I have a trip to Mexico planned for next month. I know my S5 is global. Verizon customer service told me I didn't need to make any changes to my plan to use my phone in Mexico that I only had to get a foreign SIM card, and usage would be simply applied to me bill. Can someone please explain this process a little better to me please.
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Hi, the reasons I own a Verizon S5 are, first, because I didn't know it would be from Verizon, and second, because it was 45% cheaper than buying directly from my carrier, here in Mexico (Iusacell, BTW).
I guess you should go to the attention center of the carrier of your choice (Telcel, Movistar, Iusacell, Unefon, ¿Virgin?), and ask them if they can give you such a SIM, so you are charged directly by Verizon. They might still charge ~$100MXN (~7.6 USD) just for the SIM.
I don't know if your Verizon Chip will work here, or which carrier is going to provide you with the service.
As a last resort, you can do what I did... buy a SIM with whatever carrier you prefer from the avobe listed, insert it and use it... (you might want to redirect your phone calls to this SIM's number while you're here...)
You might also need to set up your APN... go to settings->more networks->Mobile networks->Access Point Names and click "+"....
You can fill the settings by googling "APN Mexico" or so.
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I live in the US and I have a trip planned to London, Paris and Rome in May. I own a T-mobile G1 and was wondering what my best option was for using my G1 in those cities. I know there are a lot of European users here on XDA so I was hoping somebody could give me some advise from experience. I do realize that the 3G won't work over there no matter what I do.
Thanks for any and all help!
NickPDX said:
I live in the US and I have a trip planned to London, Paris and Rome in May. I own a T-mobile G1 and was wondering what my best option was for using my G1 in those cities. I know there are a lot of European users here on XDA so I was hoping somebody could give me some advise from experience. I do realize that the 3G won't work over there no matter what I do.
Thanks for any and all help!
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3G should work fine. When you get there, buy a local prepaid simcard.
You need to unlock it first, call T-Mo and tell them what you just posted and they will give you the unlock code.
Your best bet for London (once you've got the phone unlocked) is a "pay as you go" sim from three. Just put £10 credit on it and you'll get a 150mb, 90day internet allowance. If you need to top it up again you get that allowance renewed every time.
Unless I am mistaking, the phone is rooted and is running a non stock rom, thus it is unlocked. I will look into the prepaid sim cards. Will I have to get a different one for each of the countries/cities?
@lbcoder: are you sure about the 3G? since this is a t-mobile phone I was under the impression that the bands it uses for 3G are only the N. American Bands and would only work over here.
Not unlocked for other networks, you need to get it unlocked to use other networks.
NickPDX said:
Unless I am mistaking, the phone is rooted and is running a non stock rom, thus it is unlocked.
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Sim unlock isn't the same thing as root.. You need a code from t-mobile for that. They'll give you one if you tell them what you've told us.
NickPDX said:
I will look into the prepaid sim cards. Will I have to get a different one for each of the countries/cities?
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That's going to be the cheapest way to do it.. You'll get brutally raped for roaming charges otherwise. In the UK the cards are usually free, you just have to buy the calling credit.
TMO will give you your SIM unlock code for free if your account has been paid up for 90 days or longer. They take up to 7 days. I had to get this from TMO via my American friend when I bought my G1 off him. There are places online where you can pay $25 or so and get an unlock code within hours. SIM unlock is not the same thing as root.
I'm also just about to go to Europe! Vodafone turned on global roaming for free (I just pay for calls) and they sells packs of roaming data, I got 25Mb for $50, which is way cheaper than their usual rate of $10 per 1Mb! For me this is easier than stuffing round with pre-paid SIM cards, changing number and whatever, I also don't know if a pre-paid SIM gives mobile data access? Give TMO a call and see what they offer.
I will turn off Sync and use DroidWall to make sure stuff doesn't update in the background and use all my allowance. It's really only to update Facebook to let people know I am still alive
Your G1 will most definitely work and use 3G in London. You can grab a T-Mo prepaid SIM from the multiple vending machines in the airport when you arrive in London, and swap it in and start using it immediately. I did exactly this at both Gatwick and Heathrow. Do like the other posters said and call T-Mobile in the US and get the unlock code before you fly. It's free that way. I did that too, and they are cool about it. It took about 24 hours after my request and it was emailed to me. The one thing that confused me at first was my G1 kept asking for a "SIM unlock code" or something like that after I had unlocked it using the T-Mobile code. Turns out it was a security setting that I could disable, to prevent someone from using the phone if they stole it. Two totally different "SIM unlocks". Now I know.
I've got a Sprint Samsung Epic 4G but I plan on doing some international travel next year (2012, and I don't know where yet). I've never had to figure out the phone situation before.
I have a business to run so I'll need voice, text, and data for checking email.
Is it easier just to buy an unlocked GSM Android-based phone and do the SIM swapping thing from country to country? How do I go about unlocking a phone? Will I be able to keep my old number? Or do I just go for an international phone that can do both GSM and CDMA?
Any recommendations?
*sigh*
If the GSM providers in the US weren't so crappy I wouldn't be having such a hard time, heh.
,
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The only way you can keep your same phone number when traveling abroad is to keep using Sprint and then do international roaming. Unfortunately, that can be incredibly expensive, especially for data. For instance in many countries, Verizon charges up to $20.48 per megabyte!
If you buy an unlocked phone and get a prepaid sim in the country you are traveling, the local rates will be far cheaper than roaming with your carrier, but you will get another phone number with that new sim card. You may be able to activate call forwarding so the calls go from your Sprint number to your international sim card. I'm not sure of all the details on that, if there are extra costs, etc.
Sprint has a recent phone, the Motorola Photon that comes with a GSM radio so you could use Sprint's CDMA service here and then use a local sim when you travel abroad. That phone is unlocked for international sims, but locked to domestic sims such as from ATT and T-Mobile.
You can find most phones sold in Europe and elsewhere are unlocked from the start, but keep in mind you'd pay the off-contract price which can be $500+. If you want, maybe you will be eligible to upgrade to the Photon or a newer GSM+CDMA model next year for a contract price.
Also, Europe is strictly GSM. So even if you brought your CDMA-only Epic there, it would not work at all, not even for roaming.
I am not sure if operators allow call forwarding to international numbers .... It can be done only to local numbers no matter GSM or CDMA.
I suggest you purchase a pre paid GSM number and activate your call forwarding onto it and use the GSM number for international roaming. But as we all know DATA will cost you a BOM!
I remember losing some 10+ euros in Paris just by consuming some 300 KB data on a LOCAL SIM !
At the end what best i suggest is set up a voice mail on your sprint number and purchase a Uni Connect or Tricon card (both GSM) which works through Europe. You can then inform every one via your voice message about your new number for the duration of time you are roaming.
I am planning a trip to Europe soon. My Att Atrix is rooted and unlocked running cm9, but not unlocked for different SIM cards.
What do I need to do to have my phone work in Italy, and Denmark. I was just going to pick up a SIM card at the airport.
Do I need to flash a international radio? What provider should I buy a SIM from? Anyone recommend a specific unlocking code provider?
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1. You should buy an unlock code (I bought from ebay, 99 cents).
2. Buy sim card from GSM provider.
3. you're set.
Call ATT and ask them for unlock code. they should be able to provide it to you for free if you are a customer.
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AT&T used to provide unlock codes free if you had an account more than 90 days old. Then they changed to "the phone has to be released more than a year ago". Now they've changed again, not sure but I think back to 90 days.
Call them and ask, when you say you are going overseas they should ive you the code if their timeout has been met.
The Atrix IS a GSM 4-band international ready phone, no need to monkey with that. Unless your mods changed something, it will use the right band wherever you are.
As to which provider...ask about rates and coverage for each area you'll be in.
The unlock code from AT&T cannot actually be applied until you try to turn on the phone with an "alien" SIM card in it, so once you get the code you might want to borrow a TMobile or other SIM so you can confirm the code actually will work for you. (Or buy a cheapie here.)
Rred said:
AT&T used to provide unlock codes free if you had an account more than 90 days old. Then they changed to "the phone has to be released more than a year ago". Now they've changed again, not sure but I think back to 90 days.
Call them and ask, when you say you are going overseas they should ive you the code if their timeout has been met.
The Atrix IS a GSM 4-band international ready phone, no need to monkey with that. Unless your mods changed something, it will use the right band wherever you are.
As to which provider...ask about rates and coverage for each area you'll be in.
The unlock code from AT&T cannot actually be applied until you try to turn on the phone with an "alien" SIM card in it, so once you get the code you might want to borrow a TMobile or other SIM so you can confirm the code actually will work for you. (Or buy a cheapie here.)
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Good information. I'll be honeymooning in Mexico this summer and thinking of leaving my Note at home and bringing my trusty Atrix with me.
Hello everyone,
I would like to get a new SIM card from att for my galaxy s4 using safestrap and gpe rom, do i need to bring my phone with me or just the SIM card? Do they check if im on Stock? If they do, how do i get a new SIM ?
Thank you for reading this.
If you're the primary account holder, I.e. paying the bills, go into their corporate office* and just ask for one. You don't need to bring your phone, old SIM, or anything. You might need a photo ID. AT&T provides a service. You pay for that service. They have to make that service available you, no matter the device. AT&T discounts and locks their devices so you can't go to other carriers, but doesn't care if you use unlocked device from other carriers, international, flip phone, etc...
*corporate office are different from AT&T authorized stores. Corporate stores will give you free SIM where as the authorized retailer may charge $5-$15. Always call and ask before making the trip. You can find corporate stores directly from their website.
So I need a phone for a while on a pre-paid cash only plan. I was going to pick up a straight talk card from Walmart. I have 2 old Samsung S4 phones from Verizon and T-Mobile. Will the sim card activation chip I get work on either one of them, or does it have to be specific to the previous carrier. Is there an advantage to going with one or the other. I would prefer to put my own rom on there if possible since it is such an old phone. Is one going to be better suited than the other. As far as I know, both phones are out of contract. I know for sure the Verizon phone is already unlocked via verification from Verizon.
Thank you.
If you're buying an activation package from WalMart ($45 airtime card plus SIM), it should come with multiple SIM cards for Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile. Thus you can use the service on any phone. If it doesn't, you'll likely have a GSM SIM, meaning you would need to use the T-Mobile S4 to get service.
The advantage to using Verizon is access to Verizon's network, which is the largest in the country. The disadvantage is that your LTE speeds are throttled to 5MBps. With T-Mobile, your network is much smaller, but your LTE I don't believe is throttled. I personally would take the time to carrier unlock your T-Mobile device (see the thread we have on unlocking phones in the General section), and then use the AT&T SIM. With AT&T, you get a network nearly as large as Verizon, plus LTE is not throttled.
As to ROMs, you're simply going to have to try them. Regardless of the ROM you use, so long as you know how to set up an APN in settings, you're good. Straight Talk changes their APNs from time to time, and the ROMs don't always use the latest APN.
Very good information and exactly what I was looking for. One more question on that if you don't mind. If I start out on Straight talk with the AT&T, can I switch over to Verizon a week or two later effortlessly, or would I need to do something to switch sims?
I do not know how to change APN's, but I am sure I can find the answer to that using search.
Thank you.
If you wanted to switch over to Verizon from AT&T, you would need to transfer your service from the AT&T SIM to the Verizon SIM. To do this, you have to go online to Straight Talk's website. Now, while they do offer an automated procedure to do this, the best thing to do is open up a chat window to one of their support reps, and have the support rep process the service swap.
Keep in mind two things.
Once you switch SIM cards, the old SIM is no longer usable. Should you change your mind and want to go back to AT&T, you would need to purchase an AT&T SIM off Straight Talk's website. They normally charge $15 plus shipping for the privilege, but if you hit it right you can often get the SIM cards for a dollar plus shipping, which is somewhat more palatable. I will say that when you get your next phone, you'll likely have to get a Nano SIM. However, you can then go onto Amazon and purchase a SIM adapter, just in case.
I am a person who believes in getting everything that you pay for, and with Verizon, a throttled LTE service doesn't qualify as getting everything that you pay for. Thus, I do not recommend switching to Verizon, ever. Stay with AT&T.
Ok. Good advice. Thank you.
The only reason I wanted to try both was because I am in a high rise where service can be sketchy. Not sure which one will work best up here. I currently have Sprint which does not work at all.