Firsty Travel eSIM - Free Data 4+

Worked when I turned off VoLTE

Followed instructions but couldn’t get it working for a day but turning the VoLTE setting off fixed it. Help instructions should be built into app but they need an internet connection which isn’t helpful if it doesn’t connect.

Very unreliable

Writing in December 2024 - things may have improved in the future.

I recently had a trip to India and needed an eSIM. I liked the day by day model of Firsty since I wasn’t sure how long I would be there.
Unfortunately, it proved to be incredibly unreliable. Often it would show 4 bars of LTE, but there would be no connection. Turning airplane mode on and off sometimes fixed this, but other times the connection would not work for hours at a time no matter what I seemed to do. This was sometimes accompanied by a message saying “failed to activate mobile network”, followed by a sudden drop to only 1 bar of signal.

Also, even when it was working, the signal was weak or nonexistent while other people on different carriers had full signal.

The unreliability of this led to two situations in which I was completely lost (I’m a paraglider pilot and often have to land in places unfamiliar to me) with no way to contact anyone to pick me up. In both cases I had to approach a stranger on the street and ask if I could borrow their phone to make a call.

I’m confident this was not an issue with my phone or implementation of the eSIM as I’ve used other eSIMs before and never faced these issues.

What a disaster - the day by day pricing model is great but it just didn’t work with this implementation.

Developer Response ,

Thank you for taking the time to share your detailed feedback. I’m truly sorry to hear about the challenges you faced during your trip to India. We understand how crucial reliable connectivity is, especially in situations like yours, and I sincerely regret the inconvenience caused.

Your experience with poor signal strength and the “failed to activate mobile network” message is not what we strive for at Firsty. While our service aims to leverage local networks for seamless coverage, there are instances where connectivity can be affected by local infrastructure or specific roaming agreements. However, we recognize that this explanation doesn’t mitigate the frustration you experienced, especially when it impacted your safety.

We take your feedback seriously and are working to improve the reliability of our service in regions like India. This includes strengthening partnerships with local providers, optimizing our network switching, and ensuring more robust coverage in remote areas. Your insights will be shared with our technical team to investigate further and identify ways to avoid such issues in the future.

We’re glad you found value in our day-by-day pricing model, and it’s our goal to ensure that the reliability matches the flexibility we offer. As a gesture of goodwill, I’d like to offer you a refund / compensation for your troubles. Please contact me at conrad@firsty.app so we can arrange this for you.

Again, I deeply apologize for your negative experience and appreciate you bringing it to our attention. If you’re willing to give us another chance in the future, we’ll do everything we can to ensure your experience is a positive one.

Thank you for helping us grow and improve.

Best regards,
Conrad

Worked great whilst Portugal

On a recent 10 day trip to Portugal this worked brilliantly for navigation, checking emails and looking at the odd website. which was all I needed it for. I have also had to liaise with their customer support after I accidentally locked my eSIM which meant I needed a PUK. They were brilliant and resolved the issue I was having in a timely manner. So far I am extremely pleased with Firsty.