MOBAL CELL PHONE USE
 

I just purchased the $99 Mobal phone to useon our trip to London later this month. In trying to get it to work it shows no service (in New Mexico), I would like to know if the phone is working before I get to London. Has anyone had this problem or know what I'm doing wrong. I called the company yesterday and they just said there's just no towers. We have all kind of towers around. Please help. Thanks

Well you did not give enough info but I have used Mobal in Europe and their service was good (expensive).
Some time ago in the area of western Virginia my cell stopped working (T-Mobile), no coverage and the local cell providers did not support roaming from T-Mobile.
Check to see if T-mobile or AT&T have coverage in your area, if they do then it should work, mine did interface with both companies.

Stormin280, thanks for replying at all. This was my first post and am real green. My question is if the phone I bought, like is recommed on this forum, will work at all. I turn it on and it should work because it is supposed to work in the US and all over the world. I would like to know that small thing.

Is a Mobal phone one used by the Mafia or is it a first cousin to the more peripatetic mobile phone?

Okay jjkey, I have like I said used Mobal in Europe (no problem) and on an occasion in the States (service was provided by AT&T). Your phone is GSM, compatible with AT&T and T-Mobile.

Who are the cell phone companies that provide service in your area?
If you are outside the area serviced by AT&T wireless or T-Mobile, you will get the warning "No Service".

The phones that Mobal sells are locked meaning that you cannot swap the sim card out for one from another company.

The GSM phones are not always compatible with the various US cell providers.

If you cannot get a signal and are really unsure about the phone, return it. I cancelled my service with Mobal because of the expense, surprise bills and poor response from their support staff.

I simply purchased an unlocked cell phone (Tigerdirect.com or others) and when I got off the plane in Dublin went to a Vodafone shop and bought a "new number pay as you go"
package (about $20), worked perfectly and had no surprise bills.

Vodafone also has shops in London.
You can also purchase pay as you go phones in London. Top off cards are available at shops all over the UK and Northern Ireland.

Based on the review by The Travel Insider, the Mobal cell phone service in not a good option for most travelers.

http://www.thetravelinsider.info/

Well, good option or not, jjkey has one. I think you will be all right, jj, I got two Mobal phones a couple of years ago. Neither worked in the States, but when I turned them on in Heathrow, both came on, connected, and worked in the U.K., France, Italy, and Croatia.

Have a great trip!

:-)

No problems with our 2 $49 Mobal phones, and no 'surprise' billing. They clearly state their rates online. They provide a detail on your online profile. Emails were answered promptly.

Sorry, can't speak for the USA-service, or lack thereof - sounds like Stormin understands the routine.

jjkey,

I bought the $49 Mobal phone a few years ago. Like nukesafe, mine doesn't get a signal in the US, but it works like a charm in Europe.

I've used it in Ireland, UK, Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Croatia and Turkey. Yes, the charges can be expensive, but I typically only use it for touching base back at home when I travel.

You should be able to turn it on (at home) and enter phone numbers you want to save in your phone.

Have a great trip!

As I understand it, mobal has 2 offers...a $49 phone which is a gsm phone with the 900 and 1800 mhz frequencies....such a phone will most assuredly not work in the USA as those two frequencies are not used in the USA for mobile phones. End of story there.

The $99 offer, which is the one the OP boughtt, is trickier. I would assume it is a tri band phone with 900/1800/1900 mhz frequencies. It should work in the USA but not everywhere. You see, the two major gsm carriers in the USA, T Mobile USA and AT&T (aka Cingular) operate a bit differently (they would most likely be the roaming partners in the USA)...

T Mobile USA was the original gsm provider here. It's entire network operates on 1900 mhz and should be accessible in those areas where t Mobile USA provides service but, and it's a fairly large but, T Mobile USA coverage is a bit spotty especially in rurual areas away from the interstates.

AT&T, OTOH, operates most of its service on 850 mhz (they do some 1900) for which this phone will not work.

From what I see, the OP is in an area where T Mobile USA does not provide service and the only gsm provider is AT&T operating on 850 mhz. which would not work where the OP is presently. It might well be if the OP were to travel a few miles, it might be able to pick up a signal from t mobile USA. But since the phone is booting up and the OP is getting a message NO SERVICE provider, that would be the most likely cause of this.

Thanks AT&T for giving the USA yet another incompatible gsm frequency which causes this problem all the time for people.

Thanks to everyone that answered. My problem seems to be that we live to far in the sticks, that we don't have cell service for either T-Mobil or Cingular, as they do 200 miles in any direction from us. I'll just go with what I have and if it won't work in London, I will find something there. Last year we didn't have a phone and it was kind of nice. Thanks to stormin, nukesafe, travelnut, LowCountryIslander and xyz123.

Having a phone is 'kind of nice', too. You control the phone - keep it turned off and just check for messages. Turn it on only if you get separated from your travel partner. No need at all for the presence of a phone to interfere with your trip enjoyment.

jjkey, we have the $99 phone and if I remember correctly somewhere on the set up page that came with the phone is a statement that reads the phone will not work in the U.S..

Before our trip to Spain last month I wanted to test the phone to make sure it was still working since we hadn't used it since Italy, Dec 2006. We have international calling on our home phone so I used it to call the Mobal...had a nice conversation with myself, lol. Hope this helps.

the $99 phone works in the US, the $49 does not.

If you use it to text instead of talk you will spend much less--it is 80 cents to send a message and does not cost to receive. Also a cheaper way to check the phone in the states for service is to send a text rather than call.

Welcome to Fodors, jjkey. Hope you enjoy it but not to the point of addiction, like some of us!

cherrybomb and cynthia_booker, thanks for your response. I did email the company and got an answer this afternoon saying what everyone here had already said.
As far as being hooked on this site, to late. Most of the time I just read and outside of this post have never asked. About the time I have a question, I find an answer here, thanks to all posters.

With a Mobal SIM, it would be a good idea to check your phone manual and learn to lock the SIM. Be sure to select a code you will never, ever forget, and make a record of it in a safe place. Be sure to refer to the Mobal instructions in this regard also.

If your phone is lost or stolen, anyone could run up a huge bill on your account. Mobal will cancel your account as soon as you call them, but serious charges could be incurred in the meantime. And, be sure to have the Mobal number for reporting lost/stolen phones handy. Make sure you have the emergency number, not the one with limited hours.

If you lock your SIM, no one can access your SIM, or use it in another phone.

Note that SIM lock and Phone Lock are two different functions.

I have a tri-band phone, which I've had for years (Sony Ericsson T610), and two Mobal SIMs I received four years ago. When I first inserted the SIMs, I got no local signal but was able to program phone numbers into the phone book, so assumed the SIM was in working order. They worked just fine in London and Paris.

I finally located (the safe place where I stored) the SIMs and inserted one. I am getting a very week (often yellow bars instead of green) TMO signal. (We live 40 miles northwest of Boston.)

I would like to report back on the use of my phone. It worked great in London and in Paris. We used it almost daily, calling home. The connection was as good as anything I have used here in the states. Again thanks for all the response before our trip.

Good to hear, jjkey.

I was pleasantly surprised, again, by the charges to use the phone when our cc statement arrived.

My advice is to use the Mobal only for emergencies and urgent dealings -- and tell your friends/family to call you only in an emergency. The rates are very high when receiving a call. My dear daughter called me in Santorini to wish me a happy Mother's Day. I wouldn't for the world have told her to cut the conversation short, but boy did I have a huge bill when I got home! Worth it - I'm not complaining -- just sharing some info.

Never had a Mobal phone, but I own a Motorola tri-band, and a T-Mobile quad band. Did you make sure that you are on the right band/frequency for the US?

Mobal rates are very high period! Receiving or making calls are just so expensive, so use mobal if it's really an emergency. The only advantage of mobal is that the sim does not expire. However, there are several other sims (yackie, maxroam, UM+, etc) out there, that have been discussed here,and will give you free incoming in lots of countries, and very reasonable outgoing rates.

bookmarking

To review, I'm the guy from another thread who doesn't know which bathing suit to wear during my trip to Greece...

...I just bought the $99 Mobal phone, based on an advertisement in the Skymall magazine. (The $49 phone does not work in the US, the $99 does, and in about 20 additional countries too.) Don't know if it's still going on but I bought directly from Mobal and received a set of adapters (plugs) and a $99 call credit. Haven't tried it out yet -- my trip's not until late August -- but I decided to go with it because there's no hidden charges -- all you do is buy the phone and you're only charged when you make or receive a call. When the trip is over just stick it in the drawer until the next trip.

Supposedly voicemail is an expensive proposition -- you pay once when the call comes in, twice for it to deflect to the voicemail center in the UK, and a third time to retrieve the message. I'm just going to tell the family my phone will be turned on from say noon - 2 (US time) each day, and if they need to call, do it then.

Just to follow up on this, I did go on the trip and used the Mobal phone to call people back in the US and in Greece while I was there. It worked flawlessly. Call quality was very good. Even sent an SMS or two.

I received a $99 call credit when I bought the phone so I don't have any idea how much of it was used, but if I had to guess I'd say about $35 or $40. My longest call was about 5 minutes, the shortest was about a minute.

I like the fact that the phone works in 170 countries and I'm not charged for anything unless I make a call, so I'll just put it back in the drawer and wait for the next trip...

Hi jj

We use Mobal in Europe, but only for emergencies.

The per minute rates are very high.

If you are planning to use the phone every day, it is not a good choice.

((I))

OMG--MOBAL works too well. We sent ours with our daughter to Europe a few years ago and she got very homesick her last week. She also put it in her backpocket and her "butt" called me on the train from Milan to Venice and I could not get the damn thing to disconnect once I realized what had happened. But then I realized that I could overhear the two young men in the compartment trying to pick up my daughter and her friend so I listened in fear until they must have gone through a tunnel and lost the signal. Therefore, the $700 bill was partly my fault.

yep, mobal is quitre expensive. It's good for may be a call or two here and there. Anything above that, it's NOT worth it. There are too many sims out there that will only cost a fraction of what mobal charges.

My Mobal has been the perfect solution for my purposes. I use it only as needed and am able to call home to check messages, the bank and credit card companies if needed, etc. Ease of use cannot be beat and it is a great little Nokia, too.

Anyone have any up-to-date information about this Mobal Cell phone? Any pros or cons? I know it is more expensive per minute but we may purchase one just for emergencies.

<I>Travelnut on May 9, 08 at 11:46 AM

You control the phone - keep it turned off and just check for messages. Turn it on only if you get separated from your travel partner.</i>

But ... if you both have your phones turned off, they won't be very useful for staying in touch, <I>n'est-ce pas</i>? Continually having to power up to check for messages is a PIA.

The advice to SIM-lock any phone when in Europe is sound. The worst-case scenario is not pretty.

We will just have 1 phone and use it just for emergencies or checking in with elderly parents and children as necessary. I don't know if this Mobal phone can be locked. We want just one number and don't want to buy new sim cards in each country. This phone looks like it would work for us.

Telestial has a terrific unlocked Europe phone bundle for $39.

http://www.telestial.com/promo/packlite.php

Robes, what I was saying above was in response to the poster who implied having a phone could be a nuisance or intrusive while on vacation. My point was, you don't have to be at the mercy of a phone, you control when to be interrupted, otherwise just check for messages.

My husband and I have no problem turning off our phones until we part ways, then turning them on while apart. Typically, though, we just leave them on since we don't have anyone back home pestering us.

The mobal offer makes little sense in this day and age. They want you actually to pay to receive calls while in Europe. What a laugh.

Well, The Mobal does make sense to me because I don't have a US cell phone that has access in Europe. I also don't want to spend my vacation time trying to buy sim cards in every country I am visiting. We will just make quick calls to check in with family members in US periodically or emergency calls. We certainly don't plan to chit chat on the phone during vacation. Other options may be cheaper but sometimes cheaper isn't always the best option.

Sorry to hijack this thread, but I just posted another question on the same general subject. Perhaps someone following this thread has an answer.

I used Mobal phones on several trips to Europe, but threw them out earlier this year, as the advice on this forum said they were stupidly expensive; and that was correct for the usage I put them to. Anyway, no sooner had I done so than my Daughter announced she is going to the UK, Belgium, and Germany to visit relatives. She has some medical problems, and I want her to have a phone for emergencies, arranging transportation, and etc. I also want it to work in the States, so she can contact her relatives from here.

I have bought a quad band phone on eBay, and am looking for the best SIM to purchase that will work both in the US, and Europe. Does anyone have suggestions?

Thanks,

:-)

Jayne111-your story about your daughter almost sounds like the movie TAKEN. Have you seen it? Scary.

Just bought the Telestial suggested by Robespierre above (thanks!). I have the Mobal and for my 2007 Europe trip paid over 1k in phone bills. Don't intend to make that mistake again. Hopefully I can figure this one out, no way to test til I'm there as it doesn't work in US.