. When are you coming back out here?
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Originally posted by adam777 Hello Tri Band Looks like you have started the perfect thread for me. I'm off to the UK later this month for the holiday period. Whilst there Im picking up a new Sony P900. Im mostly interested in getting WAP access whilst Im there - having never used it before (and Im an internet developer shame on me) Im curious if Virgin offer this service with their pre paid plans. If not do you have any suggestions, Im not bothered by expense but want to really use all the features of the phone before I return home (small island in the caribbean) and lose a lot of the functionality. Thanks Adam |
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Originally posted by adam777 Thanks a lot I'll check out the forum. Have a great holiday (Chelsea I see, I was born in St Stephens on the Fulham road). Thanks Again! |
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Originally posted by XmoogooX You are incredibly helpful...thank you so much. any idea where i can order one that can deliver to the US? I want to get all of my numbers in there and get my 6100 unlocked before I leave. oh yea, and i would like to pick up a UK charger for it as well...hopefully from the same place to save shipping. |
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Originally posted by XmoogooX thanks jeff and triband...looks like that's what i'll have to do. One more question for you though: If I get a virgin sim pack in the UK and for arguments sake let's say I go over to Italy for a weekend, is my phone going to work? WIll the rate be inflated? Will I still be able to receive free incoming? Triband: my friend and I will be arriving on the 22nd or 23rd of January... are you in or around Oxford? It'll be cool to meet up with someone from the area to get us acquainted with England if you're willing. |
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Originally posted by frrussre triBand81 & Carlo69, glad to see your both still here. I have not used my Virgin UK SIM since March 2003, when I returned from UK. Occasionally I call my UK number by landline, I then leave a message on the voicemail. I tried this yesterday & VM was still answering & excepting & giving out my message. Hopefully that means the minutes are still live. Reg. Frank R. |
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Originally posted by carrolldf Oh, and how can I top it up to keep it active in case I don't make it back to the UK within one year? (I think you have to use it within six months and pay within year both to keep active.) |
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Originally posted by JEFFJAGUAR I've never heard or seen a rule that only UK residents can buy a UK sim. They all sell SIM's to residents and non residents. Orange registered my cc which was not UK issued. This doesn't make sense; of course I would be the first to admit I am not from the UK so I could be wrong but there doesn't seem to be any regulation restricting the purchase of a UK SIM. |
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Originally posted by alanh Is there a web site or e-mail address for sending SMS to Virgin UK phones? |
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Originally posted by alanh Is there a web site or e-mail address for sending SMS to Virgin UK phones? |
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Originally posted by hecatae website is currently unobtainable. anyone got cs email address I need to register my new phone with them, |
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Originally posted by frrussre Virgin "Pay Monthly" already has USA Roaming. Direct debit, 140 Countries. http://www.virginmobile.com/mobile/...mpare_plans.jsp Virgin "Pay As You Go", says USA coming soon????? Reg. Frank R. Virgin USA Prepaid uses Sprint I think? but thats not GSM. So wondering if you are a Pay Monthly UK customer, which carrier you log on to. Maybe TMob. Reg. Frank R. Ps. My only interest in USA Roaming would be, I could make 1 call per year and keep my SIM/Account live. |
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Originally posted by JEFFJAGUAR Also unlike the other carriers, you can't just go into a Virgin store and request a swipe card...you must register and have the swipe card posted to you. I wonder if you can register with a foreign i.e. North American address. [/B] |
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Originally posted by JEFFJAGUAR Virgin mobile seems only to give swipe cards to folks who register' but if you have a foreign account you can't register. Makes little sense to me on this one. |
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Originally posted by TriBand81 I could almost swear that I saw Virgin Mobile E-Top Up swipe cards just the other day. I'll have to remember hard where this was, it might even have been at one of the Virgin Megastores here in Central London. [/url]) |
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Originally posted by skagen Was it SuperDrug maybe? I was in one of their branches (Brixton)last week and I saw a sign there about Virgin Mobile Electronic top ups. I didn't need a top-up at the time, so I didn't really investigate any further... |
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Originally posted by JEFFJAGUAR There is a misunderstanding. Yes you can do e-top ups with Virgin mobile anyplace there are e top ups. What the problem is is getting a e-top up card. I haven't been able to find one except for registering your details with virgin mobile and then they post it to you or am I mistaken? Has anybody gotten a top up card directly from a merchant? |
| JEFFJAGUAR There is a misunderstanding. Yes you can do e-top ups with Virgin mobile anyplace there are e top ups. What the problem is is getting a e-top up card. I haven't been able to find one except for registering your details with virgin mobile and then they post it to you or am I mistaken? Has anybody gotten a top up card directly from a merchant? |
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Originally posted by alanh I'm going to be there in early April. Am I going to have trouble refilling a Virgin SIM, as I'm from the US? |
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Originally posted by alanh No, I don't have a SIM yet. I'm not that concerned about keeping it alive after I leave, either. I was wondering about the availability of top-up cards that don't require a UK address. |
| alanh Okay. Some of the comments above made it sound like the scratch off topup cards (as opposed to the registered swipe cards) were getting hard to find. |
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Originally posted by frrussre Alanh, I personally found it more difficult to get basic scratchoff topup cards. Yes you can get them at Virgin Mega Stores, yes you can get them at speciality phone shops. I found it more difficult to get then Gas Stations, small Grocery stores or Candy stores "These small stores are the ones open late at night & there are more of them". Virgin Mega stores are few and far between. This was the case for me Feb 2004. Reg. frank R. |
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Originally posted by skagen I had a bit of a problem finding the top up card in London which I thought would be easy. Leaving aside the very core center, like someone above said its really mostly in the small grocery, off-licences etc - and not all of them. Its very patchy and you never know where you can get them For example in the Earls Court area, where I was staying (the very edge of Zone 1) the only place I was find the Virgin top up card was one specific small all night grocery/deli. I'm sure there are more, but really would have though it would be easier to find them! |
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Originally posted by skagen I'm talking about the east end (ie towards Zone 1) of the Earls Court Station, going up towards Cromwell Road. Not necessarily the entire area. Now granted I'm not a local and I don't know, but I just thought it would be easier - that is a VERY busy and long street with a ton of shops and so on! |
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Originally posted by VMvirginmobile virginmobile.howardforums new virgin mobile forum! |
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Originally posted by TriBand81 Wirelessly posted (Nokia N-Gage: NokiaN-Gage/1.0 SymbianOS/6.1 Series60/1.2 Profile/MIDP-1.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.0) I think the rules have been significantly relaxed. I never had to register w/my UK address. If you pay by credit card for Top Ups or use a CC to buy the SIM card, then it makes sense to require such a procedure. Cheers from London
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Originally posted by kim45925 What's your guys' take on Virgin's coverage, reliability and service in the Greater London area? Just asking cuz I'm heading to London next week and need to pick up a pay as you go phone. |
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Originally posted by JEFFJAGUAR In London, I've never had any problems with Virgin. Some Brits on the board, and I have no reason to doubt them, claim that out in the sticks, Virgin's coverage which is really T-Mobile UK's coverage is not as good as Vodafone and/or Orange. But if you're basically staying in London, you'll be fine with Virgin. |
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Originally posted by JEFFJAGUAR In London, I've never had any problems with Virgin. Some Brits on the board, and I have no reason to doubt them, claim that out in the sticks, Virgin's coverage which is really T-Mobile UK's coverage is not as good as Vodafone and/or Orange. But if you're basically staying in London, you'll be fine with Virgin. |
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Originally posted by VMvirginmobile where are you coming from? |
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Originally posted by kim45925 What's your guys' take on Virgin's coverage, reliability and service in the Greater London area? Just asking cuz I'm heading to London next week and need to pick up a pay as you go phone. |
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Originally posted by TriBand81 When you come to London, head for any Virgin Megastore in London as they will have all you need to get service with their network right in their own stores. If you check this link here, you can get all the details and also navigate their site to locate a store in Central London. The main one is located at the eastern end of Oxford Street where Oxford Street and Tottenham Court Road meet. There is also one at Piccadilly Circus across from the famous neon ad billboards. Cheers
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Originally posted by VMvirginmobile it's weird when someone's talking about a place thousands of miles away, and you know exactly what they're talking about....
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. I've been here for 1 1/2 years so this info is fresh in my mind.
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Originally posted by TriBand81 Lol that's because I'm in London at the moment finishing up college at an American university here . I've been here for 1 1/2 years so this info is fresh in my mind.
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I was there last summer incognito
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Originally posted by VMvirginmobile I was there last summer incognito
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Originally posted by TriBand81 And I was back home in the SF Bay Area, when were you here in London, did you use a GSM phone? Did you use Virgin Mobile UK by any chance ?
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Originally posted by TriBand81 Lol what phone did you use? |
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Originally posted by VMvirginmobile some cheap flipphone. sendo m550 i think, but i'm not sure... |
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Originally posted by TriBand81 Ahhh yes, Sendo is pretty quiet on the UK phone front. The M550 is an ugly phone, I have seen better flips. The one that a lot of people are waiting for is the Sendo X which is their Series 60/Symbian OS smartphone (similar to Nokia's 3650 model). http://www.sendo.com/smartphones/index.asp |
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Originally posted by VMvirginmobile It's a phone. I was there for like, three weeks. and hey, it's not a nokia, and that's always a plus
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Originally posted by TriBand81 I'm sure a Slider-type phone would be very popular with Virgin Mobile here in tke UK. I wonder there is no such phone for GSM. The Motorola V80 is probably the closest thing to it but that's not out yet: http://www.mobileburn.com/review.js...&source=SIDEBAR http://www.gsmarena.com/phone.php3?idPhone=609 |
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Originally posted by alanh Yep. I just got a joining pack from the Virgin store on the second floor at Gatwick, and used it with an unlocked tri-band phone I got off eBay. Worked great. |
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Originally posted by VMvirginmobile I don't care much for the siemens slider(it's offered by virginuk, I think) but since kyocera only makes cdma, it's not goming to happen. maybe if another firm "borrowed" the idea from sky like kyocera did.... |
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Originally posted by TriBand81 Quote:
That's the SL55, I don't like the looks of that phone at all. |
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Originally posted by LakeFishing Now, having made the purchase, I'm wondering if anyone would care to comment on their experiences with Virgin Mobile (a/k/a TMo?) reception and performance within Glasgow, Edinburgh, Berwick, and the corridors between them. Any feedback or opinions you have to offer would be greatly appreciated as I try to develop a reasonable service expectation. Regards, LF |
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Originally posted by skagen Virgin Mobile in USA resells Sprints CDMA net work Virgin Mobile UK resells Vodaphone's GSN network. Not the same thing....... |
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Originally posted by skagen Virgin Mobile in USA resells Sprints CDMA net work Virgin Mobile UK resells Vodaphone's GSM network. Not the same thing....... |
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Originally posted by LakeFishing Thanks, TriBand, for starting an enormously helpful and informative thread. LF |
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Originally posted by carlo69 Hi TriBand and everybody, I last used my Virgin UK SIM about this time last year... I needed to clear some contacts off my 3650 before passing it on to somebody, so I stuck my Virgin SIM in there so it would boot, not expecting it to work. I then got a message from Virgin Mobile welcoming to the USA, saying what the roaming charges were. I was stunned that the SIM was still valid, so I tried sending a text and calling my US phone, and both worked. I was also surprised to see they'd turned on PAYG roaming for the US. Have they extended the length that numbers will stay active? I had some balance left, but I'm not sure how much. Also, when did they start US roaming? |
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Originally posted by Palsgraf948 It looks like a US resident can register on Virgin Mobil UK using a US issued credit card. |
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Originally posted by gfunkdave I can't. I tried it, and it does work once, but subsequent top ups are denied. I called Virgin on 789 from London, and they said that the system accepts your first charge with no problem, but then refers the card to the Finance Team, who blocks it. You need to use a UK based credit card, and there's no way around it. This sucks, because I am in Prague now and thought it would be great to use my Virgin SIM throughout Europe - it's cheaper than AT&T... Though surprisingly, AT&T SMS works fine to everyone here I've tried. Go AT&T! dave |
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Originally posted by JEFFJAGUAR Ah bt 1 good thig, Virgin Mobile UK has always had tis 180 day rule which says if you don't use the service in a 180 day period, you lose your number (but not your credit as you can appaently re-establish service with them with your remaining credit)...question though now is if I send a text message for 35p to myself (my home mobile number), does that count and allow me to do this every 180 days to keep my number? |
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Originally posted by skagen I think they must have just turned on the USA service. I live in UK and have Vigin Prepaid Service there. When I got here (USA) on Dec 17th, I couldn't get any signal or service even by searching. I tired for several days and gave up. I tried again on Jan 1st and as soon as I turned on the phone, I got the welcome message. So it must have just started. They are providing the USA roaming via via T-mobile's US network. |
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Originally posted by skagen I think they must have just turned on the USA service. I live in UK and have Vigin Prepaid Service there. When I got here (USA) on Dec 17th, I couldn't get any signal or service even by searching. I tired for several days and gave up. I tried again on Jan 1st and as soon as I turned on the phone, I got the welcome message. So it must have just started. They are providing the USA roaming via via T-mobile's US network. |
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Originally posted by Palsgraf948 Skagen ... May I please ask where in the US you are currently located? I live in San Jose, California and have a Virgin Mobil UK Pay As You Go account/phone number. When I activate my phone, I get the "searching" but no network registration. When viewing the available networks, I find only Cingular and ATT ... and manual registration does not work on either network. Obviously I would love to be able to (occasionaly) utilize my UK phone number here in the US ... but I do not wish to establish a "direct debit" account with Virign Mobil UK. Has anyone out there been able to establish "USA roaming" with a Virgin Mobil UK Pay As You Go account? Thanks everyone! Jim McDonald Palsgraf948 |
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Originally posted by Palsgraf948 Skagen ... May I please ask where in the US you are currently located? I live in San Jose, California and have a Virgin Mobil UK Pay As You Go account/phone number. When I activate my phone, I get the "searching" but no network registration. When viewing the available networks, I find only Cingular and ATT ... and manual registration does not work on either network. Obviously I would love to be able to (occasionaly) utilize my UK phone number here in the US ... but I do not wish to establish a "direct debit" account with Virign Mobil UK. Has anyone out there been able to establish "USA roaming" with a Virgin Mobil UK Pay As You Go account? Thanks everyone! Jim McDonald Palsgraf948 |
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Originally posted by frrussre (S46 unlocked & S40 unlocked) NYC, Pay as you go. Both connecting to Tmob/Voice Stream. Do you have a triband/worldphone? Reg. Frank R. |
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Originally posted by Palsgraf948 Skagen ... May I please ask where in the US you are currently located? I live in San Jose, California and have a Virgin Mobil UK Pay As You Go account/phone number. When I activate my phone, I get the "searching" but no network registration. When viewing the available networks, I find only Cingular and ATT ... and manual registration does not work on either network. Obviously I would love to be able to (occasionaly) utilize my UK phone number here in the US ... but I do not wish to establish a "direct debit" account with Virign Mobil UK. Has anyone out there been able to establish "USA roaming" with a Virgin Mobil UK Pay As You Go account? Thanks everyone! Jim McDonald Palsgraf948 |
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Originally posted by TriBand81 That's strange, you should be getting onto Cingular since T-Mobile is still using their network until they get Cingular's old network. I wonder if this is caused by T-Mobile having the same MNC (Network Code) as Cingular as part of the shared network. |
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Originally posted by TriBand81 That's strange, you should be getting onto Cingular since T-Mobile is still using their network until they get Cingular's old network. I wonder if this is caused by T-Mobile having the same MNC (Network Code) as Cingular as part of the shared network. |
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Originally posted by Palsgraf948 Hmmm ... that could be it ... I think I heard somewhere that they might be sharing those towers for about another 6 months (??) until the final use of the ATT name/logo ends on the "new' Cingular/ATTWS company. Obviously I can use the Cingular network with my Cingular SIM ... I just wanted to be able to keep that UK number active. Jim McDonald Plasgraf948 |
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Originally posted by Palsgraf948 Hmmm ... that could be it ... I think I heard somewhere that they might be sharing those towers for about another 6 months (??) until the final use of the ATT name/logo ends on the "new' Cingular/ATTWS company. Obviously I can use the Cingular network with my Cingular SIM ... I just wanted to be able to keep that UK number active. Jim McDonald Plasgraf948 |
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Originally posted by Palsgraf948 Hmmm ... that could be it ... I think I heard somewhere that they might be sharing those towers for about another 6 months (??) until the final use of the ATT name/logo ends on the "new' Cingular/ATTWS company. Obviously I can use the Cingular network with my Cingular SIM ... I just wanted to be able to keep that UK number active. Jim McDonald Plasgraf948 |
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Originally posted by skagen I have the phone on right now as I type and it says "T-mobile". Wouldn't be surprising though, since Virgin Mobile in the UK is a reseller of (ie runs "virtually" on) T-mobile's UK network. But as you mentioned, a few years ago Cingular did buy a half share in T-mobiles GSM backbone network (in New York City area, at least). |
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Originally posted by JEFFJAGUAR Actually, in the back of my mind there is a vague memory of difficulties between T mobile UK and Virgin mobile despite their partnership.... Have a T Mobile US...when I arrive in UK it usually chooses T Mobile UK as its roaming network but there are times it has chosen Orange or O2. |
, it sucks when providers like Cingular disable the network selection on a SIM.
, sounds like some Virgin UK SIMs would need an OTA update for the roaming list to allow T-Mobile to be selected automatically.
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Originally posted by biking_brian I need to make one phone call from my sim early this month in order to keep it active. It looks like I might have problems doing so in CA/NV for the time being. If I mail the phone to family in AZ to make the phone call, would that get around the Cingular/AT&T/T-Mobile issues? As a backup, I could send to family in MA or FL. |
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Originally Posted by biking_brian
When I go here to set up an online account...
https://www.virginmobile.com/mobile...ationProcessing ...after I enter my phone number twice, it then asks for a "call centre password". What's that? |
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Originally Posted by Kopeke
so can you use virgin UK in the US? but doesnt it cost ALOT?
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Originally Posted by TriBand81
It would probably be locked to Virgin Mobile though.
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Originally Posted by hecatae
Just got a Moto RAZR V3 from them for £115
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wow thats cheap for a v3