Database Users

Can I get a Japanese SIM card to work with my Hermes?

I have tried searching the forums but could not find anything on how I could get a Japanese SIM card to use with my Hermes to minimise (ridiculous) Vodafone roaming costs, particularly for data, while I am in Japan on business. If I am not currently a resident in Japan, what are my options? I may be able to use my client's business address here if being a resident is a requirement for a contract, but I am also interested in prepaid options. I am prepared to go into various Softbank, au and Docomo shops if necessary, but I was hoping that I could tap into the collective wisdom of the forum to give me some pointers.
arigatou!

Kurvenal said:
If I am not currently a resident in Japan, what are my options? I may be able to use my client's business address here if being a resident is a requirement for a contract, but I am also interested in prepaid options. I am prepared to go into various Softbank, au and Docomo shops if necessary, but I was hoping that I could tap into the collective wisdom of the forum to give me some pointers.
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These days as a foreigner you will have to prove residency in Japan to get a post-paid contract. Either by showing a Japanese driving license, a foreigner registration card, a combination of health insurance card and utility bill, etc. The only way for you to get a post-paid contract if you don't live here is to have someone else get the contract in their (or their business's) name.
Pre-paid is relatively easy. You don't have to prove that you live here (though you do have to show something with your name on it, like a passport), but I don't know if they have pre-paid SIM cards or if they only have SIM-less prepaid phones. I think that Softbank is the only carrier left who still does prepaid.

Can I purchase a pay-as-you-go SIM in the US?

I'm taking my T-Mobile Vario II from the UK to the US next month and I was wondering if I can simply buy a PAYG SIM card in the States and use this on my phone while I'm there?
I know that the phone is locked so can I buy a T-Mobile SIM and use that?
Cheers.

Out of interest is there any reason why you do not unlock your phone first?

Sure, Cingular and T-mobile both sell prepaid sim cards (though you may be better off trying to get one on ebay first).
A T-mobile UK phone will NOT accept a T-mobile US sim without unlocking it, they are considered different networks and a phone locks itself to the network code.
Keep in mind though that in the US we don't have prepaid data like in the UK. PAYG in the US lacks many other things like roaming and cheap calls abroad.

Wam7 said:
Out of interest is there any reason why you do not unlock your phone first?
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To be honest, I don't know how to! I have a T-Mobile Vario II with the standard ROM.

Are PAYG SIMS available in Canada?
Is Canada considered 'abroad' with regard to a US SIM? And vice versa?
I'm going to both Canada and the US this year and want to know the score.
Thanks

mindracing said:
Is Canada considered 'abroad' with regard to a US SIM? And vice versa?
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When I was in Canada in July, Tmobile2Go SIM would *NOT* register. Note that in late '06 Tmo said 2Go SIMs would get roaming - dunno if that applies to Canada or not though. I just looked online and I'm still not sure You can easily pick up a Nokia 6030 here with a Tmo2Go SIM for ~$40. If you unlock and sell the 6030 it's cheaper than buying a SIM alone from Tmobile.
If your Vario II is a Hermes (I don't know T-mobile model names), you should have little trouble unlocking it using the Wiki instructions here.
PM me if you need help acquiring a US SIM card.
HTH,
Richard

Only Rogers pay as you go sim card has US roaming, but that's really expensive!

[Q] T8282 + Prepaid?

Hello All,
Just recently came across a T8282 for sale, At a local thrift store of all places (lol).
Aside from some screen scratches (I assume these did not come with a factory protector/layer I can just peel off?) and missing the stylus + SIM card, But It works perfectly.
Anyway,
This is my first "Real" cell phone or "Modern" I guess you would say.
I've always used Prepaid service and Phones provided by the Prepaid Carrier, As has my family.
We all use Virgin Mobile, And I already have an established account with funds on it for them.
Also, They just added a very reasonable monthly Data Package Plan that seems to be the best deal around in prepaid.
Would there be any possible way to use Virgin Mobile Service with my new T8282?
I'm aware Virgin does not ussualy use SIM cards (or at all) in there phones, But, I've seen some Virgin Sim cards up for sale on auctions sites that appear to be available from outside the US.
Would I be able to make one of these "Foreign" SIM Cards work properly inside the US?
And if not~
What is a good Prepaid Service Provider that uses SIM cards I could switch over to?
I'm aware prepaid is not really the way to go with a phone like this, But I'm not really a hardcore user, And Non-Contract has always got me through just fine.
Sorry if this is in the wrong area.
Oh, And does this phone come already unlocked? Or will I need to do that also?

Bad news I'm afraid
The T8282 is a European GSM/UMTS handset and as such won't work on Virgin Mobile in the US (which uses the Sprint CDMA network)
You'll need to switch to a US carrier which uses GSM - AT&T and T-Mobile are the two big networks which do. In addition, you'll only get voice and GPRS data as the phone can't use the 3G frequences used in the US (the T8285 was the version with US bands)
Virgin Mobile is a global brand, but each country runs its network seperatly. You won't be able to pick up a SIM card and expect it to work on the US Virgin network.
As ther T8282 wasn't sold officially in the US, it will already have been unlocked if it has been used with a US network.
There's other people here which have used a T8282 in the US, it's worth searching the forums.

*Facedesk*
Thanks for all the info handsomedog.
I kinda figured Virgin wouldnt work out, But had to ask.
I dont mind switching Carriers as long as its a prepaid service, But did not count on the phone not being able to "Fully" function... That really sucks.

[Q] What network to use when taking a Nexus One to UK and Europe mostly for data?

Hi all.
I am traveling to the UK and Europe for 8 weeks with my Telecom XT (New Zealand) Nexus One (From AT&T 850/1900mhz).
Does anyone know what the best network to go on would be? I will be using the phone mostly for data connections for maps, email, booking accommodation etc and also as a wi-fi hot spot for my laptop. I will send no more then 5 txts per day and maybe 1 call a day tops.
I had a look around the forums but couldn't find any info since around 2008. I figure its going to be a bit of a pain because I will be roaming.
If anyone from the UK or who has knowledge of their networks could help it would be much appreciated.
My apologies for putting this in General rather then Q&A. I cannot figure out how to delete or move this either...

Do you absolutely need your NZ number? Or else you should just buy a pay as you go sim in the few countries where you will stay for a while. You can roam for a few days between longer stops and buy another once you get somewhere else. Only takes a few minutes in the uk.
With data you can call out on skype. So you can use that also.

Hi, Thanks for the reply. I have no need to use my New Zealand Number.
I was hoping I would be able to buy a sim on a network over there that would allow me to use data in the UK and several countries around Europe (EU). For the Europe part of the Journey we are only spending up to 4 days in each country so I don't particularly want to but 7 sim cards. Is there a network that offers a sim that will work in all of Europe without charging roaming rates? That way I could I just have another on for in the UK?
I think you could be right about having one Sim for the Uk and then buying another one in every few countries in the Europe.
I was hoping a UK carrier might have a data that allowed roaming but it doesn't look like that.
Is there a prepaid sim that would work in EU countries without charging roaming in between them?

NZtoUK said:
Hi, Thanks for the reply. I have no need to use my New Zealand Number.
I was hoping I would be able to buy a sim on a network over there that would allow me to use data in the UK and several countries around Europe (EU). For the Europe part of the Journey we are only spending up to 4 days in each country so I don't particularly want to but 7 sim cards. Is there a network that offers a sim that will work in all of Europe without charging roaming rates? That way I could I just have another on for in the UK?
I think you could be right about having one Sim for the Uk and then buying another one in every few countries in the Europe.
I was hoping a UK carrier might have a data that allowed roaming but it doesn't look like that.
Is there a prepaid sim that would work in EU countries without charging roaming in between them?
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Almost all the carriers have agreements with each other. A uk sim will roam in most if not all of europe. The problem with having a sim from one country is that you might not be able to top it up in another country. I have a tmo uk sim but ive never tried adding money from somewhere else. You might be able to do it with a credit card online but im not sure if that will work 100%.
Roaming with data is a complete ripoff! For 5 pounds a month in the uk i get 1gb. If you pay 30 pounds you only get 50mb abroad so I would definitely try stopping quickly at a phone store if youre data hungry. I dont know any where you can use anywhere
On the other hand there are some euro travel plans on tmo/orange/o2 that give you 200/300 minutes abroad per month at a discounted rate and recieve for free.
plans from uk:
http://www.o2international.co.uk/callingfromoverseas/myeurope_extra.aspx
http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/services/boosters/
http://www2.orange.co.uk/servlet/Satellite?c=OUKPage&cid=1044131837837&pagename=PersonalIR#ET
FYI you recieve txts for FREE in europe

Yeah. Looks like I should just get A prepaid sim for the UK while I'm there and get another pre paid sim in a couple of European countries.
It looks like I can get 50 Mb £40 that will last for 30 days in Europe with Orange. I doubt 50mb will be enough.
Vodafone Uk looks the best with Vodafone Data Traveller that gives you 25MB in selected European countries for 2pounds per day. It doesn't say if its 25MB per day or per month but I assume it is per day.
Still a complete rip off like you said.
I was hoping there was going to be a network that would cover all UK and Europe so that's a shame.
Ill just have to hope I don't lose all my sim cards I will be carrying.
Cheers for your help.
Ill post back here if I find a particularly cheap way to use data on my phone while in multiple countries in Europe.

I bought a pre-paid Orange SIM when I was in the UK a few months ago. Came with 100MB which I managed to make last the whole two weeks (ran out on my last day). However, that was being very careful with mobile data and using Wifi as much as possible.

Here is a quite useful overview:
http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/roaming/tariffs/in_ms/index_en.htm
Just select the country where you bought your prepaid SIM, then select "data pre-paid" and you will see the costs in your destination country.
The prices are very similar because they are limited by european regulations recently introduced.

"3" prepaid sim is dirt cheap for data. Buy in the UK and you can use your data allocation in UK, Ireland, Italy and Sweden without any roaming charges at all.
I've used my "3 Ireland" sim over in Italy and it worked a threat.
€4.99 for 500MB/month so it won't cost an arm and a leg. You can buy as many data addons as you need and when one expires then it automatically starts using the next one. So if 1Gb required just buy 2 data addons for €9.98
3 UK will have different pricing and offers, but data roaming will still work for the above mentioned countries.
See here for more info http://www.three.co.uk/
Just drop into one of their stores when you're in the UK and get it all sorted there.
HTH.

I can confirm what cpm says. I'm on 3 Ireland with a free add-on of 500MB data per month that I can use in Denmark while roaming on the Danish 3 network. The same applies when I'm in Sweden, UK, and Italy.

+1 for three
they even give you free skype (over gsm... not crappy data connection)

NZtoUK said:
Hi all.
I am traveling to the UK and Europe for 8 weeks with my Telecom XT (New Zealand) Nexus One (From AT&T 850/1900mhz).
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Europe uses 900/2100mhz

i have t-mobile N1 from USA.
i was in london 2 months ago and at heathrow, i got a t-mobile sim chip out of a vending machine ( 10 to 15 pounds ) and had seamless experience as local customer on the new number. The only hard part was figuring out that i needed to 'top-off' the pay-go account and finally went to a t-mobile store in order to pay 15 or 20 pounds at a time to get necessary credit on the pay-go account.

I have a US tmo nexus, and used orange in the UK for a few weeks earlier this year. Loved the fact that you can top up by going into virtually any store and buying a top up voucher, then just enter the voucher PIN into your phone...
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App

Don't forget that you can also top-up your Pay As You Go data online also (unless you need a UK credit card?). Useful when you already have your first data package in place.
If you go with 3 though, you shouldn't need to top-up your data plan too often

Using Verizon in Mexico with the Pure... Not that easy

So, my wife and I are heading to Mexico next week and I wanted to be able to have international usage for emergencies. My wife is using the S6 edge purchased through VZW and I of course have my X Pure. We were able to add an Int'l plan on her line but with mine it didn't work. The call got escalated to support and the rep mentioned that the phone may not be in registered in the system (I just cut my micro-sim and placed it in the pure). He said he was going to fill out a form adding the IMEI to the system and that should fix the issue in 3 business days. Have any of you guys heard of this?

I can't speak for Mexico but we are going on a cruise next month. I had Verizon send me a sim before I got my X. I activated it on the new sim with no issues. I then called them and said we were taking an Eastern Caribbean cruise next month and mine got setup with no problem. They will probably have you up and running.

Not sure how long you are going for but paying for roaming to verizon is a lot of money if you go over the data. Did you think of buying a prepaid sim there?pretty sure you would save a lot of money.

Don't add international to your plan. Just buy a prepaid SIM when you get to Mexico. It will be much cheaper and it will work with 0 Verizon BS issues getting in your way.

patt2k said:
Not sure how long you are going for but paying for roaming to verizon is a lot of money if you go over the data. Did you think of buying a prepaid sim there?pretty sure you would save a lot of money.
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gtg465x said:
Don't add international to your plan. Just buy a prepaid SIM when you get to Mexico. It will be much cheaper and it will work with 0 Verizon BS issues getting in your way.
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Actually, we've been with VZW FOREVER. So, there is a promo for tier 1 customers: 500 min calling/ 500 text outgoing w. unlimited incoming/ 1 GB data - free for each line for one billing cycle. Then its $25. So, this actually is the cheapest way to go.

sebastianraven said:
Actually, we've been with VZW FOREVER. So, there is a promo for tier 1 customers: 500 min calling/ 500 text outgoing w. unlimited incoming/ 1 GB data - free for each line for one billing cycle. Then its $25. So, this actually is the cheapest way to go.
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I see. Well for 25$ in Europe I almost had month and a half of service lol

If you opt out for buying a pre-paid SIM in Mexico for the GS6, be sure to get a IUSACELL or UNEFON (Iusacell subsidiary) SIM card, which are the only carriers in Mexico that have CDMA technology because your GS6 VZW phone will not work correctly with another carrier's SIM (been there, done that myself).
The MotoX should work perfectly with any carrier (at least mine is working perfectly in Movistar) as it has all bands activated.

chanok12 said:
If you opt out for buying a pre-paid SIM in Mexico for the GS6, be sure to get a IUSACELL or UNEFON (Iusacell subsidiary) SIM card, which are the only carriers in Mexico that have CDMA technology because your GS6 VZW phone will not work correctly with another carrier's SIM (been there, done that myself).
The MotoX should work perfectly with any carrier (at least mine is working perfectly in Movistar) as it has all bands activated.
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I think he should have no issues Verizon s6 I'd sim unlocked as well. Even if he gets no lte it should work fine on GSM. My old note4 worked in Europe just fine.
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