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International Cell phone rentals for a trip to the UK/France

International Cell phone rentals for a trip to the UK/France

Old Mar 16, 2006, 11:50 pm
  #1  
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International Cell phone rentals for a trip to the UK/France

Any suggestions on where to rent a phone for a trip to the UK/Paris?

Thanks.

PR
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Old Mar 17, 2006, 5:21 am
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Yes, but it doesn't involve renting a phone. Depending on the length of your stay, it will be easier, cheaper, and more convenient in the long run (if you ever intend to return) to simply buy a tri-band SIM based phone either in the UK/Paris, or off ebay, and pick up local SIM cards to use while there. Others may have suggestions as to rental, but even with rental you won't "keep" your home mobile number, so why not own one? Best wishes for a great trip! Dave
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Old Mar 17, 2006, 11:53 pm
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I agree. Its better to get a pre-paid SIM from the destination country.
You will get free incoming calls and much cheaper local rates.

in most cases calling back to US is very cheap compared to using a US based
phone overseas or renting a phone.

If you are in US, www.newegg.com has some unlocked phones.
if you already have a T-mobile or Cingular, you may be able to call them
and have it unlocked (if its a tri/quad band phone).

Check out www.expansys.us, not the cheapest, but they have an
extensive list of mobile phones and accessories.
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Old Mar 18, 2006, 3:23 am
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I had a bad experience with Telestial which I will post after I receive the company's response to my complaint; however, I cannot recommend that route at this time.

I would simply buy a unlocked GSM phone from ebay (I got a 2-year old Sony model for around $70 including shipping) and then buy a Vodafone SIM card when you arrive in the UK. There are phone stores everywhere that can get you up and running in a few minutes. The Vodafone rates are far cheaper than any rates offered by US cell carriers. The downside is that you won't know your new tel. # before you leave, but you can always email it to people who need to know.

As for phone rental, try a search of this forum, there are several major companies that offer service. However, the per minute rates are very high, so you will save quite a bit by simply buying a cheap unlocked phone if you have any significant usage (> 30 min). And the next trip, you won't need to rent another phone.
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Old Mar 18, 2006, 9:38 am
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Key criteria:

UNLOCKED GSM phone that uses at least 900MHz and 1800 MHz. These are the 2 frequencies that are widely used throughout most of the world (except in USA and Japan). (850 and 1900 are the frequencies used in the USA)

Some phones on ebay are only 1900 Mhz. Others only have 850 and 1900 MHz. These would be useless in Europe.

Still other models have 2 versions and are often mis-listed. Example: Nokia 3100 has 900, 1800, and 1900 MHz. This is/was usually sold/distributed OUTSIDE of North America. But the 3100b supports 850, 1800, and 1900 MHz. It is somewhat less useful in Europe. But it often works. But many ebayers have listed 3100b's as 3100's. So some direct questions to the sellers are required. The seller should read the exact model number off of the label that resides under the battery. Specs can be looked up on www.phonescoop.com which only has one error that I know of.

Some European carriers do use 1800 MHz, like Orange UK, Orange France, SFR, and others. See www.gsmworld.com for international carriers.

The UNLOCKED feature allows any carriers's sim to be allowed to work in the unlocked phone. Most GSM phones sold/distributed by Cingular or TMobile were locked to the original carrier's own sims and will NOT work with other sims unless the phone is unlocked.

The OP's V3i supports all 4 of the above frequencies so it has the potential to work in most GSM countries except Japan (2100 MHz).

Although I've unlocked many Nokia's and one ugly Moto, I have no experience with V3i's.

BTW, if the OP stays with Cingular while in Europe, unanswerd calls cost a mint since the unanswered call is forwarded BACK to the USA to the voice mailbox. So even no-answer calls to the Cingular phone can cost you a mint, too.
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Old Mar 18, 2006, 7:29 pm
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Thanks to recomendations here, I just got a phone from www.simoncells.com, to replace one I had with some sticky key issues.

I believe it was BDLord who recommended them, not 100% on that, but I'll certainly recommend them now.

They currently have four phones under $100, starting at $65, and all the way up into hundreds.

You can own your own phone for about the cost of the first rental.

Get an 800 number from kall8.com, and you can forward that off to your cell number when you get your sim, and people here can call you there on your local toll free number.
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Old Mar 19, 2006, 1:48 pm
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Best (cheapest) UK sim?

So what is the cheapest service to get a sim card from in the UK? I am going to London this week and my Orange pay-as-you-go sim that i bought three years ago has expired. Their rates were good, but IIRC the sim card cost 25 which is a little pricey imho.
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Old Mar 19, 2006, 2:01 pm
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I had a bad experience with Telestial which I will post after I receive the company's response to my complaint; however, I cannot recommend that route at this time.
I have had a phone from Telestial for over a year; it works well, and I have found their customer service to be excellent. You might want to consider the Global Riing SIM (that's what I have), which works almost anywhere in the world, gives you one prepaid phone number for all of your international travel, and has reasonable rates in many industrialized countries.

http://www.telestial.com/view_produc...T_ID=MSIM-GR01
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Old Mar 20, 2006, 12:24 am
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Originally Posted by LAXPlat
I have had a phone from Telestial for over a year; it works well, and I have found their customer service to be excellent. You might want to consider the Global Riing SIM (that's what I have), which works almost anywhere in the world, gives you one prepaid phone number for all of your international travel, and has reasonable rates in many industrialized countries.

http://www.telestial.com/view_produc...T_ID=MSIM-GR01
Funny, my experience last month was exactly the opposite. Telestial took 96 hours to reload my account (they are all prepaid - once you run out of time, your phone won't work until the reload is processed or you buy a new SIM). I placed orders by phone and internet - both were processed 4 days later so it wasn't my credit card. Needless to say, this ridiculous delay caused us great inconvenience. We are waiting for a official response to our complaint, but in the interim, I cannot recommend Telestial unless you plan to prepay for a lot of minutes. You'll find that the starter card is used up very quickly even with very little use.
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Old Mar 22, 2006, 11:17 am
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www.prepaidgsm.net

Originally Posted by Derek
So what is the cheapest service to get a sim card from in the UK? I am going to London this week and my Orange pay-as-you-go sim that i bought three years ago has expired. Their rates were good, but IIRC the sim card cost 25 which is a little pricey imho.
For others, buy UNLOCKED worldphone (tri or quad band) on eBay, then go to above site for SIM card information.
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Old Mar 26, 2006, 6:41 am
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Bought a sim in London

Have bought a MobileWorld card from Carphone Warehouse. 15p / min in the UK, but only 5p / min for calling the US & Canada! It's on the T-Mobile backbone and works great.
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Old Mar 26, 2006, 7:20 am
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Originally Posted by private ryan
Any suggestions on where to rent a phone for a trip to the UK/Paris?

Thanks.

PR
Everyone suggested buying, but you specifically asked about renting. Our company has an account with http://www.worldcell.com/. Their service is excellent, phones are delivered FedEx, with a FedEx return mailer. They have an toll free number your family and friends can use to contact you. They even send neat little pre printed business cards with your name and contact info.

It it more expensive than buying, but I hate the hassle of trying to reload prepaid or finding SIM to purchase. AND you don't have a phone number until you buy the SIM card. Not a good idea, if you have elderly parents or kids back at home.
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Old Mar 26, 2006, 4:29 pm
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If you have had service with Cingular for more than three years and have been under your contract for more than 90 days on your most recently purchased phone or are out of contract with the phone completely. Have not had any service cancellation or suspension issues and are in tier 1 or 2 on Cingular credit, they will unlock your phone for you.
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Old Mar 27, 2006, 6:04 pm
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Unlocking codes

Originally Posted by drbond
If you have had service with Cingular for more than three years and have been under your contract for more than 90 days on your most recently purchased phone or are out of contract with the phone completely. Have not had any service cancellation or suspension issues and are in tier 1 or 2 on Cingular credit, they will unlock your phone for you.
If you do a google search for unlocking mobile phones, you'll find many vendors that will do it for between $25-40 dollars...
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Old Mar 27, 2006, 8:24 pm
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Worldcell is great if you want no hassle rental and don't mind paying for excellent service. The downside is that you pay 3x-5x per minute more than you would if you had a T-mobile postpaid account. $2.99/minute back to the US and .99/minute for local airtime is simply insane. You'd be better off signing up a phone on T-mobile's lowest monthly plan and getting int'l roaming.
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