Roaming is a service offered by most mobile network operators, allowing subscribers to use their mobile while travelling outside their home country. When you are out of your home country, when using your mobile phone, you will automatically roam on the local area network available in the country you are visiting. The countries you can roam in and the costs are determined by your network operator.

GSM stands for Global System for Mobile Communication and is used Worldwide. Most of the celluar service Worldwide is GSM, which is why you are able to take your mobile abroad and use it, by roaming on one of the local mobile networks.

A SIM card, or Subscriber Identity Module, is a small plastic card, with a chip embedded, and it is the brain in your mobile phone, enabling you to make phone calls, send text messages and many other functions, including recording call history and enabling your voice mail.  The chip, which inserts into your mobile phone, provides a wireless phone service on your chosen mobile operators service.

Some mobile network operators lock their mobile handsets so that it will only accept a SIM card supplied by them. Many of the newer handsets are not locked at all For example, if you purchased a mobile from Vodafone, the handset may be locked so that it only works on the Vodafone network.

The easiest way to find out if your mobile is locked or not is to borrow a SIM from someone who is on a different network to yours.  If you see any of the following messages, your handset is more than likely locked:

SIM card not accepted
Enter special code
Enter subsidy password
Enter restriction code

Search online for a company able to supply you with a code.  There will be a small fee for this. Just type in ‘mobile unlock codes’ in any search engine for a list of companies. We do not have a specific unlocking partner for this service.

Visit a local phone unlocking shop or a local mobile phone retailer.  We suggest you call in advance to ensure they are able to unlock your specific model.

Contact your mobile operator directly and ask them to supply a code. This does tend to be quite expensive than the other options listed and you might have to send your phone away to be unlocked.

Once your handset is unlocked you will be able to insert the æther SIM into your phone any number of times, enabling you to make massive savings on your mobile phone bills, every time you travel abroad!
This is NOT an illegal process.

Certain prepay, or Pay-As-You-Go, SIMs need a security PIN (Personal Identification Number) to be entered each time the mobile is switched on. This number must be memorised as if it is entered incorrectly three times in a row the phone will automatically be blocked and will be unusable. To unblock the phone you will need to enter your PUK (Personal Unblocking Key) code to unblock the phone. If this is entered incorrectly 10 times the SIM will be blocked indefinitely and it will need to be replaced. Please refer to your specific phone models manual for more information.

There are two ways to do this: 1. You can enter the following code into your handset and the IMEI serial code will automatically be displayed: *#06#. 2. You will find the IMEI number on or near the battery of your phone clearly labelled “IMEI number....”

The term country code refers to the international dialling code, a sequence of numbers prefixed to the national telephone number to access the line internationally ie. UK is 0044 or +44

The æther mobile global roaming service allows the user to make and receive calls and text messages in 206 countries for a fraction of the cost of using your normal cell/mobile. By using the æther mobile service, you will avoid the extortionate roaming charges your normal cell/mobile service provider would charge, saving you up to 80% on the cost of your calls. You will also get free roaming in 65 countries, so you won’t pay to receive a call, and the costs charged in other countries to receive a call are up to 100% cheaper.

Your æther mobile number will be a UK based number, and will be clearly visible on the SIM card when you receive it.

The instructions for inserting a SIM card differs depending on the model of handset you have. Generally, you will need to remove the back of the phone, remove the battery from the handset and insert the SIM card in the SIM slot. If your phone is unlocked, when you switch your phone back on, after a while you should see the æther mobile network name on your phone screen. See General Questions above relating to unlocking a handset.

If you have requested your SIM to be posted to a UK address, it will take 2-3 days for you to receive the SIM pack. If you live outside the UK, the delivery time will take a little longer, depending on your location. However, you can have your SIM posted to an alternative address if you are leaving to travel in the next few days and don’t want to risk leaving without it. You simply need to inform us and we will send the new SIM card to your preferred address.

Worldwide delivery is charged at £2.50/$3.99US/€2.75.

Making a call to anywhere in the world is easy. Just dial the number you want to reach, including the international dialling code, and put a # on the end of the number, for example +447872228000#. If you want to call someone travelling with you and they have a UK mobile number you will still need to add the country code in front of the number. By calling someone travelling with you on their æther mobile number, both of you will save on call costs! To make a call, the æther mobile service uses the “callback” procedure as outlined below: * Step 1: Dial the number - country code (0044 for the UK) and number, followed by # * Step 2: Automatic cut off of the call (This is usually followed by a message saying “call barred” or “not allowed” – this is normal!) * Step 3: You will be called back – just answer the phone * Step 4: When the other party picks up the call you are connected.

Yes. You can use your æther SIM to send SMS to local and international recipients. æther has no control over lost or delayed international SMS messages.

Can I forward calls to my normal cell/mobile to the æther mobile SIM?

Yes you can. To forward/divert calls to your æther mobile, you will need to set this up on your normal cell/mobile handset. You can check how to do this in your handsets manual. Remember to use the format 44787xxxxxxx.

Unfortunately your cell/mobile text messages cannot be forward to your æther mobile SIM. This is not just relative to the æther service, this applies to all mobile networks.

Yes. Your SIM card will remain activated until you need to use it the next time. Your credit will remain on your account too! Unlike some providers, we do not penalise you for not using the service.

Your call will be diverted to your voice mail. To pick up or set up your voicemail when abroad please refer to 'Voicemail’ in your user guide.

When you arrive in a country you’ll receive a welcome text message from the local network/s. Important texts sent from your personal contacts will always be sent in your preferred language, and messages sent from will always be in English compatible formats.

Your SIM is automatically set up to receive voicemail so you do not miss any important calls. Please refer to your user guide for more information on voicemail.

To set up your voicemail please dial *151*# from your handset and follow the verbal instructions. We recommend you set up a personalized message so your callers know they have reached you!

The æther mobile service is only able to support voice and text communication. However, keep coming back as we will be introducing a data service very soon.

Yes – as long as this separate handset is an unlocked GSM phone. Just insert the æther mobile SIM card into the mobile before you leave and when you get to your destination, switch it on and your phone will pick up the local network.

Customer Support is available to answer all your technical queries regarding the service. We are open from 9am to 6pm and you can contact us in a number of ways. If you need to contact us out of hours, we suggest you text or email us and we will get back to you as soon as we can.
You can text us on +44787 222 8000
You can call us on +44871 287 0099 (charged at 10p/m from the UK) Or
you can email us at customersupport@aether-mobile.com

Our customer support line is currently open from 9:00-18:00, Monday- Friday GMT. However, a text or email will get a response during out of hours.

Anyone travelling outside their home country will benefit from the service, with savings of up to 80% on the cost of making a call, free roaming in 65 countries (don’t pay to receive a call), costs to receive a call reduced by up to 100% in all other countries, and SMS from just £0.10p/$0.16c/$0.11c.

The æther mobile service can be used in 206 countries worldwide, on 565 networks.

Our service is a prepaid/pay as you go service and you will be required to enter valid credit/debit card details in order to keep your credit topped up to enable you to make phone calls. You have to have at least £1.00 in your account to make and receive calls and SMS. We would strongly suggest that to stop your credit running out, you register for the auto top up option.

Any unused credit will stay on your account for when you need to use it next time. We will never delete any call credit from your account, and there is no expiry date.

Please log into your online account and make the changes here.

We've been working hard to bring you an exciting and competitive Affiliate Program and we feel it is one of the best in the global roaming market. Our aim is to give you the best possible experience as an æther mobile partner. We are passionate about our service and are sure that you will be too.

Auto top up is a facility where you can request your credit to be topped up when it reaches a certain limit. For example, you can request that when your credit reaches £5, your account is automatically topped up to £50. This will be deducted from your credit card on each auto top up.

Auto Top Up is perfect for you if:

» You're worried about running out of credit in your account
» You have trouble remembering to top up your account

On prepaid, at what time of day does Auto Top Up happen?
The Auto top up feature is activated whenever your account reaches your predetermined level.  So if you account reaches the level you have indicated as your minimum account balance at say, 12.00pm, we will automatically top up your account by the requested amount immediately, to ensure you never run out of credit!

Anyone with Virgin Mobile prepaid service can register for Auto Top.

Yes. Choose a balance threshold of either £2, £5 or £10 and we'll top up your account when it drops below that level.  This way you know there will always be credit in your account when you need it.

Yes. You can choose to top up to £10, £25, £50 or £100.

Yes. All you have to do is register your details with us.  It's that easy.

Yes. You need to register a credit card (Master Card or Visa) to use Auto Top Up.

You can cancel Auto Top Up at any time by the following methods:

» Logging into your account on the æther mobile website.

Nothing. Registering for Auto top up is free.

You will always know that you have successfully topped up as we will confirm the payment and top up by email to your registered email address.

If there is an error with your credit card and we're unable to top up your account you will receive an email to confirm the requested has failed. But Auto Top Up will keep trying to top you up for the following 15 days, so you can get your phone up and running again as soon as possible.