Travel Technology - 3G equivalent in Europe

A friend has a pay-as-you-go 3G adapter that he uses on the road in the US. He's going to various countries in Europe. The salesman told him it would work over there but the company says no and I haven't managed to google up any answers. Did I miss an option?

3G is everywhere in Europe, and was there way before the US had it.

His 3G pay as you go adapter is probably locked, and since neither AT&T or T-Mobile do prepaid 3G, it'll possibly be from Virgin Mobile or Cricket - neither of which operate on GSM (the system used in Europe).

He'll be able to buy prepaid 3G sim cards everywhere in Europe, but he will need an unlocked adapter, capable of working on the European 3G frequencies.

If the salesman said it would work, then chances are it will not.

it'll possibly be from Virgin Mobile or Cricket - neither of which operate on GSM (the system used in Europe)

:confused: what's that got to to with 3G?

To the original poster: it's not clear if your friend is intending to use their US connection in Europe (REALLY expensive rates) or buy a selection of European SIMs to work with their device. As ScottC says the device is probably locked to the US provider, so I agree it probably won't work.

Depending on the adaptor it may be able to get easily unlocked. Google would be your friend.

:confused: what's that got to to with 3G?



:confused:

It has everything to do with 3G - there are only a handful of prepaid 3G operators in the US, none of which work on GSM, so if this person does indeed have a Virgin or Cricket adapter, it will most certainly not work in Europe.

Unless I misunderstood your rather short comment?

You didn't misunderstand; I clearly do. Took me a while but are you using the GSM acronym to refer to a set of frequencies?

You didn't misunderstand; I clearly do. Took me a while but are you using the GSM acronym to refer to a set of frequencies?

Not only frequencies - in the US we actually have two completely different mobile systems - GSM (like most of the world uses) and CDMA (used by two of the largest networks here). A CDMA 3G adapter won't work on a GSM network. The only possible exception are the new GOBI adapters that do CDMA and GSM. Verizon does offer a USB GOBI adapter, but not on prepaid.

A friend has a pay-as-you-go 3G adapter that he uses on the road in the US. He's going to various countries in Europe. The salesman told him it would work over there but the company says no and I haven't managed to google up any answers. Did I miss an option?

It is rather easy: what is called 3G in the US is often times not GSM based thus there is no way to use that in Europe.

If you travel in Europe, it depends on the country where you go for their local pricing there. I have great experiences in Scandinavia and Germany where you get prepaid 3G data for typically USD 10 per week.

You may need to buy a USB 3G adaptor for approx. 90 USD which is then (typically) NOT SIM locked...

3G is everywhere in Europe, and was there way before the US had it.

His 3G pay as you go adapter is probably locked, and since neither AT&T or T-Mobile do prepaid 3G, it'll possibly be from Virgin Mobile or Cricket - neither of which operate on GSM (the system used in Europe).

He'll be able to buy prepaid 3G sim cards everywhere in Europe, but he will need an unlocked adapter, capable of working on the European 3G frequencies.

If the salesman said it would work, then chances are it will not.

Yeah, it's Virgin Mobile. I assume it's locked.

Are such adapters available in the US and would they work with the Virgin Mobile SIM? (I'm hoping it can all be set up short of the European SIM while he's still here--he's not very technically minded.)

Not only frequencies - in the US we actually have two completely different mobile systems - GSM (like most of the world uses) and CDMA (used by two of the largest networks here). A CDMA 3G adapter won't work on a GSM network. The only possible exception are the new GOBI adapters that do CDMA and GSM. Verizon does offer a USB GOBI adapter, but not on prepaid.

Edit: sorry there's more to this than I realised, I have a blinkered view of 3G in the US which doesn't include Virgin. I'll read up more about it before commenting further :o

Quick tutorial, saying what ScottC has already said:

Virgin mobile is a CDMA network operator who rents the Sprint network in the US. CDMA phones are capable of working in the US, Mexico, Canada, and some Asian countries (Japan, S. Korea, and a few others).

Europe uses GSM networks, not CDMA. To use a phone in Europe, you need a GSM device (phone, adapter, etc.) There are two major GSM providers in the US, AT&T and T-Mobile. If your friend uses one of these, the device is capable of working in Europe.

3G refers to the third-generation of data speed, which sits on top of the network. 3G is sort of a generic term for faster data speed, and the method by which this is achieved is different for different carriers.

So, your friend's Virgin mobile adapter will not work in Europe. Their best bet, I think, is simply to go to Europe and purchase an adapter and pre-paid plan upon arrival.

Yeah, it's Virgin Mobile. I assume it's locked.

Are such adapters available in the US and would they work with the Virgin Mobile SIM? (I'm hoping it can all be set up short of the European SIM while he's still here--he's not very technically minded.)

Like the previous poster said - just pick up an adapter in Europe - they are available everywhere and are quite affordable. In the US, the Virgin adapter is $150 and $60 for 1GB, in Europe you'll pay about $60 for the adapter, and around $4/day for unlimited access.

Europe uses GSM networks, not CDMA. To use a phone in Europe, you need a GSM device (phone, adapter, etc.) There are two major GSM providers in the US, AT&T and T-Mobile. If your friend uses one of these, the device is capable of working in Europe.

3G refers to the third-generation of data speed, which sits on top of the network. 3G is sort of a generic term for faster data speed, and the method by which this is achieved is different for different carriers.


I'm afraid I am going to have to disagree with a couple of things there, though it's off the original topic. I withdrew my post above as I realised I don't know as much as I thought about the non-WCDMA networks in the US, but I do know quite a lot about WCDMA devices.

3G does not "sit on top of" the GSM network. In the case of European networks plus AT&T and T-Mobile in the US it's a completely different technology called WCDMA. It may use the same basestations for cost and convenience but it'll be different electronics for the two types of network. This is why I originally questioned the use of GSM in ScottC's post. GSM and 3G are mutually exclusive.

I can't comment about how CDMA2000, EV-DO and CDMA co-exist on Virgin Mobile or other networks that use them, but WCDMA 3G networks operated by AT&T and T-Mobile operate the same way as the networks in Europe. They're different to GSM technology and not "on top of them".

You can buy products in Asia that are WCDMA-only, no GSM capability, and they will work fine in Europe though perhaps with reduced coverage.

Incidentally to make a final point, T-Mobile uses a different frequency set for WCDMA to just about everyone else in the world. Products designed for T-Mobile will probably have at least one more band in addition to the 1700MHz that nobody else uses, in which case it might work when roaming in Europe, but without knowing about other bands it's incorrect to categorically state "the device is capable of working in Europe" without more info.

That's all beside the point though. As you correctly state, a US-sourced Virgin Mobile device will not work in Europe.

Now, to actually offer something useful:

What countries is he visiting? Buying an adapter in one country and then using it in any other country is likely to be extremely expensive. While there are now EU caps imposed on the roaming charges for voice calls, there are no such caps for data costs.

And to make matter worse, WCDMA frequencies is different from US and Europe! US uses WCDMA 1900 mhz and a little WCDMA 850 mHz!
Europe uses WCDMA 2100 mHz, whitch by the way, is the most used WCDMA frequency in the world!

So if you get a 3G modem in US, make sure it will work on WCDMA 2100 mHz, and maybe more important, to take advantage of the high speed 3g network, get one that has the HS(D)PA! the (D) stands for download, and not all manufactures uses it! And HSDPA then stands for High Speed Download Packet Access!

For those of you that finds this very confusing, here is a better explanation of 3g/WCDMA
http://www.gsmworld.com/technology/3gsm/index.htm

And HSPA
http://www.gsmworld.com/technology/hspa.htm

GSMworld has further on a list of GSM and 3G providers in the world, and whitch network they use!
http://gsmworld.com/roaming/gsminfo/index.shtml

I'm afraid I am going to have to disagree with a couple of things there

You are absolutely correct. I was trying to make things very simple, in that, for all intents and purposes, you cannot use your CDMA phone to access the WCDMA or any UMTS network provided in Europe.

Are we talking about the USB stick that takes the Sim card ?

I never heard it called an adapter before,

Rally

Are we talking about the USB stick that takes the Sim card ?

I never heard it called an adapter before,

Rally

Yes! I would like to call it a usb-modem, since usb-stick could technically be a usb-flash memory stick!

As an example, I am using Vodafone Websessions on a Vodaphone UMTS (3G) stick in Germany.
Some info here: http://prepaid-wireless-internet-access.wetpaint.com/page/Germany+-+Vodafone+Web+Sessions