Originally Posted by
cboy
Att, Verizon, Tmobile, Sprint... so there is almost no need to use skype or other application now days to call back to the US. as long as you have WiFi coverage.
With MiFi devices being so cheap its totally worth having one so you can use your phone like normal when out of country!
we are living in the future
I have t-mobile and still like it a lot and have gone to Europe and China with it and my wife has gone to Japan, Malaysia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and I think Australia. The limited-speed roaming was fast enough and was super convenient, and last year Europe had LTE roaming for the entire second half of the year. It's great if you're on a promotion or other pricing plan that lets you do the things you want to do. I have t-mobile ONE, 2 phones for $100 per month, and t-mobile One Plus promotion for no extra charge, but without the unlimited GoGo.
Prices have gone up and options have been restricted wit t-mobile, but the first thing to do is look at what kind of roaming you can get with your current carrier.
I agree with the mifi thing, but if your own phone will hotspot or if you have an extra phone to use as a hotspot, I would look into a SIM for that over renting a mifi. I got a SIM in Lisbon and then again in Amsterdam, and the Amsterdam one was good for in-Europe roaming.
But buying a mifi, so that you don't have to worry about sending it back, is different. There's another thread here:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...fi-device.html
This thing is great if it gives coverage and speed where the user is going to be. A 5 GB data load costs $15 and doesn't expire for 2 years. I wish the device was cheaper, but it's a better value than a mifi daily rental. Also, there's a review on the other thread, and the reviewer got it at HKIA for half the price listed for online purchases. I used tep twice in 2013, and it was the opening of a whole new world. But those two uses including shipping fees cost more than the pokefi thing with 5 GB of data included would cost today. I've been recommending it to all my friends, while making sure to tell them that they should read reviews about speed and coverage. I haven't found a cheaper solution for full-speed roaming, provided that the performance matches the claims.
Oh, one more thing about t-mobile is that they introduced something called DIGITS. It allows you to do calling and SMS over the web on a computer, or on any device that will support the DIGITS app. (Android 5.0 or higher, and whatever level of iphone operating system is required). So a t-mobile user doesn't have to have a phone that is specifically configured for wifi calling; they don't even have to have any phone at all.