spartanap - "unlocked" means you can use a non-TMobile sim card in your phone. It's unlikely they unlocked it. They probably just enabled your service in Europe, at their rates.

"Did this call unlock her phone?"

In a word, no. Unlocking is something that <u>you</u> do, after they email you the unlock code and instructions. The code is a mathematical function of your phone's International Mobile Equipment Identity (a number that's hard-wired in the phone).

But I just went to unlock the T-Mobile phones of my three sons, and much to my surprise, the two RAZRs didn't need it. Only the Samsung had to be put through the procedure. To see if yours is unlocked, put a non-T-Mobile SIM in it and see if it complains. If not, you're good to go.

The phone call to Customer Service enabled International Roaming on your account (which T-Mobile customers can do themselves on the web site.)

Today in the LATimes there is an article about calling from cell phones from overseas. They mention a company
www.telestial.com that specializes in phones and sim cards.

I looked them up and they offer a sim card good in 90 countries with $10.00 worth of calls for $19.00. There are other options as well, including ones with lower cents per minute charges.

Because these are good in all of the countries I am soon visiting (Czech Rep, Hungary, Germany, Austria, Thailand) except Cambodia, I am thinking about ordering one. I just want to use my new ebay purchased phone for a few &quot;touch base&quot; with my teenager and DH and don't plan on talking alot.

I think that based upon the info I obtained here, that otherwise I will be purchasing a sim card in each country, or at least one in Europe and 1 in Asia. Right?

Can you post a link to the 19&euro; SIM (free incoming)? Can't find it on the page. You can buy Thai Sims in Bangkok for 25 to 50 Baht, incl. 50 Baht credit, 3-5h of free internet (GPRS) per month. Free incoming, that can be reached for 2ct/min from abroad. It's worth buying one. 50 Baht equals about $1.50.

&gt;19&euro; SIM (free incoming)?
Found it, sounds good!!

d_claude_bear, don't know about using the phone regularly. The bottom line is, you have to have an active tmobile sim when you ask for the request.

I have searched most of the sites mentioned above, and I'm still confused about which is the best deal.
We will be in Europe for 2 months soon, and will use Skype VoiP for all my outgoing calls to the US. I need something to allow inexpensive outgoing calls within Europe, and free or inexpensive incoming calls from the family in the US. An added plus would be the ability to use it in Venezuela, but that isn't a deal-breaker.
Is there an obvious choice that I'm missing?

I neglected to mention in my initial post that I already have an unblocked Motorola Razr.

Sadie, I'm not sure the Razr has the bands you need for Europe. If it does, then try the SIM card from United Mobile or one of the other call-back cards. Incoming calls are free (to you) and outgoing 39 cents per minute. I think Venzuela is covered but check their web site to be sure.

ttt

Overbeck---

Could you make this REAL simple for me...
I get it that I can buy a quad band GSM phone from Amazon, around $90. Then I need to get something called a SIM card. I really don't know what that that is. Its $50 dollars just to buy the card, and then its only $20 worth of calls? That seems expensive. I do know that $20 worth of calls won't be enough for my 2 1/2 weeks in Europe.I just want to be able to receive direct calls from the US, and make direct calls to US from Europe, as quickly, as easily as possible.

I'll let Overbeck answer most of your questions but the cost of the SIM card is pretty much universal. The SIM is the guts or brains if you will, of your phone. It supplies the phone number and the phone will not work (other than non-telephone functions) without one.

Marty, here's a link that tells it better than I can:

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-sim-card.htm

Thanks, so far. One more question....What is the difference between tri-band, and quad-band phones? Verizon has both.

There are two bands in use in North America (850 mHz and 1900 mHz) and two in Europe (900 mHz and 1800 mHz). Verizon will probably sell you a phone with one or both European bands plus both the U.S. ones.

What kind of a deal is Verizon offering, and for what phones (make &amp; model)?

The Wise Geek in the article linked above fails to mention the very important fact that only two carriers in the U.S. use SIMs: AT&amp;T and T-Mobile. See this article: fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?tid=34986388

This is the Verizon info vzwrentinternational.com I am only thinking about Verizon since we currently have service with them. I don't know how their service compares to others. If a phone dosn't use SIMS, how does the international service work? Again, keep this simple. I'm no techno geek! Thanks!

European cell phone networks use GSM technology, and cell phones in Europe connect to a network using a small computer chip known as a sim. The phone + sim Verizon rents will work in Europe, but the rental is expensive, and you have to return the phone when you get back to the States. There are two alternatives to renting from Verizon. The first is to buy a phone from Mobal, as described in earlier posts. This is convenient, but it can be expensive because Mobal's calling rate is high. In addition, Mobal's phones are locked - they can only be used with Mobal sims. The other alternative is to buy an unlocked GSM phone at amazon.com or ebay and an international sim from some vendor, say telestial.com. You can also buy one of the sims listed at prepaidgsm.net/. If you do this you should make sure that the phone operates on the European frequencies, 900 and 1800, that it's unlocked, and that the sim you buy works in your destination countries. I would also check to see what you have to do to keep the sim active.
This alternative will cost between $50 and $150 for the phone and between $50 and $75 for the sim. It's probably more expensive than the Verizon and Mobal options, but it's more flexible and more useful in the long run.

I'm with you Marty, the techno thing is definately not my thing. But..

Briefly on the Verizon thing, be careful not to let your local U.S. provider talk you into using the same service in Europe. Most will add roaming charges to a per minute rate that's already much higher than what you can get on a foreign carrier.

The SIM cards I am suggesting can be used in almost any country and have no roaming fee.

The information provided above by <b>sjj</b> is basically accurate, but there is a third way to acquire a GSM phone: from either T-Mobile or AT&amp;T, as this is the technology they both use in North America.

You can get a suitable phone almost free from T-Mobile. See this article: fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?tid=35034653

Traveling is already so expensive, let alone dealing with renting/purchasing an international phone service that I only need for 2 weeks. Maybe I should just buy an international phone card once I get to Europe and call home from pay phones?! Our teen can always call us at the various hotels we will be staying at.

You've got a teen at home? Maybe s/he can set you up with voice.yahoo.com - you'll need to have a computer with you to make free calls, but international calls are incredibly cheap even if you don't.

Martyharly - A phone card is an excellent alternative to a cell phone if you're staying at a hotel or if you're renting an apartment with a phone. As for the cell phone alternative, if you have an unlocked GSM phone that operates on European frequencies and an international sim that works in the countries you're going to, you're set. You're not charged for calls you receive, you can make calls to the US at about 50 cents per minute, and you can add more time either by calling your sim provider from your cell phone or on the internet. My wife and I stay in apartments when we travel, and that's why we prefer cell phones.

Robespierre


This Yahoo/Voice thing sounds good! really cheap. Looks like I just need to get my daughter a headset, and sign up for the service. Thank you for the suggestion!

Hey guys,

I thought I would share what I did. I just got back from Italy and rented a phone from onesimcard.com for $100. It worked great, and I know it works in a bunch of countries. I just needed something in case of an emergency. They have really great customer service that explained everything really well when I asked about how the whole thing worked. You can buy SIM cards from them which makes the most sense because they're cheaper than buying a whole phone(I would have but I have a Verizon phone which doesn't work abroad because it's not GSM). Hope this helps.

You rented a phone for $100 and you bought a sim card for use in Europe. Before a recent trip I bought an unlocked GSM phone on ebay for $45 and I bought a sim card. I'm better off than if I had rented, and I'd be better off even if my phone had cost $100. Why rent?

Sorry I wasn't clear. The phone was about 60 (including $20 worth of airtime on it) and I put a little extra airtime on, after shipping etc it came out to be about 100. The phone comes with a SIM card and is all ready to go so it probably comes out to being about the same as what you paid on ebay. It was nice to have someone to talk to when I had problems too, something about ebay bothers me

dsd - No, I'm sorry. I'm not usually that nasty. The problem with using cell phones abroad is getting decent advice. The best source, I think, is
http://www.prepaidgsm.net/forum/, and this forum runs a close second.

Now that I have received tons of various opinions and advise on the use of cell phones in Europe, my husband and I have decided we really don't need to call home everyday (we will be on vacation, or so I'm told) to check on the teen (who will be under adult supervision, by the the way). We will buy an international calling card to call home, and teen will call us at our hotels, if necessary. Yahoo!Voice is still a possibility for her to contact us. Thank you all for your expertise!

I just came back from Paris and england, used my unlocked gsm phone, and bought a sim card from www.1world1sim.com, they have a $100 sim card that comes with $100 talk time. The sim card comes for free, service was ok, the best thing that incoming calls were free. My kids were able to call us non stop.

I just received my pre-paid quad band cell phone from T-Mobile to use on my trip next week. I didn't realize that I can't use the sim card that is in it! I was assured by the guy that took my order that I would not have a problem using this in Europe. Now, I am told I can not get international roaming with a prepaid phone. They are going to request the unlock code and I will know in 24 hours. Is there someone that can unlock my phone if they won't do it? I need the phone number before I leave so my husband can tell me where to meet him in Germany. My husband is coming from Iraq and won't know when he will get in until the day I am leaving! I am trying not to get stressed out.........

When you get your unlock code take it and the phone to your local T Mobile store and they'll unlock your phone. What you do thereafter depends on when you leave. If you're not leaving immediately, you can buy a sim for use in Germany from a company with offices in the US. The ones I know about are

www.ekit.com/ekit/MobilePurchase/Sims

www.telestial.com

www.rangeroamer.com

Call them, tell them you need a sim that will work in Germany, and ask them how fast they can get it to you. I recommend ekit because I've used their sim, but you should pick the company that can get the sim to you before you leave. You may be able to pick the sim up yourself without having them mail it to you if you live in Boston (Ekit), San Diego (Telestial) or Chicago (RangeRoamer). When you get the sim you'll know your phone number and you can email it to your husband.

I don't know what you can do if you leave before you can get a sim. You can always buy a local sim in Germany - see posts by xyz123 in this forum about buying local sims - but this doesn't solve your problem. Good luck.

Check on the internet for unlocking the phone....does your husband have a cell phone....even if you don't have the number in advance, you can text him and it will show the phone number you text from and then he'll have your number I suppose.

You can't unlock the phone in Germany. If someone else except the service provider can do it, have it done at home. In Germany, you won't find stores that do that, it's not legal. Which phone is it? There are tons of offers for german SIM cards that can be bought very! cheap here in Germany :-)

Thank you for your response. I just ordered a Mobal phone. I would have done that to begin with if I had known that I could not get international roaming with the pre-paid T-Mobile. I am too close to leaving and I don't want to worry about how long it will take me to get a SIM card in the mail. So, now I will have both. Oh well......

bookmarking

You went for the Mobal deal? May I inquire as to why you rejected this one?

telestial.com/promotions/august/packlite.php

$29 for a Europe phone is pretty hard to beat.

I have an unlocked tri-band that I've been using with SIM cards in France. My frustration, though, is caused by the fact that my trips to France are usually 4 - 6 months apart, so my SIM phone number has expired and I have to buy another one, get new phone number, etc. For a variety of reasons (a 92-year-old mother, primarily) I need to know my phone number before I leave home. Last time I went through cellularabroad to get an SFR SIM in advance, but that's awfully pricy. I'm fairly confident that I'll continue making about 3 trips a year to France. Am I right that the Mobal (with permanent number) is probably the best fit for my situation?
Thanks. I know those of you who are up on this subject are sick of questions from those of us less savvy, but please know how much we appreciate you!

fbc34 -
Mobal has a high calling rate for both outgoing and incoming calls. It's a good solution only if you don't expect to be on the phone much. If you decide on Mobal, look around on their site and order the sim card only. You can use it in your present phone. A better solution is to order an international card from the list at http://www.prepaidgsm.net/en/international.html
My wife used the old +423 United Mobile sim on a recent trip to Italy, she'll use the new +44 United Mobile sim on our next trip to Europe, and I used the Ekit Passport Service at www.ekit.com/ekit/MobilePurchase/Sims
Outgoing calls using these sims are about a third the price Mobal charges, incoming calls are free, and you can keep the number indefinitely if you use the sim at least once every nine months.

If you want to keep the French sim card active, it's fairly simple...they actually don't really expire for the given validity of time of your credit plus an additional 6 months so if you buy say a &euro;15 top up it will be valid for 7 months...one month for use of the credit to make calls after which they will steal your unused credit plus the card remains valid for an additional 6 months during which time it can be topped up so before leaving France, buy yourself the cheapest top up (with Orange FR it's &euro;10 which comes with 15 days of validity plus 6 months probably the same with SFR) and since the cards allow roaming (assuming you're in either the USA or Canada or even Australia for that matter), top it up from there. With Orange FR you would dial 224 and then enter the 16 digit recharge number followed by # and then send and voila while it cost you &euro;10, the number is yours to keep for an additional 6 months and 15 days (you can send out a text message or two to get your &euro;10 worth)...ingenious eh.

Thanks. The amount of information is overwhelming.

After reading the last post I charged up my little French phone (with an SFR SIM card last used about June 15). But I don't have roaming. It searched and searched and said no service. I was fairly sure from trips in earlier years that the SIM cards I was buying lasted only two months before they gave the phone number away. If it's at least four months, I'm ok (since I'm arriving in Paris October 14). I haven't been able to find anything definite on the SFR site and I'm getting worried about risking it. (I really need to know what my phone number is before I leave.)

sjj, do you happen to know if any of the cards available on the websites you named allow you to know your phone number in advance of arrival in Europe?

Sorry to be a pest, but this is indeed a subject that requires expertise!

Many many thanks.