We are heading to Switzerland, Austria and Prague next week. Last time I was in Europe (Spain) a couple years ago I had an S4 on Sprint. It was rooted and I got a SIM card and it worked fine and I'm sure was cheaper, but it was a hassle setting it up (couldn't change API settings until I was in WiFi, so I couldn't activate data until I was at the first hotel; I couldn't tell how much data I had left and voice because it was in Spanish - a couple times I had someone at the hotel listen to the message but other times I just bought more than I needed because I wasn't sure and didn't want to run out of data). I don't know how easy it is to use a new SIM in the S6, so I'm thinking I'll just use the Verizon global roaming to make it easier. I primarily use it for maps (and I'll use offline maps) and information (Google for info, nearby restaurants, etc.) so pretty much data and really not voice.
I've never used global roaming - does anyone have advice about using the Verizon S6 in Europe?
Functionality it works fine in pretty much every country with Verizon's global roaming plans. It can get expensive though, as you only get 100mb data on those plans.
Related
Hi,
My brother is planning to travel across Europe and wanted to take my Nexus One along with him and there fore I had few questions
1) Can he use Nexus One GPS without a SIM Card in Europe ?
2) Does Nexus One GPS use 3G data ?
3) Do European countries offer "To Go" 3G SIM cards ?
Any alternate recommendations are welcome.
Thanks
I suspect that there is a bug that makes GPS use data when roaming even if the phone is set to not allow data when roaming. If A-GPS is turned off this should no longer be of much worry, but do pay attention to it. The reason for me suspecting this is because of a bill I got after being to Norway where small frequent packets of data was added to my bill, even though nothing else worked: no widget updates, no surfing worked, and no google maps worked (as intended and expected).
Several countries offer pay as you go SIM-cards, and I would be surprised if any of them did not include 3G. I just visited the UK and got a free SIM which I topped up with a £5 for one month "unlimited" data-plan (they have a weird concept of unlimited on the other side of the pond).
Most countries should have a decent data-plan in the £10-range, or a ceiling on data cost per day (seems that £1/day is the norm in several countries).
Do note that you might have issues in some countries obtaining a SIM-card due to registration-requirements, e.g. requiring either proof of ID or at least a residential address. YMMV. If your brother is a people-person have him ally with some of the locals to get a pay as you go-SIM through them
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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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
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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.
Hi all I recently purchase this device and thought i did all the research but I tried to use the device on AU KDDI network today with no luck, so i am wondering what network will it work on in japan. NTT Docomo and Softbank are really the only two options left but I still have a year on a 2 year contact with AU. Any help please, thanks
It's quite complicated to use non Japanese phones on Japanese networks. You have to enter the correct APN settings etc.
Only for softbank it's easy. Get a smartphone unlimited plan, give in their non-softbank phone apn (plus.softbank; user: plus; Pass: softbank) and enjoy your phone.
If you use Docomo you have to go register you phone's IMEI on their network in store. Then they'll also make you pay the most expensive tethering unlimited plan (around 8000yen/80euro/month). They prefer not to allow non-Japanese phones on their networks, so they might just say no.
For AU, I have absolutely no idea. Contact your AU shop. Be very careful to use your phone without the correct settings, because they will charge you insane amounts of money to use mobile data. And when I say insane, I mean bat**** insane... I've used 400.000yen / 4000euro worth of data in 2 weeks time. If not for my unlimited plan and correct settings, I'd be bankrupted. There are quite a lot of stories of foreigners getting screwed from all sides by Japanese providers because they used the wrong settings. Again, be very careful
So I have this phone (Samsung Galaxy Exhibit II 4G) from T-Mobile, I am on the 30$ monthly 4G plan with 100 minutes of talking, 5GB of 4G and Unlimited Texting. My question is since I recently tried to unlock my phone, but not sure if it was already unlocked since I purchased it through amazon and its the prepaid version of the phone, or if the sim just needs to be unlocked, whatever the case I am traveling to Europe next year and wanted to know if I can use this phone with the networks there. I just tried today going into the Select network option under wireless and networks and after searching for some time I had a choice between T-mobile and At&t and some how I acctually was able to connect to At&t even with my T-mobile sim card in it. So does this mean I can use it in Europe and just connect to networks there that way? I know its alot of money but I will fill up my account with money forsure before I go. Is it possible?:laugh:
Call TMobile and tell them your traveling to Europe and you need your phone unlocked. They will probably want to email you the unlock code.
When you get to europe set up a service and drop in their sim card. The Galaxy Exhibit (Exhibit 2) specs say it will work in Europe however, for some unknown reason, some people have problems.
NomadSpin said:
Call TMobile and tell them your traveling to Europe and you need your phone unlocked. They will probably want to email you the unlock code.
When you get to europe set up a service and drop in their sim card. The Galaxy Exhibit (Exhibit 2) specs say it will work in Europe however, for some unknown reason, some people have problems.
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Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply! and I acctually did that and its been 3 days since I called asking for the unlock code and they said they would email it to me but no luck yet..its strange as to why unlockcell.com or something like that didnt work...But i meen something is already unlocked if I can search and connect to other networks other than Tmobile right? I connected to At&t just by going to the select network operator in android settings..
I can switch between carriers believe that would just be considered roaming.
I used this exact phone, Samsung Galaxy Exhibit ii 4G, somewhat successfully in Europe last year. This was the WalMart phone that I paid to unlock. Here's what I experienced.
The first try was in England with the O2 network. I popped in their SIM card. While I got the phone and texts to work I never got the internet to work. For some reason it did not automatically download the APN information. I tried manually loading that information and it still never worked. While it seemed it should have had internet access, it showed data transfer at the top of the screen, it was so sloooooow that it was useless. I had purchased the SIM card at a place called Carphone Warehouse. They ended up lending us a phone for about a month so we could use the SIM. I would recommend trying a different carrier than O2 and make sure before you leave the store that it's actually working or that you can get your money back if it doesn't or that you can get a loaner phone. BTW: there isn't much 4G in Europe either.
In Germany I bought a Tmobile SIM card and it worked find.
In Italy I bought a TIM SIM card. Again it did not properly download the APN data. But with a little online searching I found the correct APN information, manually loaded it in, and it worked fine.
Data usage in England, Germany, and Italy is actually fairly reasonable. Don't even consider it in France. First it costs 15 euros just for the SIM card and data cost per mb is horrendous.
Be sure to go to an actual phone store to buy your card and not a tobacco shop. At least at the phone stores you can get help if you are having trouble.
Caryllb said:
I used this exact phone, Samsung Galaxy Exhibit ii 4G, somewhat successfully in Europe last year. This was the WalMart phone that I paid to unlock. Here's what I experienced.
The first try was in England with the O2 network. I popped in their SIM card. While I got the phone and texts to work I never got the internet to work. For some reason it did not automatically download the APN information. I tried manually loading that information and it still never worked. While it seemed it should have had internet access, it showed data transfer at the top of the screen, it was so sloooooow that it was useless. I had purchased the SIM card at a place called Carphone Warehouse. They ended up lending us a phone for about a month so we could use the SIM. I would recommend trying a different carrier than O2 and make sure before you leave the store that it's actually working or that you can get your money back if it doesn't or that you can get a loaner phone. BTW: there isn't much 4G in Europe either.
In Germany I bought a Tmobile SIM card and it worked find.
In Italy I bought a TIM SIM card. Again it did not properly download the APN data. But with a little online searching I found the correct APN information, manually loaded it in, and it worked fine.
Data usage in England, Germany, and Italy is actually fairly reasonable. Don't even consider it in France. First it costs 15 euros just for the SIM card and data cost per mb is horrendous.
Be sure to go to an actual phone store to buy your card and not a tobacco shop. At least at the phone stores you can get help if you are having trouble.
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Click to collapse
Are you able to connect to 2100mhz HSPA which is the 3G frequencies used in these countries. My understanding is that the phone is triband HSPA at 850/1700/1900 HSPA and wouldn't be compatible with the 2100mhz used in Europe. There is a small overlap between the 850mhz spec and the 900mhz so it might be possible if the winds were blowing right to get a 3G signal in some European country occasionally, but that you were mostly relegated to a 2G signal and that you should absolutely avoid carriers like 3 who had no 2g licenses.
stufried said:
Are you able to connect to 2100mhz HSPA which is the 3G frequencies used in these countries. My understanding is that the phone is triband HSPA at 850/1700/1900 HSPA and wouldn't be compatible with the 2100mhz used in Europe. There is a small overlap between the 850mhz spec and the 900mhz so it might be possible if the winds were blowing right to get a 3G signal in some European country occasionally, but that you were mostly relegated to a 2G signal and that you should absolutely avoid carriers like 3 who had no 2g licenses.
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Click to collapse
Actually it's a quad band phone.
GSmarena.com lists the full specs for this phone and they show this:
2G Network GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
3G Network HSDPA 850 / 1700 / 2100 / 1900
I was getting 3G in Germany and Italy, no problem. Sometimes, depending upon where I was, it would drop down to Edge. I have no clue why it didn't work with the 3 network other than I just couldn't get the APN right. So for England, try a different network and make sure it's really a different network. Some of the carriers have the same names but are on the same network. When you can I'd suggest sticking with Tmobile. That way you're most likely to have it work. Oh, to get the SIM cards on the continent you usually need to have your passport to set up the account. So don't forget to bring that along when you go to the phone store.
Oh, when I said I tried the O2 network I actually meant the 3 network. Sorry about that. I stand corrected. I never did try O2.
All in all it worked pretty well. Usually the plans include around 200 mb data per month. So you do have to be careful as to how much you use your internet. Fortunately many McDonalds have free wifi these days. In Germany, however, you have to have a local phone number to use the McDonalds wifi because each time you want to use it they have to send you an SMS with a daily passcode and you only get 1 hour per day usage.
My understanding is that Europe used Band I HSPA (2100mhz) and that 1700/2100mhz was "Band IV" and something different:
Take a look at this Wikipedia article to see where I am coming from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UMTS_frequency_bands
I used this phone last month on a trip to Brazil with a local carrier, without any problem at all. Just like people on the thread said, you just need to call TMo and ask them about the unlock code, should be on your mailbox by next day. If you didn't get it, call them, 611, and use the option 9 to call straight to the operator, and tell them that you are traveling next week. However, to get the unlock code, you have to be using the phone on TMo for at least 3 months, or have someone that has a plan that has been active for such period.
Hi there my friend!
I went to US last month and brought one of this with me. I had to unlock it through an internet service because TMo SMS with unlock code never arrived – even though I called Costumer Service when I was at the US.
I can confirm that my cellphone worked with both 850 and 2100 frequencies. These are the two ones we have here in Brazil – actually, one of the operator uses 850/2100 and all other use 2100. I have one SIM of each operator and I tested them all with my SGE4G.
One little remark that I feel I should make although I almost know it does not matter: I never tested them with stock ROM since I flashed custom and AOSP since day one.
In Europe I used just the stock ROM. I hadn't even used the phone in the US at all so it didn't have any updates either. The only thing I did was unlock it. As I said it worked fine in Germany with Tmobile. Fine in Italy on TIM once I got the APN right. But never worked in England with 3. In England, try a different network than 3 and make sure the internet is really working before you leave the store. Otherwise you can't get your money back.
If you get the SIM at Cellphone Warehouse in England ask if you can get a "standby" phone to borrow if the SIM doesn't work in your phone. Their 'standby" phones aren't very powerful but at least you'd have something to use. You just need to return it to any of their stores when you leave.
The phone drops down to Edge when it wasn't in a 3G network. So I set up the browser to download text only, worked with mostly mobile only sites, and avoided all video. You need to do this anyway in most countries as your amount of data included in the monthly fee is very limited.
Hey,can any developers try to change the software of the radio so the phone work in asia&europe wcdma900/2100MHz
Many of us are on Simple Choice Unlimited plans. These plans do include what T-mobile called "Unlimited International Data Roaming".
I'm sure many have traveled outside of USA and used their data free. But, have you tried to tether? I'm wondering if it would be a problem and if T-mobile knows we are sharing the data while overseas.
Any insight?
As far as I know international data speeds are 2g so I think thetering will be Imposible, unless you change the plan not sure though
Int
Have you run into problems while being out of USA? Last week I had to travel into Mexico and dunno what the hell happen but my Data was going on and off randomly. It show it was on a mexican carrier getting 3g speed but soon as I tried to open gmail or use any chat app my data seem to get cut off?
xKrAzYInSaNiTyx said:
Have you run into problems while being out of USA? Last week I had to travel into Mexico and dunno what the hell happen but my Data was going on and off randomly. It show it was on a mexican carrier getting 3g speed but soon as I tried to open gmail or use any chat app my data seem to get cut off?
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Nope, so far i've used it in Taipei and Hong Kong. No problems here.
I travelled to Canada, Dubai, and Pakistan over the summer with my Note 3. Used data with no issues in all 3 countries. Had 4G in Islamabad in some parts. 4G in Dubai. Same with Canada. I'm sure you could tether with those speeds (I got between 5-10Mbps) at the minimum when on my phone was showing "4G."
shorty87 said:
I travelled to Canada, Dubai, and Pakistan over the summer with my Note 3. Used data with no issues in all 3 countries. Had 4G in Islamabad in some parts. 4G in Dubai. Same with Canada. I'm sure you could tether with those speeds (I got between 5-10Mbps) at the minimum when on my phone was showing "4G."
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Once we travel overseas did you just turn the phone on and connected to the avaliable network or did you use a sim, not sure how it works
mike28 said:
Once we travel overseas did you just turn the phone on and connected to the avaliable network or did you use a sim, not sure how it works
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Just turn on your phone. It will automatically connect to the best available network.
Currently in mexico, im having trouble connecting with movistar , my data seems to be connecting and disconnecting. The only fix i found is to turn off and on my data and itll work for a while. Seems like a bug because a couple months ago i had my note 3 and would work great.
As for tethering, its 2G speeds so its very slow. I tether to my sister as she has sprint.