I have a UK T Mobile Vario, and am taking it with me on my Orlando holiday in a couple of weeks time. I am really wanting to use it to send / receive quick emails.
The plan is to connect to my email, pull down the mail headers and then disconnect. With the mail items I want to read, I go back online and pull the full message down.
I want to drop quick mail messages to friends and family back home, and give certain updates to people on items I have been asked to buy, make sure they are OK with prices etc etc.
There appears to be various mobile cariers in Florida, and am not sure which my phone will connect to when I turn it on, but I know how to manually select a network.
The question is this, the villa is in the Indian Ridge development in Kissimmee, so should I select a specific carrier to get data features, or will any of the available ones allow it?
Vario is Triband so USA is not a problem.
You may be better ringing Tmobile UK and asking them which carrier is cheaper for roaming data in the area you will be travelling to. If you add international option to your account before you go ?3quid or thereabouts, you can get cheaper roaming. It may be cheaper buying a sim in the US and connecting on the local sim.
Maybe our American forum users could suggest the cheapest PAYG options. including data.
I had no coverage problems with tmobile around Orlando earlier this year.
If all else fails, most of the hotels in the area seem to have free, open WiFi
and plenty of parking ;-)
i lived in orlando with t-mobile, and never had any problems with coverage
Related
Hi,
I just bought a T-Mobile Pocket PC. It is locked onto T-Mobile and I want to use it on Cingular Wireless for a couple of days till my number is ported to T-Mobile in the next 5-6 days as I have been told.
Any solutions will be most appreciated but please understand it is a brand new unit I have bought after cooking the ROM on the old Siemens SX-56 still lying with me; and I really really don't want to mess this one up. It has Windows Mobile 2003 edition on it.
Thanks in advance for your help.
Before trying to unlock it, I would check that Cingular are NOT operating on the 850Mhz band in your area as they are in mine (Atlanta) As the XDA is only tri band, it will not work on Cingular's 850 network. Even if there are roaming options in your area, I have found that the Cingular SIM prevents roaming on 1900Mhz, when a native Cingular 850Mhz band is present.
Thanks for the reply. Yups, u're right but I wanted to use the phone in London and its ok since they have a 900Mhz bank there. Also, I spoke to T-Mobile and they will be sending me the unlocking code in 4-5 days, they are more helpful than Cingular in that way.
Ah, London!, my home town!! You may know this already, but in case not, here goes...
Before you go, make sure that T-Mobile USA have your account set up to make international calls. When you get there, you will have to manually change the band on your phone to pick up the 900Mhz band. Once you do that, the phone will probably connect to either the O2 or the Vodaphone network, as T-Mobile operates only on the 800 band over there.... You will of course be hit for some pretty hefty call charges, as all your calls (even to UK numbers) will be treated as international calls. It took me a couple of trips and a couple of $400 - $500 monthly invoices to get wise to what was going on. Then, once I had the phone unlocked, I switched to using an O2 Pay and Go SIM card whenever I am in the UK, leaving a message on my US TMO voice mail with the UK number if someone wanted to reach me. It saved me a lot of money when I finally figured it out.
Re:
Well my friend you saved me the trouble of figuring it out on myself and of course the huge amounts of un-justified spend dollars!!!
Thanks a bundle! I will take your advice and use the pay-to-go cards instead of my T-Mobile service, and leave the voice mail and I can as it is extract the voicemail from anywhere, unlike the Cingular voicemail which you cannot except just from your phone.
Great! glad to help A couple of other things spring to mind...
When you go into the O2 store to get the 'Pay and Go', see if they can also set you up for international calls. Its about a $3.00 one time activation fee. That way you will be able to dial back to the US with the Pay and Go SIM. Rates are about $1.50c a minute. You may have to phone O2 custmer service to activate it, buts its worth the trouble.
O2 will also give you a top up card that you can use at pretty much any gas, sorry, petrol station to top up your pay and go account. Just give the attendant the top up card, a credit card and tell them how much you want to add to your pay and go account. Its pretty slick!
Also, if you need to pull e-mail down from your US e-mail account, you can always just put the T-Mobile SIM back in and connect via GPRS through O2. I believe that there is a data option available with O2 Pay and Go as what they call one of their "bolt ons", but I never managed to get that done on my last trip. Anyway, have a good trip!!
Re:
Thanks a million!
Hi,
Could those Universal owners in Australia response to this thread with...
a) What provider they are with
b) What plan they are on
c) The procedure for configuring their unit with their provider (to this point of surfing the net on mobile broadband.
Rather than trial and error I thought I'd try and cheat and just ask someone who's gone through all the pain already.
I would also be interested to hear comparisons between plans and providers.
Regards
Michael
I'm interested too! I've been looking on the net at Telstra, Optus, Vodafone and Three but I can't see anything really great - all very exy!!
Most are linked with phones on plans - not good for us we've already got the unit.
I want a sim only plan that gives me reasonable rates for data download.
I'm using Three - gave the bundled phone to a friend who wanted to upgrade an old NEC. $99 Cap Plan includes $15 towards data usage, but i've never managed to get past the $99 cap yet.
The data speed is fast - to get 3G you need to create a new connection, set the AccessPoint, which is "3netaccess", and leave all others blank. Roams to Telstra GPRS when out of coverage in Oz.
Don't bother with Three if you go overseas - there's no data coverage outside Australia for Australian customers.
There is also no comprehensible FAQ on their site for the MMS setup - just lots of pages with "your phone comes preconfigured - don't change it" comments. Ringing support is no good, if you try to, they soon figure out you are not using "their" phone, and can't help you.
If anyone else here has MMS working please give the settings.
Telstra Universal on 3G
I purchased my JasJar in the UK on a business trip, and with my UK Vodafone SIM had 3G working fine.
For Telstra 3G you need a new USIM for 3G - they should supply for free if you're a post-paid customer.
It actually roams onto the joing 3/Telstra network and drops back to Telstra GPRS.
The Telstra settings are simple - telstra.internet for the APN
Also, the 3G data plans are more generous - I changed from $55/month 5MB plan to a 3G $15/month 6MB plan.
All seems to be working fine.
www.andrewgrill.com
I have the JJ and use Telstra. The process was simple, Tell my secretary to give it to me, TElstra call me back and say that I have it, use the Imate auto configure to install it and of I go.
Expensive yes, but in the overall scheme of my business costs, its not worth looking at. Telstra I believe have a special for the video call bit that they charge the same for a video call as they do for a mobile phone call, to get you to join and try it. I dont have anybody interested in video calls.
I didnt need a telstra sim to do this, and havent actually tested it for videos.
I only really use it a little bit for internet connectivity, and given that I have wireless networks at home and office, I dont use the GPRS to 3G connectivity much.
Heads up though and it is posted in these forums elsewhere that phone companies (and I suspect telstra) would limit it your speeds to the minimum required for video conferencing which is 128kb ps, whereas 3G networks are capable of 384kbps, and only switch it on when you ask for it.
I really dont have that much need, and it doesnt even come close to the capabilities and speeds, ease, costs and overall benefits of the ADSL wireless network.
Hi, I sold my Universal (O2 Xda Exec unlocked) to somebody on eBay who lives in Melbourne, Australia.
Today I received this e-mail from him after he received it:
"My sim card doesn't work."invalid or missing sim card" appears.Can you help me to figure out."
Any ideas anyone?
PS: I should add that mine was one of the 1st Execs shipped in December and was definately unlocked as I had it working with O2 and Orange. All I have changed is to install the new Extended ROM update from their web site, which I presume doesn't have SIM locking does it?
PPS: Update from user: "Thanks for your response.Australia has got a couple network. I currently use $49 cap plan Optus network. but I don't have any idea about frequency."
my friend had a problem with optusnet, told it was the phone!!
I put my telstra sim in, worked perfectly the first time.
went to optus, requested a new sim, got it tested it didn't work, logged a support call, waited for call back, tried agin with support, nothing returned, got a telstra sim the next day and never looked back...
moral, optusnet support sucks when they don't sell you a phone, the knoledge is limited and competency sucks.
BUT I do use them for adsl, and home phone, even then acknowledge that they suck.
Tell your customer to test it on a friends telstra card and run the telstra cab, its something in optusnet.
by the way, my friends phone wa the imate jam / xda mini so the problems hadn't even started with the 3g network of the exec.
my jasjar works perfectly on telstra.
pm me, or get your customer onto the forum if I can provide localised help.
Thanks. Can you please clarify what you mean by "run the telstra cab, its something in optusnet"? What is a 'cab'?
Are they the same network and would he be able to retain his account, or does he have to switch networks?
Networks in Australia
Although Optus and Vodafone in Australia actually share a 3G network (3G air interface) everything beyond that is separate so for billing etc your friend would need a new SIM card. It's likely thet Optus people did not sell him a 3G SIM card - they will have to tell them what it is for so they give him the right SIM.
In OZ, Telstra share with 3 so you 'roam' onto the 3 network for 3G even though you have a Telstra SIM
the cab file is located on the extended rom, or on the 02 website, or the imate website, I have also posted the file elsewhere on this forum if you look for telstra.
if you cant find it, i can locate it and post it, just dont have it handy now.
a cab file installs programs or settings to a device. this particular one sets up all the mms, phone and 3 g settings. if he did a hard reset, the phone itself would ask him his communications provider and do this automatically. but telstra can only be used on telstra, and optus on optus networks, and they are effectively strings of commands to access gprs, 3g, and wap sites.
he may not have run the setup correctly on this. if he installs total commander, and types into the address field \extended_rom\ he would be able to locate the file on the device already and just run it to establish his correct settings.
however, i feel it is likely that the sim card is dud.
Hi all, thanks for your previous help. The customer now has a new SIM from Optus, Australia, which works great for calls.
However, he cannot set up GPRS. He states:
"I tried everything to set up gprs setting.I couldn't.I check the my friend's xda ii series gprs setting.It has got auto config option.So it does itself.But my xda exec ask me phone number ,domain name,username password,dns setting etc.
I rang to Optus technical support.They told me they don't support this one.They gave me dns number but didn't work. But I think . if xda ii works, exec should work.I just need set up for Australia. Please help me."
Does anyone have a link to an Optus Australia auto-config util that will send him the config in a magic SMS?
Failing that, can you type all the details here or provide a link to the Optus cab?
I'm with Vodafone on a $79 cap. The cap value includes data ($1/5min), but the billing by time rather than downloads might not suit most people.
As for configuring the phone - I just downloaded the operator settings CAB file from clubimate.com. Sets up everything perfectly!
AFIK, Vodafone and Optus are the only ones that will offer Sim-only 3G plans. Of course, you can go with Three, and just discard the phone (you can get a free phone on a $29 cap!)
JJ on Three network
JJ on Three network.
I'm going to check this post and report in the near future:
http://aussie3g.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=16121&highlight=jasjar+3netaccess
telstra also offer 3g plans, but I use their phone network and sim card as part of our corporate plan.
I have sent the customer the std cab file on my imate rom, which he reports was not beneficial for him.
I am not on optus so don't actually have the configuration settings.
spludge said:
Don't bother with Three if you go overseas - there's no data coverage outside Australia for Australian customers.
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Click to collapse
i never tried data, but videocalls worked fine...the only limitation being it only works on the overseas 3 network (3 - Hong Kong in my case, this was 2 years ago when i still lived in brisbane)
It's okay guys, Optus were giving him wrong details. He found the right ones -- they're all over Google
Is there any way of knowing in which countries GPRS will work in? I've got a T-Mobile MDA Vario and on one or two occasions I wasn't able to get GPRS up and running in order to browse the net. Just wondering if it doesn't work in some countries or if that was a coincidence.
Isn't there a list of countries/companies which T-Mobile have roaming agreements with on the T-Mobile website ?
Yes but this only indicates where you can use the phone. My understanding is that this does not necessarily include GPRS/data availability or access.
Yes, just because you can roam does not mean you can use GPRS. I do not think that info is on www.gsm.org either. Drop an email to T-Mobile customer service if it isn't on their site.
Must admit I always buy a local SIM for data usage now that many operators have pre-paid GPRS.
GPRS abroad..
T-Mobile do have partners abroad - for the preferred network to use and cheaper calls - but that doesn't mean you will get any of your GPRS allowance wheilst roaming.
I have the Web'n'walk tariff , but my mobile bill was still over £160 when I got back after a week in Eire.
I think the GPRS / MMS data usage was at their standard roaming tariff.,, whatever that is.
Charlie Grillo
Some examples
I couldn't use GPRS with O2 in UK (where T-Mobile wasn't available). I had no trouble with multiple carriers in Barcelona and always found T-Mobile itself in Frankfurt and Bonn. GRPS works in Paris (didn't note the carrier) and never worked with any of NINE partners in Taiwan last year.
prestonmcafee, thanks for the examples. Your visit to the UK must have been some time ago, T-Mobile exists here now, I think they initially came in the market a couple of years back when they acquired what used to be one to one, or whatever they were called.
Yesterday!
Sorry I wasn't clear, what I meant was that I couldn't get GPRS in the UK in the places where T-Mobile wasn't available; T-Mobile is usually available but not always. Victoria Station and Heathrow have places where T-Mobile's signal is so low that the automatic connection on a US T-Mobile phone connects to O2, and in this case, GPRS will fail.
Sometimes, but not usually, a manual connection would turn up T-mobile even when the phone had connected to O2.
I just returned from 5 weeks in the UK yesterday.
LOL
Hi all,
Will a HTC Hermes purchased in UK work with T-MO USA
Yes as long as it is SIM unlocked.
Info is here http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index.php?pagename=Hermes_SimUnlock
S.K.
Yes
I'm just back from Florida and it worked fine - without unlocking. It picked up T-Mobile USA as soon as I stepped off the plane.
That's very interesting. Do you have any idea yet on charges? Did you use calls and data? It would be handy to know.
My hotel had wi-fi so I used that 99% of the time. I did occasionally use a data connection for e-mail (3G in Orlando area, GPRS some other places, nothing down south!) and the odd text message. No phone calls. Cost me around £5 when my bill came in.
Please note that I have an unlimited data plan in the UK but this does not work abroad. Also, I could not use my BT Zone account (even with partner sites such as t-Mobile) when in the US (my BT Mobilezone or whatever it is called) did not work outside of the UK either).
Still, £5 not bad at all really. Definitely a plus for t-mobile there.
Sorry to burst your bubles but...
1.) MDA Vario II is TOTALLY locked! however Pof's unlocker v3 works great.
2.) T-Mobile USa has Nothing to do with T-Mobile UK, or Germany, or any other T-moblie. None of your plans or minutes cross over, this is true all networks, Orange, Voda, etc.
This is how they screw us to the walls, imagin if they give that up? All those 1.50 GBP per minute roaming fees and 40P texts?
And data, forget about it! Even worse.
(The guy above must have sent like 3.5 texts and mad 1 call)
We may get a break with the EU next summer in Europe, (lower roaming fees, Check out O2 for this)
But you will not get b orderless roaming in your lifetimes, you may get reduced fees, which is a start. But NEVER in the US, there you will get screwed.
The best solutions is to BUY PayGo sim cards, in the US T-mobile is the best for that.
I use my pure with t-mobile and will travel to Japan next month for 1 week. I read that wifi calling is not available on this phone at all. I plan to rent a portable hotspot anyhow, so does the sms or mms still work?
I was also checking out how to turn off data roaming on my phone and noticed it was already off but hasn't affected anything so far. Is that normal? I was hoping to at least have text working or would have to revert to email to keep in contact with my family if we separate.
I'm not entirely sure what you are asking here... SMS and MMS will need a connection to T-Mobile, the later will require data connection.
WiFi isn't really "international" or US or Japan, it is just WiFi... although there are some regulatory aspects to it (and channel restrictions in the US), your WiFi should work just fine in Japan. Before getting or renting a hotspot, check out where you are going and look into Softbank's Free WiFi Passport and Travel Japan WiFi, they require registration but can get you free WiFi at almost 500,000 locations in Japan for 2 weeks, there are also paid WiFi networks you can subscribe to. http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2279.html
You might want to look into a Google Voice account, set it up before you go, or get a local SIM.
You could also change your T-Mobile plan to T-Mobile ONE and Simple Choice North America for the term you are there, it would likely cost more but offers free data, text and 20 cent/min voice calls.
chitin said:
I use my pure with t-mobile and will travel to Japan next month for 1 week. I read that wifi calling is not available on this phone at all. I plan to rent a portable hotspot anyhow, so does the sms or mms still work?
I was also checking out how to turn off data roaming on my phone and noticed it was already off but hasn't affected anything so far. Is that normal? I was hoping to at least have text working or would have to revert to email to keep in contact with my family if we separate.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
By chance did you end up testing your data speeds in Japan? I am going there in a month and am trying to avoid a pocket wifi unless absolutely needed.
jjchdc said:
By chance did you end up testing your data speeds in Japan? I am going there in a month and am trying to avoid a pocket wifi unless absolutely needed.
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Click to collapse
I leave on Friday and may end up getting a pocket wifi for 1 week @ $50. T-mobile said my data and all text is still unlimited over there but it caps at 3G speed and I prefer to to have something with us instead of looking for wifi hotspots. Voice calls are $.20/minute, so wifi will have to be enough.
acejavelin said:
I'm not entirely sure what you are asking here... SMS and MMS will need a connection to T-Mobile, the later will require data connection.
WiFi isn't really "international" or US or Japan, it is just WiFi... although there are some regulatory aspects to it (and channel restrictions in the US), your WiFi should work just fine in Japan. Before getting or renting a hotspot, check out where you are going and look into Softbank's Free WiFi Passport and Travel Japan WiFi, they require registration but can get you free WiFi at almost 500,000 locations in Japan for 2 weeks, there are also paid WiFi networks you can subscribe to. http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2279.html
You might want to look into a Google Voice account, set it up before you go, or get a local SIM.
You could also change your T-Mobile plan to T-Mobile ONE and Simple Choice North America for the term you are there, it would likely cost more but offers free data, text and 20 cent/min voice calls.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does google voice use data only? I have a Voice acct and if I rent a personal hotspot, that would work out nicely. I'm a little worried about not being able to make any voice calls in Japan since there's a T-mobile charge. But if our hotspot covers text and google voice, I think we're all set.
chitin said:
I leave on Friday and may end up getting a pocket wifi for 1 week @ $50. T-mobile said my data and all text is still unlimited over there but it caps at 3G speed and I prefer to to have something with us instead of looking for wifi hotspots. Voice calls are $.20/minute, so wifi will have to be enough.
Does google voice use data only? I have a Voice acct and if I rent a personal hotspot, that would work out nicely. I'm a little worried about not being able to make any voice calls in Japan since there's a T-mobile charge. But if our hotspot covers text and google voice, I think we're all set.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It can... Install the Google Voice app or use the Hangouts Dialer plugin.and it can run completely on data.
thats what i am planning to do when i go to the carribean for a few months. i dont have tmobile but when i get there im going to do google voice on one of my phones and a simcard from there for another. check your prices though because what i found is amazing over there. so which ever works cheapest i may go with, but i have been integrated with google voice for years with sprint
30 Day 10 GB $30.00 a month/US