Getting cell service and being able to make calls+texts for free
Edited 16/2/23 at 18:28 GMT.
My POCO phone died last week, so I upgraded to a Pixel 6 Pro. Just within a week of using this Pixel, I have already found 4 companies offering free eSIMs with some data loaded onto them (however only 2 of them I will recommend here) and I think I might have just figured out a guide to getting cell service and being able to make calls and text messages for completely free. I mean it. Nothing. Well maybe 89p, but technically you don't have to spend that.
This guide is written as someone living the UK. Experiences in other countries may differ and you may find that you can't do this. I am using an Android device (in case that wasn't obvious) but this should all work on an iPhone as well.
Getting calls and texts for 89p (or free)
Let's get into getting calls and texts for completely free first. I use an application called Talkatone (check it out at https://www.talkatone.com/).
It gives you a US phone number and you can have unlimited calls and texts to numbers registered in US/Canada.
If you only want it for that purpose, then that's great, but we want to try and see whether this can replace a phone carrier plan. In order to do this, we are going to have to buy credits.
That does technically mean that you have to pay 89p for 60 credits... but there are methods of getting this for free. I personally use Google Opinion Rewards (as you can guess, this will be Android only) which sends you surveys from time to time (I find it to be incredibly rare). I've attached a image below of what I've earnt in the past year (you may have a better experience than me).
If you're unable to do this or find it slow, there are other methods however I won't discuss them (honestly find them yourself lol).
Once we've added 60 credits, we are able to accept messages from shortcodes. This is useful because we're going to set up a Signal and WhatsApp account (after all, we want to keep in touch with others).
I initially had problems with registering with WhatsApp and I had to use the new multi profiles feature but I do have it registered (it is now on WhatsApp Business though).
I'm sharing a few screenshots of my number below being on WhatsApp and Signal for proof.
These are all from just a single 89p top-up through Google Opinion Rewards. Since most people generally use WhatsApp or Signal in Europe for calling and texting, this is perfectly fine.
One thing I will mention is that I'd recommend making a call or text from your Talkatone number every two weeks (numbers which don't call or text every month will have their number refreshed or Talkatone will use your credits to keep the number active).
If you're wondering about catches, I have found a few. You'll see advertisements in the application and there seems to be some rate limiting (it could be spam protection to be honest though) if you send a lot of messages.
I occasionally have issues with SMS messages sending to a Google Voice number, but it seems to be to do with spam protection (it was links that I sent).
If you want to use your credits to call a UK number, it's roughly 0.7 credits a minute for landlines and 1.9 for mobiles, working out to roughly 1 and 3 US cents respectively.
Free mobile data signal
Now, time to go onto free mobile data signal. I have to say a massive thank you to members on the ISPreview forums for helping out with the information here (particularly @joaocadide, @Bubblesthefish6 and @Stewart).
For this part, you'll need a mobile device with eSIM support. There are services that allow non eSIM devices to use eSIM but they aren't always that reliable. They also cost money to buy (which defeats the purpose of this article a bit). If you're looking for a good deal, Google Pixel devices can be found for under £150 (my 6 Pro was £205.20 refurbished from eBay).
I'm going to recommend two services that I've found online (done extensive testing with one, haven't really done anything with the other) which offer you access on at least 3 networks here.
Seeek
Seeek (seeek.co) is the service I've used the most personally at the moment (right now I'm using a free 1GB BetterRoaming eSIM for 30 days to compliment my O2 - UK physical SIM though).
For completely free, you can get 3GB of data every month at fast speeds (60-160mbps capped) and you have 5G connectivity too. The service is entirely funded by SMS advertising but I haven't noticed anything major (Trustpilot advertisement and Twitter extra data advertisement). It works on all networks in the UK, although EE is limited to 4G.
If you're going abroad, you can also be rest assured that you'll have coverage. Seeek currently has 52 countries supported, which includes the United States and the majority of Europe (see seeek.co/coverage).
Firsty
This was something that members discovered last night. Firsty (firsty.app) allows you to have unlimited data for free at 300kbps capped. You have to install their application and watch advertisements through it (watching advertisements tops you up to 60 minutes of browsing time, browsing time seems to count down even when you're not using it).
We're not quite sure whether this supports 5G yet, but it supports every network in the UK except Vodafone.
It also covers over 120 countries (apparently), which includes destinations such as the United States. Coverage unfortunately is not listed on their website (you have to use the SIM Toolkit menu to find what countries are covered and even then that's not reliable).
I'm not sure whether this article is helpful to anyone, but if it was, please share it around. Thanks!
(subscribing would be nice too, it's free)