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Cheap data roaming: Article discussion

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  • NFH
    NFH Posts: 4,413 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    B&You, part of Bouygues Telecom, has recently launched in France. With the exception of Lycamobile (€0.09/MB), it is the first French service to offer unlimited validity of credit, and they charge €0.05/MB. The SIM costs €5 which includes €1.50 of credit valid for one month. Any subsequent top-ups are valid indefinitely provided there is a chargeable event every year. This seems like the best deal for visitors to France. They are already issuing nano-SIMs as well as micro-SIMs and mini-SIMs. However, the SIMs are only sold online, which could be a problem.
  • Gollom wrote: »
    Found a great ebay seller who can provide a good value USA data service and he communicates very well.

    Beware of the T-mobile SIM for data - I discovered that it only works at 3g/4g on phones that support 1700 which I believe does not cover a lot of HTC phones. It does work in these but just at 2g speeds which a lot of ebay vendors only tell you when pushed. Of course, you only discover this when you are on holiday!....

    Mark has provided a Net-10 SIM which runs at 3g speed and costs £7.50 including post plus a 30 day top-up giving unlimited data and international calls (does not support international text for some reason) for £49

    Seller is thepartypoint2010

    If I have broken rules posting anything in this message please remove the offending piece!

    just back from the States and the TMobile sim worked fine in my HTC (Sensation XE). if your handset won't operate on the 1700 frequency (to get 3/4g access at the $3/day rate), it will still work on the $2/day rate (2g speeds) ... it's of course not wifi speed, but not sluggish either. naturally you don't want to be streaming/downloading all the time, but for every day use, it's perfect.

    otherwise just go to a Starbucks for free wifi ;)
  • NFH
    NFH Posts: 4,413 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    NFH wrote: »
    You can use 2G data. As I said above, only some very obscure phones (mainly sold in the US) support T-Mobile USA's weird implementation of 3G/4G, which splits the downstream and upstream between 1700MHz and 2100MHz. T-Mobile are working to fix this incompatibility towards the end of this year in order to attract US iPhone users; they will support 3G/4G on conventional frequencies like the rest of the world and AT&T.
    There's an update on this. Users on T-Mobile USA's forums are reporting proper 3G coverage (mainly using iPhones) in various US cities. The thread is fast approaching 1000 posts, so you might want to start at the end and work backwards.
  • Gollom
    Gollom Posts: 135 Forumite
    Gollom wrote: »
    Found a great ebay seller who can provide a good value USA data service and he communicates very well.

    Mark has provided a Net-10 SIM which runs at 3g speed and costs £7.50 including postage plus a 30 day top-up for £49 giving unlimited data and unlimited international calls to landlines with no charge for receiving calls (does not support international text for some reason)

    Seller is thepartypoint2010

    If I have broken rules posting anything in this message please remove the offending piece!

    Back now and I must say the service was great and Mark made it all very easy for me plus was able to register before I left so had a number there and then. He is highly recommended!!!! Ebay seller "thepartypoint2010"
    Won
    Nov 09: John Smith shirt
  • Hello

    I'm off to USA next Saturday for 14 days. I have an iPhone 5 and want to do things like look at maps and use yelp. I'm not bothered about receiving texts and calls from home, I just want data.

    As I've got an iPhone 5 though I need a nano sim. I hear T Mobile stores have just got them in so I am going to ask my friend in Chicago to pick one up and send it over to my hotel in Boston. If this can't happen however am i right in believing that I can go into T-Mobile as a non citizen and get one myself?

    I do have an unused HTC phone so maybe i should take that a backup in case nanos aren't available - I can't seem to order a nano from that T-Mobile online link?
  • mrcamp
    mrcamp Posts: 309 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts
    Your friend should be able to go it. Or you can just walk into a tmobile store when you get there. Make sure you take that backup phone.
  • NFH
    NFH Posts: 4,413 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    karinski wrote: »
    I'm off to USA next Saturday for 14 days. I have an iPhone 5 and want to do things like look at maps and use yelp. I'm not bothered about receiving texts and calls from home, I just want data.

    As I've got an iPhone 5 though I need a nano sim. I hear T Mobile stores have just got them in so I am going to ask my friend in Chicago to pick one up and send it over to my hotel in Boston.
    There are two ways you can do this:
    • Order a mini-SIM for $0.99+tax from T-Mobile's web site including $3.34 of free credit. Then phone T-Mobile and order a replacement nano-SIM for free.
    • Go into a T-Mobile store and pay only for the credit you need. The nano-SIM will be free, but you won't get any free credit.
    There are reports of some T-Mobile stores charging $20 for nano-SIMs, but this doesn't appear to be the case, at least on prepaid. Be careful when speaking to T-Mobile, because some of their people mistakenly believe that a nano-SIM is another word for a micro-SIM.
  • NFH wrote: »
    There are two ways you can do this:
    • Order a mini-SIM for $0.99+tax from T-Mobile's web site including $3.34 of free credit. Then phone T-Mobile and order a replacement nano-SIM for free.
    • Go into a T-Mobile store and pay only for the credit you need. The nano-SIM will be free, but you won't get any free credit.
    There are reports of some T-Mobile stores charging $20 for nano-SIMs, but this doesn't appear to be the case, at least on prepaid. Be careful when speaking to T-Mobile, because some of their people mistakenly believe that a nano-SIM is another word for a micro-SIM.

    My friend now can't get me the SIM so it looks though I will have to try my luck in store. Are they going to be okay with me not being a resident? Is having a UK credit card going to hinder me.

    Alternatively should I order something from the ebay man posted above to arrive before I go?

    Thanks
  • mrcamp
    mrcamp Posts: 309 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts
    I can't understand why your friend can't get you the sim. What is the deal, they do not have it in stock, or something? You just need a valid credit card (US issued or NOT) to get a sim. Walk into a tmobile store and buy the thing, no questions asked!
    karinski wrote: »
    My friend now can't get me the SIM so it looks though I will have to try my luck in store. Are they going to be okay with me not being a resident? Is having a UK credit card going to hinder me.

    Alternatively should I order something from the ebay man posted above to arrive before I go?

    Thanks
  • mumbles87
    mumbles87 Posts: 120 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    I need a small bit of advice here myself

    Im going to new york in april

    Iphone 5

    I want to take my phone with me and txt my girlfriend who will be in the uk

    im on t mobile

    whats my best options?
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