LufthansaFlyer

thanks....sounds easier than I though. There are so many vendors out there its hard to pick one. I noticed there are a couple of cell shops in FRA shopping area. Probably will start there!

TravelinTX

We will be in Germany and Italy, only planning on making a few calls in Italy to hotels to arrange pick up. Was going to go with one of the Telestials, but the reviews on Amazon are really bad. Any other suggestions?

devans999

I recently used a Huawei E586 that I picked up on ebay for a trip to ireland and scotland/london. I used 3 in both places, 1 sim for ireland, 1 for scotland/london. I just needed data so it worked out well, speed and coverage were both pretty good. I was able to make voice calls back to the states via google voice & sipdroid for free (I'd heard some providers block VOIP). Ireland was roughly 10 euro for 1 week & 2GB of data, the UK side was 21 pounds, which was good for 1 month and 3GB (they didn't seem to have a 1 week top-up like ireland).

It's so much easier being a tourist when you have google maps and other apps when you are walking around. I was surprised at the battery life for the E586, a couple of days I got pretty close to 8 hours of use out of it (brand new battery), using maps, and syncing 2 email accounts and posting pics to FB pretty regularly.

wco81

That's very good, at least double the battery life of me E585. But I picked up a second battery for like $10.

Will have to see if they put out LTE or at least HSPA+ devices.

chff

Don't buy in the airport. They are looking for tourists, & they are mostly voice, and are very expensive. I just brought there a sim for 40€, with a starting balance of 7€, cheap phone rates, but not cheap on data, and sim expires in a month.

Best option is, go into a cell phone brand store anywhere in the city, like O2, ePlus, T-mobile, and buy there a sim card for around 10€

blueeagle3

I do need it the other way round...A german mobile has to be used in the US, 3 weeks in California and one Week on the East Coast...So a) it has to work in both places and b) it has to work with a german mobile....oh, and c) it has to be cheap and prepaid....Is there anything on your mind? Maybe?

MareLuce

Please double-check my SIM card / MiFi strategy for an upcoming vacation.

I'm planning a 2-person trip this December to:

London - 1 day
Austria (Salzburg + Vienna) - 5 days
Prague, Czech Republic - 4 days
Berlin, Germany - 5 days
London - 1 day

Tech I'll bring that needs WiFi access:
2 iPhones
1 iPad

A couple weekends ago I read ~ 13 pages of this thread till my eyes went dry . Based on that, I am planning to get:

Huawei MiFi 586
and
a SIM from iPhoneTrip.com

The World SIM:
- data only unlimited is: $17/day
- voice + unlimited data is: $18/day

With 2 iPhones and 1 iPad using the connection and a lot of location-based apps, I figure I should get the unlimited data plan.

Plan is to
1) Put the iPhoneTrip.com SIM card into the Huawei MiFi device
2) Keep the ATT SIMs in the iPhones
3) Put the iPhones in Airplane mode, then turn back on WiFi in order to connect to the Huawei
4) Load up a Skype contact list with phone numbers that I know I'll need. Have both phones use that Skype account. (so that I don't have to create 2 copies of the same phone # list of all the hotels, etc.)


What surprised me in researching this -

For data,
iphonetrip SIM seems to be the right thing to do. Love the idea of WiFi access to Maps and to all the location-based city apps when out exploring. It sounds like Skype works well enough for voice calls from reading this thread.

I was debating for the extra $1/day, also getting I get voice connectivity with the iPhoneTrip SIM, in case I want to move the SIM from the Huawei into one of the iPhones, in case I run out of battery in the Huawei

However, maybe to keep things simple(r) for VOICE calls when Skype is not accessible, I should just sign up for AT&T World Traveler for $5.99/month, and stick with AT&T, because:

iPhoneTrip.com Voice price per minute:
England: 1.68
Austria: 1.68
Czech Republic: 3.38 (wow!)
Germany: 1.68

ATT World Traveler Voice price per minute:
England: $0.99
Czech Republic: $1.99
Austria: $0.99
Germany: $0.99

----------------------------

Sounds right?

What am I forgetting about?

Did I make any incorrect assumptions in above?

The Huawei is currently Wi-Fi: 802.11b/g. I wish it had Wi-Fi: 802.11b/g/n! Or, do the other bandwidth bottlenecks make that irrelevant?

chff

I don't know US sim cards prices, you can try I think T-Mobile, both one is for sure, you only need one sim, it will work both in the east & the west coast......

wco81

Are your iPhones unlocked?

If not you may not be able to pop the iphonetrip SIM in them.

adambadam

Just got back from a trip to Korea and Thailand and I had much success on the mobile front and thought I would share my results.

Korea:

Seems like due to security restrictions it was not so easy to get a SIM card. However when I landed at ICN in the arrivals hall I went to a booth for LG U+. There they had phone/mifi rentals. For 8000 won/day (or 5000/day if you stay for longer than 5 days) you can rent a 4G mifi. That is what I did. The thing blazed and lasted for most of the day on in my pocket. Returning was simple and hassle free. Checking it out/in took about 5 mins each. They have booths to rent/return the devices at ICN, Gimpo and Gimhae and I think COEX too if you don't get it at the airport. So for less than 5 USD/day you get really fast internet -- this is especially a good deal as if you are going to be staying at a hotel where they charge you as it is fast enough to even forgo the hotel's wifi. They accept credit or cash.


Thailand:

Upon arrival at BKK I found a booth in the arrivals area called Happy. The language barrier was a little rough as the agent I was speaking with didn't really understand English, though they had a "menu" in English and it listed data as one of the options for 400 baht for 7 days (or about 12 USD). I believe the way it worked is that the internet is 300 baht and then you get left 100 baht for calls/texts. Five minutes later I had a SIM card with a 3G data plan and really cheap calls domestically and abroad (3 baht/min to the states I believe -- if you dialed 004 before the number). 3G speeds left something to be desired though I was also using an old iPhone 3G so perhaps I am just use to better underlying tech. Cash only and if you need a refill on the minutes convenience stores in town sell top-ups. For the five days I was there it worked perfectly and I never needed to top up.

MareLuce

Good point. They are not. They are both off contract now, so we could get AT&T to unlock them.

However, we are going to upgrade when Apple probably introduces the next iPhone this fall, so by Christmas they will be locked again.

blueeagle3

I will go and buy a card by T-Mobile - thank you for this idea!

thijsseh

I did that. Got a micro SIM for my iPad. Works fine. As I will be in Germany for around 2 months, I got the €25 deal for unlimited data (up to 3GB / month at full speed, throttled thereafter). But they got lots of options, voice as well as data.
Remember to take your passport to the shop. They need to register you. Also need an address in the country of your passport.

bocastephen

Just back from Canada where I used my Fido prepaid SIM with my newly unlocked iPhone 3GS. Everything was flawless, and I was able to buy (directly from the phone via my prepaid account) 60MB blocks of data for $5 each - which I think is pretty cheap given I wasn't tethering or using the phone for heavy data use.

boerne

I recently got the unlocked galaxy nexus and i use the walmart t mobile prepaid sim in it at home. But in china i went to the china unicom store and got the 64 rmb sim plus an unlucky number for 100 rmb ai. 300 mb data refillable. The store guy had to put in the APN which is 3gnet. The MCC is 460, the MNC is 01, the authentication type is PAP or CHAP and the protocol is IPv4. I don't know what any of that means. What was great was I got HSPA+ in Shanghai. Ping 120, down about 2 mbs and up about 1 mbs. So at least in central shanghai its not just 3G. Several phone calls, google maps, VPN on the phone, and foxfi to make it a hotspot. Heading to the 3 Gorges on a cruise and I hope to report back.