Cavangal

Will be in Ireland for about 5-6 days. First few days in Belfast, NI. Need help on activating my cell phone. I own a Sony Ericcson phone from Vodafone which worked fine. I tried last year to use it but the stores told me it was locked. Did not get to Vodafone store till day before my return flight.

Will it be better if I go first to Vodafone for updating the sim card? Not sure how much activation fee is and know I will be given a new number. My AT&T cell phone does not operate outside US. I only use it for quick calls and it works fine for me and there is no contract. Will be arriving before 6am so expect the phone shops at airport will not be open. If I see Vodafone in Belfast I will ask them. I leave NI after 3 days and will return to regional towns. Any easy way to get connected to be able to phone locals in Ireland? Thanks.

xyz123

Need more information to give a really good answer. You say you are from the USA. Who is your carrier in the USA. You say the phone you have is locked to Vodafone but Vodafone has a presence in both the UK (Northern Ireland where Belfast is located is part of the UK) and Vodafone IE is a related company but really a separate company in the Republic of Ireland where it seems you will finish your trip. If you phone is locked to Vodafone UK, while in Northern Ireland you can get a Vodafone UK sim card (the other one may have expired but then again it may not have), try to get Vodafone UK to unlock the phone and then buy a sim card for Ireland when you go into the Republic especially if you will be making calls from Ireland to the USA.

The easiest might be if you have a T Mobile USA account at home. That is why it would be helpful to get more information.

Cavangal

AT&T is the carrier, its a small cell phone with no contract that works well for my needs. When the phone was purchased at Best Buy the rep. told my husband I could use it in Europe. I was in AT&T this week in Manhattan and heard that's not possible unless it can be unlocked. AT&T cannot unlock it and told there are "electronic places" that might be able to but have no idea where to go forward.

I was given the Sony Ericcson phone as gift a few years ago and since I only used for stops in Ireland I know the sim card is empty, so was hoping it could be reactivated. I stopped at Vodafone in Cork city and told my cell number was no longer available since the phone had not been used over one year. If I see Vodafone near the hotel in Belfast I can see if I can get a simcard to use in NI without hefty charges, since I'll only have 2 full days. I would like to be able to make a few contacts if its possible. I will then travel to Dublin and continue to regional towns in the evening and would like to have it ready to use. I don't mind having to purchase 2 sim cards if its not going to cost arm and leg.

In fact I had not realized that when a balance on Sim is not used in 12 months, Vodafone cancels the phone after a period and does not kept the balance forward for future use. In my case there was a balance over 80euros which I felt was forfeited. I spoke to Vodafone about this and had someone familiar with company do so, but that is their policy. Now I know better to only add cash in small amounts rather than lose the money after one year. Thanks.

xyz123

Again you have to bear in mind Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland are two different countries occupying the same island. Hence there is a Vodafone UK and a Vodafone IE. They are not one and the same although related. Sometimes, a phone locked on Vodafone IE does not have to be unlocked to work with a Vodafone UK sim card but I am not sure of this.

There are other directions you can consider. You can purchase on ebay an earlier model smartphone say a Samsung galaxy s4 mini or something similar. Make sure it is an international gsm model. Can be had for around $150 which may seem a lot (there are cheaper model smart phones) but not only will the phone work in both the Republic of Ireland and also in Northern Ireland, it will also work with your AT&T sim card. You will be amazed at some of the apps available that you don't have to pay for if your hotel and your house has wifi (which you may very well have) but as for the voice, this is probably the cheapest way to go. Just as a help, also, your sim cards can be extended indefinitely by simply sending a text message once say every 6 months for less han 50¢ Others here, if you are not interested in data plans or phones with a lot of bells and whistles, when I did an ebay search a day or two ago, I saw an unlocked, gsm smart phone for less than $70; again not only good for travel but good for use on AT&T and several other carriers on the USA that were smart enough to adopt gsm years ago; unfortunately sprint and Verizon were not.

xyz123

In my senior years, I have gotten a little slow. By telling me your sim card that they stole your credit from had €30 left meant your original carrier was Vodafone IE. Again starting in Belfast, you will not be in the Republic of Ireland but rather Northern Ireland which is part of the UK (they don't use euro btw, they use pounds). Again my suggestion stands...buy an unlocked gsm phone on ebay, belive me there are some good deals there as new models are constantly coming out and everybody wants the newest model with say cameras with 16 mp instead of 8 which is probably not important to you. Upon arrival, you can hit a Vodafone UK store and they have a plan which includes calls that are dirt cheap to the USA. Unfortunately when you leave Northern Ireland for Ireland while you will be able to make calls to the other part of Ireland for not all that much (this is called roaming and the European union is trying to do away with roaming charges), calls from Ireland to the USA on a British sim card become expensive so you can stop in a Vodafone IE store, get an Irish sim card or the like. The nice thing is when you get home, slip your AT&T sim card in and you're in business. If you have any credit left on either Irish sim card, simply send yourself a text message every 6 months to keep them active.

Cavangal

Appreciate that you took time to give me so much information. When I get to Belfast, NI I will ask at hotel where Vodafone is located and guess the sim on my phone is for Irish service as the phone was bought in Dublin. Will add value when I arrive Dublin.
I have only a few days before travel and not enough time to learn how to use Smart phone. Husband has one and tells me he has problems, missing calls etc. and when I cannot reach him call goes to voice mail. I will have to make do with my old cell phone which I will recharge and hope I get it activated and just add about 25 euros at a time. They wiped my phone clean and took over EIGHTY EUROS and we could not get any satisfaction asking for refund. Thanks so much.

xyz123

Again, bear in mind. Belfast is not in Ireland. It is in the United Kingdom. They don't use euro in Belfast, they use pounds. Vodafone UK is jot quite the same company. You will only be able to get a UK sim card in Belfast and need only put about £10 on it. Receiving calls will be free but there's the problem of notifying everybody of your number but Vodafone UK does have plans with dirt cheap calls to the USA. Just ask. Of course the problem might well be the phone is locked to Vodafone IE. At the store in Belfast they will be able to check if it's locked to Vodafone IE. If it is, you're out of luck...a Vodafone YK sim will not work. When you leave Northern Ireland and enter Ireland, you are in a different country and in Ireland, not Northern Ireland, if you phone is indeed locked to Vodafone IE, you will be able to get a sim card for them and put perhaps €10 on it. Please don't be angry at me but you seem confused or not really understanding that Northern Ireland is part of the UK and not Ireland and in this case will cause some problems regarding cell phones.

Good luck and have a good trick.

Cavangal

I should have stated I was born in Ireland and am fully aware of the division line and its history but realize you are trying to help and others may not be aware of the 2 territories.

My Sony Erricson was bought at Vodafone in Dublin so if I see a store near my stops I will get money added to cover local and regional calls. I do not phone home to US as I use emails anywhere I can access at hotels. One other time I was able to buy a phone card at newspaper shop that I could use on pay phones and it was very inexpensive and worked for quick calls. I definitely need to have a phone to let people know my plans when I am traveling to visit.

Won't get caught again leaving a large balance on my phone. Vodafone probably makes a big profit on this system of only allowing it 12 months before expiration.

Many thanks.

Tony2phones

I'm not even trying to make sense of whatever has gone before..
If your phone is a Vodafone UK phone then get a new sim from one of the Vodafone or Carphone Warehouse stores in Belfast.
If your phone is a non UK Vodafone then a UK sim won't work.

You will have a local celphone store that will unlock your phone or tell you where to take it, You can pick up an unlocked phone off flEbay.

UK carriers will sell you credit and also an add on for roaming within the EU.. for calls and texts but not Data. (you need free wifi for that or a Republic sim)

Cavangal

Thanks. If unable to get phone sorted in Belfast I will make a few calls from hotel or ask if there is a phone card to use with public phone. Will rely on email for US/home contacts. They sold those cards in Athlone newspaper shops and they worked well for short calls.

When I arrive in Dublin or regional town will try getting the sim card upgraded for local calls over several days. I will be leaving Ireland on 9/2 and only returning for one night at Bewleys so hope the hotels have internet as some have business centers. Appreciate your help.