Tip - Cruise Ship Calling - Captivate General

The cost for cell phone service on cruise ships is from $2.49 to $6.99 per minute for voice depending on your service provider. That includes incoming voice mail when your handset is turned on. Forget about data even if it is available. The easy way to keep from incurring those outrageous charges is to turn off the radio. WiFi will continue to work. Many ships offer free WiFi on board so you can use VOIP such as Google Talk, Skype, etc. without spending a boat load of money.
Here's how.
Dial *#*#4636#*#*
Select phone information from the menu
Scroll down to turn off radio button
Click the button (the button text will change to turn on radio)
Use the same menu to turn on the radio.

Or you can simply turn on flight mode then turn wi-fi on. Does cruise ship really offer free internet? I thought that is charged per minute as well.

Is this any different from airplane mode?

foxbat121 said:
Or you can simply turn on flight mode then turn wi-fi on. Does cruise ship really offer free internet? I thought that is charged per minute as well.
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coming from a frequent cruiser on Royal Caribbean I know for a fact the internet is not free. IT is actually cheaper to use the computers in the internet cafes onboard then to use your own computer (I believe). However, once you are in port if you go to an American island (such as Puerto Rico) you will have cell phone service, and if you go to any island you will probably be able to poach wifi.

Airplane mode shuts off my Bluetooth and WiFi.
On my favorite cruise line, Regent, WiFi and Internet is free for everyone who has sailed 21 nights including the cruise they are currently taking. The food and booze is free for everyone.

Flight mode then you can turn on whatever you want, wifi or bt. The cell radio will stay off.

Related

Can I set WM TP2 to only retrieve emails using wifi?

Just got back from France, I have been connecting to wifi over there, but emails still seem to be retrieving using 3g which has cost me £10 for a few minutes! if I turn off data connection it seems to turn itself back on, is there anyway to only retrieve by wifi, in the end I was using my daughters ipod touch for email (have to say what a delight to use - simple to set up, smooth, and held onto a wifi signal really well)
Apk1 said:
Just got back from France, I have been connecting to wifi over there, but emails still seem to be retrieving using 3g which has cost me £10 for a few minutes! if I turn off data connection it seems to turn itself back on, is there anyway to only retrieve by wifi, in the end I was using my daughters ipod touch for email (have to say what a delight to use - simple to set up, smooth, and held onto a wifi signal really well)
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Click to collapse
Use the app No Data. It will turn off your data connection and the phone will only be allowed to connect by wifi or not at all.
Thanks Denco, I have installed it, but cannot understand how it works, nodata shows "mobile web & o2 active" I have disabled these, can I now exit the application? I have turned off Wifi, but I can still send emails/browse, is this correct? will it block all 3g traffic or just when I am roaming, allowing me to use my 02 network when available?

[Q] silly settings question for foreign travel

hi all
so I am going out of the country later this week and had a simple silly question. I want to be able to use wifi on my phone for late night email checks. I do not want to accept calls or send text or use any data over the network.
are these the settings I need:
wifi - on (duh!)
mobile network - off
data roaming - connect to data services when roaming - off
Is there a setting for roaming for regular calls? I do not see it. note this is with a rooted inspire using rcmixkingdom.
thanks
aeneas3 said:
hi all
so I am going out of the country later this week and had a simple silly question. I want to be able to use wifi on my phone for late night email checks. I do not want to accept calls or send text or use any data over the network.
are these the settings I need:
wifi - on (duh!)
mobile network - off
data roaming - connect to data services when roaming - off
Is there a setting for roaming for regular calls? I do not see it. note this is with a rooted inspire using rcmixkingdom.
thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll try and answer your questions, but I would still recommend you contact your mobile provider and confirm first. This is from my personal experience.
BE PREPARED ... THIS IS A LONG REPLY
Whenever you leave your service area, the area covered by your mobile provider's network, you enter what we call "roaming." Two things can now happen. Either your phone will not work at all in terms of calls or data, or everything will work. It depends on what agreement you have with your provider. With me, for example, I had long ago called my provider and asked them to NOT allow my phone to operate if I went "roaming." Then, suddenly, when I visited the U.S. last week, I realized that my phone wasn't working and remembered what I had told my provider. A quick phone call to them corrected the issue.
All that being said, if you are set up to roam with your provider, you need to consider a few of things.
One, you need consider where you're going. If you're in Canada, and you're traveling to the U.S., roaming charges may be somewhat expensive. If you're doing the reverse, visiting Canada from the U.S., the same would probably apply. However, if you're going overseas, your roaming charges could be quite expensive, as much as several dollars per minute, depending on the country. Data can also be expensive. For example, with my provider (Rogers - Canada), I have 500MB of data with my monthly plan; however, when I visited the U.S., my plan no longer applied, and I would be charged 3-cents per KB, or a whopping $3.00 per MB. I ended up buying a 10MB extra service fee for $10.00.
Okay, let's consider what you want to do.
If you only want to use WiFi, it will work perfectly if you have the WiFi name and password (if applicable). If you do NOT want to be able to take calls, send texts, or use data, you MUST TURN THEM OFF. Keep in mind, too, that certain programs may automatically access Data for up-dating, such as weather, stocks, sports scores, currency exchange rates, etc. You can turn off this automatic function, which I would suggest. I don't know exactly where this function is on your phone, but you'll have to check it out. This applies to the SYNC function as well. Turn OFF sync to make sure it doesn't accidentally access Data.
Now, for your other question re local phone calls. Once you leave your service area, your phone either works, or it doesn't. There is no other choice. If you don't want to accept calls from home, or make long distance calls, then you have to turn off roaming. If roaming is off, you cannot make local calls either.
Also, keep in mind that if you did make local calls, they would all be considered long distance because, as far as your provider is concerned, your phone's area code is static. If you leave your area code, ALL calls become long distance even though, if you're in another country, and you only want to make a phone call across the street, it will still be a long distance call. Think of it this way, billing begins the moment you press call on your phone, yet in this case, that call effectively begins from you home area code. Therefore, to make a call across the street, it would be identical to making the same call from you home, plus roaming charges.
There is one work-around for the local call issue. You could buy time from a local provider in the country where you will be travelling. This may end up being quite inexpensive. Think of it as a pay-as-you-go plan, if they offer it. So, you would simply remove your existing SIM card and replace it with a new one from the provider in the new country. Use it for local stuff. It may even include data, who knows?
When I visit China, which is rather often, I have a "pay-as-you-go" SIM card which I have with me when I visit. I always keep a balance on the account so they don't cancel it. Then, when I arrive, I make the SIM switch, and voila! Cheap local calls.
Peter
If ALL you want is data for email and internet, turn airplane mode ON (I use a power widget to have this close at my fingers, but you can long push the power button and the option is there as well as in menu>settings>wireless & networks) then turn wifi back on.
Airplane kills all radios, then you have the option to turn wifi only on (specifically for those airlines that provide wifi).
thanks guys! I figured I was going to call AT&T today to make sure but stealthpsycho - airplane + wifi will work wonders. I just tested it out at home and it is beautiful I am going to turn off roaming by calling just to make sure as well. In case I need to reboot and forget that airplane mode is not on.
thanks again!
Went to Vietnam a few weeks ago. Turning on airplane mode and then turning wifi back on does the trick you want.
Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk
W00t! I gots a thx!!!
You're very welcome. I use this trick a lot at the school where I work, b/c I have no cell signal and I want to prevent cell searching. It's also a useful trick if you want to install market apps that AT&T blocks (I.E. PDAnet)
Easy way I go to Japan all I do is take out the sim. Wifi on.
Sent from my Inspire 4G using XDA Premium App

[Q] Restrict Data Roaming International?

Hey all! I've tried googling/searching XDA, but I must have my terms wrong or no one is talking about it.
Question: Is there a way to restrict which mobile networks my phone will connect to?
Device: Google Nexus 5 32gb, Stock Rom/Kernel with Root access
I'm switching to a T-Mobile Simple Choice plan with free 2g data in 100 countries, and going on a cruise shortly after. A couple of the ports of call are on the list, while others are not on the list. It sure would be nice to just leave my phone on and have it only connect to the free networks. I contracted T-Mobile and was pointed to a document letting me know that I will be notified if charges are incurred, but I'd rather not get charged at all. This I could solve manually by carrying the list of countries with me and only turning off airplane when I am there, but that does seem like a pain to me.
The other problem, cruise ships have cell networks onboard now. These networks are charged as international and not included in the Simple Choice deal. Even if I am in port, I am concerned I may still connect to this netowork. I imagine there is an app I could use to at least see which network I am on (I can't find it indicated in Settings anywhere - probably blind), but I would need to prevent my phone from roaming onto that network when both are in range.
I'd really appreciate any thoughts/suggestions. The only thing I can think of is some kind of custom block that would like me restrict network connections. All way over my head.
Thanks again
Matt
You're going to have to manually select them. I'd turn data roaming off until you get some where you know you can turn it on. Also, most port of calls have Wi-Fi and I'd use that where you can. You can often even get it on the ship at a port, although you might have to find the right location on the ship where you can do that.
jd1639 said:
You're going to have to manually select them. I'd turn data roaming off until you get some where you know you can turn it on. Also, most port of calls have Wi-Fi and I'd use that where you can. You can often even get it on the ship at a port, although you might have to find the right location on the ship where you can do that.
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Thanks for the tip about Wi-Fi networks. Absolutely. Unfortunately, I'm not even sure how to manually select the network to which my phone connects. Any advice on where/how to select that?
Matt
Settings, Wireless and network, more, mobile networks, network operators

Does this exist?

I am trying to find a free toggle widget to do one simple thing - enable or disable the WiFi Calling feature on my T-Mobile HTC One M7.
Why? I've been having shoddy internet connection issues at home for the last year. Spikes, timeouts, and packet loss before it even gets TO the routing server. How this affects my phone is obvious when you also consider I can barely get 2 bars of 2G signal while inside my home. The best way around this is to turn WiFi Calling on and set it to "WiFi Only" mode so it doesn't try to turn the cell radio back on while the connection is unstable (never more than 3-4 seconds). Just means I have a few seconds here and there where it may drop a call or delay a text or something, which is a small price to pay if you ask me.
However, I can't do WiFi calling outside of the house, which means going in and disabling it every time I want to go somewhere. After a couple months of this (because WiFi calling doesn't disable when WiFi is off for some reason...), I'm trying to find an easier solution. Losing 20% of my battery overnight from having it swapping back and forth is a pain, so I'm not going to set it to "WiFi Preferred", which started all of this.
I tried the application at this thread but it only seems to want to work with Tasker, which is a paid app and currently not a financial option for me (that same $3 is two days' worth of food).
Maybe you need to look into "Mobile Data Toggle" widgets? Accompanied with wi-fi toggle widget, you can set Mobile data to Off, and wi-fi - On when you're at home, and vice-versa when you're away.
NerdgrlApps said:
Maybe you need to look into "Mobile Data Toggle" widgets? Accompanied with wi-fi toggle widget, you can set Mobile data to Off, and wi-fi - On when you're at home, and vice-versa when you're away.
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Click to collapse
Mobile Data is always off 'cause I have a minimal 50MB plan. I have a WiFi toggle on my power bar (wifi, bluetooth, gps, brightness, etc). I need a WiFi CALLING toggle.

Question Force disconnection from mobile network on one SIM

I'd like to force my Pixel 7 to disconnect from any mobile network, without using airplane mode. Do you know a way to achieve this?
Reason for asking this: I will travel abroad and use a secondary SIM to provide me with data, while using my primary SIM with voWiFi (or Backup calling). That'd would keep me reachable on my phone number and allow me to make calls/SMS @home at local rates.
The reason for having my primary SIM disconnected from any mobile network is due to the fact that my primary carrier will charge me for calls/SMS depending on the latest place I got connected to a mobile network. They charge roaming fees even when you're using voWiFi in airplane mode! I have tested this already on a previous trip.
One way would be to select a network manually, or a network that I know it won't connect. However, if I turn on and off airplane mode (to take a flight), the phone will connect to the latest network it connected successfully to.
So my strategy is to connect manually to my home network at home, hoping the phone doesn't magically connect to a network. That's why, I'd like to really make sure that the phone can't connect to any mobile network, just to be sure it won't connect to a network while roaming. But only on the primary SIM. For the other SIM I do want to get connected.
For those wondering, my carrier is T-Mobile NL.
Try messing up the apn details on your sim when abroad. That will prevent connection
The issue is that messing with apn won't prevent the phone to register to a roaming network. That alone will tell my carrier where I am and charge roaming fees accordingly...
@jasalta387 Interesting problem for sure. Can you forward your calls to the secondary (travel) sim and use WhatsApp or Signal to call on wifi? Or leave an auto message giving your foreign number. Any time you connect to the primary network you will be charged, no two ways about it on an Android device. I do believe the iPhone has that capability however. Even if you receive a text on the primary you will trigger a roaming charge. Perhaps the only way to avoid that is turning off the sim entirely while traveling. See if they have an inexpensive international plan?
Indeed, iPhone can easily be disconnected from a cellular network by selecting one that doesn't register. That setting sticks even while cycling through airplane mode or a device reboot. On Pixel this is not the case. Pixel will register again, hence my issue.
I know I could rely on 3rd party apps or services or call forwarding. Problem is that I then need to redirect all people who could reach me to them somehow, while using wifi calling is just fine. Even SMS come and go through it. I just need to not make my carrier aware I'm overseas. Hence my question.
I could use a second device that provides me data and keep my phone all the time in airplane mode. This needs that I carry the two devices all the time with the logistics of charging two phones and all of that. I just want to do it all with my Pixel.
I was thinking one thing: I need to go to the US. Is 3G dead there for good? Because then I could tell my Pixel to use 3G and not allow 2G. That'd keep it away from any accidental network registration upon landing.
jasalta387 said:
Indeed, iPhone can easily be disconnected from a cellular network by selecting one that doesn't register. That setting sticks even while cycling through airplane mode or a device reboot. On Pixel this is not the case. Pixel will register again, hence my issue.
I know I could rely on 3rd party apps or services or call forwarding. Problem is that I then need to redirect all people who could reach me to them somehow, while using wifi calling is just fine. Even SMS come and go through it. I just need to not make my carrier aware I'm overseas. Hence my question.
I could use a second device that provides me data and keep my phone all the time in airplane mode. This needs that I carry the two devices all the time with the logistics of charging two phones and all of that. I just want to do it all with my Pixel.
I was thinking one thing: I need to go to the US. Is 3G dead there for good? Because then I could tell my Pixel to use 3G and not allow 2G. That'd keep it away from any accidental network registration upon landing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm intrigued by this and would love to find a solution for you. Oh yeah, 3G is dead across the US from all reports. So I'm trying to parse this scenario, let's see if I get this right. You want to have phone calls come into your primary phone line (Sim 1) but no network connectivity for data, right so far. Also you want SMS to the primary while roaming. The problem is that even if you don't get a phone call or text the connection to the network alone will trigger a billing instance, right so far again?
My daughter has an iPhone and turns off data on the sim but can get phone calls and text. As soon as she does though there is a daily billing charge of $10 because she's outside the US. I also think she can connect to wifi and make calls and text without a carrier network. But I'm not sure about. But that aside, how would you like it to work? Would you like it to connect to the network but not get charged unless you get a call or SMS? Because once a call comes in you're roaming charges will ensue. In airplane mode and strictly wifi there should be no charges but you say they bill you anyway right? Are you sure you didn't get a text or something to trigger the charge? I hope I'm reading this right.
My carrier bills calls and SMS based on the country of the latest connected cellular network. So if I don't connect to any network while I'm abroad my carrier will think I never left the country.
I don't want neither data nor calls/SMS on my primary SIM using cellular while abroad. I can get all calls and SMS via WiFi calling on that primary SIM. To get WiFi calling when I'm abroad I will use the data connection on my secondary SIM or any WiFi network.
Because of the need to get the secondary SIM on, airplane mode doesn't help me. So I need my primary SIM to never to any cellular network while I'm abroad.
jasalta387 said:
My carrier bills calls and SMS based on the country of the latest connected cellular network. So if I don't connect to any network while I'm abroad my carrier will think I never left the country.
I don't want neither data nor calls/SMS on my primary SIM using cellular while abroad. I can get all calls and SMS via WiFi calling on that primary SIM. To get WiFi calling when I'm abroad I will use the data connection on my secondary SIM or any WiFi network.
Because of the need to get the secondary SIM on, airplane mode doesn't help me. So I need my primary SIM to never to any cellular network while I'm abroad.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And if you turn off the sim then even WiFi doesn't work on your primary number?
If the SIM is turned off, then you don't get WiFi calling
Try the 4636 menu
Choose the SIM you want from drop down
3 dot menu top right
Disable data connection
jasalta387 said:
If the SIM is turned off, then you don't get WiFi calling
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is it possible to adjust the order of airplane mode / network /wifi on-off so as to not allow the sim to connect to the network but still allow wifi on the sim? So for instance, disable the sim, turn on airplane mode, turn on the sim and then enable wifi calling while in airplane mode, turn off airplane mode with data turned off on the sim. I can't believe with no data, calls, sms and only wifi the carrier will charge you roaming. That just doesn't seem right.
bobby janow said:
Is it possible to adjust the order of airplane mode / network /wifi on-off so as to not allow the sim to connect to the network but still allow wifi on the sim? So for instance, disable the sim, turn on airplane mode, turn on the sim and then enable wifi calling while in airplane mode, turn off airplane mode with data turned off on the sim. I can't believe with no data, calls, sms and only wifi the carrier will charge you roaming. That just doesn't seem right.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@jasalta387
I don't know if you would follow this suggestion...
But in case you are interested in it, this sounds like something you could pull off automatically with something like MacroDroid or Tasker or some other automation app -- even without being rooted! But I concur, it doesn't make sense that a carrier charge roaming when there would be no data, calls, or sms but only wifi....I'm of the opinion (previously stated somewhere in the thread here) that you might've either misread the bill and/or accidentally "caught" a text or transferred a byte of data and it triggered...
Hey there, I know it sounds harsh that a carrier bills this way. It is verified and discussed in a local forum here (in Dutch) https://gathering.tweakers.net/forum/list_message/74880578#74880578
Of course, here there are a few things at play:
1- the carrier wants to have a clear way of communication and support. If you are abroad, those are the prices you pay for. That's it. You know it for sure. They don't want to have to explain how to turn on VoWIFI and explain how to make that working for every phone, or explain to you that you made a call thinking you were on VoWIFI while you weren't. Their approach is crystal clear.
2- the carrier makes some extra income this way. While travelling in the US: for every SMS sent they charge 0.51 EUR, calls placed 1.27 EUR, calls received 0.76 EUR and 2.50 EUR per MB of data. For data, they sell some passes that makes the price more reasonable. Note that unlimited plans for domestic data/calls here start at 25 EUR per month.
3- In The Netherlands (and for pretty much every country in EU) people rely quite a lot on 3rd party apps for calls and texting, especially when you are abroad. WhatsApp is the go-to service, even for domestic communication. People don't even bother using their home carrier when travelling outside of EU. They just remove (or disable) that SIM. So the high cost of roaming is usually left to business users for which companies pay or make better deals with the carriers.
One thing I didn't mention is that in NL, pretty much all carriers limit VoWIFI to Dutch IP addresses. To use VoWIFI you'd need to use a router that tunnels all IP traffic via a VPN that has an exit point in The Netherlands. That's how I conducted my test and verified that all activity using VoWIFI was billed using the same fares as if I was using a roaming cellular network.
I want to try this using a secondary SIM from a Dutch provider, which will give me the Dutch IP address. Backup Calling on my primary SIM will make that SIM to connect to VoWIFI. But to get my home fares, I really need to make sure that my primary SIM doesn't connect to any network while I'm travelling (hence my original request).

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