Travel Technology - An iPhone Personal Horror (averted)

I flew to Canada for about 48 hours end of last month.

I quickly checked my email on landing in YYZ and then forgot to turn off International Data Roaming.

I got a call about 15 minutes ago from AT&T letting me know a $2000 data charge was about to hit my phone tomorrow. Apparently, I consumed 105MB, I'm guessing by downloading a large attachment or 10, which I get frequently in my line of work.

The person on the phone then let me know of their new international data roaming plans and offered to back date my account so that I could put 200MB on the account for the past month for $199.99.

Still a not-inexpensive lesson for me, but I have to commend AT&T for realizing that charging $2000 is probably not the best way to retain business. I mean, I can expense the $200 (probably not the $2000), but imagine if I was some kiddie going on vacay to see the grandparents.

Normally I leave the damned thing at home on International trips, but figured the 48-hour trip wouldn't be too costly. Next time I leave the US, the phone stays home.

You wouldn't be the first person to get a bill that high. Thankfully AT&T has become a little more understanding, but the first wave of iPhone users were stuck with those bills last year.

Yeah, I went into Canada with my brand new iPhone a week after I got it. This was before Apple put a "disable data roaming" feature into the phone, so you could either have it on (to receive calls and data) or completely off. I came home to a $1,200 bill. Interestingly, a NY Times article the next day discussed a bunch of capitulating that ATT was doing, so I called back and got it all taken off my bill. Apple added the roaming switch in the first update, if I recall. :)

Data roaming fees are outrageous.

Data roaming fees are outrageous.

Since each country has an exclusive iPhone carrier and I was roaming with Canada's iPhone company, you'd think they'd have some kind of reciprocal agreement in this area.

No matter. Apparently (after talking with AT&T today) they are very proactive in this area and will contact anyone with over $100 in roaming charges to encourage that they adopt a plan for the current business cycle. And then they also encourage you to call back and remove the plan once the data charges have completed posting. And even if you miscalculate this, you can always add the data plan after the fact.

It won't change my future behavior (I will be leaving the thing at home from now on or leaving the data roaming turned off 100% of the time), but it's nice to know that they are doing more than sending off huge bills.

(The last rep I talked to spoke of a guy who was not put on an unlimited data plan with a new Blackberry and racked up a $140K bill for one month -- since nobody at the call center had bill adjustment privileges extending into the six figures, it had to be escalated to a vice president.)

(The last rep I talked to spoke of a guy who was not put on an unlimited data plan with a new Blackberry and racked up a $140K bill for one month -- since nobody at the call center had bill adjustment privileges extending into the six figures, it had to be escalated to a vice president.)

That is 7.19GB of data, I didn't even know that was possible in a month using EDGE!

I have never even turned the data roaming feature ON.

I do like to bring the phone though. So many places have wireless that I can still get email as well as surf and, of course, keep up on FT ;)

That is 7.19GB of data, I didn't even know that was possible in a month using EDGE!

I still don't believe I used 105 MB in a day, but what can I do about it? It's my word against theirs, and I'll lose that one.

Although I imagine that Visual Voicemail is pretty data intensive and I got some voicemails while up there.

$200 is about the right "fine" for the lesson I learned, I guess.

(And I'll expense it. The voicemail and data usage was work related.)

I still don't believe I used 105 MB in a day, but what can I do about it?

Yeah, it adds up quickly :(

And at $19/MB, the bill adds up even quicker :(

I ended up with a $2000 bill for my first month of 3G iphone here in Germany. (German T-Mobile contract). International roaming caused this ... outrageous.

Yeah, it adds up quickly :(

And at $19/MB, the bill adds up even quicker :(

$19.968 to be exact globally. But only $15.36/MB in Canada. What a bargain. :rolleyes:

Thank goodness for the VZW International Unlimited Data Roaming plan on my BB!!

How much does it really cost ATT? It can't cost that much with reciprocal agreements with other carriers. They must have sky-high profit margins on data roaming.

How much does it really cost ATT? It can't cost that much with reciprocal agreements with other carriers. They must have sky-high profit margins on data roaming.

A number of recent articles (NYT, WSJ) have talked about this. It is clear that the margin is enormous. So much so that they are even sensitive enough to deal with it proactively as people have mentioned here.

So I have a question... I'm heading out of the country tomorrow (so this is timely thanks to TravelTechTalk). I want to use my iPhone to access wireless networks (not trying to use 3G) and NOT get hit with roaming data. Besides leaving it at home, what's the sure-fire way of not getting hit w/ roaming data charges?

Would I turn just it to Airplane Mode and make sure that WiFi in enabled?

So I have a question... I'm heading out of the country tomorrow (so this is timely thanks to TravelTechTalk). I want to use my iPhone to access wireless networks (not trying to use 3G) and NOT get hit with roaming data. Besides leaving it at home, what's the sure-fire way of not getting hit w/ roaming data charges?

Would I turn just it to Airplane Mode and make sure that WiFi in enabled?

Settings -> General -> Network and flip the Data Roaming switch off. It will still use wifi for data if you get it, which is what you want.

I got a letter from AT&T last month talking about Data Roaming and how not to get a huge bill. I wonder if they're finding that lots of people are getting a big surprise after a trip.

I got a letter from AT&T last month talking about Data Roaming and how not to get a huge bill. I wonder if they're finding that lots of people are getting a big surprise after a trip.

I'm guessing they were getting some heat from the FCC and local BBB's. AT&T really screwed people with their data plans, and their customer support staff were never much help either, most of them had no real idea how to explain the price of international data...

Just a quick note: I've heard several people report that even with Data Roaming turned OFF, they have seen some international data charges (since the iPhone is always sending and receiving little bursts of data for various things).

The only ways to be ABSOLUTELY certain of no data charges:

1) Call the carrier and disable EDGE/3G data while you are overseas.

2) Pop out the SIM card and put it in a cheap GSM phone (not an iPhone).

This second way is my preferred method. I still can receive and make calls, but there are NO data charges at all. Plus, when I return to the States, I simply pop the SIM card back into the iPhone and can start using it again immediately, instead of having to call the carrier back and get data re-enabled (which can take 24 hours).

Settings -> General -> Network and flip the Data Roaming switch off. It will still use wifi for data if you get it, which is what you want.

The only ways to be ABSOLUTELY certain of no data charges:
2) Pop out the SIM card and put it in a cheap GSM phone (not an iPhone).Duh, great idea. @:-)

Thanks for the suggestions!

2) Pop out the SIM card and put it in a cheap GSM phone (not an iPhone).

This second way is my preferred method. I still can receive and make calls, but there are NO data charges at all. Plus, when I return to the States, I simply pop the SIM card back into the iPhone and can start using it again immediately, instead of having to call the carrier back and get data re-enabled (which can take 24 hours).

Is there a way to open the iPhone to take out the SIM card? Mine doesn't look like it can (easily) open. I have the 3G.

I'm heading to both London and Paris in about a month, so this info is extremely timely. Ideally, I'd like to have the phone with me to use WiFi when I can, but sure don't want any outrageous data charges.

Is there a way to open the iPhone to take out the SIM card? Mine doesn't look like it can (easily) open. I have the 3G.

I'm heading to both London and Paris in about a month, so this info is extremely timely. Ideally, I'd like to have the phone with me to use WiFi when I can, but sure don't want any outrageous data charges.
Instructions and tool are in the box.

Instructions and tool are in the box.

A small paper clip bent outward will also do the trick. You just slide it into the tiny hole right next to the headphone jack on the top of the phone.

I'm heading to both London and Paris in about a month, so this info is extremely timely. Ideally, I'd like to have the phone with me to use WiFi when I can, but sure don't want any outrageous data charges.

AT&T has a data roaming plan which can be activated for as little as a month in case you really do need access to your data. At least your costs would be predictable.

I'm heading to both London and Paris in about a month, so this info is extremely timely. Ideally, I'd like to have the phone with me to use WiFi when I can, but sure don't want any outrageous data charges.


Exactly!

That's why removing the SIM card is better than just keeping the phone on Airplane Mode. I really like being able to use the iPhone for WiFi overseas, but I don't want to worry about switching Airplane Mode on and off to avoid roaming EDGE charges.

Wirelessly posted (dell axim: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/525.18.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.1.1 Mobile/5F136 Safari/525.20)

I'm heading to both London and Paris in about a month, so this info is extremely timely. Ideally, I'd like to have the phone with me to use WiFi when I can, but sure don't want any outrageous data charges.


Exactly!

That's why removing the SIM card is better than just keeping the phone on Airplane Mode. I really like being able to use the iPhone for WiFi overseas, but I don't want to worry about switching Airplane Mode on and off to avoid roaming EDGE charges.

The "turn international data roaming off" switch still allows access to WiFi.

I've made about a dozen international trips with my iPhone, turned roaming data off, accessed hotspots & made calls etc. & wasn't charged a cent for data.

I honestly think advising people not to bring the phone or to take the SIM out is way out there.

NB As I posted elsewhere, if you have data roaming on, be very careful with Google Maps. It only to me 15mins to get the call from my provider that the meter was ticking at quite a rate. In the EU at least, excessive data roaming charges are now being investigated following last years maximum roaming call price legislation.

I thought the iPhone 3G had data roaming off by default. It was with mine, at least. But it makes sense to check this.

There is absolutely no reason to leave the phone at home for fear of racking up data charges if you simply insure this switch is off.

You will *NOT* get visual VM's. You'll have to call and check them manually.

I also advise you add the world traveler calling plan add-on (I think $5.99/month) to get reduced overseas rates when making normal calls back to the US or even within your country/region that you're traveling. The rate comparison is on the AT&T web site that details this plan. In the long run, it's about the same or even cheaper than using calling cards, hotel phones and often even buying pre-paid SIM cards (which won't work in a locked AT&T iPhone anyway).

Another awesome way to save money making calls internationally on the iPhone is with the TruPhone app, available in the Apple Store. It's an IP phone app that requires you have a WiFi connection to use, but this means that you can make IP calls very cheaply. Your iPhone then uses the internet and this app instead of incurring roaming charges on the local carrier's network.

Thanks all for your input. Very helpful and much appreciated.

Data roaming fees are outrageous....but quite profitable!

When can we get an unlocked iPhone? It's outrageous that the device is made to be so user friendly, but you can't pop in another country's SIM card and get the local #. I guess the exclusive agreement and profits hampering it. :(

I still don't believe I used 105 MB in a day, but what can I do about it? It's my word against theirs, and I'll lose that one.

Part of this may be due to the fact that the iphone does not store emails and attachments on board - every time you open the mail app, it reads your emails from the server (using data). On other devices I've used (Winmo and Palm, not sure about BB), the emails are downloaded and stored locally, so you only use data once.

When can we get an unlocked iPhone? It's outrageous that the device is made to be so user friendly, but you can't pop in another country's SIM card and get the local #. I guess the exclusive agreement and profits hampering it. :(

FWIW, an unlocked 3G iPhone can be bought from apple store in Hong Kong, New Zealand and Czech Republic - aver price is about $700 up. I know of a few colleagues in HK who bought and use on different sim cards, all seamlessly.

Another route is the first gen iPhone via eBay. Prices have dropped slightly, now can be had for under $400 unlocked and jailbroken.

I just went that route 2 weeks ago and been playing with my new toy last week or so - doing pretty well with my TMO account, including email service, etc. until starting upgrading some apps via Cydia last night and got the infamous apple icon locked on the screen. According to one fellow expert FTer (thanks for his quick reply!), a simple 'restore' should fix it - will try when I return to office.

Part of this may be due to the fact that the iphone does not store emails and attachments on board - every time you open the mail app, it reads your emails from the server (using data). On other devices I've used (Winmo and Palm, not sure about BB), the emails are downloaded and stored locally, so you only use data once.

BB also stores locally. I didn't realize that the iPhone didn't. What a ridiculous engineering decision. This would mean that you can't read/review your emails on a plane or anywhere else that you're offline. Are you certain that they aren't stored locally? I'd think more of a ruckus would've been raised by users if they couldn't see their emails while offline.

BB also stores locally.

Are you sure? Newbie to BB here but whenever I get email on my BB 8820 with an attachment, I have to open attachment - during that process, it is downloading the attachment and not retrieving from BB memory.

And of course the size of attachment and connection speed varies - at home or office, when my wifi is on, downloads are quick. If I'm on the train or elsewhere on the network connection, it's slower.

Are you sure? Newbie to BB here but whenever I get email on my BB 8820 with an attachment, I have to open attachment - during that process, it is downloading the attachment and not retrieving from BB memory.

And of course the size of attachment and connection speed varies - at home or office, when my wifi is on, downloads are quick. If I'm on the train or elsewhere on the network connection, it's slower.

I should clarify...

The BB will not pre-fetch an attachment, but once it is on the device it remains there until the purge algorithm decides that the message is ready to disappear off the bottom of the message list. If you've opened the message and the attachment you can get on an airplane and still see and use both the message and the attachment.

Part of this may be due to the fact that the iphone does not store emails and attachments on board - every time you open the mail app, it reads your emails from the server (using data). On other devices I've used (Winmo and Palm, not sure about BB), the emails are downloaded and stored locally, so you only use data once.

BB also stores locally. I didn't realize that the iPhone didn't. What a ridiculous engineering decision. This would mean that you can't read/review your emails on a plane or anywhere else that you're offline. Are you certain that they aren't stored locally? I'd think more of a ruckus would've been raised by users if they couldn't see their emails while offline.

sbm,

The lack of a ruckus is because the previous poster you quoted is flat-out wrong. I've got an Exchange-based email account on my iPhone, and as a test, I threw it into airplane mode and opened e-mail. Lo and behold, all of my messages are there, including an attached .doc file I had opened on the phone yesterday. I also did a test of my GMail account, and it was able to open email messages as well.

If a data connection is present, it may try to re-pull the message, but in the absence of any data service (EDGE, 3G, or WiFi), the e-mail on the iPhone is still usable.

/bdj

sbm,

The lack of a ruckus is because the previous poster you quoted is flat-out wrong.

/bdj

That's why I qualified my response with the 'newbie' characterization.

Thanks for your off-line help on the iPhone issue - very much appreciated.:)

Part of this may be due to the fact that the iphone does not store emails and attachments on board - every time you open the mail app, it reads your emails from the server (using data). On other devices I've used (Winmo and Palm, not sure about BB), the emails are downloaded and stored locally, so you only use data once.

absolutely false.

...offered to back date my account so that I could put 200MB on the account for the past month for $199.99.

That's still pretty darn expensive!! Once I went to New Zealand without properly activating my international unlimited data plan. Before the trip I called but I guess the agent screwed up. After I saw the bill I called Verizon and they backdated my plan as well (an additional $1.16 per day of use....10 days total) Not too bad.

I seriously cannot believe #1) its $200 for 200MB and #2) They made you pay an entire months worth even though you were there for 2 days!

Here is an article I wrote some time ago on how to reduce your BB roaming costs:

http://www.exosyphen.com/site-blog/2008/10/15/how-to-reduce-your-roaming-data-costs-on-your-blackberry/

I got some feedback from a few people after trying my suggestion, and it was positive.

I hope you find this useful.

What do people do who own an iPhone in the U.S. but live near the Canadian border? I'd be nervous that I'd inadvertently pick up service from Rogers instead of ATT and unwittingly blow up my cell phone bill. I guess the reverse concern for Canadians living near the U.S. border exists as well?

What do people do who own an iPhone in the U.S. but live near the Canadian border? I'd be nervous that I'd inadvertently pick up service from Rogers instead of ATT and unwittingly blow up my cell phone bill. I guess the reverse concern for Canadians living near the U.S. border exists as well?

Just read the article I have posted above (link) and do the very same thing.
Disable automatic network selection, and manually select your network operator. It's a 100% guarantee that you won't accidentally roam.

Still a not-inexpensive lesson for me, but I have to commend AT&T for realizing that charging $2000 is probably not the best way to retain business. I mean, I can expense the $200 (probably not the $2000), but imagine if I was some kiddie going on vacay to see the grandparents.



Every time I read/hear about stories like these, I can't help but think of the whole Verizon 0.02 cents vs $0.02 saga

If you haven't seen this yet (http://verizonmath.blogspot.com/) :)

sbm,

The lack of a ruckus is because the previous poster you quoted is flat-out wrong. I've got an Exchange-based email account on my iPhone, and as a test, I threw it into airplane mode and opened e-mail.
/bdj

I defer to both you and pdxer as senior experts here - however on the train ride to work this morning, I had problems. At best, tmo is sporadic on the train but i did download email from two of my pop3 email accounts.

However as i was reading one email, it took forever to load, wheels kept on spinning. I thought maybe a long attachment or large file? Then I remembered the posts written here. I tried a few times, couldn't read every new email of this morning. Set the iPhone in airplane mode and opened again - again a few emails with attachments on both accounts had an error message that essentially said had not downloaded from server yet, even though the headers, etc. were clearly present.

Any ideas?

I defer to both you and pdxer as senior experts here - however on the train ride to work this morning, I had problems. At best, tmo is sporadic on the train but i did download email from two of my pop3 email accounts.

However as i was reading one email, it took forever to load, wheels kept on spinning. I thought maybe a long attachment or large file? Then I remembered the posts written here. I tried a few times, couldn't read every new email of this morning. Set the iPhone in airplane mode and opened again - again a few emails with attachments on both accounts had an error message that essentially said had not downloaded from server yet, even though the headers, etc. were clearly present.

Any ideas?
The key is that the message has to have been downloaded once to the device while in decent network coverage. Once it has been downloaded that first time it will remain on the device and be accessible. It sounds like in your case the initial retrieve never happened.

The key is that the message has to have been downloaded once to the device while in decent network coverage. Once it has been downloaded that first time it will remain on the device and be accessible. It sounds like in your case the initial retrieve never happened.

agreed. it sounds like he was retrieving email in a weak coverage area. once the email is downloaded, it can be read at a later time, regardless of coverage.

i regularly get email and update my rss feeds at the airport for reading on the plane.