The best SIM for streaming is the one on a different network.
A SIM for IRL streaming has one job: upload, for hours, while you move. What matters is which network it is on, how the allowance is counted, and what happens when it runs out. Here is how Lumbus SIMs answer each, with every price.
What to look for in a streaming SIM.
- Different networks across your SIMs, so they do not share one crowded mast.
- An allowance counted for upload and sized in hours on air. Read the terms of any plan sold as unlimited: many slow down after a set amount, and a slowed connection rarely carries a video stream.
- One allowance shared across every Lumbus SIM on your account, in every country of its zone — the dashboard shows the total used.
- Usage alerts before an allowance runs out, and no surprise overage charges.
- SIMs made for streaming hardware. Lumbus SIMs go in a Unit or another streaming box, not in a phone.
Lumbus SIMs, priced by zone.
Type a country or city to see its zone, the three allowances and what an hour on air costs there.
Type a country or city to find its zone, or pick a zone. The price and the hours on air update for it.
Zone 1. The EU, Norway, Switzerland, Iceland, Ukraine, Turkey, Thailand and New Zealand — 37 countries. Priced here. One allowance works in every Zone 1 country.
All 37 countries in Zone 1
- Åland Islands
- Austria
- Belgium
- Bulgaria
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Hungary
- Iceland
- Ireland
- Italy
- Latvia
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Malta
- Moldova
- Netherlands
- New Zealand
- Norway
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Thailand
- Turkey
- Ukraine
- 100 GB$289Zone 1 · a monthAbout 23 hours on air · roughly $12.48 an hour
- 250 GB$719Zone 1 · a monthAbout 58 hours on air · roughly $12.42 an hour
- 500 GB$1,439Zone 1 · a monthAbout 116 hours on air · roughly $12.43 an hour
- 1 TB, 2 TB or morepriced for your zoneRequest a quote
Hours on air are a guide, for streaming in high-quality HD. Stream at a lower quality and the same allowance lasts longer.
Technical detailsHow the hours are worked out, and how zones are priced
Hours are at 8 Mbps — the usual 1080p60 target — and include bonding overhead. A lower bitrate buys more hours; a higher one buys fewer.
An allowance bought for a zone works in every country in that zone. Stream in any of them and it draws from the same gigabytes — no second plan, no per-country top-up.
Need 1 TB, 2 TB or more a month? We quote it for your zone rather than publish a figure.
Multi-network SIMs (4G/5G), priced by zone. Type your destination to see its zone and your price — an allowance works in every country in its zone. Zones 1, 2 and 3 are priced here. Zones 4, 5 and 6 are quoted before anything is billed.
- One allowance shared across every Lumbus SIM on your account, in every country of its zone — the dashboard shows the total used.
- Buy it monthly, or for a single trip.
- Your own Starlink, Ethernet, Wi-Fi or SIMs stay billed by whoever provides them. Only Lumbus SIMs count against your allowance.
- Usage alerts before an allowance runs out, and no surprise overage charges.
Your data allowance includes the traffic used to protect your stream, such as bonding overhead and retransmissions. Actual usage depends on bitrate, network quality and redundancy settings.
Prices in US dollars.
Hours on air per allowance.
Hours are at 8 Mbps — the usual 1080p60 target — and include bonding overhead. A lower bitrate buys more hours; a higher one buys fewer.
| Allowance | Hours on air | Zone 1 price |
|---|---|---|
| 100 GB | About 23 hours | $289 |
| 250 GB | About 58 hours | $719 |
| 500 GB | About 116 hours | $1,439 |
1 TB, 2 TB or more? We quote it for your zone rather than publish a figure.
Every zone.
An allowance bought for a zone works in every country in that zone. Stream in any of them and it draws from the same gigabytes — no second plan, no per-country top-up.
- Zone 137 countries
- The EU, Norway, Switzerland, Iceland, Ukraine, Turkey, Thailand and New Zealand
- from $289100 GB a month
All 37 countries in Zone 1
- Åland Islands
- Austria
- Belgium
- Bulgaria
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Hungary
- Iceland
- Ireland
- Italy
- Latvia
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Malta
- Moldova
- Netherlands
- New Zealand
- Norway
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Thailand
- Turkey
- Ukraine
- Zone 234 countries
- The United States, the UAE, Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Israel and Morocco
- from $589100 GB a month
All 34 countries in Zone 2
- Albania
- Bangladesh
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Dominican Republic
- Faroe Islands
- French Guiana
- Georgia
- Gibraltar
- Guadeloupe
- Guernsey
- Hong Kong
- Isle of Man
- Israel
- Jersey
- Kazakhstan
- Kyrgyzstan
- Malaysia
- Martinique
- Mauritius
- Mayotte
- Morocco
- North Macedonia
- Philippines
- Puerto Rico
- Réunion
- Serbia
- Singapore
- South Korea
- St Martin
- United Arab Emirates
- United States
- US Virgin Islands
- Uzbekistan
- Vietnam
- Zone 321 countries
- Japan, Australia, India, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, South Africa and Egypt
- from $1,159100 GB a month
All 21 countries in Zone 3
- Algeria
- Argentina
- Australia
- Brazil
- Chile
- Colombia
- Costa Rica
- Ecuador
- Egypt
- El Salvador
- India
- Japan
- Kuwait
- Mexico
- Montenegro
- Pakistan
- Peru
- Russia
- South Africa
- Tanzania
- Uruguay
- Zone 487 countries
- Canada, China, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Indonesia, Taiwan, most of the Caribbean and much of Africa
- Quoted
All 87 countries in Zone 4
- Afghanistan
- Andorra
- Anguilla
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Armenia
- Aruba
- Bahamas
- Bahrain
- Barbados
- Belarus
- Bermuda
- Bolivia
- Botswana
- British Virgin Islands
- Burkina Faso
- Cambodia
- Cameroon
- Canada
- Cayman Islands
- Central African Republic
- Chad
- China
- Congo
- Côte d’Ivoire
- Curaçao
- Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Dominica
- Eswatini
- Fiji
- Gabon
- Ghana
- Grenada
- Guatemala
- Guyana
- Haiti
- Honduras
- Indonesia
- Iraq
- Jamaica
- Jordan
- Kenya
- Kosovo
- Laos
- Macao
- Malawi
- Mali
- Mauritania
- Monaco
- Mongolia
- Montserrat
- Nauru
- Nepal
- Netherlands Antilles
- Nicaragua
- Niger
- Nigeria
- Oman
- Palestine
- Panama
- Papua New Guinea
- Paraguay
- Qatar
- Rwanda
- Samoa
- Saudi Arabia
- Senegal
- Seychelles
- Sierra Leone
- Sint Maarten
- South Sudan
- Sri Lanka
- St Kitts and Nevis
- St Lucia
- St Vincent and the Grenadines
- Sudan
- Suriname
- Taiwan
- Tajikistan
- Timor-Leste
- Tonga
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Tunisia
- Turks and Caicos Islands
- Uganda
- Vanuatu
- Venezuela
- Zambia
- Zone 517 countries
- The United Kingdom, Azerbaijan, Lebanon, the Maldives, Guam and French Polynesia
- Quoted
All 17 countries in Zone 5
- Azerbaijan
- Belize
- Benin
- Brunei
- Cape Verde
- Ethiopia
- French Polynesia
- Guam
- Guinea
- Guinea-Bissau
- Iran
- Lebanon
- Liberia
- Madagascar
- Maldives
- Togo
- United Kingdom
- Zone 611 countries
- Greenland, Namibia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Libya and Bhutan
- Quoted
All 11 countries in Zone 6
- Bhutan
- Equatorial Guinea
- Gambia
- Greenland
- Lesotho
- Libya
- Mozambique
- Namibia
- São Tomé and Príncipe
- Solomon Islands
- Zimbabwe
Zones 4, 5 and 6 are quoted in writing before anything is billed. Anywhere not listed is quoted too, never guessed. Networks in each country are confirmed with you at onboarding.
Your own SIMs work too.
Yes, subject to network and device compatibility. On Pinta and Admiral, one active connection needs no Lumbus Connect and several bonded do; Niña streams through Lumbus Connect whatever the count. And it works the other way round: Lumbus SIMs are fitted in a Lumbus Unit when you buy one, or delivered to you to fit in hardware you already own.
Technical detailsThe signed-off wording on allowances, and why there is no unlimited SIM allowance
- Multi-network SIMs
- Multi-network SIMs (4G/5G), priced by zone. Type your destination to see its zone and your price — an allowance works in every country in its zone.
- What your allowance includes
- Your data allowance includes the traffic used to protect your stream, such as bonding overhead and retransmissions. Actual usage depends on bitrate, network quality and redundancy settings.
- Why no unlimited allowance
- Because we would be selling something we cannot buy. Allowances are bought zone by zone at a real wholesale cost, and an honest unlimited plan needs a wholesale agreement behind it. Rather than sell an “unlimited” plan and then throttle, cap or geo-restrict it in the small print, we price the allowance by the zone you actually stream in. If we get a genuine unlimited or fair-use wholesale deal, we will publish it with the terms attached.
Questions
Can I put a Lumbus SIM in my phone?
No. Lumbus SIMs are made for streaming hardware — they go in a Unit or another transmitter/encoder, not in a phone. If you stream from a phone today, keep the data plan you already pay for and add Lumbus Studio; Lumbus SIMs come later, with the Unit.
What happens when my data runs out?
You get usage alerts before the allowance is exhausted, and you can top up or move to a larger allowance. We don’t charge surprise overage fees.
How much data does a stream use?
It depends on the picture quality you stream at. As a guide, plan on about 4.3 GB an hour for high-quality HD. The estimator on the Lumbus SIMs page works out your own figure.
Technical detailsThe full answer, in detail
Plan on your video bitrate plus about 20% for bonding overhead: that is what your connections carry and what your SIM allowance counts for the Lumbus SIMs among them. At 8 Mbps that is about 4.3 GB an hour, so 100 GB lasts around 23 hours; a poor network pushes it towards 5 GB an hour. Lumbus Connect counts differently — the stream in plus a copy out per destination — see the next answers. The estimator on the Lumbus SIMs and Lumbus Connect pages works both out.
Why don’t you sell an unlimited SIM allowance?
Because we would be selling something we cannot buy. Allowances are bought zone by zone at a real wholesale cost, and an honest unlimited plan needs a wholesale agreement behind it. Rather than sell an “unlimited” plan and then throttle, cap or geo-restrict it in the small print, we price the allowance by the zone you actually stream in. If we get a genuine unlimited or fair-use wholesale deal, we will publish it with the terms attached.
Keep reading
- Multi-network streamingStream on several mobile networks at once, so one crowded mast can’t take you off air: Lumbus SIMs priced by zone, and Lumbus Connect to bond them as one.
- How much data does IRL streaming use?About 4.3 GB an hour at 8 Mbps with bonding overhead counted, 2.2 GB at 4 Mbps, 10.8 GB at 20 Mbps. See the allowance that covers your hours and days.
- IRL streaming setupAn IRL streaming setup, from a phone to a full rig: what each part does, three setups priced in full, and a builder that adds only what you need.
Build your setup in a few minutes.
Keep what you stream on or pick a Unit, tell us where you stream and switch on only what you need. We confirm the price in writing before anything is billed.
Build your setup