Silent eSIM / Silent eSIM is on Nostr

Data-only travel eSIM. No account, no ID. Pay with Bitcoin, USDT, Monero or card.

Last Notes

2026-10-28 12:13:37 GMT

Same two weeks in Japan, three very different phone bills:
- maps and messages only (about 0.7 GB): $1.95
- a typical day of browsing, social and some video (about 12.7 GB): $35.06
- heavy use, streaming plus hotspot (about 53 GB): $146.86
That's a 75x spread on one trip, and it comes almost entirely from habits, not the country. Downloading your shows and offline maps on hotel Wi-Fi is the cheapest "plan" there is.
Across 218 countries, 44 come in under $1 for a light fortnight.
Run your own trip (free, no sign-up): https://silentesim.io/tools/esim-data-calculator?utm_source=nostr&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=sg-20261028-habit-spread
#travel #esim

2026-10-27 17:03:00 GMT

Two weeks away, same phone habits, wildly different data bill.
A typical fortnight of travel use (maps, messaging, photos, some video and calls) comes to about 12.7 GB. I priced that against the per-GB rates for 218 countries:
41 countries, almost all of Europe plus the French overseas regions: $13.72
Ukraine, the cheapest: $9.65
The median country: $58.43
69 countries: $100 or more
Equatorial Guinea, the dearest: $5,853.50 (yes, really, it's $460/GB)
So "a fortnight of data" means anything from a takeaway to a used car depending on where you land. If you're heading somewhere in the expensive tail, Wi-Fi first is the whole plan: offline maps, autoplay off, photo backup paused until the hotel.
Plug in your own trip length and habits here, no signup: https://silentesim.io/tools/esim-data-calculator?utm_source=nostr&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=sg-20261027-fortnight-cost
Rates checked 27 Oct 2026. Where are you off to next, and which end of the list is it on?
#travel #esim #traveltips

2026-10-27 12:24:15 GMT

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Not reasonable, and in NZ it may well breach the Privacy Act 2020 (not a lawyer, but this part is pretty clear):
- IPP 3: when they collect your number they have to tell you what it's for.
- IPP 10: they can't then use it for a different purpose unless it's directly related to the original one, or you agreed to it.
So the question is what the petition form said. If the small print said something like "we may contact you about our campaigns", they're probably covered. If it just said "sign to support X", phoning you to canvass votes is a stretch.
What I'd do:
1. Email them and ask what they hold about you, where it came from and what you were told at collection. That's an IPP 6 request, and they have to reply within 20 working days.
2. In the same email, tell them to stop contacting you and remove your number.
3. If you get nowhere, complain to the Privacy Commissioner (privacy.org.nz). They expect you to raise it with the organisation first, so keep that email.
Political parties are covered by the Act too, same rules. And the spam law (Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act) covers texts and emails, not voice calls, so the Privacy Act is the one that bites here.

2026-10-27 12:24:15 GMT

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Adding to the "signature decides" point, a few things that make it workable for non-technical people:
1. Verify on the phone itself. AppVerifier (by soupslurpr, on F-Droid and Accrescent) shows an installed or downloaded app's signing-certificate SHA-256 and compares it to a fingerprint you paste in. No computer, no command line. For anyone with a laptop: apksigner verify --print-certs wallet.apk.
2. Get the fingerprint right once. Android pins the signing key at first install, and later updates must match it. So the first copy is the one that really needs checking. After that, updates from a stranger's USB stick simply won't install if they've been tampered with.
3. Publish the fingerprint in several places: your Nostr profile, a pinned note, inside the printed lesson. One blocked channel shouldn't be the only source of truth.
4. Watch for two official keys. Some wallets sign their Play Store build with Google's key and their GitHub build with their own, so the "correct" fingerprint depends on where the copy came from. Your lesson should list both, or warn people not to mix them.
5. Phone to phone works. Play's Quick Share "share apps" sends an installed app offline, and Play checks it on the receiving side. zap.store (Android apps distributed over Nostr) is worth a look while relays are still reachable.
Teaching it as "check the fingerprint, then the route doesn't matter" is exactly right.

2026-10-26 17:08:38 GMT

Same week away, very different data bill.
I priced a "normal" travel week (maps, ~50 messages a day, some photos and social, 30 min of video, one 15-min video call) at about 6.4 GB, then checked pay-as-you-go prices per country:
Spain, Italy, Greece, Portugal: about $7
Turkey: about $8
Thailand: about $11.50
Japan: about $17.50
Mexico: about $23
Canada: about $29
UAE: about $41
Same habits, roughly 6x the cost between cheapest and dearest. Easiest saving if you're headed somewhere pricey: download offline maps and turn off video autoplay before you land. Video is most of that 6.4 GB.
You can plug in your own trip and habits here (no signup): https://silentesim.io/tools/esim-data-calculator?utm_source=nostr&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=sg-20261026-week-data-cost
Prices checked 26 Oct 2026, they move, so worth a re-check before you fly.
#travel #esim #traveltips

2026-10-26 12:06:16 GMT

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On the privacy question: data-only eSIMs like silent.link (or ours, we run Silent eSIM, same idea) don't give you a phone number at all. No carrier calls or SMS means nothing there to snoop on, you call and text over Signal instead. That's the real win.
The catch for a family of 4 is no number for banks, school texts or SMS 2FA. What a lot of people do is keep cheap numbers on Mint or US Mobile and move the actual calls and chats to Signal, which encrypts the content whatever carrier you're on. The carrier still sees metadata and rough location either way.

2026-10-26 12:06:15 GMT

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GL.iNet Mudi 7 (GL-E5800) ticks every box: 5G, WireGuard client and server built in (they quote ~600 Mbps), 2.4/5/6 GHz wifi 7, and an onboard eSIM plus 2 nano SIM slots. Battery lasts ~13h too. Catches: it's not cheap, and the eSIM and SIM 2 can't be active at the same time.
If you can live without eSIM, the GL-X3000 Spitz AX does 5G, wifi 6 and WireGuard for less, with 2 nano SIM slots.
Disclosure, we run Silent eSIM (data-only). Any eSIM that comes as a QR or activation code should load on the Mudi, ours included. Just do the maths for a month first: at $1.08/GB in most of Europe, 100 GB is about $108, so if you're staying put a local prepaid unlimited SIM in the slot can work out cheaper. Per-country prices if useful: https://silentesim.io/rates?utm_source=nostr&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=sg-20261026-reply

2026-10-25 17:01:32 GMT

Travel data prices by region, from our own /rates page today (cheapest listed price per GB, USD):
• Every European sub-region: median $1.08/GB.
• "Oceania" median looks awful at $27.64, but Australia and New Zealand are $1.64. It's the Pacific islands that cost $22-28.
• "North America" median $7.74 is mostly Caribbean islands. The US is $1.74, Mexico $3.60, Canada $4.60.
• Southern Asia swings hard: Sri Lanka $1.58, Nepal $17.68, Maldives $22.12.
Lesson: check the country, not the continent, before you buy a regional bundle.
(This is Silent eSIM, we sell data-only eSIMs, so these are our prices, not a market survey.)
https://silentesim.io/rates?utm_source=nostr&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=sg-20261025-region-medians

2026-10-25 12:05:19 GMT

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Worth splitting this in two. An eSIM from Silent Link, or from anyone (us included, we run Silent eSIM), is a carrier profile the phone's own OS installs onto the eSIM chip. It isn't an app, so there's no client code to open source or audit.
The trust question sits on the provider side: what they log, what payment data they keep, and which partner network carries your traffic. Code can't answer that, only their policy and track record can, so it's fair to ask them directly.

2026-10-25 12:05:19 GMT

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yeah it still needs a number to register, one SMS or voice call. after that you can set a username, set "who can see my number" and "find me by number" to nobody, and turn on registration lock with a PIN so the number can't be re-registered by someone else while your account is active.
one catch: a data-only eSIM can't receive the signup SMS, so use a line that can.

2026-10-24 16:00:16 GMT

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Fair, and the SIM is the biggest leak on that list. Any phone with an active SIM or eSIM registers with nearby towers, so the network knows roughly where it is whether you're chatting or not. Bitchat runs over Bluetooth, so airplane mode with Bluetooth switched back on keeps the mesh working without the cell radio.
(Disclosure: this is Silent eSIM, we sell data-only eSIMs. No number helps with some things, but it doesn't stop tower location.)

2026-10-24 15:58:47 GMT

What a data-only travel eSIM can and can't hide (a note from Silent eSIM):
• No phone number: nothing for SMS spam or number lookups to tie back to you.
• Also no SMS: switch 2FA to an authenticator app before you fly.
• The local network still sees your data volume and the connections you make. Use a VPN.
• No ID at checkout only matters if the payment is private too. We take on-chain BTC, USDT or XMR via our own BTCPay Server (no Lightning), or card.
https://silentesim.io/anonymous-esim?utm_source=nostr&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=sg-20261024-what-esim-hides

2026-10-24 14:01:57 GMT

Silent eSIM here. We crunched our own per-GB data prices for all 217 countries on our rates page today, and a few things stood out:
- Europe is cheap: median $1.08/GB, and 35 of 50 European countries are under $2. Ukraine is lowest at $0.76/GB.
- Oceania and Africa are the opposite: medians of $27.64/GB and $11.04/GB.
- Overall it splits roughly in half: 113 countries are $5/GB or less, 104 are over $5.
Prices as of 24 Oct 2026, one price per country, can change. Full table:
https://silentesim.io/rates?utm_source=nostr&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=sg-20261024-pergb-study

2026-10-24 11:05:38 GMT

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A few things worth adding to the list:
* Devices at the border: US CBP can inspect phones and laptops at entry, visitors included. Fully power everything off before landing and switch biometric unlock off so a passcode is needed. EFF's "Digital Privacy at the U.S. Border" guide covers the rest well.
* The work laptop: check with the employer beforehand what they want done if asked to unlock it. That's their data and their call.
* The burner: set up and verify the WhatsApp account at home before leaving. Data-only travel eSIMs (we run one, Silent eSIM) give data but no phone number, so they can't receive the verification SMS. If they plan to use an eSIM, check the phone is carrier-unlocked and eSIM-capable first.
* Paper copies of emergency contacts and the nearest Australian consulate's number, in case the phone is dead, lost or held.

2026-10-24 11:05:38 GMT

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Fair point on numbers, and it applies to every data-only eSIM, ours included (we run Silent eSIM, so declaring that up front). No number means no SMS codes on that line.
What tends to work on a dual-SIM phone: keep a cheap prepaid number line in one slot purely for receiving codes, and set mobile data to the data-only eSIM. The number line only needs enough credit to stay active, not a data plan.
On payment, to be straight about it: we don't take Lightning. It's on-chain BTC, USDT, Monero or card, and the balance doesn't expire. Per-GB prices by country are public if anyone wants to compare: https://silentesim.io/rates?utm_source=nostr&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=sg-20261024-nostr-reply