This was posted 8 years 5 months 3 days ago, and might be an out-dated deal.

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Starhub (Singapore SIM) $15 SGD/AUD; 2.4GB for Use in US, UK, HK, Aus, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia

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This SIM is only sold in Singapore but roams to many different countries. I recommend stopping at Singapore airport (somehow) for the first leg of your journey to make life easier.

I know that sounds annoying, but I believe this one is valuable because this is a Singaporean SIM card that offers roaming rates identical to the normal Singaporean data rate which is pretty cheap across several countries.

  • 1GB/ 3 days $5
  • 1GB/ 7 days $7
  • 1.2GB/30 days $10
  • 2.4GB/30 days $15
  • 3.6GB/30 days $20

This $15 SIM is very similar to our $30 SIM starter kits expect it includes $18 of credit with the SIM, which means you can instantly activate it with the 2.4GB plan or get 3GB over 9 days (see above)

You can use this data in:

  • Singapore
  • Australia
  • Hong Kong
  • Indonesia
  • Malaysia
  • Taiwan
  • Thailand
  • UK
  • USA

I believe the best value for this SIM lies in:

  • Wanting to do a SE Asia trip across several countries
  • An $18 top-up seems to give you $20 of credit valid for 180 days, so you can use it for subsequent visits overseas.
  • Being able to use the excess data back in Australia
  • A real month for expiry
  • 100GB of 3G data for use in Singapore in the first 3 days (dunno what you'd use it for tbh)
  • Getting cheap data for the USA where comparable data is more expensive. As you can see $20 USD for 2GB, USA only, not including state tax or the price of the SIM which can be as high as $20 USD if you go to a T-Mobile store. $20 + $20 + 8% tax = $43.2 USD = $58.42 AUD.
  • Being machine washable.

How to use

You need to have bought a valid domestic (Singaporean) data plan before and activate Happy Roam by (star)123(star)333#. Your APN needs to be switched to 'shppd'.
Source

Other stuff:

  • Roaming partners and additional information available in the clicky.
  • For T-Mobile using travelers, the other option is to use the Tourist plan which is $30 SIM included for 2GB of data and unlimited domestic/int'l and 1000 min domestic talk texts for 3 weeks (21 days) so that $30 USD + state tax ~ $43.82 AUD or buy a $30 Walmart T-Mobile SIM for $34.82 USD excluding tax= $50.08 AUD which includes 5GB data, 100 min calls.
  • Probably not possible to combine with the Changi Airport $40 voucher given that it excludes the retailers that sell the SIM, but hey you might get lucky and find it somewhere else? shrugs

Related Stores

StarHub
StarHub

closed Comments

    • Have you verified it can be registered for the first time outside of Singapore?

      Also remember Singapore requires you to provide ID to get a Simcard. Are you sure you want complete strangers using a Telephone service thats registered against your name?

  • -2

    Or there is this
    Free citywide wireless.

    https://mya.singnet.com.sg/wireless@sg_signup/onlineapplicat…

    • +2

      whats the coverage of the singapore free city wireless like in USA, UK, Thailand, Australia, Malaysia, Hong Kong, et al?

  • +1

    Just got off a Jetstar Asia flight KUL-SIN and noticed they were selling these sims on board. Free hot drink as well if you buy. Also available all around Changi at any UOB forex desk.

    • Nice! :)

    • Umm, we know that they are available at UOB forex desks. :) the important question is whether they are available in the transit area?
      Logically, there is little benefit for them to sell local sim cards in transit areas.

      I am curious because I have a 90min transit coming up in a couple of weeks, not a lot of time to be friggin around :)

  • Hi guys
    i swear ive read this topic a thousand times and I'm still confused about what to get! i'm going to be in singapore for 5 days so should i just get the $15 sim and choose the 2.4gb data plan? do i need to add anymore onto the sim? just so stressed because this my first solo trip overseas and i have no idea about what i'm doing lol

    • If you're just visiting Singapore for five days pick up the $15 SIM which includes $18 of credit and 100GB of local data. The 100GB lasts for 5 days so you won't need to subscribe to a data plan at all, you can use the $18 for calls and SMS. Local data just means it isn't valid for roaming outside Singapore. This deal is limited to 3G, you won't be able to access 4G data but their 3G service is quite fast enough for most purposes.

      • Thank you so much! Got a bit confused when reading through the comments so this cleared it up

  • Just back from a visit to Singapore and Malaysia. Although the SIM connects to 4G data in Singapore, at least in Penang, and I suspect the rest of Malaysia, roaming is restricted to 3G networks. Still worked quite okay for my purposes but something to be aware of.

  • Im in singapore just bought the $15 from a 7 eleven, they have passport scanners and will scan ur passport.
    The lady at the airport in changi didn't have much knowledge in this.
    Will let everyone know when i get out of singapore if works elsewhere in the list

  • I activated the data plan thing in singapore im in indonesia now. I manually selected Three and it connects. Problem is data doesnt work. Any tips please from those who have used it in other countries. Did you have to change apn?

    • +1

      Enable data roaming on your phone.

      Also make sure you have activated it properly.

      "You need to have bought a valid domestic (Singaporean) data plan before and activate Happy Roam by (star)123(star)333#. Your APN needs to be switched to 'shppd'."

      Maybe try on XL Axiata, they are considered the second best in coverage in Indonesia.

      I have trouble connecting to 3 (4th best telco) on my Optus SIM for 2G…

      I'm in Jakarta right now btw, if you need any advice/help. Been here for the last 3 months.

      • Hi there thanks for your help all working now.
        I downloaded the Happy Prepaid app from PlayStore and it also told me the steps to activate roaming, it ran a ussd code and it said its already activated. Well after that it made the icon say On so all good. Then i changed my apn to what u suggested also and restarted the phone and it worked.

        I activated the $15 data plan option its valid for 30 days. The sim card expiry was set to 6 months from activation, 31 march 2017 in my case.

        This seems to be a good travelling sim if you travel to those countries, does anyone know how do i extend the life of the sim?

        Also theres an option for free 4g booster, what does this mean?

        By the way yes I was thinking to choose XL but they did not come up in my network search. There's a network named 51011 . I think this is XL, how silly why cant they just name it?

        • +1

          51011 should be Smartfren which is CDMA. You can pick up their LTE signal on bands 5 and 40.

          I'll show you a screenshot of what I see when I do a network search when I have more time.

          Can you get an LTE signal? 3's coverage is very small, but if this roams on 4G that would be cool.

          You might be able to recharge the SIM through the app but you might need a Singapore bank account. Otherwise it's possible a 3rd party credit top up website might work.

        • Hi only 3g. Does three indo even have 4g? Theyre called three haha

          Im using note 5, odd if it can detect cdma frequency.

          Thanks for your help, hey lets be friends pm me.

        • You can recharge using the Happy Sim app, using any foreign credit card. I did it many times, with my AU credit card, whilst roaming in UK.

  • Next question does anyone know if we allowed to hotspot or tether?

    • As far as I know (purely theoretical).

      It's prepaid, just see if it works. Worst case they can't take anymore of your money.

      • I hotspotted today, worked fine.
        Guess where I am? Taipei hahaaa and it works i manually selected that chunghwa network.

  • WARNING: You need to have an additional $8 in your main balance to use Happy Roam. For some reason this doesn't seem to be an issue when roaming in Asa, but it is in at least the US. I've just had a long and frustrating conversation with StarHub rep in which I was told this. I thought it was BS, as previous person I'd called trying to sort out issue hadn't mentioned it, but checked onlin, and their website indicates. that the $8 is a requirement. I've been told by rep that I can't to up from outside Singapore as well, so I basically wasted the money spent. Not happy!

    • Damn that sucks!

      I read the terms and conditions of Happy Roam ages ago but I must have missed it, can you quote and link me the relevant part in the conditions so I can put it into the post? Thanks!

  • My experiences with Starhub happy sim were not so happy. 3 weeks in UK and i had to recharge 3x. so ending up costing me in total about $60+

    • easily purchased in the Transit area at Singapore airport, from one of several UOB booths, no need to clear customs. The lady was most helpful, did all the setting up for me and explained it all.
    • I had to charge up with a lot more than I thought, around $35 ( i cant remember why, but she insisted i needed extra credit )
    • Your additional cash credit disappears for unknown reasons at an alarming rate at times. I rang the help desk and the operator said that I have to make sure I only roam onto a partner telco. That just doesnt sound right, and who would check?.
    • found out the hard way that tethering data is not included in data allowance. I am not confident that accounted for all my disappearing credit.
    • on my return trip to transit singapore, after landing i turned on my iphone, a nn between the few seconds of booting and signing on to changi wifi, the phone was hit with some local data traffic, and took about $6 out of my credit.
    • my happy sim wont connect to Optus in australia. I went overseas again, and it was happily connecting in USA. As i reset my phone, I cant configure the app anymore to top up. Happy sim helpdesk cant help, they did send some 'reset' code to the system. So sadly, my happy sim will die soon.

    so my rules for a happy happy sim.
    - dont tether
    - before landing in SIN, set phone to airplane mode
    - keep an eye on the roaming telco (maybe)

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