Hi
I have a load of trips to the states coming up, and its probably gonna be worthwhile for me to get a US prepaid SIM card. I assume that the major GSM providers cover the whole country these days? I'll be visiting Portland, Boston and Seattle.
Whats the best provider to go for, I want cheap(ish) calls to UK, full internet access via GPRS, and cheap txt messages?
My device is unlocked so no worries there
Nigel
I use T-Mobile and will be again when I return to the states. You can buy these sim cards on ebay and when used in conjunction with a calling card you can get really cheap calls.
I am going to New York soon and am considering buying a quantity of these cards to sell on ebay myself.
Here is the auction I had my eye on and the shop this guy runs from is on new york. The auction below has now finished but it gives you an idea.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=5738616726&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT
Related
Hi Folks,
The phone "officially" registered on my contract with Orange UK is an old 2G one for it has a 2G SIM. I'm looking to get a Touch HD which will need a 3G SIM.
Unfortunately, I'm told that Orange won't just give out shiny new 3G SIMs.
The obvious way to wheedle a 3G SIM out of Orange would be to simply "upgrade" to a cheap 3G phone - But because of the ancient tariff I'm on ("Everyday 50"), my local Orange shop wouldn't entertain ANY kind of upgrade, even though I am "out of contract", unless I change to a more expensive tariff !
Any ideas anyone ? "Dog ate my SIM"? Threaten to leave ?
Thanks in advance.
- Steve
If you go in somewhere like phones4u and tell them the contract you already have, they will often try to match it, sometimes by giving you a lump sum refund so that the monthly price is brought down to what you want.
jez83uk said:
If you go in somewhere like phones4u and tell them the contract you already have, they will often try to match it, sometimes by giving you a lump sum refund so that the monthly price is brought down to what you want.
Click to expand...
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That's an idea - but the plan I'm on at the moment suits me very well and is very cheap indeed (which is undoubtedly why they are not keen on giving me an upgrade phone). I can't see anyone easily matching it long-term.
I wonder if all SIMs used by orange are now 3G compatible, or would I really need to specifically get a 3G phone to get a 3G SIM?
Have you thought about going for one of the SIM only tariffs? That way you get the new SIM, the old number can be ported across and you get a lower monthly cost.
Just done it with Vodafone for their cheapest tariff and its costing me £10 for 75 mins and 500 texts on top of which i have added the £7.50 Mobile Internet. And the SIM i have is HSPDA compatible.
Oh, and one other possible plus, while it is a contract there is no long term tie in, its a rolling 30 day commitment.
I will be on a trip to New England in the first two weeks of June and I thought of using my HD2 there too, but since my Internet flat is only valid in Germany and roaming prices are way above what I want to pay, I thought about getting a Prepaid Sim Card.
In Germany some providers offer a limited Internet flat for prepaid users. So let's say you pay 10€ for getting an internet flat for one month and it will be billed on your card, after 30days you will be billed based on your amount of traffic again. So my question is: Do American providers have a similar option and which provider can you recommend?
I'll soon be taking a three week trip equally split between the USA and Canada. Like most people on this forum, I'm going to want data access from my GSM smartphone for the duration, especially Google Navigation. Of course using my Orange UK contract SIM is out of the question because I don't intend to remortgage my house. Does anyone have any suggestions for a good SIM which will allow reasonable data changes across both countries?
In the past I've used T-Mobile for USA-only trips, but it appears the charge $10 a Mb in Canada which is out of the question. AT&T appear to be similar. The best deal from the Canadian networks in the USA appears to be $1 a Mb which is also too much. Is the only solution really to get two SIM cards?
I know their are many specialist roaming SIMs available, but I haven't come across any which cover this combination well. Any insights would be welcome.
Ok... Questions. I'm going to Europe in a few months. Currently on T-MO US with a Radar. What is the best way to get internet over there? I'll be in Italy, London, etc. I know what to do once I'm online, i.e., via Skype, Google Talk, SIP clients, etc. but what is the best solution for internet access on the go? I don't care whether it is tablet, phone or laptop. I can figure out tethering and what not. I just need to know how to have broadband internet from wherever I am. Is it something like this: http://www.trustive.com/price-plans/?
Are there other solution? Should I just put an overseas sim in an unlocked device? Are there better carriers? Best roaming? Etc.
THANKS
Bump........
The radar i believe has the capability of roaming in Italy but i would recommend you unlock it and get a sim when you get there.
Please use the Q&A Forum for questions Thanks
Moving to Q&A
I think the roaming is pretty expensive - so I'd buy a prepaid simcard.
If you visit Germany I'd recommend "AldiTalk" - it's not the best mobile network but the cheapest simcard with cheap flatrates.
So there isn't one good global solution, huh? No one used Trustive?
Uuuhmm... I don't think so - but I've heard about an Irish Carrier - don't know the name yet - which you could use. The roaming fee's aren't as high as on the other carriers...
The best thing you can do is get a SIM card in each of the countries you are gonna visit and use their system. Roaming would be very expensive.
i think the cheapest solution is to get new sim, pre-payed one for each country, so you got the whole connectivity in mobile data with no issue and no fees with roaming and other things like this
edit :just checked on the link you posted, even more confident in a new sim, in Italy you can get a new one for 1Gb month, with something like 5 euros with most of the carriers
Ah i found it - you can buy an irish sim card via ebay - i think the carrier is meteor or vodafone with very cheap roaming fees...
BUMP........
I will be in the UK (London, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Inverness...) in a couple weeks and trying to figure out where to get a SIM card for my P5100.
Which providers will have the best coverage in the bands that P5100 supports?
I have been told “wait and buy a SIM card once you arrive in London”... But what stores can I walk into to buy a SIM?
Vodafone is the only provider I found that has stores you can walk into. Others (GiffGaff, Three, ...) you must have the SIM shipped to a UK address.
Thanks!
Go into any phone shop , o2 , Orange , Tmobile , Carphone Wharehouse , Phones4U. Websites have full details of plans and sim specs.
I have an 02 phone and a Tmobile one. Both pretty similar in service. o2 would be best for o2 to o2 calls and texts , maybe data .
T mobile is fairly cheap for cross network calls and data. Think Orange is fairly decent for Data , not sure about calls to be honest. I take it you will be using a " pay as you go" top up service ? Sims start at around £1.00 , Sometimes the shops give them away for free, just to get some custom as you normally top up with credit when you get a sim.Obviously check out the sims first to make sure they are what you want.Not really sure what kind of usage you need ?
Argos ( general store that sells absolutely everything) sell all sims at £1.00, just checked for you. They have stores nationwide and have branches in most towns. They even have a store locator on the website.Not sure if that would be any good for you , but its an option.
If your coming to London , bring a water proof jacket with you lol Oooh I love London :laugh: