Roaming with cell products

[Superflyer]

I have heard that you can take your phone\tablet with you to other countries, ie the US, and get a sim card there, put it in and not be roaming. For example I was talking to a person who travels a lot in Europe for work and has a sim card for every country he goes to.

Does anyone have any experience with this? How hard are they to get? Do you have to have a plan or can it just be a pay as you go thing? Do you keep your same phone number?

[kermitology]

It's easy assuming the device is not locked to a specific carrier. iPad's for example are not locked to a carrier, but most cell phones are as part of the contract subsidy for purchasing the phone for a cheap price.

Most phones can be unlocked with a little bit of work on your part.

[secol]

sim cards aren't too hard to get and i am pretty sure even in calgary we have prepaid sim cards where you can add money as you need it without being stuck to a plan....if you swap out a sim card your number will change

[sa226]

First and foremost, you need an unlocked phone. And it has to be GSM. you can't unlock a CDMA device.

As for how easy is it, that depends on what you need it for. If you are looking for Data and all that I think you might need a plan of some sort, not sure about that. If you just want Voice and text abilities, the pay as you go are easy as pie.

Sometimes it is country dependent as well. I have recently been in Italy and Portugal. In Italy they wanted my passport and a couple other things and I had to be approved and all of this nonsense. In Portugal I was in and out of the store in 5 mins.

Also if you are going to country where English is not the primary language, expect annoyances with instructions and stuff like that, they don't provide an English translation.

The plans and options over there are far more cheap and flexible than our Wireless dictatorship over here.

Just do a little research.

[secol]

Originally Posted by fotze

I was in Disneyland this past week, have a company iphone. I have taken the phone to Mexico in the past and have browsed roaming. Never heard crap about a big bill. This time I got a text from what I believe to be Telus saying that I had racked up $50 in roaming charges already and to phone to change plan. I just had a couple emails to look at, no attachments. I was in Anaheim for less than an hour. WTF? Either way I replied the text with a very terse and to the point "FATA YOU!"

i think i read a while back that iphones you need to take it off data in settings or something or you run the risk of those charges

[Huntingwhale]

Originally Posted by secol

i think i read a while back that iphones you need to take it off data in settings or something or you run the risk of those charges

Same with Android. My HTC Desire has it automatically turned on. Even when you turn off the phone completely, the default setting has roaming on. Freaking #######s designed it that way.

[OldDutch]

There is a data roaming setting on your iPhone. By default this is set to off, but make sure it is or else you can have problems.

Settings > General > Data > Data Roaming

[Ashartus]

Data roaming can get nasty. If you want to check email etc. while out of country, one option is to have a travel router that you can hook up to the internet in your hotel room to get wireless internet (if your hotel doesn't already have it).

Also always check your bill thoroughly when you've been traveling. I was just in the US, and Telus sent me a "free" text message reminding me about roaming services, and then billed me for an international text. Apparently there's a glitch in the system that charges some people for system texts and they reversed it, but if I hadn't gone through the charges in detail I might never have known.

[Mad Mel]

Originally Posted by secol

sim cards aren't too hard to get and i am pretty sure even in calgary we have prepaid sim cards where you can add money as you need it without being stuck to a plan....if you swap out a sim card your number will change

You definitely can get prepaid ones. When I travel to Canada, I get them from Fido, and they're refillable.

Originally Posted by Huntingwhale

Same with Android. My HTC Desire has it automatically turned on. Even when you turn off the phone completely, the default setting has roaming on. Freaking #######s designed it that way.

Settings > Wireless & Networks > Mobile Networks > Data Roaming works on my Desire Z. It is turned off and stays that way after power off / on.

[TopChed]

Originally Posted by Superflyer

Does anyone have any experience with this? How hard are they to get? Do you have to have a plan or can it just be a pay as you go thing? Do you keep your same phone number?

I've done this in a few different countries, and it's pretty easy. I just brought an unlocked phone, and bought a sim card in the countries where I needed one (usually just picked one of the most popular phone companies). From there, it's just a matter of adding money to your account when you use up the original balance.

This worked well for calls and texting, but obviously data would be completely different, and much more expensive. Your phone number will also be different with each new sim card, and you'll have to add your contacts to each card separately.

I think this is probably the least expensive option for using a cell while traveling. When I was in the UK, my incoming calls were free, outgoing calls were 20 pence/minute and text messages were 10p to anyone in the UK. I also remember it being super cheap in Africa, but couldn't tell you the exact rates.

[MacGruber]

when your roaming with an iphone, turn on airplane mode. you can enable wifi but your radio will be off for your cell for data and calling... leaving you free to use GPS and wifi. safest way to travel. (my data roaming is off by default at all times but im paranoid)