Originally Posted by
vincepoy
Interesting, so basically with your AT&T SIM, it would actually send all the data back to AT&T's network? Is it in anyway related to the APN used? Wow, $US120 for 800MB is pretty steep.
Yes, I'm sure it's somehow related to the APN used. Remember that no card changes its APN just because the user is roaming. When I am in China and I use my AT&T SIM, and I go to a site like whatismyip.com, it'll usually show an area like Washington or California, and the internet works as it should. With the HK cross border SIM cards, the APN "3gnet" is used, which is a HK APN, and the internet should also work like it should.
Only problem with doing this (unless you're using the dual number cross border SIM card) is that you're paying standard international roaming rates, which in the case of AT&T, is $120 for 800 MB. I did this last time though because running a VPN on my phone 24/7 was killing the battery.
Originally Posted by
vincepoy
I can make a voice call but I don't have anyone to call which is where my problem is since I can't just prank call someone I don't know. Maybe I'll just pick a business to call or something since they only say you have to make a call, doesn't say if the call has to be answered or not. The thing is I want to try something that doesn't cost before I activate the data pack as it seems like the way CUHK does it, they will try to drain your card with additional costs like making a call and make you top up before you can even add any data pack and then when you top up, they will probably use something else to drain your balance to something below what the data pack requires. What's interesting is they tell you in the the card folder that you can use data and it will activate but it doesn't list how much data costs standalone by the MB. It only lists data packs and then $0.80/MB thereafter so it seems to mean that the $0.80/MB is only charged when your data pack runs out. It doesn't say how much is charged if you try to use data before you add a data pack.
You can probably just call a business phone number. Preferably one that has a prerecorded message when it answers. Or if you're like me, you do actually have friends in China that you can call. I'd set the data kill switch on my phone initially, so it doesn't consume any data at $0.80/MB, before I can get the number via SMS, top up the card, and sign up for the $118/1GB plan, if I were using the CUHK card.
It is useful to have a Chinese voice number. Last time I was at a Starbucks in China, they required a Chinese voice number that they could send an SMS to before I could get on the WiFi. Not sure why they have the system set up that way (here in the US all Starbucks just run open wifi) but it does require it.