Phone/GPS/Internet Access Strategies for European Vacation
Mar 13th, 2015, 04:25 AM
#1
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Phone/GPS/Internet Access Strategies for European Vacation
We are coming to Europe for a month this summer and I'm trying to nail down how our communications will work.
What we want.
- to be able to 'phone home' (Skype or similar is acceptable)
- to have cellular internet access
- to have GPS during the driving portion of the trip
What we've got right now are a couple iPhone 6 handsets (under contract to AT&T), but I was thinking of buying a new iPad w/cellular. If I do that, will I be able to buy a SIM once we're there, pop it in my iPad, and have internet that also could be used for Skype and GPS? Am I correct in thinking our phones are effectively locked out for the trip when there's no WiFi?
We will be traveling from England to France to Italy and back. Thanks in advance.
What we want.
- to be able to 'phone home' (Skype or similar is acceptable)
- to have cellular internet access
- to have GPS during the driving portion of the trip
What we've got right now are a couple iPhone 6 handsets (under contract to AT&T), but I was thinking of buying a new iPad w/cellular. If I do that, will I be able to buy a SIM once we're there, pop it in my iPad, and have internet that also could be used for Skype and GPS? Am I correct in thinking our phones are effectively locked out for the trip when there's no WiFi?
We will be traveling from England to France to Italy and back. Thanks in advance.
Mar 13th, 2015, 05:24 AM
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Europe has 4G networks so depending on who your service provider has agreements with you might be able to use that on your phones in major cities. I have it with EE and it's lightning fast - a world away from 3G.
Mar 13th, 2015, 06:40 AM
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Your phones won't be automatically locked out, unless you lock them out. Unless you've got some sort of overseas data plan that won't break the bank, you definitely should keep the data services turned off.
I think iPhone 6 is always unlocked for overseas use, so you should be able to put a local SIM card into your phone. Any SIM card you get in England will also work in France and Italy. Once you leave England, you'd have to pay roaming fees, but the EU has placed caps on them, and voice roaming fees within the EU are supposed to be eliminated this year. Still, it's worth doing a little investigation to see which UK providers have the best inter-Europe roaming plans, and you have to tell the provider when you buy the SIM card that you'll be using it in France and Italy, to see whether you have to activate some option to get the best rates.
Maybe someone who knows the UK plans better than I do can tell you which provider has the best plans for inter-EU roaming.
The idea of using an iPad with a local SIM card should also work, but again, be sure you get a good data roaming rate. I don't see any advantage over using your iPhone 6, unless you really want the larger format.
I think iPhone 6 is always unlocked for overseas use, so you should be able to put a local SIM card into your phone. Any SIM card you get in England will also work in France and Italy. Once you leave England, you'd have to pay roaming fees, but the EU has placed caps on them, and voice roaming fees within the EU are supposed to be eliminated this year. Still, it's worth doing a little investigation to see which UK providers have the best inter-Europe roaming plans, and you have to tell the provider when you buy the SIM card that you'll be using it in France and Italy, to see whether you have to activate some option to get the best rates.
Maybe someone who knows the UK plans better than I do can tell you which provider has the best plans for inter-EU roaming.
The idea of using an iPad with a local SIM card should also work, but again, be sure you get a good data roaming rate. I don't see any advantage over using your iPhone 6, unless you really want the larger format.
Mar 13th, 2015, 06:57 AM
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I don't know if there are special exceptions for the iPhone 6 but we are also under contract to AT&T and did considerable research before our trip to Italy last year. As far as I can determine, all AT&T phones are locked, but if they are older than 6 months old you can request that they be unlocked. There is a form on the website to make the request.
Last year we purchased their international text and data plan and it turned out to be more expensive than we had thought as it ended up going across two billing cycles so we were billed twice for it. When we go to France this year, we plan to buy an unlocked quad band cell phone (Amazon has lots of them but you may also be able to buy one locally) and purchase a SIM card in France.
There are also many international phone plans you can buy that are less expensive than AT&T's.
In Italy we used Skype and Viber successfully to communicate with family back home. You can also do phone calls and messaging this way.
Last year we purchased their international text and data plan and it turned out to be more expensive than we had thought as it ended up going across two billing cycles so we were billed twice for it. When we go to France this year, we plan to buy an unlocked quad band cell phone (Amazon has lots of them but you may also be able to buy one locally) and purchase a SIM card in France.
There are also many international phone plans you can buy that are less expensive than AT&T's.
In Italy we used Skype and Viber successfully to communicate with family back home. You can also do phone calls and messaging this way.
Mar 13th, 2015, 07:03 AM
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I forgot to mention that we plan to bring our own GPS to use when driving around but will also have maps as the GPS sometimes sends you off in the wrong direction. If you are driving, go to www.viaMichelin.com for maps as they also provide the estimated cost for petrol (about $6/gallon equivalent now) and tolls (outrageously expensive in France). On another thread, someone indicated that Google maps tends to underestimate the driving time.
Enjoy your trip!
Enjoy your trip!
Mar 13th, 2015, 03:18 PM
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While an Iphone 6 o 6+ can be purchased from the Apple store, hey Skippy is under contract to AT&T and it is highly unlikely that those iPhones are unlocked. Hey Skippy will need to check with AT&T to make sure.
Mar 15th, 2015, 11:17 AM
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If you have a GPS (what we call a Sat.Nav in the UK),then download a European set of maps from you GPS supplier which will cover the whole of Europe.
I did it the other way round last fall, I have a GarminNuvi Sat.Nav which covers the whole of Europe, I downloaded the US/Canada maps before i went to the USA, and it worked perfectly.
I did it the other way round last fall, I have a GarminNuvi Sat.Nav which covers the whole of Europe, I downloaded the US/Canada maps before i went to the USA, and it worked perfectly.
Mar 16th, 2015, 06:08 AM
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Mar 21st, 2015, 03:10 PM
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^^ Yeah, right. Not in 100 years would I install that app on my computer and then connect it to my phones. No way.
I picked up a new iPad a couple days ago and have plenty of time to evaluate google maps and whatever else might serve for maps & GPS duty in Europe. Just need to get some practice time in for my wife. I've looked at a couple vendors of mobile SIMs. Looks like there are several choices.
I picked up a new iPad a couple days ago and have plenty of time to evaluate google maps and whatever else might serve for maps & GPS duty in Europe. Just need to get some practice time in for my wife. I've looked at a couple vendors of mobile SIMs. Looks like there are several choices.
Mar 21st, 2015, 03:42 PM
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Study this site:
http://prepaid-data-sim-card.wikia.c..._SIM_with_data
Different countries have different rates. You need to stay in each country at least a week to make it worth the hassle to get a local SIM for that country.
Your iPhones are not unlocked, not if you're still under contract. But an iPad with cellular released in the last 2 years will get 4G or LTE data on European networks, though not all prepaid data SIMs are offering 4G yet.
But even good 3G will be faster than Wifi in most hotels, either large hotel chains or little family-run ones. You can get 5-10 Mbps with a good 3G signal whereas a lot of hotels will have 2-3 Mbps or less.
I've used TIM in Italy, Orange Let's Go in France and T-Mobile in the UK. TIM will get you the most data, up to 10 GB for 30 days, for 30-40 Euro. Let's Go in France gets you 1 or 2 GB over 30 days, again for around 30 Euro. In London, I got 1 GB for about 10 Pounds I believe.
I'm not sure if any of the UK prepaid data SIMs offer 4G or LTE or tethering or the use of Personal Hot Spot to connect your iPhones and laptops to the same mobile connection. Personal Hotspot works with TIM and Orange Lets Go SIMs. It does use up the battery fast but iPad, even iPad mini, has pretty good battery capacity.
http://prepaid-data-sim-card.wikia.c..._SIM_with_data
Different countries have different rates. You need to stay in each country at least a week to make it worth the hassle to get a local SIM for that country.
Your iPhones are not unlocked, not if you're still under contract. But an iPad with cellular released in the last 2 years will get 4G or LTE data on European networks, though not all prepaid data SIMs are offering 4G yet.
But even good 3G will be faster than Wifi in most hotels, either large hotel chains or little family-run ones. You can get 5-10 Mbps with a good 3G signal whereas a lot of hotels will have 2-3 Mbps or less.
I've used TIM in Italy, Orange Let's Go in France and T-Mobile in the UK. TIM will get you the most data, up to 10 GB for 30 days, for 30-40 Euro. Let's Go in France gets you 1 or 2 GB over 30 days, again for around 30 Euro. In London, I got 1 GB for about 10 Pounds I believe.
I'm not sure if any of the UK prepaid data SIMs offer 4G or LTE or tethering or the use of Personal Hot Spot to connect your iPhones and laptops to the same mobile connection. Personal Hotspot works with TIM and Orange Lets Go SIMs. It does use up the battery fast but iPad, even iPad mini, has pretty good battery capacity.
Mar 28th, 2015, 01:03 PM
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Thanks for that link! We will be in France almost 2 weeks, but in two separate segments with 10 days of Austria and Italy in between.
We aren't staying in any hotels. I know wifi will be widely available, but I really wanted a GPS and was about due to buy a new iPad anyway so it was just a question of spending the extra $ for the cellular version. I knew our phones were not unlocked, I should have left them out of the original post.
We aren't staying in any hotels. I know wifi will be widely available, but I really wanted a GPS and was about due to buy a new iPad anyway so it was just a question of spending the extra $ for the cellular version. I knew our phones were not unlocked, I should have left them out of the original post.
Mar 28th, 2015, 01:47 PM
#16
My own strategy was quite simple: I dumped an under-performing and over-priced AT+T for T-Mobile and got unlimited data and texting in Europe as well as a full rebate for my bought-out contract. Skype? fine if you feel the need but the "free" GPS in Vienna, Venice, and Munich was worth its weight in gold.
Mar 28th, 2015, 02:18 PM
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I'm with Dukey1. Been using T-Mobile with the iPhone for two years now and have not encountered any problems in Portugal, Spain or France. The new iPhone 6 through T-Mobile allows free WiFi calling locally or back home.
You might also consider downloading WhatsApp for messaging and Waze to keep you up to date on traffic and road conditions. It's used a lot in Europe.
You might also consider downloading WhatsApp for messaging and Waze to keep you up to date on traffic and road conditions. It's used a lot in Europe.
Mar 28th, 2015, 02:32 PM
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Add me to T Mobile fans. We have used it in France, Spain, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Vienna, Greece with no issues at all. Used it one trains and some of the best reception we had was on the ferry from Mykonos to Athen - it was better than at home!!
Mar 28th, 2015, 09:54 PM
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Me too to the T-mobile fan. Yes, I have previously used local SIMs in various countries successfully. But I have always resented having to chew up one hour or more per country looking for a store, wait until the opening time, wait in line to be served, and sometimes I got told that vendor does not sell any SIMs to people without a local address and get sent to some other vendor who do sell SIMs to travelers.
What surprises me is just how few people, even those that travel frequently abroad, know about T-mobile free data roaming. They all feel I am threatening a life line in suggesting, even only for the duration of the trip, to use T-mobile.
On top of this, if you are using a high end T-mobile branded phone, you can use T-mobile's WiFi calling to route ALL you phone traffic - voice, text, and data to WiFi at no cost when connected to Wifi. You or those calling you don't have to use a different number or an app to make this call. This works very well with in-laws who have no chance of learning to use any apps or a different number for that matter. Oh, we also don't care, cost wise, that she talks at least one-hour every call. It costs nothing.
What surprises me is just how few people, even those that travel frequently abroad, know about T-mobile free data roaming. They all feel I am threatening a life line in suggesting, even only for the duration of the trip, to use T-mobile.
On top of this, if you are using a high end T-mobile branded phone, you can use T-mobile's WiFi calling to route ALL you phone traffic - voice, text, and data to WiFi at no cost when connected to Wifi. You or those calling you don't have to use a different number or an app to make this call. This works very well with in-laws who have no chance of learning to use any apps or a different number for that matter. Oh, we also don't care, cost wise, that she talks at least one-hour every call. It costs nothing.
Mar 29th, 2015, 04:06 AM
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We are in the market for a new smartphone. With a trip to Italy in May, T-Mobile looked like an attractive option. But when I looked at their U.S. coverage map, I was dismayed that in my own suburb south of Indianapolis, I can only expect to get 2G service. Back to Verizon and SIM card I guess.
