TSTAR (台灣之星) vs Taiwan Mobile (台灣大哥大) vs Chunghwa (中華電信) vs

Which cell provider do people recommend for a monthly plan? The main factors for me are ease of use / customer service, coverage / speed, and price. I think I use around 5 GB of data and 120 minutes of voice, and I’d like to be able to go to most places on the island (e.g. the central mountains) and still get coverage.

I got TSTAR at the airport because that was all that was available, but I’ve had 大哥大 on previous trips to Taiwan and it seemed to be what people recommended. Is it OK to just keep the TSTAR plan or do people recommend switching?

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Taiwan Star hates foreigners and won’t give you a plan without the mighty guarantor. So… probably not a good idea and I am a bit swamped with life to fight them at the moment.

Taiwan Mobile has bundle deals with their home internet and phone.

I suggested this to @acedubs. $999 for unlimited home internet and unlimited phone 4G.

Basically $499.50 for each.

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I am with Chunghwa but I am looking at moving from them. Perhaps it is just where I go but I find issues with overloading. Signal is full strength but nothing will load or incredibly slow. Happened to me in Taipei 101, happens in Banqiao stattion, full signal but nothing loads and it’s not just me, I can see other people in the train with a youtube spinner eventually give up. Never had this issue with T-Star before (with them when it didn’t work usually the signal was very low). I moved to Chungwha because the reputation is that it is best but I think they gained too many customers during the promotions a while back and have run out of capacity in some busy locations.

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Chunghwa (中華電信) has the best coverage
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TSTAR (台灣之星) doesn’t look that bad , however you can try it first to see how it works
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In my case I have a phone with 2 sim cards one from Taiwan mobile which works well and has good coverage and other with 亞太電信 which is cheaper plan (NTD300) but usually has bad coverage indoors

Source:

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I’ve been with them all except tstar and switch every year or so to get better deals offered to new customers. I’m currently with fareastone

I like chunghua and Taiwan mobile for mountain use but for some deep mountains only chunghua is available so if you want to always be connected they are the ones but they are the most expansive and usually offer few deals. Speed I find was slower than Taiwan mobile.

Taiwan mobile is a close second with good coverage almost everywhere, speeds are really good too. They often have deals running.

Fareastone is the same price as Taiwan mobile usually but imo the coverage is just OK compared to the other 2. Speeds are good. A decent provider and they run promotions often.

Aptg Asia Pacific also called yatai is kinda crappy but very cheap. Works decent in the city but forget mountain ranges. Speeds with them very wildly depending on where you are.

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I use up around 50gb, sometimes up to 100gb, a month on Chunghwa with no noticable issues. Watching movies, streaming music, etc.

Coverage is pretty good Taiwan-wide, and coverage is pretty good even in the mountains, but there are drop out spots when not near a small town.

ATPG (Yatai 4G) has currently an offer (at least in its stores here in Taichung).

Unlimited, no speed limitation internet for 199 NT$. 20 min free talking, afterwards 2 NT$ per Minute (1/1 seconds).

30 months and the best, it is NOT for students only (so open for everything, well, sadly also includes the foreigner + guarateer topic).

PS
Just did a speedtest in my appartment and result was 18 and 6 Mbs/sec.
The sales person particulary mentioned the speed can be up to 70 for the download section (so I guess my slower speed might more relate to my current cheaper mobile device).

And
This special offer just started today and likely last only until September 19th - so hurry up to sign to this in my opinion really good deal !!!

Bet you will have issues trying to sign up to that offer as a foreigner.

I’ve been rockin a T-Star unlimited 21mbps plan at $299 for a couple years now, and don’t have too much to complain about.

Coverage is very good in cities (except parts of xin bei), though becomes pretty spotty outside of them. I spend about 95% of my time in Kaohsiung or Hsinchu, but I usually lose service on the train ride between the two for long stretches of time (not HSR).

I got okay coverage in Tarako, though if you’re counting on it for directions or something on a cross-island trip I’d definitely look elsewhere!

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Did they force you to get a guarantor?

I got plans at T-Star without one.

OP - if you live in a heavily populated area, T-Star is by far the best value, but if you live outside one, the signal sucks most places.
(125mbps VS 7mbps)
If you are outside of a heavily populated area, get the 21mbps Chungwha plan, cheap and steady.

Chunghwa is awesome, I pay like 500 per month and get unlimited everything and tethering.

I believe I can cancel any time too, but I needed my Taiwanese friend to set it up for me

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I’m not sure if they would have let me if I had an ARC or not – I got it while still doing visa runs before getting a JFRV, so actually had to use my [Taiwanese] wife’s sister’s name on it (wife had already gotten the promotion).

Well…if it’s using a Taiwanese person’s name. It doesn’t count.

It looks like Yatai isn’t telling people about the deposit option and still pushing the guarantor form

Ah. They changed it back. I just dont have time to scream at them until november

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I only use chunghwa for the absolute most. important reason of coverage. Every carrier has dead.zones, especially in the mountians.

My.wife bounces around with different carriers based on their deals etc. We only need one phone in the mountains. But they have so far fallen short on service area and speed. But.they are cheaper.

I pay 599 for.unlimited internet plus something for phone. usually pay 700 to 800 a month. And the internet is actually unlimited. We have you tube and wifi hotspots on probably 18 hours a day, always while.working. my.phone is basiclly a router…

I’m switching back to Chungwha next period. In one of my apartments I can’t get a signal from any other carrier. Only Chungwha works everywhere.

But if you are always in the city, T-Star is the best because it’s cheap and gets over 100mbps.

What phone do you use? I haven’t had a phone on a plan since the Samsung S2. Good midrange phones are satisfactory to me and cost less than 5K.

Ya thats pretty much exactly how i feel.

I go through multiple phines a year at work. As i dont buy made in china, and most phones are from there i only buy second hand now to avoid supporting the enemy. Currently using a samsung galaxy. Its alright. I am very dissapointed with the models of lg, sony, asus, inhone. I loved my htc one when it was made in taiwan. When it switched to china the quality nose dived. Not sure about new htc.

And iphone i just cant support, theyre terrible. Only their security i can compliment.

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Can anyone help me with the current internet situation: I need a 4G SIM card for 3 months with at least 8 GB per month (or more, can be unlimited if it’s only slightly more expensive). Would be nice if I only have to go to the store one time and don’t recharge every month.

What I found so far:

Taiwan Mobile

  • $2300 for 120 Days unlimited = $766 per month, quite expensive I think
  • Half year with 24GB for 1000 NTD => $333 per month which 8GB
  • 8 GB per Month for $299

Since I can only read a few chinese characters, the TSTAR website if not very helpful. Does anyone know any good packages? Thanks!