abaron

This will produce an error on the phone that while it can be cleared (I believe) it'll keep on popping up.

Putting the phone in Airplane mode and then enabling wifi is the most sure way to ensure it's not going to connect to the network. When you put it in airplane mode it turns the radios off. You can always do a test, put it in airplane mode, remove access to wifi (either by location or turn the wifi off too) and then use an app that generally connects out over 3g.

Also I'd suggest no matter what turning of international data roaming. That should be all you have to do, but it seems others have had issues with it accessing data anyway.

wiredboy10003

I just tested my iPhone. It will come up the first time you turn the power on, but never again after that. I myself go for months at a time without turning off the power button.

escog

Make sure you set your usage statistics to zero when you go, and then you can check it periodically to make sure you're not using any data.

I think turning data roaming off and enabling airplane mode will give you belt-and-suspenders protection.

mcubed

Thanks everyone. Your input was really helpful!

Mul

Also don't forget to setup your iPhone for unconditional call forwarding while overseas. If you don't, and your phone is not airplane mode, it'd roam. If during that time someone calls, you'd be charged even if you don't answer the phone.
You can forward the call to your voice mail, or google voice. I did this while I was on trip to HKG and Indonesia.

AT&T has tips for using iPhone internationally.
http://www.wireless.att.com/learn/in...ravel-tips.jsp

You might want to sign up for the 20MB roaming plan for the time you're overseas. Make sure you don't go over the limit.

FlyMeToTheLooneyBin

I travel internationally with my iPhone very frequently, and I do put it in airplane mode with wifi on and location services on. I can say that they will not charge you. As mentioned earlier, you're not connected to their network so they can't charge you.

You can use skype if you want to make calls, even locally. It's pretty cheap this way.

One added benefit of airplane mode (which turns off the cellular radio) is that battery life goes up by a lot. I was able to travel around for a week without ever recharging. Of course, it depends on your usage, and mine was more like about a couple of hours or so each day.

FlyMeToTheLooneyBin

Well, if your phone is in airplane mode, why would it roam? Wouldn't it just report to AT&T that your phone was turned off and go straight to voicemail?

potfish

If it's in airplane mode all the time, you're OK. But if you EVER connect to a foreign network, it knows you're abroad. So airplane mode or not, your home network will forward the call to the foreign one.

Worse still, if someone leaves a voicemail, you'll get charged international rates from home to roaming country and back again to your voicemail box. And a third time if you call to listen to the message.

mcubed

Thanks again.

My phone will be on airplane mode the entire trip. I have a separate UK cell phone that I use for calls. (PS if spending any time at all in the UK this is the way to go. You can get a basic PAYG phone w/ £10 of time for about £15 inclusive. The minutes are super cheap and all incoming calls are free. We will be picking one up for Mr Mcubed this trip as I still have one from last trip. We will now be able to easily stay in touch when we are doing things separately and have a bit more freedom.)

I also have Google voice hooked up to my iphone cell number so any messages anyone would leave on my phone get forwarded to my email address which I can check on my laptop.

There will never be a time that I will turn off airplane mode.

I appreciate all the different scenarios you have shared. I feel pretty secure now in the fact I will be able to use my iphone for the apps I want to access and not incur charges. This was a really helpful thread and I bet it helps others in the same boat. ^

lavedder

Free WIFI in UK will not be as readily available as in Asia though. For insurance, I am going to take my SIM card out of my iphone while abroad.

anthonym

I just rented a WiFiMIGO from Fonmigo.com, it cost me $60 for $1GB of Data. AT&T give you 50MB for that prices.. At&T makes me laugh!

The WiFiMIGO is a small wireless modem that gives you wifi anywhere in the UK. The connection was flawless, and it worked with my laptop also.

Mul

I just hoped that one day Apple and AT&T would let us unlock our iPhone. My iPhone is newer firmware which require tethered jailbreak.

FlyMeToTheLooneyBin

Those are probably the last two companies you would ever expect to actually give you control over the things you buy from them.

Tax Dude

Just echoing what lots of people have said above. I just got back from the UK with my iPhone. I always set it to airplane mode, then turn on the wifi and I've never had a charge while away. I subscribed to the Boingo $8/mo mobile option and was really happy with the availability of wifi while away. I think it's a really good value. I don't think there's a minimum signup period so you could just have it while you're traveling then cancel afterwards. There's a nice little Boingo app you can get for free that makes signing on easy.

I wasn't able to connect to the Cloud network as mentioned above though. It came up as "not a Boingo network". Some places (Giraffe for example) use Cloud but provide free access and it worked fine there.

Mr. Bean

are you sure of this? I took my (AT&T) iPhone off airplane mode for a brief time in Canada and India, then back to airplane mode. Never got charged for unanswered calls/voicemail (when it was in airplane mode the second time). I did not realize they would charge for unanswered calls/voicemail even if it wasn't in airplane mode. I mean technically you didn't use any minutes, right?

As for the OP's question, I've had the iPhone with me in Canada several times. I don't put the phone in Airplane mode - it loads up the ROGERS network; I just turn off international roaming, and when the phone registers in Canada, a message pops up that I am roaming and that data roaming setting is "OFF"; I do this when I need to know if I have any incoming calls. So, to avoid data roaming charges, all you need to do is turn that setting off.

Internet (and internet-dependent services) will not work unless you're at a WiFi spot.

I did not realize GPS would work if I took the SIM out. Will have to try that sometime.