USA sim free phone

DragonDosh

Hello,

could anyone tell me:

If I buy a SIM-free phone - not tied to any network - in the USA, will it work with a SIM card bought in the UK?
I know there are the GSMs etc to consider, but I would probably be looking at a tri or quad band to make this less of an issue.

I've looked around the forums/site and can't find an answer to this but apologies if I've missed it somewhere.

thanks in anticipation!

redux

A UK SIM would work over there, but you'd have much better tariffs with a local SIM card. Or if you meant about bringing a phone back home, a triband from there would only be usable on 1800 MHz here, ok for Orange and T-mobile, but patchier coverage for O2 and Vodafone

seth

Purchase a quad band phone here (unlocked) as part of a 1 year contract if you need a UK contract SIM. I use OneStopPhoneshop.

Avoid the price match phones.

Alternatively buy any quad band PAYG phone in the UK.

Cheapest would be a Nokia that you can unlock for free check the unlock forum on MSE for which models you can unlock with codes.

If you want a specific model then get one in the UK on a cheap PAYG and pay to get it unlocked professionally.

In the US get a PAYG SIM. I use singular. This is cheaper than paying UK roaming fees. Also you can top up on the web or by calling a toll free access number.

If you are staying in a hotel with free wifi or broadband a SIP phone (software or hardware) is another cheap options for making and receiving calls.

REMEMBER in the USA you pay for receiving calls.

Cellphones are very expensive in the USA and avoid US contract phones as they are 18 or 24 months!

FYI I use a Motorola Razor quad band for my trips to the US, this works fine here and all over the US and have a Cingular SIM for the US PAYG

dc

Just to add to what Seth advises, I get my phones from o2 on contract which so far have all been unlocked purely to use mainly in or travelling to Chicago. I have had no trouble in using Tri Band phones. UK phones are much more up to date technically.

Of the UK companies T mobile charges are the cheapest, however still 55p/min to send or receive calls and ironically texts are 40p, yet mms are 20p! Note US calls are usually timed to the minute, not second, so a one second call will be treated as one minute.
Better to get a local sim, but they useage is usually time limited and then expire.

DragonDosh

Thanks DC, Redux and Seth for your replies - very helpful.

I'm actually not too worried about using a phone in the USA. It was more a technical issue.
What I hope to do is benefit from a cheaper USA price on a new phone, SIM free, bring it back, then buy a UK (PAYG probably) SIM to replace my current phone and provider, to use in the UK.

I realise a contract is generally the best way to upgrade but I don't really want/need one. SIM free (& some PAYG) over here are more than I want to pay, so I thought I'd check out prices while I'm in the States.

Redux: your info seems along the right lines, and I would probably be going for TMobile when i swap.
Seth: thanks for the info about singular (cingular?), hotels and the motorola model
DC: Good info re the charges.

Thanks!

dc

If you get a phone over there make sure "it will work in Europe" as their main networks use 1900Mhz, and the salespeople are a bit "insular" in their thinking, and will probably try to sell you a brick. Not many have or think they need passports, especially away from the coasts. T-Mobile operate networks there and have comparitively good coverage plus outlets. There is little or no 3g ( 850 Mz band) at mo.

Over here and in Europe the older networks like o2 and Voda use GSM 900Mhz band, then latterly as more frequencies became available, Orange and TMob using the 1800Hz band (2x900), ( our original dual bands for mobiles ), tri band phones add the 1900Mhz frequencies for use where the States has influence and clout, eg Iraq?:rolleyes:
The quad band phones operate on the newish 850 Mhz bands in the Americas, the yanks having discovered half the frequency twice the range. So in the USA these will be the most up to date handsets.

Coverage and company information here, and there is a lot.
http://www.gsmworld.com/roaming/gsminfo/cou_us.shtml

dc

PS AT&T and Cingular are the big players.
I forgot 3 they operate on 2100Mhz here and afaik this is not used un the US.(well not yet)

There is no GSM in Japan so dont buy a Japanese phone unless you live there.;)

redux

dc wrote: »

PS AT&T and Cingular are the big players.

same network; you mean that and T-mobile

and there are some virtual brands too

http://www.prepaidgsm.net/en/usa.html

So in the USA these will be the most up to date handsets.

unlikely; in fact they may be a bit behind, and phones tend to be more expensive

DragonDosh

Great stuff, thank you all! I'll see how I get on.

dc

redux wrote: »

same network; you mean that and T-mobile

Thanks for that, they were seperate companies last Christmas, and T-Mobile gets bigger by the day.

Perhaps this post I found on a US website clarifies my confusion, or maybe not.

Luke Nelson @ Jan 13th 2007 2:05AM

What I think a lot of people don't realize is that AT&T and AT&T Wireless were two different companies. They used to be one, but they split off.

As well CIngular was owned by both SBC and BellSouth.

So Cingular bought AT&T Wireless, but they didn't buy the name, just the customers and such. Because part of the meger stated that if AT&T Wireless was ever bought by a competitor, the name would revert back to AT&T in 6 months. I used to work for AT&T Wireless at the time of the merger, and once that happened we were told to start calling it the 'New Cingular" and "The Former AT&T Wireless" because in 6 months, the AT&T Wireless name wasn't owned by CIngular.

It wasn't until about 2 years later that SBC bought AT&T, thus getting the AT&T Wireless name back, at that time SBC also changed thier name to AT&T.

Plans were announced as well that AT&T (the former SBC) would start reselling Cingular services under the AT&T name in 'bundled' packages. This worried BellSouth though, as they would be in direct compitition with them.

However AT&T bought BellSouth, it is all named AT&T now, and nothing stands in their way of calling themselves AT&T.

:rotfl::beer:

BexTech

dc wrote: »

If you get a phone over there make sure "it will work in Europe" as their main networks use 1900Mhz, and the salespeople are a bit "insular" in their thinking, and will probably try to sell you a brick. Not many have or think they need passports, especially away from the coasts. T-Mobile operate networks there and have comparitively good coverage plus outlets. There is little or no 3g ( 850 Mz band) at mo.

Over here and in Europe the older networks like o2 and Voda use GSM 900Mhz band, then latterly as more frequencies became available, Orange and TMob using the 1800Hz band (2x900), ( our original dual bands for mobiles ), tri band phones add the 1900Mhz frequencies for use where the States has influence and clout, eg Iraq?:rolleyes:
The quad band phones operate on the newish 850 Mhz bands in the Americas, the yanks having discovered half the frequency twice the range. So in the USA these will be the most up to date handsets.

Coverage and company information here, and there is a lot.
http://www.gsmworld.com/roaming/gsminfo/cou_us.shtml

Most of the world uses 900MHz or 1800Mhz then there's North America which uses 850MHz and 1900MHz and some South American countries that are mixed and varies.

As for Iraq, Iraq uses GSM 900MHz, yes the yanks wanted them to use a different system, they didn't want them to use GSM, but they were told where to go and they went GSM900.