Is Maxroam working?

[mingelli]

At this point with no free DID ( I checked with customer support) Maxroam doesnt make sense as rates are high,no free incoming calls. Celltrek rates are far better for outbound calls in almost every country. They will have soon DID for US and other countries for a fee also for 1 month only and itemized billing online.
So my choice is Celltrek for outbound calls and ekit US Passport for dual UK/US with free incoming calls in EU and many other countries (evenSeychelles) on UK number and a cheap 19 cents to receive on US number in EU.

[Grampa]

Interesting. Did he tell you there would be no free DID even for customers who previously had one?

I checked with customer support about two weeks ago, and they were then still claiming that existing DIDs would be assigned eventually (although I didn't believe them). I suppose they could claim that they intend to grandfather existing customers -- assign them their DIDs, but not offer any more free DIDs to new customers -- but I really don't believe this either. If they can sell a new DID, there is no reason why they could not assign an existing DID that has already been reserved by a customer.

If their business plan is to drop the free DID for new and existing customers, so be it. But they should at least be honest about it.

[snidely]

DIDs do cost money. And there is a monthly cost. (You can check some of the cost at a site like didx.net or les.net.) Why build in the cost of a DID for everyone if lots of people don't need one?

[GadgetKen]

Tried both MaxRoam and Digicel in Bermuda last week (liked the Bermuda day parade).
MaxRoam was more for comparison purposes. Still have to use *182*bigphonenumber# to dial out, but cost was only about a third of a Euro/minute from Bermuda to US, and I'll echo the sentiment that a free US DID number for incoming would be nice. Also noticed touchtone passthrough didn't work well although audio quality was clear.
Used Digicel for most calls back home (average 10/minutes day). International calls to US were more than MaxRoam at US 75 cents/minute, but easier to dial, easier to refill, and easier to be reached if necessary(same 1 country code as US although different country), plus local calls very inexpensive (free incoming from Digicel handsets, and other local calls only charged for first 3 minutes then next 30 minutes free for same call). Still a substantial savings over hotel phones, postpaid roaming or satellite phone calls.

[jhh112]

Having watched MAXROAM via reviews and publicity the last two years, I bought a Maxroam SIM card last week for a trip to Germany, with the idea of getting another for my daughter who is off on a trip round the world. Checked questions out with support people in advance of purchase, followed instructions for set up carefully. I am very experienced with computers and mobile phones around the world, having had numerous number in the US, Australia, and France.

With my MAXROAM SIM, I have not been able to make a single call, send a single SMS, or make any data connections at all. For the past two days I have sent in requests for support to fix this, with detailed descriptions of what I have tried and the symptoms. No response.

It appears that every year or so Mr Phelan---a smooth talker who has charmed tech journalists all over--- comes up with a new "killer product" that sort of works some of the time, makes all sorts of promises, makes highly quotable and derogatory comments about his compeitition, and then has to backtrack, and come up with a new product to sell.

It looks as though I have paid 25 Euros for exactly nothing so far. Now that is what I call Rip Off Roaming.

I'll try a charge back next to get my money back. Maybe that will get their attention.

Jeffrey Harris

[Bossman]

Did you try to change phones to see if that worked? Maxroam was having some problems and it may not have been fully resolved. Personally, maxroam does not offer the best deal for my travel needs. So, I used up my credit on a recent trip, and will focus on my other sim cards that offer more reasonable rates in the countries that I am more likely to visit.

Originally Posted by jhh112

Having watched MAXROAM via reviews and publicity the last two years, I bought a Maxroam SIM card last week for a trip to Germany, with the idea of getting another for my daughter who is off on a trip round the world. Checked questions out with support people in advance of purchase, followed instructions for set up carefully. I am very experienced with computers and mobile phones around the world, having had numerous number in the US, Australia, and France.

With my MAXROAM SIM, I have not been able to make a single call, send a single SMS, or make any data connections at all. For the past two days I have sent in requests for support to fix this, with detailed descriptions of what I have tried and the symptoms. No response.

It appears that every year or so Mr Phelan---a smooth talker who has charmed tech journalists all over--- comes up with a new "killer product" that sort of works some of the time, makes all sorts of promises, makes highly quotable and derogatory comments about his compeitition, and then has to backtrack, and come up with a new product to sell.

It looks as though I have paid 25 Euros for exactly nothing so far. Now that is what I call Rip Off Roaming.

I'll try a charge back next to get my money back. Maybe that will get their attention.

Jeffrey Harris

[petkow]

Unfortunately I cannot recommend these guys anymore either. I am still waiting for a few tickets to be answered by them from about 3 months ago. Incidentally they were always marked as "resolved".

Anyhow, as mentioned the product is no longer even close to what they once marketed it as. You now get a Belgian number which you have to pay incoming with everywhere even in Belgium.

I might have mentioned it before, but there used to be a bit on their website FAQ's which has now been removed:

Originally Posted by maxroam website 2008

I have seen other travel SIM services. Why is MAXroam better?

The common method for all “alternative roaming” SIM’s is to originate their service in somewhere like Latvia, Estonia or Liechtenstein, or via a UK-based toll-free phone number. This approach doesn’t work very well. We know because our first product “Roam4Free” used this method.

The problem is that people have to call a strange country code just to call you. It just isn’t intuitive and it isn’t user-friendly. With MAXroam we have made the service work as you would expect plus we’ve added a lot of new features that you will have never seen before.

[bbob]

Originally Posted by jhh112

Having watched MAXROAM via reviews and publicity the last two years, I bought a Maxroam SIM card last week for a trip to Germany

Jeff, you should have read more reviews here to conclude that it would have been better to buy another card. There are many good working alternatives including ones that have a us number and forward the call.

[sarunat]

Hello. I also had troubles with Maxroam sim. No way to have call back, at least using Htc G1, Iphone and Samsung Omnia i900. I'll try with more "simple" phone. No data, too.

They - quickly - wrote me as follows, maybe could be usefull for someone, honestly i've not tryied yet...

-----

Please try the following steps to resolve the issue with making calls:

1. Send SMS to check BALANCE - Create a new message, in the body of the message type “Bal” send to “1966” – the system will respond after a few seconds with your account balance. If you have sufficient balance to make a call, please skip to (2.)

2. Remove the battery from the phone – wait 5 seconds, reinsert the battery and turn on the phone. The main screen should show "Roaming" with a network name above that. If this is correct, please continue to (3.). If the main screen shows Emergency only above the Roaming then you need to skip to (4.)

3. Dial *182*00+country code + area code + phone number# and press Send and wait a couple of seconds for the callback – after callback is received the system will connect you to the dialed party. If the phone displays call barred and NO callback is received, please continue to (4.)

4. Manually change network. If the main screen is showing “Emergency Only” Change the network you are using manually.

5. Check the callback setting on your phone which can usually be found by the following - main menu> tools. Ensure that it indicates "Callback OFF".

6. If all above actions have failed we would ask you to remove the SIM card and test it in another unlocked mobile phone as it may be a physical issue of communication between the phone and SIM card.

Please advise me of the results of these steps and the make and model of the phone you are using and where you are if you are still unable to make a call.

With regard to the data connection, please ensure that your settings are as follows:
APN: web.be
Username: web
Password: web

To send or receive emails you will need to enter SMTP details. Our SMTP-server is mail.internetmail.be

[Bossman]

Exactly! I am actually surprised that he still went with maxroam after reading all the reviews from the last few months, and also comparing maxroam with the other alternatives.

Originally Posted by bbob

Jeff, you should have read more reviews here to conclude that it would have been better to buy another card. There are many good working alternatives including ones that have a us number and forward the call.