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Oct 24th, 2005, 11:13 AM
#21
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I don't change US phones all that often. Verizon gives me $100 "New Every Two" credits every two years, and I use them to buy phones having a net cost of $150 or less (which makes them almost free). If a buyer doesn't want or need stuff like MP3 players, cameras, or walkie-talkie features, I recommend this tactic. But do get separate phones for Europe and here so you don't have to buy two cellular technologies in one phone.
Oct 25th, 2005, 11:53 AM
#22
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I just bought a phone at Costco (T-Mobile) that is prepaid for general usage around home. The salesman at Costco told me that they sell out of these quite frequently because he thinks people are buying them and then taking them to Europe for re-sale. The phone and minutes were really cheap (and refillable here in the US). The big advantage as I understand it is if I want to travel overseas, I can just purchase a SIM card there and use it in that country. this phone is not locked.
Oct 25th, 2005, 01:00 PM
#23
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Julies...
There are many threads which explain this...GSM does indeed allow you to substitute one sim for another
HOWEVER
The phone has to be unlocked. I don't think T mobile provides unlocking codes for its prepaid phones. Getting phones unlocked ranges from easy (most Nokia models as the calculator for computing the unlocking codes is easily found for free on the web) to more difficult (most others where it will cost around $10 to $15)....but once the phone is unlocked, you are correct. (Oh yes, the phone has to have at least one of the frequencies needed in Europe - what model did you get?)
There are many threads which explain this...GSM does indeed allow you to substitute one sim for another
HOWEVER
The phone has to be unlocked. I don't think T mobile provides unlocking codes for its prepaid phones. Getting phones unlocked ranges from easy (most Nokia models as the calculator for computing the unlocking codes is easily found for free on the web) to more difficult (most others where it will cost around $10 to $15)....but once the phone is unlocked, you are correct. (Oh yes, the phone has to have at least one of the frequencies needed in Europe - what model did you get?)
Oct 25th, 2005, 05:23 PM
#26
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I think a lot of money is being spent needlessly to have cell phone capability in Europe. I am a Cingular GSM customer in Ohio. I have a 6010 Nokia phone. It will not work in Europe because it is 850/1900 freq. I asked Cingular what I would need for cell phone capability in Europe (France in particular) They told me I would need their Nokia 3120 with quad freq (850/1900 for use in USA and 900/1800 for use in Europe and I would need my account upgraded to "international roaming". They sent me the Nokia 3120 for free (yes free) and international roaming is free for the asking. I took the "sim" card out of my 6010 and put it in my new 3120 and it works fine. In France I can call across town or to the USA or wherever I want. Roaming in Europe costs 1.29 per minute but for 5.99 a month you get a discount plan making all your calls while in Europe .99 per minute. I now have a phone that I am using in the USA and Europe that costs me 5.99 a month + .99 per minute for all calls. If I want I can subcribe to the 5.99 discount roaming plan just for a month at a time when abroad.
Be careful when you call Cingular because it took me 3 calls to 3 different reps before I got the results described above. Most of the reps don't have a clue. Also the way the quad band phone works is whenever you power up the phone, it searches for a carrier's signal. It grabs the strongest signal and operates accordingly. When I left Philadelphia I had Cingular and when I powered up in Paris it switched to France Bouygues and in some areas Orange Company.
Larry J
Be careful when you call Cingular because it took me 3 calls to 3 different reps before I got the results described above. Most of the reps don't have a clue. Also the way the quad band phone works is whenever you power up the phone, it searches for a carrier's signal. It grabs the strongest signal and operates accordingly. When I left Philadelphia I had Cingular and when I powered up in Paris it switched to France Bouygues and in some areas Orange Company.
Larry J
Oct 25th, 2005, 06:47 PM
#29
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I also am a T-mobile customer and recently upgraded to a quad band phone along with the free international roaming + .99 a minute. When I got off the plane and turned on my phone in Zurich, it found the provider right away and I had five bars the whole trip in Switzerland - actually much better reception than here in NYC 
I basically brought it just for emergency use and made less than $20 worth of calls.
I basically brought it just for emergency use and made less than $20 worth of calls.
Oct 25th, 2005, 06:58 PM
#30
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Larry J...
While it may seem a trivial point, the Nokia 3120 is not quad band, it is tri band. Since you are a cingular customer, you have the 3120B which is 850/1800/1900. You don't have 900...in Paris that is not a problem but it could be in some remote areas of Paris where there is only 900 service...in some European countries there is only 900 service and that particular phone would be useless.
I don't want to go into a whole thing about the frequency question which I describe in other threads. But to be sure in Europe, you need a phone with both 900 and 1800....in the large cities you can probably get away without 900 but if you get the phone unlocked (which is simple to do with the 3120 since it is a Nokia phone and the unlocking codes are readilly available on the web) and you go say to the UK, your phone would not work if you bought a Virgin mobile sim card as Virgin mobile operates only on 1800.
Now comes the big question and there is really not one answer. I find it reprehensible to have to pay $1.29/minute (or $.99/minute) to have international roaming with Cingular (or T mobile)...and remember these fees are rounded up to the next minute. So if you speak with a griend for 123 seconds, you pay for 3 minutes.
But here's the question and only you can answer it. What do you want the phone for? Do you want it just for emergencies say to have in a rental car or as an emergency number to have the baby sitter reach you just in case. Then the international roaming of cingular or t mobile is fine.
Or do you want a real mobile phone to be able to use to call home and to make reservations for dinner etc. etc. Then you would probably want a local prepaid sim. Remember in Europe with a local prepaid sim, receiving calls is free for you. So if you want to be ble to be reachable 24/7 and speak to your kids every day, you would probably do much better with a local sim. You can use a firm such as kall8 to get an 800 number in the US that ties into your European sim.
I prefer to have a functional phone. I don't particularly trust phone cards as sometimes hotels put a surcharge on their use in the room, some pay phones don't work with some phone cards etc. So with my mobile phone, I can sit in my hotel room with my feet up on the bed and call home to my heart's content. I have discovered methods of cutting my call costs from the mobile phone to 12¢/minute timed in 6 second intervals and describe these methods in other threads (click on my name above and find the incredibly useful and correct information I have dispensed over the past several months on using mobile phones in Europe with riiing and callback world.)
So it comes down to what you want the mobile phone for. If you really intend to use it as well a mobile phone, it might be far better to go in the direction of local prepaid sim cards or the universal riiing card. OTOH if it's just for emergencies, cingular or tmobile international roaming plans are fine.
While it may seem a trivial point, the Nokia 3120 is not quad band, it is tri band. Since you are a cingular customer, you have the 3120B which is 850/1800/1900. You don't have 900...in Paris that is not a problem but it could be in some remote areas of Paris where there is only 900 service...in some European countries there is only 900 service and that particular phone would be useless.
I don't want to go into a whole thing about the frequency question which I describe in other threads. But to be sure in Europe, you need a phone with both 900 and 1800....in the large cities you can probably get away without 900 but if you get the phone unlocked (which is simple to do with the 3120 since it is a Nokia phone and the unlocking codes are readilly available on the web) and you go say to the UK, your phone would not work if you bought a Virgin mobile sim card as Virgin mobile operates only on 1800.
Now comes the big question and there is really not one answer. I find it reprehensible to have to pay $1.29/minute (or $.99/minute) to have international roaming with Cingular (or T mobile)...and remember these fees are rounded up to the next minute. So if you speak with a griend for 123 seconds, you pay for 3 minutes.
But here's the question and only you can answer it. What do you want the phone for? Do you want it just for emergencies say to have in a rental car or as an emergency number to have the baby sitter reach you just in case. Then the international roaming of cingular or t mobile is fine.
Or do you want a real mobile phone to be able to use to call home and to make reservations for dinner etc. etc. Then you would probably want a local prepaid sim. Remember in Europe with a local prepaid sim, receiving calls is free for you. So if you want to be ble to be reachable 24/7 and speak to your kids every day, you would probably do much better with a local sim. You can use a firm such as kall8 to get an 800 number in the US that ties into your European sim.
I prefer to have a functional phone. I don't particularly trust phone cards as sometimes hotels put a surcharge on their use in the room, some pay phones don't work with some phone cards etc. So with my mobile phone, I can sit in my hotel room with my feet up on the bed and call home to my heart's content. I have discovered methods of cutting my call costs from the mobile phone to 12¢/minute timed in 6 second intervals and describe these methods in other threads (click on my name above and find the incredibly useful and correct information I have dispensed over the past several months on using mobile phones in Europe with riiing and callback world.)
So it comes down to what you want the mobile phone for. If you really intend to use it as well a mobile phone, it might be far better to go in the direction of local prepaid sim cards or the universal riiing card. OTOH if it's just for emergencies, cingular or tmobile international roaming plans are fine.
Oct 25th, 2005, 07:09 PM
#31
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One other quick point..
If you're into text messaging (sms), t mobile allow you to receive text messages while on holiday in Eiurope at the going rate. I have a plan with tmobile which allows me, for a fee, to receive up to 500 text messages a month with no further charge. That includes Europe...an example, I have a service with espn that furnishes sports scores to me via text messages. I can set what I wish so, I'll just use this as an example, I can set it to notify me every time the Yankees score a run, the notification is instantaneous. So if I'm holiday in Europe and want to keep up with the Yankees I set the service and every time a run is scored in the Yankee game I immediately receive a text message or whatever and the first 500 each billing cycle are free!
Sending text messages from Europe to the US cost something like 15¢ each and it would be very very useful, for example, if both members of a family had t mobile phones, took them to Europe and text messaged each other, you know "meet me at the Eifel Tower at 1530" that sort of thing.
So an extra consideration if you want to use t mobile international roaming; cingular probably has a similar plan but I can't vouch for it.
If you're into text messaging (sms), t mobile allow you to receive text messages while on holiday in Eiurope at the going rate. I have a plan with tmobile which allows me, for a fee, to receive up to 500 text messages a month with no further charge. That includes Europe...an example, I have a service with espn that furnishes sports scores to me via text messages. I can set what I wish so, I'll just use this as an example, I can set it to notify me every time the Yankees score a run, the notification is instantaneous. So if I'm holiday in Europe and want to keep up with the Yankees I set the service and every time a run is scored in the Yankee game I immediately receive a text message or whatever and the first 500 each billing cycle are free!
Sending text messages from Europe to the US cost something like 15¢ each and it would be very very useful, for example, if both members of a family had t mobile phones, took them to Europe and text messaged each other, you know "meet me at the Eifel Tower at 1530" that sort of thing.
So an extra consideration if you want to use t mobile international roaming; cingular probably has a similar plan but I can't vouch for it.
Oct 26th, 2005, 02:31 AM
#32
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>to receive up to 500 text messages a month with no further charge.
Do you know if there are there any other phone companies that charge for incoming SMS's while abroad? I did never hear of this and with all my SIM's incoming SMS are free all over the world.
Do you know if there are there any other phone companies that charge for incoming SMS's while abroad? I did never hear of this and with all my SIM's incoming SMS are free all over the world.
Oct 26th, 2005, 03:26 AM
#33
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logos999...
The American carriers have various policies regarding text messaging even while at home.
Most give very limited free reception of text messages without buying a packet; it might be a few as 0.
But then again you have to remember that in the USA, customers are charged in theory to receive as well as make calls on their mobiles. The only thing is that most of the contract plans have unlimited calls nights and weekends and a lot of minutes during peak weekday hours so most (but not all) of the time your included minutes cover you..
The American carriers have various policies regarding text messaging even while at home.
Most give very limited free reception of text messages without buying a packet; it might be a few as 0.
But then again you have to remember that in the USA, customers are charged in theory to receive as well as make calls on their mobiles. The only thing is that most of the contract plans have unlimited calls nights and weekends and a lot of minutes during peak weekday hours so most (but not all) of the time your included minutes cover you..
Oct 26th, 2005, 09:09 AM
#35
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to XYZ123
My Nokia 3120 has freq. 850, 1800 and 1900. Last month I was all over Normandy, Paris and surrounding areas, Lyon, Avignon, Marseille and over to the Italian border at Vintamiglia. In all these areas I was on the Orange network and the Bouygues network and my phone worked fine. If the 900 freq. is needed in France I have not yet encountered it. According to Cingular my phone will work anywhere in France and so far this has proved true. .99 a minute would be high for use in the USA where I make many calls but in France I make very few calls and am able to keep them under a minute. It's just a matter of making appointments with friends etc. For emergency use and infrequent calls I think Cingular's plan is great as it is much cheaper than buying a European phone and a European service plan.
The T-Mobile service that some people prefer with under .99 per minute usage in France is of no use to me as I travel the entire eastern half of the USA including Appalachia and T-Mobile service is non-existent in most of these areas. A cheap plan is of little use if you can't talk to anyone.
Larry J
My Nokia 3120 has freq. 850, 1800 and 1900. Last month I was all over Normandy, Paris and surrounding areas, Lyon, Avignon, Marseille and over to the Italian border at Vintamiglia. In all these areas I was on the Orange network and the Bouygues network and my phone worked fine. If the 900 freq. is needed in France I have not yet encountered it. According to Cingular my phone will work anywhere in France and so far this has proved true. .99 a minute would be high for use in the USA where I make many calls but in France I make very few calls and am able to keep them under a minute. It's just a matter of making appointments with friends etc. For emergency use and infrequent calls I think Cingular's plan is great as it is much cheaper than buying a European phone and a European service plan.
The T-Mobile service that some people prefer with under .99 per minute usage in France is of no use to me as I travel the entire eastern half of the USA including Appalachia and T-Mobile service is non-existent in most of these areas. A cheap plan is of little use if you can't talk to anyone.
Larry J
Oct 26th, 2005, 10:47 AM
#36
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I think I said that you would probably be okay most of the time in France; believe me there are areas of France and of the rest of Europe where not having 900 could be a problem. I did not say it was absolutely positively necessary to have 900 but there are some places where your mobile will not work just not in any of the big cities of most countries.
And I think I did agree with you that if you don't consider a mobile phone to be something you're going to use, the Cingular and Tmobile international roaming are fine. But if you want a mobile phone which is functional in terms of using it somewhat, you're better off with local sims or an all around sim such a riiing.
And I think I did agree with you that if you don't consider a mobile phone to be something you're going to use, the Cingular and Tmobile international roaming are fine. But if you want a mobile phone which is functional in terms of using it somewhat, you're better off with local sims or an all around sim such a riiing.
Oct 26th, 2005, 11:17 AM
#37
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>If the 900 freq. is needed in France
Riiing only works on the 900 frequencies at least in Germany and Austria. Keep that in mind too, when choosing riiing.
Up to now, I didn't manage to use 1800 mhz providers in a moving train longer than 1 or 2 minutes.
Riiing only works on the 900 frequencies at least in Germany and Austria. Keep that in mind too, when choosing riiing.
Up to now, I didn't manage to use 1800 mhz providers in a moving train longer than 1 or 2 minutes.
Oct 26th, 2005, 05:22 PM
#38
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LOGOS...
Let's clear something up which is what I am sure you mean.
Riiing is not inherently either a 900 or 1800 carrier. They have roaming agreements in various countries.it is possible the only carriers they have roaming agreements with in Germany operate on 900; you would know better than me.
It is for this reason that it is always recommended one have a phone for use in Europe with both 900 and 1800,. The problem is that most mobile phone reps know very little about this and give such misinformation.
Will a phone without 900 operate satisfactorally in Europe...well probably especially in urban areas. But there are countries where the only carriers are 900 and lacking 900 could be a problem.
Let's clear something up which is what I am sure you mean.
Riiing is not inherently either a 900 or 1800 carrier. They have roaming agreements in various countries.it is possible the only carriers they have roaming agreements with in Germany operate on 900; you would know better than me.
It is for this reason that it is always recommended one have a phone for use in Europe with both 900 and 1800,. The problem is that most mobile phone reps know very little about this and give such misinformation.
Will a phone without 900 operate satisfactorally in Europe...well probably especially in urban areas. But there are countries where the only carriers are 900 and lacking 900 could be a problem.
Oct 26th, 2005, 05:30 PM
#39
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>roaming agreements with in Germany operate on 900
FACT! no riiing in Germany and Austria on 1800 mhz phones.
Cells are a lot larger on 900 plus coverage on 1800 is poor indoors and in cars and trains.
FACT! no riiing in Germany and Austria on 1800 mhz phones.
Cells are a lot larger on 900 plus coverage on 1800 is poor indoors and in cars and trains.
