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Hello, I am going to visit USA in August for 1 month (many states), could you please advise me, which 3g network is cheapest for SMS (foreign SMS too) and 3g Internet (well, probably unlimited or best for Android heavy usage)
Thanks for attention
Read that AT&T has the best 3G coverage, but it's pretty expensive - 5 gb for $40, am I right?
P.S. Not sure if I chose correct place to post this thread
For no plan prepay you best bet is Tmobile. 3G coverage in almost all real cities. Edge in most small towns, and G everywhere else. I can get internet anywhere with it just slow internet if I'm in the middle of nowhere driving state to state. They have a data only plan for $38.99 a month unlimited(10GB). Or 500 anytime minutes free nights and weeksends, unlimited txt and unlimited data(10GB) for $59.99. If you go ATT you will have to run a credit check even to get 1 month of service and even then they don't have any data only plans so your bill will most likely be the 39.99 + $30 for 2GB data, + tax's which run around $10.
Thank you very much, in this case I'll take T-mobile unlimited data plan then
And maybe keeping second (old) phone with old sim card in roaming
Which plan do you think it is better to take for my sister if she doesn't use the internet at all and just SMS?
and are this unlimited SMS work if you send them abroad? I mean are they still free?
maxpower097 said:
For no plan prepay you best bet is Tmobile. 3G coverage in almost all real cities. Edge in most small towns, and G everywhere else.
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uh... just make sure that your phone supports Tmo's 3G bands (probably not)... 1700 AWS, not 2100 (i.e. UTMS 1700 not UTMS 2100)...
Yep, T-Mobile would be your best bet
Check out Simple Mobile.
They use T-mobile's network and offers $60 for everything INCLUDING unlimited international text message. If can get good T-mobile service in your area, you might as well sign up with them to save bunch. The only downside is you have to have a unlocked or T-mobile compatible GSM phone in advance as they don't provide subsidized phones.
hbkmog said:
Check out Simple Mobile.
They use T-mobile's network and offers $60 for everything INCLUDING unlimited international text message. If can get good T-mobile service in your area, you might as well sign up with them to save bunch. The only downside is you have to have a unlocked or T-mobile compatible GSM phone in advance as they don't provide subsidized phones.
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thanks, I am planning to but off contract Samsung Captivate (AT&T version of Galaxy S), but then unlock it for any GSM network
never heard about Simple Mobile, will google it, thanks
DarkVasyaK said:
thanks, I am planning to but off contract Samsung Captivate (AT&T version of Galaxy S), but then unlock it for any GSM network
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Again... don't expect such phones to work with Tmo's 3G... you'll be stuck with EDGE...
You'll need the Samsung Vibrant if you want Tmo's 3G to work in the US... or a Behold II or MyTouch... plus Tmo has funky rules for Android phones on prepay (or not)... you may need to do their FlexPay ...
there's a good chance that you'll have to go with AT&T prepaid... given what you're planning...
Your Euro phones probably won't work with Tmo 3G but you very well might pick it up some places. Many many many people have picked up 3G on tmo's US network with INTL unlocked phones. One of the bands matches, the other doesn't. So it depends on which tower your near.
maxpower097 said:
Your Euro phones probably won't work with Tmo 3G but you very well might pick it up some places. Many many many people have picked up 3G on tmo's US network with INTL unlocked phones. One of the bands matches, the other doesn't. So it depends on which tower your near.
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Click to collapse
I believe what you say is incorrect. Not only are the frequencies around 2100Mhz different between Tmo's 1700/2100 (UTMS1700) and UTMS2100 different, but UTMS1700 *depends* on the 1700Mhz for uplink, so you can't even create a connection.
Actually...certain Asian phones operate on the same frequency bands as T-Mobile...but good luck getting your hands on one.
~Jasecloud4
Confused
So, I am going to buy Samsung Captivate
It's UMTS 850/1900/2100
If I unlock it for any sim and put T-mobile sim inside, 3g won't work?
I should use AT&T then? I saw at the web site that there is a 5 gb data plan for $60
I don't really want to buy T-mobile Samsung Vibrant because it's easier for me to buy international version then, but I don't really like how it looks.
And just one more question, I am going to live in Singapore for 1 year soon, does anybody know if 3g will work with Captivate in Singapore?
DarkVasyaK said:
Confused
So, I am going to buy Samsung Captivate
It's UMTS 850/1900/2100
If I unlock it for any sim and put T-mobile sim inside, 3g won't work?
I should use AT&T then? I saw at the web site that there is a 5 gb data plan for $60
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Click to collapse
This is correct. Tmo runs on a special band so only Tmo branded phones, and some "asian or INTL" phones can use tmo 3G. ATT 3G is US standard and can be used by most phones, but ATT doesn't have any unlimited dataplans anymore. They don't have any prepay dataplans, the only data only plans they offer are for the ipad. So your gonna pay much more, but ATT will give you better 3G coverage, but slower in the cities compared to TMO. TMO actually is beating out sprint 4G in most area's, but its coverage is spotty and only in large cities. I would go tmo and buy a throw away phone when you get here. Or get a tmo phone for the trip, then actually spend real money on a phone when you get home. You can get a TP2 for around $150-$200 here, and HD2 for $250, then you can ebay it off when you get home or sell it real quick on CL before you leave. If you haven't tried it the TMO HD2 is a beast.
well, I wanted to use tons of android apps using 3g internet, but in this case I should just use EDGE... don't want to buy special phone for 3g or something like that...
it seems that I have a choice between 3g with AT&T for $60 (5 gb) and T-mobile EDGE for $40 (unlimited data) ?
DarkVasyaK said:
well, I wanted to use tons of android apps using 3g internet, but in this case I should just use EDGE... don't want to buy special phone for 3g or something like that...
it seems that I have a choice between 3g with AT&T for $60 (5 gb) and T-mobile EDGE for $40 (unlimited data) ?
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well you could get 100MB of data on AT&T for $20... but perhaps that isn't enough for you... seek out Wifi whenever possible? (that's what I do when traveling outside the US...)
or live with Tmo EDGE, which really isn't that bad and some would claim that you may be dealing with EDGE or EDGE-like bandwidth on AT&T as well, depending on where you go and congestion (hoards of iphone users)...
I am currently in Japan with my htc inspire and I am not getting any signal at all. I tried resetting and going into the settings menu to change the "network operator" but its greyed out.
does anyone know what I am doing wrong? I desperately need it to work here and I have the international plan activated on my account.
bigneeker said:
I am currently in Japan with my htc inspire and I am not getting any signal at all. I tried resetting and going into the settings menu to change the "network operator" but its greyed out.
does anyone know what I am doing wrong? I desperately need it to work here and I have the international plan activated on my account.
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Well in Japan you wont get 3g due to Japan using 2100mhz and The Inspire does not have that freq built in. You should get a call signal. Make sure you enable international roaming on your account. Or if your phone is unlocked buy a local sim card and pop it in.
I enabled international roaming on my account and have the $6 plan added for cheaper international roaming service.
I don't need 3g, just a phone signal to make calls and receive texts. but all I get is a "x |on top.
I have travelled to countless countries with my other unlocked phones and have never had a problem with my phone not picking up a signal.
is it possible that because I changed to a 3g sim card, it doesn't work abroad?
japan does not have gsm EDGE coverage i dont believe. they do have 3G HSDPA, but on 2100mHz, which the inspire does not have. so you are kinda out of luck i'm afraid.
Verified with AT&T's tool here
http://www.wireless.att.com/travelguide/coverage/roaming/step1.jsp
The Inspire doesn't get voice or data in Japan
Had the same problem in Korea last week - sucked big time. How can they call it a world phone and leave out 2100!!!!
That is absolutely terrible and false advertising since Japan and Korea re left out which are huge territories. I also have an unlocked samsung vibrant that I need to charge to see if it works.
Does anyone know if the vibrant has the right frequencies for Japan?
bigneeker said:
That is absolutely terrible and false advertising since Japan and Korea re left out which are huge territories. I also have an unlocked samsung vibrant that I need to charge to see if it works.
Does anyone know if the vibrant has the right frequencies for Japan?
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According to the same tool I previously posted, the Captivate will work in Japan and South Korea
Edit: Oh, Vibrant... hold on
Don't know about the Vibrant, does it have the 2100 frequency? If so, then probably yes
Yeah I still can't believe this phone left out the 2100 frequency. I posted about this a few weeks ago and still can't believe I didn't notice that it didn't have the 2100 when I bought it, as I travel to Japan quite often.
I don't like the Atrix and the Infuse 4G isn't out yet so I'm just waiting it out until some better phones come out and will just use a older phone in the interim. Those both support 2100 apparently. Kind of ridiculous that HTC left it out of this phone.
Just did a quick search and it looks like the Vibrant does have 2100 UMTS support.
Sprint CDMA works in Tokyo (and possibly Verizon). Not sure what carrier it uses but it does work for voice only. Probably not much help though.
I'm gonna be visiting London in a few days and plan on using my Tmo US Nexus S on a pay-as-you-go SIM card.
I know 3G is out of the question, but so far as using a data plan on EDGE goes, does anyone know which provider offers the best coverage in the city? I've tried Tmo UK once on an unlocked iPhone 3G and the signal was spotty at best, so I'm hoping for better luck this time around.
Vodafone is your best bet in my opinion. They tend to have the best coverage and when other networks drop out Vodafone usually clings in with a bar or two .
I'm also with Vodafone so not that I'm biased or anything!
T-mobile and Orange now share their network signals. So now you get both
I live in London and I am on Orange. Its pretty good most places. The only place it seems terrible is at my home
Thanks guys, I gave both carriers' sites a look. Cost initially wasn't an issue for me, but their prices for pay-as-you-go data are... discouraging. I may still have to stick with Tmo's much cheaper unlimited internet after all...
Any info on when this might released in canada.
I am on ATT and I feel terrible that another great handset is going to T mobile and F**** att is not interested. Carriers in Canada like rogers and telus have the same band for ATT.
( But again no 4G )
So curious to know if canada is getting one.
Just letting you know that Telus AND Bell use a 4G network (HSPA+)
The DHD actually came out on what was considered a 3G+ network, with DL speeds up to 14 Mb/s, which is really the American 4G standard. With Telus' LTE coming in soon, you can expect DL speeds up to 75 Mb/s... So yeah, canadians don't really lag behind in that aspect!
As for the phone coming out here, Bell and Telus are big fans of HTC, and Bell even launched the Incredible S! So I'd say the chances are pretty good for it to come out here... Only thing is that if it comes to Telus, it might take a few months, as they tend to take their time with phone launches, and Rogers is just a Sony fan...
is Telus received the HTC Deasire HD and the first Desire look to see the Sensation on Telus as well but Telus has issues with taking to long to release phones but dont be suprised to see the phone with bell as well since the Atrix was a hit and miss
TheSobadef said:
Just letting you know that Telus AND Bell use a 4G network (HSPA+)
The DHD actually came out on what was considered a 3G+ network, with DL speeds up to 14 Mb/s, which is really the American 4G standard. With Telus' LTE coming in soon, you can expect DL speeds up to 75 Mb/s... So yeah, canadians don't really lag behind in that aspect!
As for the phone coming out here, Bell and Telus are big fans of HTC, and Bell even launched the Incredible S! So I'd say the chances are pretty good for it to come out here... Only thing is that if it comes to Telus, it might take a few months, as they tend to take their time with phone launches, and Rogers is just a Sony fan...
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I dint mean to say that US was ahead in terms of 4G. I thought the band for 4G was different between the networks. However its really good to know they are the same. Will be jumping to get hold of sensation when its released in canada.
Now have to find out someone to ship me one
TheSobadef said:
Just letting you know that Telus AND Bell use a 4G network (HSPA+)
The DHD actually came out on what was considered a 3G+ network, with DL speeds up to 14 Mb/s, which is really the American 4G standard. With Telus' LTE coming in soon, you can expect DL speeds up to 75 Mb/s... So yeah, canadians don't really lag behind in that aspect!
As for the phone coming out here, Bell and Telus are big fans of HTC, and Bell even launched the Incredible S! So I'd say the chances are pretty good for it to come out here... Only thing is that if it comes to Telus, it might take a few months, as they tend to take their time with phone launches, and Rogers is just a Sony fan...
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Rogers uses the same type of HSPA+ network as well.. I really wish they wouldn't call it 4g though.
Having been on both sides , I miss the net speeds in Canada.
Sent from my Dell Streak using XDA Premium App
Is this phone going to work properly on rogers?
I've read that on rogers its only going to get 2G speeds...
I've been waiting for rogers to get a good phone for almost a year now, I'm going to leave if they don't get any good phones soon.
Rogers, Bell and Telus use 1900MHz for 3G.
The Sensation uses 1700MHz.
If you want a carrier that's compatible with the Sensation, you need Mobilicity (ME!) or Wind.
I think htc will release one with a compatible band
Thracks said:
Rogers, Bell and Telus use 1900MHz for 3G.
The Sensation uses 1700MHz.
If you want a carrier that's compatible with the Sensation, you need Mobilicity (ME!) or Wind.
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The G2 was released with T-Mobile bands, then later released with support for 1900 as the Desire Z. I'm returning my Nexus S and am going to stick with the Nexus One for the time being - I really hope this model makes it to Telus. There's nothing about it that I'd change other than maybe a bigger battery. Sense is tolerable.
Thracks said:
Rogers, Bell and Telus use 1900MHz for 3G.
The Sensation uses 1700MHz.
If you want a carrier that's compatible with the Sensation, you need Mobilicity (ME!) or Wind.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually,
Rogers, Telus and Bell use 850/1900 for 3G, and many phones with just the 850 UMTS frequency work on these networks (i.e. The Australian HTC HD2)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_UMTS_networks
Thracks said:
Rogers, Bell and Telus use 1900MHz for 3G.
The Sensation uses 1700MHz.
If you want a carrier that's compatible with the Sensation, you need Mobilicity (ME!) or Wind.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The sensation only uses 1700 in the US for T-Mobile. But who cares about 1700? No one ****ing uses that band. 2100 is what's used worldwide, and that's the sensation the world will get. What we're wondering is when a 850/1900 Sensation will hit.
As an AT&T customer, I'm not even counting on AT&T to get it, nor do I care if they get the phone. I don't want to be thrown on their smartphone data plan anyway. I like importing phones and slapping a SIM in so I can keep going on the $15/plan
Anyway, so if Canada carries the Sensation, that means it will come in 850/1900 flavors.
Even if u have a smartphone u can still use the 15$ plan
drgopoos said:
Even if u have a smartphone u can still use the 15$ plan
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If you use a non carrier smartphone you can get away with it. AT&T's not gonna make a huge list of all the smartphones in the world and blacklist them from the $15 plan.
They did it for the N1 but taht's because it was sold in the US targetted @ AT&T customers with the 850/1900 bands.
They can only really control the phones they sell to make sure that if you want data with their phones, if it's a smartphone you will be on the $30 plan. Suck it ATT.
dmo580 said:
if it's a smartphone you will be on the $30 plan. Suck it ATT.
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This is no longer valid.
Att has changed the rules now. Even if u have a smartphone u can have the 15$ plan.
My wife has iphone and she is on 15$ plan
drgopoos said:
This is no longer valid.
Att has changed the rules now. Even if u have a smartphone u can have the 15$ plan.
My wife has iphone and she is on 15$ plan
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Click to collapse
Well AT&T is rather nice to you. Up here in Canada, Rogers (AT&T's counterpart in Canada) forces you into a minimum $45 Data Plan if you upgrade from a normal phone to a smartphone. Negotiations never seem to work unless you're extremely lucky, or know someone in the business.
On the topic of the Sensation coming to Canada, I have my doubts on Rogers getting it. They haven't supported many HTC devices in the past, and I doubt they will now. Rogers always carries Samsung and LG, with the occasional Sony Ericsson device.
I'd be willing to put money on Telus and/or Bell getting the Sensation, while Rogers probably taking the Galaxy S II.
If the phone comes out on telus or bell ill still be happy, since telus/bell/rogers all use the same 3G bands now.
Actually in Canada, for BlackBerry you need a minimum of $40 V&D, but for any other smartphone, it's $50... That said, I hear in the US V&D plans can go as high as $100 (here too, but they're the exception, not the norm). Unfortunately though, around these parts most plans don't come with more than 1GB of data.
One of the benefits of our plans though, is that download speeds destroy US speeds. LTE here is 125 Mb/s vs the 14 Mb/s you guys get. For us 14 Mb/s is considered regular HSPA+ (3G+).
As a Bestbuy mobile rep though, I get a fair plan for myself ($35 all incl) for my V&D plan that gives me all the add-ons i need (unlimited txt, Caller ID, VM, early nights) + 200 min and 1 GB data. Pretty good if you ask me
As a Telus customer though, and back on topic, whichever new phone to come out first to Bell or Telus (Sensation or S2), will be the one I buy. I'm hoping both will launch this summer, but I don't really feel like leaving Telus unless I have to...
I am hoping that the sensation gets a GSM release. Being it supports the MAP bluetooth profile, i would like to get a Android phone for my Focus to work with the My ford touch system. There are no android phones in canada that i know of that work with that profile.
When is the glaxy s2 supposed to be released in canada?
ive been with every big phone supplier 4 at least afew weeks and htc is the only 1 im interested in. the galaxy s could be a great phone but they dont give you enough great features. if samsung had its own "friendstream" style social widget, it woyuld compete. but after flahsing sense 3.0 on my desire hd, ill never go back to plain android. every company's UI look sboring in comparision to sense 3.0. only flaw with htc right now is psx4droid doesnt work on the updated sense ui. oncenthat is fixed, this is easily the best brand phone
Well at the moment my old vibrants usb port is broken, and my parents are too lazy/cheap to send it to mobile tech videos. But i may get a new phone soon, i love the galaxy s 3 but since im not getting it very soon but like few months soon, i need good backup phones. I love the htc one s but its screen maybe to small. Is the htc one x from att or unlocked compatible with my network? Or maybe the droid razr?
Anything made for AT&T will get 2G speeds on T-Mobile, but only if you can get it carrier unlocked. Most international phones are also compatible with only T-Mobile 2G
While T-Mobile is working on improving their network for better compatibility with other GSM standards, its not at a stage i would call "reliable" yet, that is, unless 2G and spotty 3G is good enough for you, with the promise of things to become better in the future. If that IS good enough for you, than you can use ANY GSM device on T-Mobile.
However, I have a feeling you want a 4G device. The best tried-and-true unlocked off-contract phone that's T-Mobile 4G compatible is the Play Store Galaxy Nexus