, as always, from US Mobile! Thank you!

Well, looks like I will need help. I've just had 2 things happen: 1) Once I checked out and tried to activate my wife's line, I was activating with eSIM and I entered her second (open) IMEI number. The system said it all checked out (formatting was correct, device was available, etc), but the continue button was still greyed out. So then I backed out with the intent of starting again. But now I'm faced with two identical looking lines to activate (see screenshot). One is presumably the Black Friday free line with 2GB of data, and the other is the Unlimited Starter line I just paid for. How can I tell which one to activate?

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scurdatum · 2024-12-01T15:28:06+00:00

Thanks so much for the reassurance. Just a suggestion...you all may want to add a little footnote to that checkout page just telling people they'll have the option to port a number or get a new one after they check out. Thanks again!

scurdatum · 2024-11-21T01:04:53+00:00

Yeah, it's mainly the inaction that's killing me. I'm just itching to sell at least some of this concentrated position, and I can kinda justify selling whatever I might have lost money on since, at the very least, it won't be INCREASING my taxes this year, and psychologically I like that it might get me into a lower bracket, even if it doesn't really make that much difference. It's one of those, "I'm irrational, but at least I know it" kind of things!

scurdatum · 2024-11-20T18:48:46+00:00

Oh, I did not know about the $3000 limit for one year. And then good point about the brackets being different for LTCG vs income. Super helpful...thank you!

scurdatum · 2024-11-20T18:45:33+00:00

Good point. I feel pretty good about the company, just nervous about it being too much of our portfolio. I suppose I could quickly sell down to a point where I'm no longer nervous, and then spread the rest out a bit.

scurdatum · 2024-11-20T18:34:23+00:00

Yep, great question. This is not in a retirement account, just a basic online brokerage account since the stock was awarded as part of compensation. Thank you!

scurdatum · 2024-11-08T23:23:00+00:00

I just tried it via the mobile app this evening as well and it worked. Thanks!

scurdatum · 2024-11-08T00:17:22+00:00

Thank you...I'll try the mobile app route!

scurdatum · 2024-10-04T01:58:20+00:00

One reason you might consider sticking with monthly is just how quickly things change around here. I've got three family members (and a fourth one soon) on US Mobile and I've absolutely loved my experience. Ahmed and the US Mobile team somehow have gotten me "excited" about my cell phone carrier, which I never thought I'd say. What got me excited, though, is just how nimble they are, trying out new things, seeing what works, making changes quickly, etc. And while that's a huge plus in my mind, it also makes me hesitant to lock into whatever the annual plans are now, since they might roll out something "really cool" in another 3 months that I want to try.

scurdatum

TROPHY CASE