For example...

I wanted to get some feedback from those who travel a lot for work or who know about these things please. Is there a Swiss mobile network provider who can offer a good mobile package for phone & internet (iPad/Laptop) when in EU countries including mobile calls from country to country & receiving calls too.

Otherwise I have the unenviable task of having to buy a pre-pay SIM card for every country to use when there (for quite heavy usage).
I was using WorldSIM (http://www.worldsim.com) but there are all kinds of recharge problems.

I know I can google 'International SIM cards' but I wanted to see if anyone can recommend any service as until you use them you just don't know how good these SIM card services will be. I'm willing to pay more for the convenience of just calling from my Swiss number (& receive calls too) but I don't think it is possible unless I budget for 3-4,000CHF a month.

That is what I do apart from open wifi spots. SIMs from Lebara, Lyca, Fonic, GiffGaff etc. and I do not get stung by hidden fees, charges and other gotchas.

The Skype Wi-Fi iPhone app is pretty good too for Viber/Whats App free use, sound like you too have to be very creative for communicating in travel-mode..

I use a 3G iPad and Abroadband which is more expensive than a microSIM in each country but a lot easier for billing and more convenient.

It's from Telekom Austria but works worldwide in over 60 countries now, according to the blurb...

It's not ideal for calls (Skype will chew through your data and could end up being more expensive than roaming!) but for access to email/web etc it's a good solution.

At .59 Euro cents a MB it's not cheap but much less than normal roaming costs.

Exactly...I got it when Swisscom suggested they would be charging me CHF8 per MB for roaming in Europe with my iPad...

I spend quite a bit of time in London so I have a 3 Mifi on PAYG and I buy a gig of data for I think about £10 when I get there. Data speed and reliability of 3 in the UK is head and shoulders above everyone else - for example O2 uses a proxy which compresses image data for PAYG customers, so most web pages look terrible.

If you pay a fee of 10 CHF a month that drops to 2CHF per MB on PAYG or 10MB for 7CHF per DAY , however your charged 7CHF for 1MB upto 10MB so it's not the 'bargain' it seems!

Swisscom did refund me over 700 CHF after changing the rules without telling me, I now get the PAYG rate on a contract.

I switch on that option when I travel, and for email on my iPhone etc it's fine - I just avoid doing anything too data-intensive.

For my iPad though, when I first got my SIM the roaming charges were different and absurdly expensive. I'll check again as they've obviously wised up!