r/Tello

Hello everyone, I'm leaving the US in a week for SE Asia and I want to make sure I can still receive texts and calls from the US. I'm new to Tello and I've read some posts in this subreddit and some others but I got so confused. If anyone can explain perhaps step by step I'd really appreciate it!

1. When do I need to activate wifi calling? Now or right before I leave?

2. When to add $20 pay as you go?

3. Is it better to get a local eSIM before leaving the US?

4. How can I receive texts/calls during the layover? Should I activate roaming?

Thanks so much!!

For the PAYG plans when u have muitiple lines does that balance pay for all of them? like I have 10 lines with tello currently paying $6 an month for 2GB and 0 mintues each. Could I just do the PYAG and save some money paying all of my lines from that balance?

Tello looks great, and I would've been very happy had I been able to activate. Unfortunately because I'm not currently in the US, I was unable to activate my new eSIM, and so had to call and get a refund. Very disappointed as my US Bank that I've been with for years is making it harder and harder for me to do business with them without a US mobile number.

Does the minutes and calls count for call forwarding ? How can we try and test this ?

I noticed today that my Tello eSim is on 2G (Edge) while roaming in the UK. Normally I have my phone on the UK Sim for data but I wanted to test it for when the UK Sim isn't working. Has anyone ever used Tello abroad for data or just for calls? Calls work fine.

I just ported my number to Tello yesterday. I left Mint after 8 years because my voicemail stopped working a week ago and neither they nor I could fix it. After porting to Tello, I'm experiencing the same issues. Everything on my phone works fine. I just can't access voicemail at all. I don't want to use a 3rd party app for voicemail since I shouldn't have to.

Long press on #1 disconnects immediately. Same for dialing 123 and dialing my own number.

I've got the correct APN settings according to Tello's website.

I've rebooted my phone

I've reset my voicemail.

I've removed and re-seated the SIM card

I've toggled Airplane mode

I've reset network settings

I called Mint and they closed the ticket without telling because "no problem on our end." That's when I left. I opened a ticket with Tello and they haven't looked at it yet.

Phone: 2022 Motorola Moto G Stylus 5G. Bought this phone new 2023 and it worked flawlessly until voicemail stopped working last week. I'm in the US.

I'm honestly at the end of my rope here and asking for help. What else can I try?

After being with T-Mobile for over eight years, I switched to Tello two years ago because they didn’t honor their price lock, which was important to me.

Here’s the summary: over the past year, I paid a total of $252.51 for two lines—that’s $21.04 per month, or just $10.52 per line. My line uses about 3.47 GB of data and 144 minutes monthly; my wife averages 4.84 GB and 71 minutes a month. Since we have home internet, we’re usually on Wi-Fi at home, and when we’re out, we look for guest networks at places like bars or restaurants. There are so many free Wi-Fi spots that we barely need to use cellular data. Many people still think they need unlimited data, but with a little effort, it’s often unnecessary.

We use Tello’s monthly rollover, so each line has over 30 GB of data stored, along with plenty of unused minutes. I set a Google Calendar reminder every 29 days and a Quicken bill alert to make sure I never miss a manual renewal. Although we technically used 348 days of service on our 12 “monthly” plans, I adjusted the average cost to cover a full year—resulting in $252.61 for 365 days.

For international travel, we rely on Roamless, which lets us use a non-expiring bucket of data worldwide. With Wi-Fi calling enabled my phone works everywhere we need. We’re still working through the $40 we loaded over a year ago, and likely won’t need more for years. So, international coverage is sorted.

Even paying for our own Netflix subscription ($8.55/month, soon $9.62), our total is just $30 per month for two mobile lines, Netflix, and international roaming. That's approximately $600 annual savings versus my T-Mobile Magenta 55+ plan on the same network.

Tello really can’t be beat!

Hello all. I recently switched to Tello from Mint Mobile since I didn’t like having to pay months in advance. I got 15gb of data and in less than 2 hours of having it used a little more than 3 gb of data when I was testing it out. Most of it was from safari and a gb of it was from Crunchyroll streaming. I did a few network speed tests during those 2 hours which is what I thought was the reason for safari using 2gb of data in those 1-2 hours.

I cleared all my google tabs, made sure all my setting were set to use the least amount of data, and reset my data usage stats to start from scratch. In 10 minutes of searching random stuff in safari with no background stuff running or other tabs it had used 200-300 mb. I tried other browser apps to make sure it wasn’t just a safari data usage thing and they used just as much data. It seems like every 5 minutes, any browser uses up to 100mbs of data.

Is there any fix for this or is this just how Tello is? I’ve already used half of my data in about half a month from using it very sparingly. Mint mobile used no where near that much data for me, 5gb would last me a month with plenty to spare. Thanks for any advice or discussion you all can give me.

Tl;dr: Tello uses way too much data, just browsing the web for 5 minutes uses 100mb of data. Have used half of my 15gb of data in about half a month from using it very sparingly. Barely any streaming, mostly google or other utility/reference apps.

Switched to Tello a few months ago and I keep getting calls from people who claim I'm calling them or their family members to scam them. Today I got a call saying "Why do you keep calling my mom, I will call the police". I told them someone is probably using this phone number for scam calls somehow? Highly annoying, has anyone experienced this? Ready to switch back to AT&T with this crap.

Hi all, I’ve had my Tello eSIM for about a year and not had this problem before. I’m in the UK and have a uk sim, and the Tello eSIM as a secondary line. It’s an iphone.

For the past day or two, there has been a delay in a phone call dialling my number, and my phone actually ringing (over 10 seconds). I’ve tried turning my phone on and off again, turned wifi calling off then on again etc. it’s the same whether it’s on WiFi or 5g etc.

Does anyone know how to fix this as it’s causing me to miss incoming calls as they disconnect/hang up before it starts ringing.

Thanks!

If not, where can I share?

Is it possible to use your tello number to send texts internationally? And if so, how?

I’m American and am using an iPhone if that helps.

Ive just gotten a tello number, I added $20 to the account for calls and data but when I go to settings I cannot toggle the data roaming and international roaming button. It stated younhave to gave a minimum of $5 in your account, but I've got $20.

How do I fix this please?

We are moving to Germany in June for 3-5 years. I have 3 lines currently with T-Mobile that I need to stay active. Not just for 2FA, also don't want to lose our numbers. I talked to T-Mobile today and they said I can either do a military suspension (which defeats the "keep it active" part), or else they'll cancel the account if it's not used in the US every 9 months or so, even if I'm actively using the lines.

VOIP doesn't seem to be an option as banks won't send 2FA to those, so Tello is what keeps coming up when I search for options.

How do I do this? I'm not tech savvy. My phone and my husband's phone support eSIM, not sure about my daughter, she has an older model (we'll get her one that does if needed). They're all bought from the manufacturer, unlocked, not tied to a carrier.

When is the best time to get it all set up and cancel T-Mobile? I know I have to be stateside to make the switch. What would be the best plan for this? Would you recommend data?

Sorry for all the questions, I'm just anxious. I appreciate any help!

I've been a loyal Tello customer for many years and have always spoken highly of them on many online forums and deal sites. Over many years, I've earned over $300 of referral credits by bringing customers to them. I've spent hours and hours to earn them over many years. Then, Tello deleted them all from my account!!!! This is ridiculous!

Edit: I'm adding that their reason was customers were only allowed to share a referral link with people we actually knew like friends and family.

Ironically, if you go to their referral page, they direct you to share your referral code on FB, X, etc.. I guess in their world, social media only has friends and family and no strangers.

And I’m wondering if Lyca Mobile just sucks. I haven’t gotten more than 2 bars since I arrived last night. I am headed to Llandudno today and worried I won’t get service. The hotel will have WiFi and so will the cafes but I need to get taxis while I’m out and about. I also have a fractured rib right now and if I fall or do anything to hurt myself more and I am by myself, I am going to need a cell phone (for example: in Belfast when I stayed there at the Leonardo the tubs are way too high and I literally tripped over the wall of the tub and fell hard onto the tile).

Otherwise, everyone’s posts and comments have been super helpful to learn from and I am so happy I am not paying $10/day on my AT&T plan for international data use. I just think maybe I made a mistake in which eSIM I got?

Looking to pick up a second phone as a dumb phone, where I can forward my calls to throughout the day (have tried and cannot get rid of smart phone entirely without making life incredibly difficult)

I just want the $8/m tello talk and text plan. Whats the best value flip phone that can be purchased unlocked with 4g lte that I can get a sim for? I know it has to be T Mobile compatible.

Any recs?

Do i need to pay anything extra?? My current plan will renew after 2 weeks but i'm going there next week.

Hi all,

I would like to port my telephone number from T-Mobile to Tello.

I recently bought an unlocked iPhone 17 pro and was able to transfer my T-Mobile eSIM from my old iPhone 13 . On the new iPhone 17pro , the eSIM is currently assigned to the IMEI 1 slot.

Please let me know if the steps below are correct for me to port my number over to Tello. I am confuse which IMEI slot I should provide to Tello and don’t want to screw up the number transfer.

1. Activate a new Tello line and provide IMEI 2

To Tello.

2. Tello will assigned a new telephone number to IMEI 2

3. Once the new telephone number is activated, I can start porting my T-Mobile telephone number to Tello .

The ported T-Mobile number to Tello on my iPhone 17 will automatically use the IMEI 2 slot.

4. The T-Mobile eSIM on IMEI 1 slot will automatically be deactivated and is now empty. The IMEI 1 slot can be used for any future telephone lines . I am planning to live part time in the UK and I should be able to assign a local UK telephone number to IMEI 1 .

5. The steps above will allow me to toggle between two lines (esims) depending on whether I am in the US or UK.

Please let me know if my understanding is correct

Please also let me know if the i have correctly listed the sequence and steps for me to setup Tello and to port my number over .

I got Tello a month ago, and testing it traveling overseas, by having Pay As You Go, so I could text and I phoned back to the USA to test calling not using the app to call and it worked.

I used a data sim to use google maps, as it was a lot cheaper, but I did have to keep swapping sims as I have a 1 sim phone :(

Now I'd like to port in my "real" number from T-mobile, and have read this will end up replacing the temp number Tello gave me when I signed up.

Will I keep the Data and Pay As You Go amounts in the account, or does everything get zeroed out or just some gets zeroed ??

EDIT: I did the porting of a number to my account, it replace the temporary number I had gotten a month ago when I started with Tello. Entire process took 5 minutes !! All my Data, Minutes and PAYG credits remained 😄

T-mobile emailed me to say my account was closed.

I couldn't access Tello email , so will wait as not urgent to set it up.