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I'm hoping that someone here can give me some advice on getting temporary high speed internet access in Spain. I've never been to Europe, so I'm not sure how it works over there.
I am going to be staying in an apartment in Torredembarra, Spain for about 2 months. I have been told that there is currently no internet connectivity in the apartment unit and no guarantee that free wifi access is available within range. I will be living and working from there, and my livelihood depends upon high-speed internet access, so I need to figure this out before I go.
Would it be better to find a pay-as-you-go cell plan that includes 3G data, or to look into having DSL/Cable/etc installed at the apartment for 2 months? Here is some additional info that I'm factoring in:
I will need to make and receive phone calls from/to the states while there, as well as having a local cell phone. I'm thinking about using Skype In/Out for calls to the states. I'm even considering getting TMobile HotSpot @ Home service to make calls from any wifi hotspot. But regardless, I will be getting a local pay-as-you-go cell plan. Any other ideas?
My notebook has bluetooth, wifi, and gprs/edge built in (sony viao), but no 3G. Would it be better to get a 3G card for it, or connect via bluetooth to a 3G mobile phone? Can I make calls at the same time as data is being used?
I'm not interested in spending all day at a cafe or bar with free wifi. I need to be able to work from the apartment, or I just won't be very productive.
If it is available, I hope to purchase an unlocked HTC Kaiser while over there. If that isn't available, then any suggestions on what to get?
I need to be able to use SSH from where ever I am to manage servers remotely. So a windows mobile device with data is preferred.
Because of all this, I'm thinking that I should not worry about the DSL/cable thing and just get a 3G cell phone/plan. Since I need a phone anyway, why get a phone and land service? Or would it be cheaper to get a cheap cell plan and land service? Any feedback on this?
If I was to get a mobile data plan, can I get 3G data plans on a pay-as-you-go basis, or do you have to sign up for a contract?
What mobile phone provider would be best for this situation? What handset?
Can I get DSL/cable installed in a residence for only a couple months? How long does it take to get installed once ordered? How much does it cost per month?
What kind of costs would be involved, assuming I am using a fair amount of data? I'm prepared to spend some money on this, but of course I'd rather be as economical as possible while still having a good solution.
Please offer your advice! If you know of another forum that would be more appropriate for this type of question, please let me know. I couldn't figure out where to post this.
Thanks!
In case it helps, I have a USA T-Mobile MDA (Wizard) with gprs/edge support but no 3G support.
Here is an interesting theory I have, and I want to know if it would work, and if so, how would I set it up...
I have a GREAT service providor... They customer service is top notch, I get unlimited TXT, MMS, Voice, and Internet fur under $60 a month including all taxes and fees.. I get free roaming on AT&T & T-mobile towers when I am outside of the "home" area.... But there is one place they are lacking...
Their internet is only a 9.6k connection... So it is painful to surf the web, unless on wifi.. the internet works fine for tomtom traffic updates, update the weather, and, well, that is about it.... Now, thinking WAY back, I used to have a Motorola MPx200 smartphone (still have it actually)... If I remember correctly, at a friends house who lived in an AT&T area outside of my home area, we teathered my phone to his computer and used it as a dialup modem, and if I remember right, we were able to connect at atleast 28.8k or 33.6k.... I know.. not broadband by any means, but a hell of a lot better than 9.6k.... Now here is the question... I spend most of my time outside of my "home" area and usually use AT&T's towers.... Would it be possible to somehow setup some dialup account in my settings to attempt to get a 56kish connection for my phone? That way I could browse the web and such in a little more user friendly way? Is it possible?
Please don't flame me or Einstein and tell me to get a "Real" carrier or drop them for AT&T, etc... As I said, they have great customer service which I appreciate, they only provide UNLOCKED phones to their customers so they can take the phones to any GSM carrier they wish.. They even spent an afternoon with me at one point setting up my Tilt so it works as flawlessly as it can on their network (once I already had it unlocked). I;ve been with them for over 5 years, and not planning on leaving any time soon (plus, where else could I pay this and get everything I am getting????)
Thank in advance for your input on this...
I'm having trouble finding it, all the sips I've tried doesn't work on landlines, anyone successfully been able to call a landline/cellphone # with your sip service? (free?)
The reason for this is because I forget my phone in my other half's purse and when she goes home I forget to take it out, so I'm stuck with no phone :'(
I USE to be able to do this on sipdroid, so if anyone links me to sipdroid, it no longer works anymore because they make you pay for it now. Thanks in advance guys!
Groove IP
I may have misunderstood your question, but I use Groove IP to make WiFi calls to any U.S. phone (landline or cellphone) for FREE. It uses your Google Voice account. It costs $3.99 in the Amazon App store (was $1.99 a couple of weeks ago). The phone doesn't even need to have a cell plan, just WiFi. We use it as a home phone on a G1 that has no cell service.
Thank you, that was exactly what I was looking for
I'm looking for an app that allows you to make free calls over the net..
I really really don't care whether its with VOIP or WIFI or UMA but I've always had unlimited minutes on my lines and until about a year ago I dropped all data on both my mytouch 3g slide and my tmob g1 and then again on my bb 8520, they wouldn't allow me to have a bb plan an a android plan on the same line so eventually I got the unlimited 2g service for 9.99 and then shortly after they dropped it!
The only thing that bugs me despite the fact I keep the 9.99 on my line because it works just fine for phones hardware thats only provisioned with EDGE hardware/despite the OS... but I should have added the unlimited free wifi calling for another 9.99 because if i'd had changed my minutes from unlimited to regulated?? I'd have received overages like crazy even though 99% of the time I"m on uma or wifi calling!
cheers~
i have been using Viber it works great, but both callers need it installed , still useful
Viber
Free international calls and text messages to other Viber
users using 3G or Wi-Fi.
Uses your existing contact list - check out which of your phone contacts and friends is already on Viber so that you can call and text them for free.
Go ahead and start calling and texting. It's free* and it works great!
I have a T-Mo tab/T-Mo contracted service (for another year) running OC Hermes (which totally rocks!).
Problem is, I want to use my Tab as my phone (light phone use, but I need it to ring and answer it when I need it, hence I have to lose T-Mo/modem switch. I need 3G data - who doesn't? Use is in Domestic US with Europe for a month out of the year - seems simple enough.
I have a depricated VZ Winmo 6.5 device with my "real" number, and found a 3rd party SIM (Tru) that will let you port your number, and provide "reasonable" cost US Domestic and European Voice and Data roaming, so I can get voice/data service and keep my number.
Now I just need to figure out which Tab to buy:
Can the AT&T Tab be customized to work with voice and 3G data simultaneously without modem/switching, and if so, on which SIM/Network(s) in the US other than AT&T?
If I were to replace my T-Mo Unit, should I buy the AT&T or the European Tab?
Will either get this done? Thanks all in advance for any help.
- Cathy
would also like to know the answer to this...
T-mobile tab with t-mobile sim:
Voice, sms, mms, and EDGE data **or** 3g data only.
Flash any rom besides stock to get the dialer capability. Use the Rotohammer modem switch to go between these options. If you are on the 3g mode the phone won't ring, your caller will get the same thing as if they called you when your phone was turned off. You have to delete a system folder to enable web browsing.
At&t tab with at&t sim:
Voice, sms, mms, 3g data, no switch necessary.
Flash any rom besides stock to get the dialer capability. No system files to tinker with.
#####At&t tab with at&t sim is the easiest, best option for a complete phone and data experience.
Thank you @Rangercaptain!
@Rangercapain, you are a gentleman and a scholar!
I thought AT&T did both now, but the info on the boards conflicts, some because it is dated before you fine folks figured this all out, and some because newer users haven't flashed a custom ROM, but I wanted to be sure before sinking another $350 into a dead-end with the telephony.
I was contemplating the SGSII but at $700 US and without Alter's incredible ROM for everything else, it wasn't going to work, and I really don't want two devices.
I realize T-Mo is on the funky 1700 band here so I knew non-T-Mo SIMs were likely only going to get me 2G, but I wasn't sure about AT&T.
If I go with the AT&T Tab, do you know if the 3rd party SIMs like SimpleMobile or Tru Mobile will also do both 3G and voice? AT&T rapes you like everyone else US domestic on Euro Roaming Data ($15/mb is insanity), and I was foolishly hopiing for a SIM that I could use here and in Europe without re-mortaging the house!
Can I determine this definitively by confirming the GSM bands specified by the SIM reseller?
Thank you thank you thank you
My at&t voice, unlimited text, and 2 gigs of data is $35 per month. Like you said, don't use the pay as you go, because that is crazy. Have you seen the Walmart phone/data pay as you go - Straight Talk I think. I will check it out and post back here.
SimpleMobile is exactly the same as T-mobile, so not good with at&t tab or euro tab. I haven't heard of TruMobile. Just google "trumobile frequencies". You want to see 1900/900 or 1900/850.
Straight Talk is a no-go. They sell phones, not sim cards.
rangercaptain said:
T-mobile tab with t-mobile sim:
At&t tab with at&t sim:
Voice, sms, mms, 3g data, no switch necessary.
Flash any rom besides stock to get the dialer capability. No system files to tinker with.
#####At&t tab with at&t sim is the easiest, best option for a complete phone and data experience.
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Click to collapse
does it have a minimum data plan requirement? have an ATT iphone4 with the $15 200MB data plan. can i just put my iphone simcard on the GalTab? will i get the dreaded text messages from BIG BROTHER? or will it suffice? or will i be asked to upgrade to a higher data plan?
TIA
jeraldyne
tanjeraldyne said:
does it have a minimum data plan requirement? have an ATT iphone4 with the $15 200MB data plan. can i just put my iphone simcard on the GalTab? will i get the dreaded text messages from BIG BROTHER? or will it suffice? or will i be asked to upgrade to a higher data plan?
TIA
jeraldyne
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can put that sim in your tab, and you won't get the dreaded message. They are after unlimited iphone plans. But you will BURN through 200mb in about 20 minutes. Study your at&t bill, then add 1gig for $15, or 2gigs for $25 (my plan).
Tru Mobile is at&t compatable, but the data works out to $350 per gigabyte.
Global SIMs
@Rangercaptain -
You are right about the data cost, but overseas, that is a "bargain" compared to roaming rates even on AT&T. They have a fixed data rate for "business" customers that is pretty competitive ($30/month 500mb in the US, $60 if you are in the UK or AUS, and they are adding 20 more countries in 2012). I may try them for a little while (till I return in late September) since I can always go to AT&T later (there is no contract) if I want to.
Did AT&T let you get a SIM for the tab that does both voice and data without any gripes? Maybe I can just go AT&T, port my number over, and get a MaxRoam for overseas.
I have been researching this like crazy, and at .80 Euro/MB they are about the cheapest I could find for "global" roaming, but they are one of those pay-go cos that eat your balance if you don't use it.
We are in 11 countries (a cruise) and there is no feasible way to buy a SIM in every port, or all I will have seen at the end of this odyssey will have been a ton of Vodaphone stores .
Thank you so much again!
I bought the tab at a retail store and told them I didn't want any contract. A few days later I added a 2 gig per month data and voice plan to a family plan. I told them it was for an android phone I had at home. They gave me the sim and I went out, and put it in the tab, and whammo! So sweet, 3g and voice.
When you are overseas there are so many pay as you go options, but yes, it could involve a lot of phone shops. No way to buy vodafone or orange sim and pay the roaming? And I'm guessing the cruise ship and hotels will have wifi for free. There are methods to make voice calls when you are on awifi connection, called skype.
If you haven't heard of LycaMobile...It's a T-Mobile MNVO..
My AHD is Carrier Unlocked so I can use AT&T or T-Mobile, I got tired of paying 45+taxes for StraightTalk (AT&T) since I am mostly on wifi and don't really need the speed when I am not...
so i bought an unlock code and switched to Ultramobile last month because of their 19$ plan but they only give you 50mb of data
that was an issue for me and I didn't want to pay 39$ for their unlimited 2g when I could get GoSmart for 35$...
The other day I learned Lyca has the same plan as Gosmart but for 29$ (unlimited talk,text and 2g)
I waited too long to port my number from Ultra and lost it....
I've had Lyca service less then 2 hours and so far the only problem I had is their porting process,
It wasn't as fast as it was for me when I ported from other companies....
I've ported my number to and from a few companies and it always took less then 10 hours
I stupidly assumed 12 hours would be enough this time aswell,
Anyway 29$ sounds like a great deal I just hope I don't end up having issues with their service,
I figured I'd let people in the AHD section know about Lyca and post updates if I have any problems.
Maybe others have had experience with Lycamobile .
Apn settings i use
Name:lycamobile
APN:data.lycamobile.com
----------------------
Proxy:Not set
Port:Not set
Username:lmus
Password:lmus
Server:Not set
MMSC:Not set
MMS port:Not set
Auth Type:Not set
Apn Type:Not set
Update: 8/4/13
I've had lyca for almost 7 days now and at first I was having signal issues at home and it made it hard to have long text messages it was annoying, texts would get stuck at sending but seems good now after i went to Holoblur from Liquidsmooth.
Originally i thought lyca went to unlimited 2g after the first 50mb but turns out it's 3g.
To to be sure i downloaded a 100mb video last night, at 1.5-2mb which seems to be my average data speed on lyca since day 1... anyway i'm still getting 1.5-2mb on speedtest.net today so Lyca is even more worth it for me now that i know it's unlimited 3g instead of a slow 2g..
I used to use testmy.net in the browser but for some reason after i flashed holoblur 0.9 last night testmy.net says Forbidden.
So at the moment the only issue I have with Lyca is that they don't have mms but i can live with that if my data speeds stay at at least 800kbs.
I also forgot to backup my contacts when i flashed holoblur 0.9 last night , I had 2 contacts i had added that day...I am lucky Lyca keeps a call log online.
Sounds good. Although do they have any 3G plans.
I don't mind a 250mb 3G plan vs unlimited 2G
http://www.lycamobile.us/en/national-plans
It's a similar concept to T-Mobile's in that you get an allotment of 4G (3G) data and then it goes to 2G speed. Looks very interesting. Thinking of switching to their 1GB plan after I use up all my T-Mobile credit. The $20 credit for international calls is a winner for me. I assume there's no LTE,
I just saw a guy handing out lycamobile booklets, I told him have the service we talked a minute..I mentioned my plan and 2g ..he claimed it goes to 3g after that 50mb of 4g...I hope that's true. 3g is like up to 800kbs or something iirc...so that would be great.
That sounds like a pretty sweet phone plan. I might switch over to it once my contract ends. Do let us know if there are any problems you may run into.:good:
I've had lyca for almost 7 days now and at first I was having signal issues at home and it made it hard to have long text messages it was annoying, texts would get stuck at sending but seems good now after i went to Holoblur from Liquidsmooth.
And I hardly use data but i was pretty sure i had used more then 50mb, but to be sure i downloaded a 100mb video last night, at 1.5-2mb which seems to be my average data speed on lyca since day 1... anyway i'm still getting 1.5-2mb on speedtest.net today.. i used to use testmy.net but for some reason after i flashed holoblur 0.9 last night testmy.net says Forbidden.
So at the moment the only issue I have with Lyca is that they don't have mms but i can live with that if my data speeds stay at at least 800kbs.
1 month of service and I'm happy so far, feels like as time goes by my service becomes more stable. The first 2 weeks I was losing service often and had problems sending texts and had a few calls drop.. but been good the past week or so.
Gave them a try as well. I only used them temporarily to place international calls but the one time that I did it whle driving I didn't see any difference with the T-Mobile service. So far,
- Call quality to landlines in Europe was excellent.
- Call quality to cell phones in Europe was decent. On a single incidence the volume was too loud and it distorted. I don't think this was Lycamobile's problem.
- I can't get the online recharge to work. I enter all my info and at the end I get the message the transaction failed. I see the temporary authorization on my credit card, and it later goes away. I was only able to add credit by going to a local cell phone store.
- Customer service is in India. They are not allowed to request credit card information, so they couldn't do the recharge.
- Online customer service only got me the autorespond email and nothing after that.
- Calls (pay as you go) are charged at 20+ seconds longer than the call as timed by the phone itself.
- The sim card doesn't have the APN info for data. I didn't want to use data, so I didn't enter an APN.
- International roaming in Europe worked fine and at 46¢/min it beats AT&T and T-Mobile's $1.29, $1.39 or $1.79, and matches what European pay as you go carriers charge when roaming within Europe.
Given that I couldn't get any credit card to process on their website, I couldn't buy a sim card from their website either. One store sold them for $10, another for $5, and they go for 99¢ on eBay.
I think I'm going to try h2o next. Their $49/mo plans are very comparable: unlimited voice, domestic and international texts, 1GB data. Lycamoble gives $20 credit for international calls (1¢/min land-8¢/min cell in Europe) whereas h2o has unlimited landline (certain countries) and gives $40 credit for 20-30¢/min (in Europe) calls to cell phones. h2o also has mms but doesn't roam internationally.
Lyca sends free sims. And the first time I called customer support the person sounded Indian but every time after that I have gotten customer support from the UK.
skuly said:
Lyca sends free sims. And the first time I called customer support the person sounded Indian but every time after that I have gotten customer support from the UK.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sims are free but they charge $7 for shipping and handling.
diamond12 said:
Sims are free but they charge $7 for shipping and handling.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh thats new..there wasn't a shipping fee ...but you can get them for a dollar or less from amazon or eBay .
Updates:
- Online recharge works for me now
- Lycamoble responded via email that calls are billed from the time the call is placed (including ring time)
skuly said:
Oh thats new..there wasn't a shipping fee ...but you can get them for a dollar or less from amazon or eBay .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah i also get mine for free about a month ago, happy w the service so far! :good::good:
They did end up losing some text messages for me. I confirmed that these were sent as SMS and not MMS.
Also, they automatically put me on the $39 plan without me doing so, when I added $40 credit in my account. Even though I requested to cancel the auto-renew and got the confirmation text, I still got a text on the renewal date that there were insufficient funds to renew my plan.
Other annoyances:
There is no voicemail integration. I never got the voicemail notification icon when I had voicemail. They sent a text message instead. Also, the voicemail service number did not get automatically integrated and I had to program it myself.
My number did not show in the phone info screen. Instead it showed +10000000000.
diamond12 said:
They did end up losing some text messages for me. I confirmed that these were sent as SMS and not MMS.
Also, they automatically put me on the $39 plan without me doing so, when I added $40 credit in my account. Even though I requested to cancel the auto-renew and got the confirmation text, I still got a text on the renewal date that there were insufficient funds to renew my plan.
Other annoyances:
There is no voicemail integration. I never got the voicemail notification icon when I had voicemail. They sent a text message instead. Also, the voicemail service number did not get automatically integrated and I had to program it myself.
My number did not show in the phone info screen. Instead it showed +10000000000.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I also noticed international SMS plan doesn't work or I'm using some other APN settings. Can anyone confirm?
I'm using Google voice so MMS is no big deal for me actually. I don't use anyways lol.
I also don't what why the number appears like that but they have a dial up combination that shows the number on your screen, I guess it was *613#
And my phone always shows R (stands for roaming) and doesn't show the data speed letter like 4g 3g etc
Did anyone have the same issue too?
Note: I currently break my Atrix HD these were the issues I faced when it was working.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
I used the 29$ plan for a few months and it was good service, i hardly use my phone so i stopped using a plan a few months ago and i had like 17$ on my account, atm it's only down to $8, at 2c per min ,since i don't text i am only paying a few $ a month for my service.
legendnexus said:
I also noticed international SMS plan doesn't work or I'm using some other APN settings. Can anyone confirm?
And my phone always shows R (stands for roaming) and doesn't show the data speed letter like 4g 3g etc
Did anyone have the same issue too?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't have either of these issues.
diamond12 said:
I didn't have either of these issues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you share your APN settings?
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
I switched to Spot Mobile yesterday so I can't see on my phone now but I had the recommended settings on the Lycamobile page:
APN: data.lycamobile.com
Username: lmus
Password: plus
APN Type: default,supl,admin,dun
Everything else blank.
Hi all,
does anyone using Lycamobile UK with ZOPO ZP700 ?
I can not get internet working with this phone (android 4.2)
I have set all as it should be but with no result.
Thanks for the info