hello,
can anyone suggest an inexpensive to purchase sim card with inexpensive pay-to-use rates (no monthly committment) to be used in the netherlands. For example,i have an 02 card which i purchase in london
which was free for the sim, has free incomming calls and not too expensive per call charges within london. i mostly would receive calls rather than make outgoing calls. topoff 10 pounds. the residual funds stay on the card for 6 months as long as i use it once during that time.
Have an unlocked Blackberry (thanks FT for the howto info) with Cingular and travel to Europe 2-4 times a year for about a week at a time. I would like an emergency phone in Europe since I travel alone, and on occasion would like to contact FT friends in same Euro city.
Sites like mobal.com and other FT recommended places are selling sims for $70+ others are cheaper but expire if not used frequently.
1. what is the approx. cost for a sim bought "in country" ? If it's over 10 USD per week I'd have difficulty justifying the cost, see #2
2. since phone is for emergency (and alarm features!) would international roaming just be the way to go?
3. would someone explain how to cancel voice but keep other features? and can you change back when you come back to the USA?
4. My Blackberry is on the home network -- email is redirected through my laptop. So, if in Europe with laptop, there is no apparent way to send/receive email. Is there a runaround? Would putting the redirect software on Mr. liil's computer (he doesn't travel) allow me access when in Europe?
Sheesh, I hate feeling so dumb, but I give up. Any help appreciated.
IMHO...to me, you already had the answer: www.mobal.com
Buy their phone and service which, if used for emergency only, would be a lot less complex than the other solutions.
1. You own the phone (I have had one for 6-7 years and works great...not bad for original cost of $79!!)
2. You sign up your credit card and pay only for what you use at, I do agree, very high rates BUT you did say emergencies, etc. No monthly fee's, etc...we pull it out before every travel and charge it up and good to go with EXCELLENT voice quality!
We have used the phone throughout Europe and South America for the "Hi...how are ya!" kind of calls and love it!
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ddschur
IMHO...to me, you already had the answer: www.mobal.com
Buy their phone and service which, if used for emergency only, would be a lot less complex than the other solutions.
1. You own the phone (I have had one for 6-7 years and works great...not bad for original cost of $79!!)
2. You sign up your credit card and pay only for what you use at, I do agree, very high rates BUT you did say emergencies, etc. No monthly fee's, etc...we pull it out before every travel and charge it up and good to go with EXCELLENT voice quality!
We have used the phone throughout Europe and South America for the "Hi...how are ya!" kind of calls and love it!
I have an iPhone and traveling to Europe next week. After checking on www.mobal.com it looks to me like the AT&T rates are for calling back to the US or receiving calls from the US are pretty comparable. Am I missing anything?
hello,
can anyone suggest an inexpensive to purchase sim card with inexpensive pay-to-use rates (no monthly committment) to be used in the netherlands. For example,i have an 02 card which i purchase in london
which was free for the sim, has free incomming calls and not too expensive per call charges within london. i mostly would receive calls rather than make outgoing calls. topoff 10 pounds. the residual funds stay on the card for 6 months as long as i use it once during that time.
thanks
You can pick from 6 different companies. KPN, HI, Telefort, TMobile, Vodafone, and BEl!. I would recommend either KPN or Vodafone, their coverage on avergae is much better the nthe rest and their prices are reasonable. You can but a sim card (prepaid) for either company for 10 Euros and you get 30 minutes included in that amount.
No. You are NOT missing anything. Mobal is very expensive. Even more expensive than AT&T in a lot of places. But for a quick and short call here and there, you can just roam with your AT&T number. Or if you do not have AT&T than you can try mobal. But, you will notice from the sticky that there are cheaper options out there.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Allanf
I have an iPhone and traveling to Europe next week. After checking on www.mobal.com it looks to me like the AT&T rates are for calling back to the US or receiving calls from the US are pretty comparable. Am I missing anything?
hello,
can anyone suggest an inexpensive to purchase sim card with inexpensive pay-to-use rates (no monthly committment) to be used in the netherlands. For example,i have an 02 card which i purchase in london
which was free for the sim, has free incomming calls and not too expensive per call charges within london. i mostly would receive calls rather than make outgoing calls. topoff 10 pounds. the residual funds stay on the card for 6 months as long as i use it once during that time.
I have an iPhone and traveling to Europe next week. After checking on www.mobal.com it looks to me like the AT&T rates are for calling back to the US or receiving calls from the US are pretty comparable. Am I missing anything?
AllanF
Get a Gevey Plus 2 chip, sandwich it with a European SIM card; turn off 3G, turn off roaming. Lookup the APN info for the provider you'll use in the country you'll be in and have it written before you leave, so you can use data (e.g., APN orangeinternet, user: user, pass: pass)
Be very careful when using data roaming. It can get v. expensive indeed!
3 does indeed have a good deal, but only in the (few) countries with their own network, e.g. Italy.
Best option for data roaming with UK SIM is probably either a roaming bolt on (either O2 or Vodafone), or a Voda USB stick, with EU roaming at fixed price @ £8.50/day. Better still, use free wi-fi wherever you can find it - or a local Internet connection, e.g. in a cafe or hotel.
For voice, Voda Passport is not as cheap as it looks. There's a fixed cost of 64p (plus VAT) for each call made or received. best deal in my experience is the O2 'My Europe Extra' @ £4.25/mont on top f nay business contract tariff. This provides unlimited free incoming calls throughout EU, and discounted calls to/from all EU countries.
Good luck!
Vodafone is 75p not 64p.
Beginning 1st June there is no roaming fee so all incoming is free and outgoing is at your tariff which can be 19p.
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How does one find the USA T-Mobile BlackBerry plan with the international (said to be unlimited e-mail) add-on for $19.95? (one does not need to subscribe to a voice plan)
This is substantially cheaper than the AT&T version, which requires a business activation, and possibly a voice plan.
(I posted this here, as an alternative to the European SIM's for data, so I hope not too OT)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by iomatic
Get a Gevey Plus 2 chip, sandwich it with a European SIM card; turn off 3G, turn off roaming. Lookup the APN info for the provider you'll use in the country you'll be in and have it written before you leave, so you can use data (e.g., APN orangeinternet, user: user, pass: pass)
And you'll be set.
Thank you everyone for your help.
I bought a 50 MB Data Global Add-On with AT&T for one month plus the AT&T Global Traveler plan (text messages are 50 cents, voice messages $0.99 per minute from where I will be) and have magicJack and will hopefully need my iPhone for few calls.
I bought a 50 MB Data Global Add-On with AT&T for one month plus the AT&T Global Traveler plan (text messages are 50 cents, voice messages $0.99 per minute from where I will be) and have magicJack and will hopefully need my iPhone for few calls.
AllanF
You paid $9, and will pay $1/minute for calls.
Just FYI (take it or leave it) a Gevey Plus 2 chip is about US$8, a prepaid SIM in England is £15 (approx. US$20.), and calls are 6 pence a minute (~10¢/min.). Plus data works great (hardly seemed to have dented the prepay amount, and Orange threw in 1MB data free and a free movie ticket on Wednesday night). If you call for more than 10 minutes over AT&T roaming, you'll be worse off.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by iomatic
You paid $9, and will pay $1/minute for calls.
Just FYI (take it or leave it) a Gevey Plus 2 chip is about US$8, a prepaid SIM in England is £15 (approx. US$20.), and calls are 6 pence a minute (~10¢/min.). Plus data works great (hardly seemed to have dented the prepay amount, and Orange threw in 1MB data free and a free movie ticket on Wednesday night). If you call for more than 10 minutes over AT&T roaming, you'll be worse off.
APN: orangeinternet
username: user
password: pass
I looked at the Gevey Plus 2, am I correct that that unlocks the iPhone? I havent bothered to unlock mine, and when in the UK last time got a USB modem from 3G and a prepaid SIM. It was a ridiculous price, like 15 pounds for 2 gb of data. Less than a monthly subscription here. I also have Boingo PDA WiFi and the 20 gb per month international data plan from ATT. I was planning to just use that but if the Gevey worked in the iPhone without prior unlocking that would certainly be an option. Thanks.
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I looked at the Gevey Plus 2, am I correct that that unlocks the iPhone? I havent bothered to unlock mine, and when in the UK last time got a USB modem from 3G and a prepaid SIM. It was a ridiculous price, like 15 pounds for 2 gb of data. Less than a monthly subscription here. I also have Boingo PDA WiFi and the 20 gb per month international data plan from ATT. I was planning to just use that but if the Gevey worked in the iPhone without prior unlocking that would certainly be an option. Thanks.
Good luck unlocking an iPhone. Call AT&T and you will find out that they will not do it and tell you it can't be done. Also you will not find an outlet that will do that either. If you do find a way, POST!
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Quote:
Originally Posted by EasternTraveler
Good luck unlocking an iPhone. Call AT&T and you will find out that they will not do it and tell you it can't be done. Also you will not find an outlet that will do that either. If you do find a way, POST!
It is easy to do. I just havent bothered. And no, not by ATT.
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Vodafone is 75p not 64p.
Beginning 1st June there is no roaming fee so all incoming is free and outgoing is at your tariff which can be 19p.
Sorry - the 64p excluded VAT (which I reclaim).
And, yes your are correct; Vodafone have a 3 month promotion going, so no charge for incoming calls. This is a very good offer, although it is planned to expire end August.
