I wasn't sure where to post this, but this seemed to make the most sense. Mods please move if needbe.
I currently have a Galaxy S3 Unlocked from Tmobile USA. I want to make sure its going to work on 3G in all the countries I will be going to.
In the Month of April I will be traveling to Southern Ireland, Paris France, Venice Italy and Rome Italy. Total Duration 2 weeks. 4 days in each location.
I am trying to make sure I will be covering all my bases here and not missing anything - data, coverage, compatibility etc.
For Ireland I have my eye set on Tesco due to their extremely aggressive pricing and plans. 25 Euros will get me 15gb of Data, 1c calls to the US, Free Tesco Wireless Calls & Text - so it seems like a no Brainer.
For the Resident Ireland individuals with Cell service - hows Tesco?
I am looking for only 100 mins or so in each location, unl text in that country, 500MB of data and a killer international rate for the US.
As of France and Italy I have no clue who to go with - Any suggestions would be very helpful!!
Thanks in advance.
The T-Mobile Galaxy S3 has a pentaband radio, so it supports virtually every GSM network(including 3G/4G data) in the world.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
Mr.Mischief said:
The T-Mobile Galaxy S3 has a pentaband radio, so it supports virtually every GSM network(including 3G/4G data) in the world.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
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Woo Hoo!!! Thats awesome! And I thought I was gonna need to buy a nexus haha. Thanks!
I'm regularly moving back and forth between Ireland and France so here is my opinion.
Ireland -
Tesco or Lycamobile's plans are probably the best if you're looking for international plans. If you're looking for a plan for just Ireland, 3 is by far the best: free any network calls and texts on weekends, free texts to any network and free 3 to 3 calls all week and 16 GB internet for €20. FYI 3 supports FastDormancy(if you dont't know what this is, ignore it)
France -
http://mobile.free.fr
You might wanna use translate feature on Google Chrome on this site. FYI je m'incris is the button to click to subscribe.
Free Mobile is **BY FAR** the best value for any network. Free gives you unlimited calls to all French numbers, American and Canadian numbers(including Alaska, Hawaii and other American constituencies), free SMS/MMS to all French numbers and free landline calls to 40 different countries worldwide. The only slight pity is that you only get 3GB internet per month. However, you get all of this for €20 a month billed to your card so it's worth it. Just cancel the plan(no fee AFAIK) when you leave France. **YOU WILL GET CHARGED THE NORMAL AMOUNT FOR CALLS/MMS/SMS OUTSIDE YOUR PACKAGE**.
Alternatively, you could also use Lycamobile France if you don't like the credit card billing style of Free.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2
rickoslyder said:
I'm regularly moving back and forth between Ireland and France so here is my opinion.
Ireland -
Tesco or Lycamobile's plans are probably the best if you're looking for international plans. If you're looking for a plan for just Ireland, 3 is by far the best: free any network calls and texts on weekends, free texts to any network and free 3 to 3 calls all week and 16 GB internet for €20. FYI 3 supports FastDormancy(if you dont't know what this is, ignore it)
France -
http://mobile.free.fr
You might wanna use translate feature on Google Chrome on this site. FYI je m'incris is the button to click to subscribe.
Free Mobile is **BY FAR** the best value for any network. Free gives you unlimited calls to all French numbers, American and Canadian numbers(including Alaska, Hawaii and other American constituencies), free SMS/MMS to all French numbers and free landline calls to 40 different countries worldwide. The only slight pity is that you only get 3GB internet per month. However, you get all of this for €20 a month billed to your card so it's worth it. Just cancel the plan(no fee AFAIK) when you leave France. **YOU WILL GET CHARGED THE NORMAL AMOUNT FOR CALLS/MMS/SMS OUTSIDE YOUR PACKAGE**.
Alternatively, you could also use Lycamobile France if you don't like the credit card billing style of Free.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2
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hi Rick, so that sounds great I think I'm going to stick with Tesco because I've already been working with them messaging back and forth on Facebook. it doesn't seem to be that much different then the other 1 you mentioned. As of france, the company called free sounds absolutely awesome. My only issue is how do I contact them to ask about getting a SIM card shipped to me, or if there is a store where I can buy everything? Does anyone speak English?
why did you post in General?
EyeAndroid said:
hi Rick, so that sounds great I think I'm going to stick with Tesco because I've already been working with them messaging back and forth on Facebook. it doesn't seem to be that much different then the other 1 you mentioned. As of france, the company called free sounds absolutely awesome. My only issue is how do I contact them to ask about getting a SIM card shipped to me, or if there is a store where I can buy everything? Does anyone speak English?
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Everything is on the provided website. Just click on "Je m'incris" and continue using the Translate feature on Google Chrome. I don't think there's many(if any) stores around.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2
rickoslyder said:
Everything is on the provided website. Just click on "Je m'incris" and continue using the Translate feature on Google Chrome. I don't think there's many(if any) stores around.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2
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Well I know I wont quite as good a deal with these guys but the english is really helping me feel a whole lot more comfortable. http://www.lefrenchmobile.com/en/tariffs-sim-card-cheap-international-calls-from-france.html. They say their customer service is also 100% catered to Americans with English Pay as you go plans.
I tried the google translate option on Free's site but they have alot of pre printed pictures in french & so it only translates half the site. Also the fact that I'd have to worry about needing to cancel it before I leave so they wont re run my card is too much of a hassle. With 6 plane changes, 6 hotels attractions & the subway - I have enough to worry about. I appreciate your suggestion though.
Does anyone have any recommendations for Italy?!?
EyeAndroid said:
...
I am looking for only 100 mins or so in each location, unl text in that country, 500MB of data and a killer international rate for the US.
..
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In most places in Europe you can get very good deals for prepaid SIM plans - Tesco seems to be good in UK/IRL and I know of very good prices with ALDI towards Germany.
The ESSENTIAL points for you would be:
- be 100% certain that your phone is unlocked - test it well in advance!
- plan carefully on how you are going to get the SIMs on your initial travel - if the SIM will only arrive at your hotel in the 3rd day of your 4-day stay it will be of little use!
- also it might be a small advantage if you will know your new phone numbers (one for each SIM, with the international country prefix in front) in advance - that way people that must call you during those specific days will already know what numbers to call
Related
So I'm going to Berlin for a few days and would love to know which provider would you recomend me for prepaid mobile internet?
I think 1 gb or even 500 mb of data will suffice for my 5 day trip. And I'll take good service over cheap price.
Thanks for the help.
The following is for smartphones. USB sticks for notebooks are different.
MaTiCeK- said:
I think 1 gb or even 500 mb of data will suffice for my 5 day trip.
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That's a bit of a problem, when using prepaid cards.
The best offer has T-Mobile with a day flatrate for 1 Euro per day, but it is speed limited after 200 MB. Talking (price per minute) and SMS cost 5 cent in T-Mobile network and 15 cent in other networks. Calls in others countries are more expensive.
If you need more speed and MB, it becomes complicated, because most prepaid cards are speed limited in a similar way and the limitation can only be lowered by paying a monthly fee of 10 Euro, which needs to be cancelled, when no longer use is needed.
PS: T-Mobile has a further advantage. They have the most WiFi hotspots all over Germany and can easily be used prepaid, but they cost 5 Euro per hour.
Thanks for the info, but I am acctually looking for a data only prepaid plan. And yes I'm looking to use it in the SGS2, for calls I'll just use a regular phone with my SIM. Calls on euro-roam are not that expensive and I won't really make many.
So is there a plan with data only available?
MaTiCeK- said:
So is there a plan with data only available?
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Yes and no Yes for notebooks, no for smartphones.
There are prepaid USB sticks available for notebook. You could use the SIM from such a stick in your S2 as long as you use it only for internet access.
But that is more expensive. On T-Mobile you pay 5 Euro for a dayflat or 35 Euro for a whole month, incl. free hotspot use.
In Germany prepaid is a deep jungle
To avoid problems with annoying providers, I would recommend to choose T-Mobile or Vodafone. Better stay away from resellers and O2. And don't use E-Plus/Base, because their network sucks
I myself use T-Mobile's 1 Euro dayflat for this reason, because I use mobile internet mainly for navigation.
bump on this.
Any definitive answer on prepaid SIM card for data only for even 1 day in Germany?
Would also need for Poland too for 2 weeks. I suppose the SIM would have to be different than from Germany?
sorry, for the other creating a new thread. (just found this one)
rwc3b said:
Any definitive answer on prepaid SIM card for data ...
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There is no data only and it makes no sense, because you only pay, what you use ... I give you an example later.
... only for even 1 day in Germany?
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No.
I suppose the SIM would have to be different than from Germany?
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You could use a German card, but I bet a Polish card would be much cheaper, if the prices are similar as in Germany.
One example: You could order a T-Mobile Xtra Card. This would cost you 10 Euro (if ordering online), but the whole money is available on your prepaid account. If you don't use the phone and text messages, you only pay being online, which costs 1 Euro flat per day. So if you only use it for one day, you waiste 9 Euro. If you use the card in Poland too, you pay the German foreign prices, which are much higher.
If you are only one day in Germany and two weeks in Poland, I would check out, if T-Mobile Poland could be an alternative for both countries ... no need to say, that the one day in Germany will be more expensive ... but it might be much cheaper than waisting 9 Euros ... depends on the time online and the download amount.
I would like to show you links, but they are only available in German and Polish, not English.
Thanks..I just found this info. Seems pretty comprehensive but not sure how accurate or up to date this is..
http://wiki.apnchanger.org/Germany
http://wiki.apnchanger.org/Poland
rwc3b said:
... I just found this info.
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I can't tell you anything about Poland, but regarding Germany ... if you're mainly interested in surfing the net, I would choose T-Mobile or Vodaphone ... maybe O2.
Fact is, the first two have the best net. And most of the others use the Eplus net, which sucks
Hey all,
I asked this in the SGH-I777 section but I realized the I9100 group might be a little more internationally inclined.
I'm travelling to England for a couple weeks and was wondering what service provider would offer the best pay-as-you-go SIM.
O2 has a reasonable 10 pounds for 500 sms and 100 mins, and an addon 500mb data for 6 pounds.
I'll be in Newbury for a few days then London the rest. I don't need a whole lot of talk time but sms and data is fairly necessary...
Any advice?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using XDA App
go with the O2 offer..you wont get a better one
Plus O2 seem to have the best signal reception in most parts of the country (TMobile/Orange collabaration is crap)
3 300 minutes 3000 text and all you can eat data £15 signal not always great so wanna check there map coverage but London etc should be fine..
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk
Go with http://giffgaff.com/orders/affiliate/jonnyl there is simply no other network cheaper, im with them and never had any issues, £10 gets you 250 minutes, unlimited texts and internet, that's a superb deal.
Thanks for the helpful info, guys!
stylez said:
3 300 minutes 3000 text and all you can eat data £15 signal not always great so wanna check there map coverage but London etc should be fine..
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk
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Took me a while to figure out that the provider is called "3"
Tesco mobile have some good deals, you can get their iphone sim deal for £15, 250mins 5000 texts and 500mb. 1 month minimum contract. just make sure you cancel it as soon as you take it out. Tesco uses o2 network
tush said:
Hey all,
I asked this in the SGH-I777 section but I realized the I9100 group might be a little more internationally inclined.
I'm travelling to England for a couple weeks and was wondering what service provider would offer the best pay-as-you-go SIM.
O2 has a reasonable 10 pounds for 500 sms and 100 mins, and an addon 500mb data for 6 pounds.
I'll be in Newbury for a few days then London the rest. I don't need a whole lot of talk time but sms and data is fairly necessary...
Any advice?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using XDA App
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Click to collapse
tush said:
Thanks for the helpful info, guys!
Took me a while to figure out that the provider is called "3"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol
I'm usually a 3 customer just switched to giffgaff as 5 pound cheaper for sameish deal but now have G only on a 4G phone mind you I live in the sticks back to 3 Friday....
Also the Sims need to be sent out so you'd need to order one before came and afak to a UK postal address.
Have fun on travels.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk
tush said:
Hey all,
I asked this in the SGH-I777 section but I realized the I9100 group might be a little more internationally inclined.
I'm travelling to England for a couple weeks and was wondering what service provider would offer the best pay-as-you-go SIM.
O2 has a reasonable 10 pounds for 500 sms and 100 mins, and an addon 500mb data for 6 pounds.
I'll be in Newbury for a few days then London the rest. I don't need a whole lot of talk time but sms and data is fairly necessary...
Any advice?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you know where you're going to be staying when you arrive?
If you PM me the address where you'll be staying I'll post you a giffgaff SIM, you can buy a O2 (giffgaff use the O2 network) top up voucher in Tesco for £10. Register the SIM and use the voucher to top up your account, buy a £10 goodybag with the credit on your account and you'll get 250 minutes, unlimited texts and unlimited data (really unlimited, one month I pulled over 5GB on a £10 top up - pulling assorted updates and ROMs).
No contract and it'll last 30 days.
hey guys, I'm gonna be visiting France for a month (I'm from the usa) so what's I'm wondering is what I can do for phone/data over there? what options does someone visiting for a month have? I know the airport will sell you a $.01/KB dataplan, that'll rape you after 5 minutes of web browsing.. are there any real options available in France?
I'm just looking for a sim
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
soraxd said:
hey guys, I'm gonna be visiting France for a month (I'm from the usa) so what's I'm wondering is what I can do for phone/data over there? what options does someone visiting for a month have? I know the airport will sell you a $.01/KB dataplan, that'll rape you after 5 minutes of web browsing.. are there any real options available in France?
I'm just looking for a sim
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
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Click to collapse
Of course! Look for O2 or Orange. I believe both offer pre-paid SIMs with 500MB of data for only about $13(USD or ~10€). There will be loads of pre-paid plans to choose from, although they might charge 10€ for the SIM. If 500MBs not enough, you can always top it up (recharge or reload your plan). You can get them in almost any kiosk in any commercial district anywhere. It probably won't be enough to tether, and Skype home with video everyday but it should be plenty to check email/FB/XDA. Hell, it might even be enough to Skype a few times per week. Basically, the $.01/KB is a joke...steer clear, but you won't have a problem finding a reasonable prepay when you get to a major city.
What's your normal monthly data consumption like?
sean is here. said:
Of course! Look for O2 or Orange. I believe both offer pre-paid SIMs with 500MB of data for only about $13(USD or ~10€). There will be loads of pre-paid plans to choose from, although they might charge 10€ for the SIM. If 500MBs not enough, you can always top it up (recharge or reload your plan). You can get them in almost any kiosk in any commercial district anywhere. It probably won't be enough to tether, and Skype home with video everyday but it should be plenty to check email/FB/XDA. Hell, it might even be enough to Skype a few times per week. Basically, the $.01/KB is a joke...steer clear, but you won't have a problem finding a reasonable prepay when you get to a major city.
What's your normal monthly data consumption like?
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thanks so much for the info
I want to be as minimal as possible on the trip, so I plan to only use data for Google maps, and maybe looking up hostels. I will do a little bit of phone calling, to a friend ill be staying with (very very little, only if we get separated), and probably no texting.
is there roaming in France?
soraxd said:
thanks so much for the info
I want to be as minimal as possible on the trip, so I plan to only use data for Google maps, and maybe looking up hostels. I will do a little bit of phone calling, to a friend ill be staying with (very very little, only if we get separated), and probably no texting.
is there roaming in France?
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Click to collapse
Yes there is roamimg in france.
Just avoid Orange and SFR, as they just are real crooks.
Try this : http://www.free.fr/adsl/index.html
They just started yesterday as the third national provider, and they really are cheaper. Do not hesitate, go FREE.
soraxd said:
thanks so much for the info
I want to be as minimal as possible on the trip, so I plan to only use data for Google maps, and maybe looking up hostels. I will do a little bit of phone calling, to a friend ill be staying with (very very little, only if we get separated), and probably no texting.
is there roaming in France?
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Click to collapse
No problem. There is roaming, but if you're staying in city centers it shouldn't be a problem. I have an SGS2 as well, just set it to not use data on the roam. If you buy an app called "GrooveIP" (I think it's like $3 or sth) you'll be able to make calls over your gVoice account via wifi or data, if you have one. I've been living in Germany for about 4 years (until a few months back, now I'm in the UK) and I still have a US landline so I can call mom in FL and sis in OR. You might also check for "What's App". It lets you send SMSs over the internet. So you'll be able to text back home for almost nothing.
Hey guys,
I'm going to be travelling internationally this year and just purchased a VZ S4. I'll be buying pre paid SIMs in country (in this case Ireland). Can any one tell me of any gotchyas or what I'll expect?
Thanks
falcar said:
Hey guys,
I'm going to be travelling internationally this year and just purchased a VZ S4. I'll be buying pre paid SIMs in country (in this case Ireland). Can any one tell me of any gotchyas or what I'll expect?
Thanks
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do a search. this has been address multiple times under multiple threads. dont open a brand new thread on this.
but YES it can. It is GSM unlocked.
falcar said:
Hey guys,
I'm going to be travelling internationally this year and just purchased a VZ S4. I'll be buying pre paid SIMs in country (in this case Ireland). Can any one tell me of any gotchyas or what I'll expect?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Instead of buying a prepaid SIM, consider getting VZ global plan $25 for 100MB. I will be travelling to Europe in July, few countries, and this is by far the cheapest option.
You can get a pre-paid SIM for like $30 and have a better plan and better service, when I was in Australia the signal sucked so I got a pre-paid SIM with 1500 minutes, 400mb data, unlimited texts, and unlimited data for social networks. Better deal than the Verizon plan.
Sent from my Galaxy S4
darek65 said:
Instead of buying a prepaid SIM, consider getting VZ global plan $25 for 100MB. I will be travelling to Europe in July, few countries, and this is by far the cheapest option.
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Man...inflation must have taken hold overnight...
darek65 said:
Instead of buying a prepaid SIM, consider getting VZ global plan $25 for 100MB. I will be travelling to Europe in July, few countries, and this is by far the cheapest option.
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Uhhh... what? You can get much better pre-paid SIM's for $25. 100MB will allow you to update a few apps, upload a few pictures, and navigate for a day. That $25 also doesn't include voice and SMS fees.
geoff5093 said:
Uhhh... what? You can get much better pre-paid SIM's for $25. 100MB will allow you to update a few apps, upload a few pictures, and navigate for a day. That $25 also doesn't include voice and SMS fees.
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Tell me where in Italy or France I can get anything cheaper. In France there is couple day waiting period.
I don't know about France, but in Germany, for 25 Euro, I got a prepaid SIM with 300MB data and a 10 euro credit for international calls at 0.09 euro per minute. SMS are 0.09 each (a bit expensive), but local calls (in germany) were included in the price of the SIM. I think there was a different pricing structure you could choose at 1 euro per day for unlimited data, charged each day that you use data but my german language skills are quite shaky, so I may have misunderstood. T-Mobile DE was/is the carrier.
MaxYoda
darek65 said:
Tell me where in Italy or France I can get anything cheaper. In France there is couple day waiting period.
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My wife was planning a trip abroad and we called Verizon to activate international service on Nexus 6P. The first person we talked to didn't know how to do it, so she connected us to the international department to activate the service. After nearly an hour, this guy said everything was setup for international service to work; however when she arrived first in Mexico, then South America, international calling was not working, so my wife called Verizon and was told that it was impossible for them to activate international calling on her phone, because it was not in their computer system. However, the computer system allows them to bill you for international service that doesn't exist. I have been a Verizon customer for 18 years; but now they treat their customers with pure contempt. So glad we bought new phones that aren't locked into a single carrier.
Can't wait to say "adios" for good to Big Red!
Pure contempt? You've gotta be kidding. It's clearly a technical issue with their system. If you're smart enough to buy a Nexus you should be smart enough to pick up a SIM when traveling anyway and not pay through the nose.
mdmogren said:
Pure contempt? You've gotta be kidding. It's clearly a technical issue with their system. If you're smart enough to buy a Nexus you should be smart enough to pick up a SIM when traveling anyway and not pay through the nose.
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She got a SIM from a local carrier a few days after arriving in her final destination country. Verizon's treatment of customers is utterly contemptible. If international service really can not be activated, then she should have been told that from the beginning. The international service expert from the international calling department simply lied; because he clearly did not know what else to do, or say. That is what I call "contempt".
VZW employees arent the brightest bulb. I would skip the. International service and just pick up a local carrier SIM card. In the UK, it will cost $40/month for 100MB, 100SMS, and 100 minutes meanwhile a local SIM at $25 will give me 3GB, and 500 local minutes and 1000 SMS or something. And if I went with a $40 SIM card, then it would of been like 7GB and double minutes and SMS.
PrevailNow said:
She got a SIM from a local carrier a few days after arriving in her final destination country. Verizon's treatment of customers is utterly contemptible. If international service really can not be activated, then she should have been told that from the beginning. The international service expert from the international calling department simply lied; because he clearly did not know what else to do, or say. That is what I call "contempt".
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entitled much? seriously the guys on the other end are limited to the tools and resources they have on hand. there's a high probability that they had not been asked to enable international roaming on this device (or at least the people who were part of this call) and they attempted to make do with what was available.
so they tried, they thought they had it working and it didn't. it sounds to me like the second go-around with the "impossible" conversation was worse than the first. at least they tried. i'm betting the second rep didn't even bother.
your wife did the right thing and in most cases, she would have had to do this with any other carrier anyway.
I would always opt to pick up a local sim card (language may be an issue, but they should activate it for you). When I went to Italy, I just got a local SIM, which is much cheaper, easier and you can get data with the plan.
if you had team mobile this wouldnt be an issue
In September i went to Spain, France and UK and worked just as here in states... not single problem.... as a matter of fact, i even got texts from TMo when crossing borders saying welcome to "X" country.
The fact he had this issues, clearly shows that the VZW wasnt willing to remediate the immediate issue this customer had while away. People tell u to pick a local sim card, but that is simply not the best option nowadays. If u get one at local airport is wayyyyyy too expensive. If you are there already, how can you get proper information on where to go get one besides there. Waste of time, money and resources.
Its like currency exchange.. people tell you to get it done locally, WRONG, it averages 30% fee on top of the current rate.
Fact remains, customer was proactive, was traveling on expectations that no issues should arise, and when the issue did presented itself, no real solution was provided. Switch to TMo or some other carrier.
chaco81 said:
if you had team mobile this wouldnt be an issue
In September i went to Spain, France and UK and worked just as here in states... not single problem.... as a matter of fact, i even got texts from TMo when crossing borders saying welcome to "X" country.
The fact he had this issues, clearly shows that the VZW wasnt willing to remediate the immediate issue this customer had while away. People tell u to pick a local sim card, but that is simply not the best option nowadays. If u get one at local airport is wayyyyyy too expensive. If you are there already, how can you get proper information on where to go get one besides there. Waste of time, money and resources.
Its like currency exchange.. people tell you to get it done locally, WRONG, it averages 30% fee on top of the current rate.
Fact remains, customer was proactive, was traveling on expectations that no issues should arise, and when the issue did presented itself, no real solution was provided. Switch to TMo or some other carrier.
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WHY YOU HAS MY PICTURE?! haha jk jk
The Stig 04 said:
WHY YOU HAS MY PICTURE?! haha jk jk
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you have mines, you are the 4th Stig!
lol
mdmogren said:
If you're smart enough to buy a Nexus you should be smart enough to pick up a SIM when traveling anyway and not pay through the nose.
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Local SIMs are overrated. In some countries the red tape to get a local SIM is not trivial and can be a big hassle. You also have to figure out what the best deals are, stores to go and all that. Also, if you are in the country for just a couple of days it's just too much work. The way to go is crearly that your home carrier offered reasonable roaming charges, which is starting to happen.
I've used Project Fi while roaming internationally with the 6P and it's amazing to do country hopping without even thinking about this stuff. You just turn your phone wherever you are, and it works.
I left Verizon due to the horrible customer service. I'm a person, not a rock in your boot that you step on all day long. It's like pulling teeth with them.
Every call is a struggle. They're literally the Comcast of the mobile phone world. I dreaded having to call big red. Like you have to mentally prepare yourself for whatever's about to happen.
Now I'm with T-Mobile and they have great customer service. I just have 1 dead spot on the way to work. Front start to finish I'm without service for about 8 seconds flat. Besides that? No real difference. Besides the lower bill, and all the fun stuff that T-Mobile does for customers now.
RHChan84 said:
VZW employees arent the brightest bulb. I would skip the. International service and just pick up a local carrier SIM card. In the UK, it will cost $40/month for 100MB, 100SMS, and 100 minutes meanwhile a local SIM at $25 will give me 3GB, and 500 local minutes and 1000 SMS or something. And if I went with a $40 SIM card, then it would of been like 7GB and double minutes and SMS.
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Exactly. The UK is great and so is Japan. I was shocked at the 4G data speeds in the UK on EE. Sim cost like $20-$30 for 3gb of data and fast data at that. We get ripped a new one on cell service here. I think Canada gets ripped even more.
bartolo5 said:
Local SIMs are overrated. In some countries the red tape to get a local SIM is not trivial and can be a big hassle. You also have to figure out what the best deals are, stores to go and all that. Also, if you are in the country for just a couple of days it's just too much work. The way to go is crearly that your home carrier offered reasonable roaming charges, which is starting to happen.
I've used Project Fi while roaming internationally with the 6P and it's amazing to do country hopping without even thinking about this stuff. You just turn your phone wherever you are, and it works.
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Project Fi or T-mobile look nice for international, however, I strongly disagree with your statement that Local SIMs are overrated. IIRC speeds are capped at 256kbps which is fine for e-mail and light browsing but that is slooooowww.
I have gotten local SIMs in Argentina, Spain, Japan, and the UK in the recent past and I am so happy I did. Speeds were fantastic and it was cheaper if not the same price as Fi would have been.
The only upsides to Fi are if you are country hopping and/or only overseas for a day or so.
Doing research on who is the best carrier for the price in X country takes a minute or two.
EE speedtest in the UK attached.
But I do wish it was supposed for VZW and the 6P since I do quick trips like Mexico where I'm not going to venture off go look for a SIM for two days. And it's a company meeting so I will be busy those days.
joderme said:
Exactly. The UK is great and so is Japan. I was shocked at the 4G data speeds in the UK on EE. Sim cost like $20-$30 for 3gb of data and fast data at that. We get ripped a new one on cell service here. I think Canada gets ripped even more.
Project Fi or T-mobile look nice for international, however, I strongly disagree with your statement that Local SIMs are overrated. IIRC speeds are capped at 256kbps which is fine for e-mail and light browsing but that is slooooowww.
I have gotten local SIMs in Argentina, Spain, Japan, and the UK in the recent past and I am so happy I did. Speeds were fantastic and it was cheaper if not the same price as Fi would have been.
The only upsides to Fi are if you are country hopping and/or only overseas for a day or so.
Doing research on who is the best carrier for the price in X country takes a minute or two.
EE speedtest in the UK attached.
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Click to collapse
Don't get me wrong, I go the local SIM route often, but only if I'm going to stay more than 5 days in a place. I do country hopping often, 2-3 days and moving on, and it's just not worth the hassle for me. 256kbps is slow indeed, but better than nothing. The verizon deal of $10/day and use your data looks good to me in those scenarios where you are just going to be a few days in a country although their country list at the moment is fairly limited.