Using iphone's wifi abroad - Help needed please!

Darkangel

Hi,
I am going on holiday in a few days and did the sensible thing of calling O2 to tell them where I was going.

I've just got off the phone to them and have been told that if I use wifi whilst abroad I'll get charged £6 per mb :eek:

I then asked if I put the phone in airplane mode, switched off data roaming and just used wifi in places that offered free wifi would I be ok?

Apparently not, I would still be charged £6 per mb because I only get free wifi access in the UK as stated in my tariff.

After I hung up I started thinking why would I be charged for this on my iphone but not if I were using an ipod touch abroad?

I then called Apple to ask the support team and they told me that as long as I turned off data roaming and used it in free wifi hotspots I wouldn't be charged anything.

I am now quite confused (doesn't take much ) so could anyone please clarify for me? I want to be able to pick up e-mails and (lightly) surf the web when out and about but not if I'm going to come back to a massive bill!

Oh, I also advised to switch off my voicemail before I leave the UK otherwise I would be charged for when people try to call me. Even if I let it ring out and not pick up I will be charged 3 fold. Can someone also confirm if this is right?

I can understand being charged if I were to pick up/call my voicemail when abroad but to be charged when my phone is on when someone leaves me a message and I don't answer it?

prl100

Darkangel wrote: »

Hi,
I am going on holiday in a few days and did the sensible thing of calling O2 to tell them where I was going.

I've just got off the phone to them and have been told that if I use wifi whilst abroad I'll get charged £6 per mb :eek:

I then asked if I put the phone in airplane mode, switched off data roaming and just used wifi in places that offered free wifi would I be ok?

Apparently not, I would still be charged £6 per mb because I only get free wifi access in the UK as stated in my tariff.

After I hung up I started thinking why would I be charged for this on my iphone but not if I were using an ipod touch abroad?

I then called Apple to ask the support team and they told me that as long as I turned off data roaming and used it in free wifi hotspots I wouldn't be charged anything.

I am now quite confused (doesn't take much ) so could anyone please clarify for me? I want to be able to pick up e-mails and (lightly) surf the web when out and about but not if I'm going to come back to a massive bill!

Oh, I also advised to switch off my voicemail before I leave the UK otherwise I would be charged for when people try to call me. Even if I let it ring out and not pick up I will be charged 3 fold. Can someone also confirm if this is right?

I can understand being charged if I were to pick up/call my voicemail when abroad but to be charged when my phone is on when someone leaves me a message and I don't answer it?

I think the person you spoke to at O2 was a little confused or something got lost in translation somewhere. If you want to check the iPhone data roaming settings, its under 'network' and 'cellular data network' - it is usually set to 'off' by default. This means it won't use the o2 network (or their roaming partners) for the internet once you leave the UK.

If you visit a cafe (for example) which provides free wifi you can use that abroad without incurring any data costs at all. O2 will not even know you are using it, it doesn't touch their network at all.

So you don't need to worry about wifi at all, just make sure your data roaming is definetly off. Voicemail will also cost a fortune if someone leaves you a message while you are away, avoid this by dialing 1760 from your handset before you go away and then you can reactivate your voicemail by dialing 1750 when you get back.

Darkangel

prl100 wrote: »

Voicemail will also cost a fortune if someone leaves you a message while you are away, avoid this by dialing 1760 from your handset before you go away and then you can reactivate your voicemail by dialing 1750 when you get back.

Thanks prl100, you've put my mind at rest! As for the voicemail, will I still get charged even if I put on call forwarding and leave the phone in airplane mode? It's just so I change my greeting message to let people know that I am abroad and cannot pick up calls so best to text me (receiving texts is still free isn't it?)

rash.m2k

Darkangel, why dont you just remove your simcard once you get on the plane in the UK and then put it back in once you return?

With regards to your question - as long as you don't register your phone in another country (i.e. roaming) then O2 won't even know you are abroad. However the as soon as your simcard is registered, meaning you get signal abroad then officially you are roaming and now will get charged international rates.

The difference between roaming and non-roaming is essentially that - you can travel the whole world without being charged a penny if you keep your phone in airplane mode. But as soon as you get a signal from a foreign network - you are roaming!

Darkangel

rash.m2k wrote: »

Darkangel, why dont you just remove your simcard once you get on the plane in the UK and then put it back in once you return?

With regards to your question - as long as you don't register your phone in another country (i.e. roaming) then O2 won't even know you are abroad. However the as soon as your simcard is registered, meaning you get signal abroad then officially you are roaming and now will get charged international rates.

The difference between roaming and non-roaming is essentially that - you can travel the whole world without being charged a penny if you keep your phone in airplane mode. But as soon as you get a signal from a foreign network - you are roaming!

Hi Rash.m2k,

Thanks for replying.

If I took my sim card out I wouldn't be able to use it to access wifi (would I? )

I got confused with roaming as I heard conflicting information from O2 and Apple (hence coming on here and asking people that have actually experience of it)

So, if I leave my phone in airplane mode for the entire time I am away, make sure I don't accidentally flick the data roaming switch to "on" and not switch off my voicemail in the UK (by dialling 1760) I will not get charged for people leaving me voicemails?

Jeez, it's expensive (and fiddly) owning an iphone! :wall:

redux

Darkangel wrote: »

If I took my sim card out I wouldn't be able to use it to access wifi (would I? )

You should be able to use wi-fi in offline mode whether the SIM is in or not.

rash.m2k

Darkangel wrote: »

Hi Rash.m2k,

Thanks for replying.

If I took my sim card out I wouldn't be able to use it to access wifi (would I? )

I got confused with roaming as I heard conflicting information from O2 and Apple (hence coming on here and asking people that have actually experience of it)

So, if I leave my phone in airplane mode for the entire time I am away, make sure I don't accidentally flick the data roaming switch to "on" and not switch off my voicemail in the UK (by dialling 1760) I will not get charged for people leaving me voicemails?

Jeez, it's expensive (and fiddly) owning an iphone! :wall:

Wifi is the same Internet you have on your laptop. Yet a laptop does not have a simcard. So yes, iPhone without simcard is basically an iPod touch (and you can use Wifi).

If you take your simcard out in the UK and don't put it back in until you come back then no need to turn voicemail off. It would be better to take the simcard out as you're not worrying about accidentally pressing the roaming switch.

Also lets face the people on the phone at O2/Apple aren't exactly experts.

redux

rash.m2k wrote: »

Also lets face the people on the phone at O2/Apple aren't exactly experts.

It looks to me like the O2 CS thought they were discussing the add-on wi-fi package for subscription to paid zones, rather than ad hoc use elsewhere,then the misunderstandings built from there.