[Q] Bell Canada Galaxy S II has International Restriction on new customers - General Questions and Answers

Hello everyone,
I'm currently in Canada and I would like to bring my Galaxy S II (in 3-year contract with Bell Canada) with me to China. I had an online chat with a sales rep about what I need to do to have it working in China without paying for roaming. She told me that I need to unlock my phone for $75 in order to get rid of the International restrictions that comes with any new customer's plan. I thought a phone has to be unlocked in order to take foreign sim cards. However, from my understanding of the sales rep's explanation, I CAN use my phone with a foreign SIM card with no problem, but I need to pay roaming afterwards. So what do I have to actually unlock in order to have my phone working in China (with local a sim card) without having to pay roaming?
Thanks.

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prepaid sim cards for europe

I will be travelling next month to Germany and the Czech Repuplic and I would like to know where I can get a prepaid SIM card for my MDA-III/ Any suggestions?
check out prepaidgsm.net
there you will find out which carriers exist in the countries and what the prepaid packages are called. usually you can buy them in airports, or in major shopping areas where companies have company stores. You can also buy them from telestrial.com but you pay through the nose for the convenience to have the SIM before you arrive in the country
next question?
I know that my MDA III is unlocked, but what about other T-Mobile phones. They must also be unlocked, right? Do you know of any S/W or sources out there that will unlock TMobile phones? (ie Motorola)

Using the Fuze abroad?

Hello all!
I can't seem to get my fuze working here in the philippines..
Any suggestions?
Thanks in advance!
Is you Fuze unlocked or are you using you ATT Sim Card? If you are using ATT you needed to tell ATT before you went to the PI. If it's unlocked and you have a PI SIM are you using he original ATT ROM. If you are you need to hand jam the connection settings or get your hands on the HTC connections program.
You will need to unlock your Fuze in order to use a non-AT&T SIM card. Otherwise, you will need to roam on one of the carriers in the Philippines that has a roaming agreement with AT&T. Contact AT&T to enable roaming on your account (roaming charges will apply).
Fortunately there appears to be good GSM and 3G coverage in Philippines. Links for more information:
http://www.wireless.att.com/travelguide/coverage/coverage_details.jsp?CIDL=608&MNC=CING
http://www.gsmworld.com/roaming/gsminfo/cou_ph.shtml
Phone is still locked and still using the ATT sim card. I guess im outta luck while I'm here then?
J.Dee.M said:
Phone is still locked and still using the ATT sim card. I guess im outta luck while I'm here then?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're not out of luck at all. Just call AT&T and tell them you can't use AT&T while you are down there and you need to use a local SIM. If all goes according to plan they will give you the unlock code.
To unlock your phone all you have to do is get a local SIM card pop it in and enter the unlock code you just got from AT&T. Your phone will now work at a fraction of the cost to make local calls.
Definitely get the unlock code and local sim card. "Charges will apply" is a real understatement. I was out of the country earlier this year and went with AT&T international roaming rather than a local sim. I came back to a $2000 bill. My fault completely - I wasn't paying attention to my usage. You can check rates on AT&T's site.
emesbe said:
Definitely get the unlock code and local sim card. "Charges will apply" is a real understatement. I was out of the country earlier this year and went with AT&T international roaming rather than a local sim. I came back to a $2000 bill. My fault completely - I wasn't paying attention to my usage. You can check rates on AT&T's site.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
While it's not like being at home, ATT will sell you international data plans (iPhone) of 24 mb, 100 mb or 200 mb per month at a rate much lower than just roaming without a plan.
J.Dee.M said:
Phone is still locked and still using the ATT sim card. I guess im outta luck while I'm here then?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Everyone is correct, call ATT and see if they will give you the unlock code. If not, it is worth it to purchase a code on ebay or spend the extra for the software here on XDA developers to unlock. The ATT charge is $2.49/minute. A local card is really cheap as I remember from the last time I was in the PI.
So do I just call the customer service # from a landline in the PI? Or will I be able to call cust.serv. from the fuze?
Better to play it safe and use a calling card with rates you know you can monitor.

[Q] Taking my captivate overseas

Hello all,
This fall I will be travelling overseas to Sweden for a semester of study. I'd like to be able to take my captivate with me and just buy a pay-as-you-go or contractless phone/data plan from a provider in europe when I get there.
However I have no experience with european providers or what the cheapest and most effective way to communicate internationally and locally(in Sweden and across Europe) would be. Even less where to start looking, so:
Can anyone point in the right direction for some resources to find out what my easiest options would be?
Do I have to unlock my phone(at&t) in order to use another provider?
Does the Captivate support the bands needed for 3G/calling in Europe?
Could I potentially buy a data-only plan and use skype over 3G for calling?
Any tips/advice would be greatly appreciated
Thanks!
I would also like to know, hope this goes somewhere
You may want to ask in the i9000 forum. But to my knowledge you can add a overseas plan to your att plan and you get charged a lesser amt for your minutes.
You should be able to buy a pay as you go sim when you get over there as well.
I'm not sure about Sweden, but I recently went to the U.K. for work and I took my unlocked captivate with me. I got a local SIM card when I got there and had absolutely no problems at all and it was a lot cheaper than any plan AT&T had.
I went to Mexico once for a week and used one of those plans from AT&T and my bill was $150 higher that month.
When I visited France I hadn't yet unlocked my phone (which would be my first recommendation, then buy just data once there) and I used GVoice Callback (GV Dialer does the same) in conjunction with Sipdroid (of Fring) and a SIP phone number from SipGate to make free calls from France to US landlines via hotel wifi.
Here are some links with info to configure what I describe:
http://goo.gl/M1vj1 (this is a summary of my configuration)
http://goo.gl/sZhVw
http://goo.gl/63yD
http://goo.gl/gUIHF
Staying w/ AT&T when overseas will be expensive.
socrated13 said:
Hello all,
This fall I will be travelling overseas to Sweden for a semester of study. I'd like to be able to take my captivate with me and just buy a pay-as-you-go or contractless phone/data plan from a provider in europe when I get there.
However I have no experience with european providers or what the cheapest and most effective way to communicate internationally and locally(in Sweden and across Europe) would be. Even less where to start looking, so:
Can anyone point in the right direction for some resources to find out what my easiest options would be?
Do I have to unlock my phone(at&t) in order to use another provider?
Does the Captivate support the bands needed for 3G/calling in Europe?
Could I potentially buy a data-only plan and use skype over 3G for calling?
Any tips/advice would be greatly appreciated
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe this link will answer your question:
http://www.worldtimezone.com/gsm.html
They use the 2100Mhz UMTS band, (which we also use over here in Malaysia)
And it will work.
( got mine unlocked by default though, get superoneclick to unlock your cappy)
Call ATT and ask them to give you an unlock code. Otherwise it won't accept a non-ATT simcard
I used my unlocked Captivate in Switzerland, Germany, Austria, and Czech Republic. No problems in any of the countries roaming on an AT&T SIM or a local pre-paid card. I used an O2 MVNO in Germany and Vodafone in Prague.
Some of the common carriers in Europe are T-Mobile, Vodafone, O2, and Orange. I'd check carriers local to where you are. Vodafone was much more expensive in Germany than it was in Czech Republic. T-Mobile tended to be on the expensive side anywhere.
Vodafone in Czech Republic was $30 for unlimited data. Most carriers will charge you 5 or 10 euros (of the equivalent in local currency) to buy the SIM, and there will be about 10 euros of credit on there.
I'd get Google Voice and use that to call back to the US. That way you only pay for data and avoid text/voice charges.
Good luck!
DarkDvr said:
Call ATT and ask them to give you an unlock code. Otherwise it won't accept a non-ATT simcard
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Or just use SGS unlock tool and you can unlock it in less than 5 minutes.

[Q] Canada

Am of to Canada for holiday in July and want to use my phone over there.
I have HTC Desire on Orange
Orange do not have a package to allow me to use my phone whilst away (I can use it but it will cost a fortune)
If I unlock my Desire can I get a SIM card in Canada that will work in my phone whilst I am away? & allow me internet access without costing a fortune.
I will be visiting the Rockies, Vancouver, Toronto
Cheers
Steve
I have Bell Canada, and they have some good prepaid data plans, as long as you don't use too much data. Look up prepaid on their website, which is Bell dot ca. You SHOULD be able to get a simcard no problem, but I would contact them.

[Q] educate me

I have a dumb question. I've been in fed prison since the smart phone epidemic and have no idea what smart phone to buy. what is the best smart phone out there? And cell phone provider? After some little research, (I am just learning how to us the internet) and some advice from some computer savvy friends I am thinking about getting the lg g2 from amazon. Its an lg g2 801 international unlocked. I have been told, getting an unlocked international will enable me to use any service provider. Is this true? I am in an area that Verizon, at&t and walmarts straight talk are the only providers and would like a phone I can use with who I choose, when I choose. All I would have to do is buy a sim card from the provider I choose, right? To many choices...... and I know nothing about this world. I will pay for the phone upfront. Help.
Hello bjroyce the phone you are looking at is a nice phone to start off with the lg g2 international will work with any carrier including the ones you listed. At&t has great coverage has a 2yr contract which means you will be locked into a 2 year agreement with them they also have a prepaid account which is you pay for the data plan you choose and cancel when you want no contract need at&t prepaid sims can be found at at&t and many other stores. Verizon also has great coverage and has a contract agreement and a pay as you option which sim cards can be found in Verizon stores or in most stores. Walmart straight talk use at&t or verzion network which is a pay as you also know as prepaid account straight talk sims use at&t or Verizon or T-Mobile network based on the sim number on the sim card which sim cards can be found online or in stores. you will aslo need a nano sim card for the lg g2 d801 international phone.
Good choice!

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