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Use data-only sim in phone?
Hi guys,
Been searching and reading, but have not found an answer to this: Going to Rome, Paris, and London. We would like to get data SIMs and put them in an iPhone and an ATT HTC One M8. The intent is to be able to use Google Maps, get to Wikipedia and sych, and text via iMessage and Google Hangouts (she uses an iPhone, I use GVoice). Can you throw a data-only sim into a phone and have it work? Or does the sim 'know' it's in a phone rather than a tablet and refuse to work? Thanks, |
I think it probably depends on the specific carrier and their restrictions. Aside from those, there's no reason it shouldn't work.
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Vodaphone Smart Passport
Through continued digging here, I found a reference to Vodaphone Smart Passport. The Italian webpage is here, use Google Translate to read it:
http://www.vodafone.it/portal/Privat...SMART-Passport Basically, for 3 Euros/day, you get each day 500MB of data, 25 min each of incoming and outgoing calls, and 50 sms messages. This should meet our needs. I don't care about the voice, but at 3 Euro/day, there' not much to complain about. Works everywhere in Europe, and the US & Canada (Italy isn't on the list, because it's from Vodaphone Italy's website). Andorra Austria Belgium Bulgaria Canada French Caribbean Cyprus Croatia Denmark Estonia Finland France Germany Gibraltar Great Britain Greece Guadalupe Guernsey Guyana Ireland Iceland Isle of Man Faroe Islands Jersey Latvia Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Martinique Norway Holland Poland Portugal Czech Republic Reunion Romania Saint-Barthélemy Saint-Martin Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey Hungary USA |
Originally Posted by pilotalan
(Post 25043944)
Hi guys,
Been searching and reading, but have not found an answer to this: Going to Rome, Paris, and London. We would like to get data SIMs and put them in an iPhone and an ATT HTC One M8. The intent is to be able to use Google Maps, get to Wikipedia and sych, and text via iMessage and Google Hangouts (she uses an iPhone, I use GVoice). Can you throw a data-only sim into a phone and have it work? Or does the sim 'know' it's in a phone rather than a tablet and refuse to work? Thanks, |
Three UK pay as you go, unlimited data and a bunch of minutes GBP15 a month, covers UK, France and Italy. However need to get the sim from the UK.
Other option is Keepgo, data only sim. US$70 for 1GB. Yes, sounds expensive at first but some very useful benefits. |
Originally Posted by theworld
(Post 25062378)
Three UK pay as you go, unlimited data and a bunch of minutes GBP15 a month, covers UK, France and Italy. However need to get the sim from the UK.
Other option is Keepgo, data only sim. US$70 for 1GB. Yes, sounds expensive at first but some very useful benefits. |
Originally Posted by mrgreen
(Post 25062958)
Can you top it with non-UK cards as well?
For Keepgo? I presume it would be possible. |
Two years I got a Vodafone 5GB data only SIM in my Galaxy Note 2 and it worked great. The only thing is that it would not let me turn on Wifi hotspot to share the data. I don't know if it was my phone's APN setting, or the plan I bought.
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Sometimes data only plans disable native hotspot functions of the device.
Make sure to have a phone which can circumvent that (Android or Jailbroken iPhone/iPad) |
[QUOTE=mrgreen;25067274]Sometimes data only plans disable native hotspot functions of the device.
Make sure to have a phone which can circumvent that (Android or Jailbroken iPhone/iPad)[/QUOTE I thought newer Android versions respected that setting as well. |
As long as you can enable root access, there will always be ways. ;)
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There is no issue in puting a data only sim card in your phone. You will just have to make sure that you don't call at all with it. Because sometimes calls are opened on data only sim cards, but it is very expensive. An secondly data only sim cards that works in efficiently in other country are not so common. For example the one from vodafone at 3€ per day is quite slow seems to be 3G.
Some companies are specialised in providing data plan in Europe. They are more expensive but speed is 4G everywhere you may look at MY WEBSPOT for example |
Originally Posted by theworld
(Post 25062378)
Three UK pay as you go, unlimited data and a bunch of minutes GBP15 a month, covers UK, France and Italy. However need to get the sim from the UK.
Other option is Keepgo, data only sim. US$70 for 1GB. Yes, sounds expensive at first but some very useful benefits. Are any of these European data plans for non-residents LTE capable? I realize a US resident would have to bring a device with compatible frequency radios though. |
Originally Posted by robroy90
(Post 25089564)
Please enlighten on the advantages of Keepgo, as I am not being sarcastic, but $70 for 1GB does seem rather steep in contrast to unlimited data from Three UK.
Are any of these European data plans for non-residents LTE capable? I realize a US resident would have to bring a device with compatible frequency radios though. |
Originally Posted by robroy90
(Post 25089564)
Please enlighten on the advantages of Keepgo, as I am not being sarcastic, but $70 for 1GB does seem rather steep in contrast to unlimited data from Three UK.
Are any of these European data plans for non-residents LTE capable? I realize a US resident would have to bring a device with compatible frequency radios though. - Credit good for a year - Decent global coverage. Network specific plans are often limited to a specific region, rather than worldwide and often credit is limited to a few months. This is great for that occasional weekend trip where you rely on wifi in your hotel room for the rest of the time. Obviously if you know you are going to be in a specific destination and know you will be using a lot of mobile data, this really isn't the service for you. |
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