Data Roaming in the US

anandp

Arrived in the US recently and figured I'd stick to wifi, but it's really annoying not being able to use Facebook, Path, Memfy.

All I'm after is data, preferably unlimited as I'm here until the 26th of July. Any experiences of just data tariffs or those best suited for data in the main?

gjchester

anandp wrote: »

Arrived in the US recently and figured I'd stick to wifi, but it's really annoying not being able to use Facebook, Path, Memfy.

All I'm after is data, preferably unlimited as I'm here until the 26th of July. Any experiences of just data tariffs or those best suited for data in the main?

I looking to it recently, you can get service via most providers on a 30 day contact. You do need an unlocked phone..

Cheapest I found was Straight Talk - http://www.straighttalk.com and expect to pay $60 (plus the tax of the state you are in) for a months access.

NFH

Get a prepaid SIM card from T-Mobile USA for $1 including $3.34 of credit (i.e. it could be worth buying several):

http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/prepaid-phone/T-Mobile-Prepaid-SIM-Activation-Kit

You can then choose to pay $2 per day for unlimited incoming/outgoing calls and 200MB/day of 2G data. Don't bother paying $3/day for 3G/4G because T-Mobile's 3G/4G frequencies are incompatible with most phones; they split the downstream and upstream between 1700MHz and 2100MHz.

gjchester

NFH wrote: »

Get a prepaid SIM card from T-Mobile USA for $1 including $3.34 of credit (i.e. it could be worth buying several):

http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/prepaid-phone/T-Mobile-Prepaid-SIM-Activation-Kit

You can then choose to pay $2 per day for unlimited incoming/outgoing calls and 200MB/day of 2G data. Don't bother paying $3/day for 3G/4G because T-Mobile's 3G/4G frequencies are incompatible with most phones; they split the downstream and upstream between 1700MHz and 2100MHz.

I'd looked at that but a US based work mate said it wasn't that simple as T-mobile stores are not common, and you normally need a US address and a existing mobile or landline to activate the SIM.

Be interested to know if it will work out easy to get/ setup/activate as it's a lot cheaper than Strainght talk for a two weeks on the $2 a day plan..

anandp

NFH wrote: »

Get a prepaid SIM card from T-Mobile USA for $1 including $3.34 of credit (i.e. it could be worth buying several):

http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/prepaid-phone/T-Mobile-Prepaid-SIM-Activation-Kit

You can then choose to pay $2 per day for unlimited incoming/outgoing calls and 200MB/day of 2G data. Don't bother paying $3/day for 3G/4G because T-Mobile's 3G/4G frequencies are incompatible with most phones; they split the downstream and upstream between 1700MHz and 2100MHz.

Heading to a t-mobile store today. Hoping it will be compatible with a Samsung Galaxy S2.

anandp

Only TMobile phones are compatible with US 3G it seems......so 2G it is!

NFH

anandp wrote: »

Only TMobile phones are compatible with US 3G it seems......so 2G it is!

It's specifically T-Mobile USA's 3G/4G, not the US in general. For example there's no problelm on AT&T but their prepaid offerings are much less attractive and more expensive.