Travel to USA - maintaining phone number in the US

[lauralark]

I have a few questions I am hoping someone can help me with. We are based in Europe but plan to make small trips to America every now and again. We'd like to buy an unlocked smartphone that we can use in both Europe and in America. The idea is that we'd exchange the European sim for an American one when we visit. So we thought purchasing an American prepaid sim could be a good idea since we are not in America often enough to justify spending money on a contract.

Finding a phone and prepaid system has proven to be a nightmare! Originally we wanted to get an Iphone 4S but were told that this phone could only be used on one network, AT and T. When we phoned AT and T and enquired about prepaid plans they said that Iphone prepaid does not have any data. We phoned Apple to verify that information but Apple could not tell us anything. Is it true that Iphones can not be used with data on prepaid in the USA?

So now we are considering getting an unlocked android phone instead of an iphone, and purchasing a prepaid sim to use in it. We are looking for a prepaid system which includes data, can be used on an unlocked phone, and has a long expiry since we will not be in the USA long enough to justify paying high monthly amounts. The problem is finding a carrier that offers this. It's really confusing! Does anyone know any suitable carriers?

As a last resort alternative, is there any way to actually own your own phone number in the USA?

Thanks Lauralark

[mrcamp]

Get an unlocked phone and then get a tmobile sim. I mentioned tmobile because it can be kept active easily. After adding $100 credit, you become "gold rewards" and get 1 year expiration. Any additional topup, even the $10 one extends it for another year.

*Sent from my HTC inspire using HowardForums*

[dmarkson]

Lots of options until you mention data. The Tmo route is good to keep the number. If you can live with EDGE speeds you can switch from the 10c plan to the $2/day plan when you are here (unlimited voice/domestic text/2G data), and back to 10c plan when you leave. It can all be done online. If you want 3G speeds then you need a phone with the Tmo USA AWS band (the Galaxy Nexus International has it), and then you can use higher speeds on the $3/day plan (200MB a day then throttled). No iPhone has the Tmo 3G band so EDGE only (and you probably have to unlock it).

If you are going to be here more than a week or two at a time a prepay 30 day plan is probably a better deal for you, and you will just have to get a new number each time.

Tru SIM may work if you can live with 17c/MB data, 17c/min voice and 12c/text. It does not expire but you must use it every 90 days. It's cheap in UK too so you could use it both places. If you use much data its not a good deal tho.

[lauralark]

Thanks so much! I wanted to ask a follow-up if I could:

I don't have a feeling for how fast (or slow) EDGE would be. How big a difference is there between EDGE and 3G? (I'd mainly be doing things like surfing the web for travel info, not doing a lot of video downloading or uploading).

I liked the Galaxy S2 (as it has a slightly smaller screen than the Nexus) -- does this come in an AWS model as well? It doesn't seem to say this in the specs on Amazon. One review of a Galaxy s2 said you can't use 3G on Tmo, unless you buy a Tmo phone. Is this true or are they misinformed?

I've heard that ATT coverage is better than Tmo, at least in rural areas. And ATT seems to also give the option of paying $100 to keep your number for a year. But would I still be able to use data on ATT with an unlocked, non-ATT phone? (I actually spoke to three people at ATT and they couldn't answer this basic question!)

Many thanks, Lauralark

[rfranzq]

You would want to get a TRU SIM from the USA that has a US phone number. Not a UK SIM with a UK phone number where you would have to pay extra for the USA phone number. The SIM would be usable in Europe to keep it alive. Most people here who have TRU SIMs seem to be happy with them.

[mrcamp]

For basic web surfing, EDGE should be okay. Anything beyond that, it will be a pain. EDGE is REALLY slow compared to 3G. You can google for more info. I doubt if that phone will come in the AWS model. And if it does, it will likely be locked to tmobile. I believe tmobile USA is the only one that uses AWS bands for their 3G.

If you plan on venturing into rural areas, you want to go with AT&T. Their network is significantly better in those situations. Yes, if you topup with $100 on AT&T, you get 1 year expiration. However, the difference is that with tmobile any additional topup, even the $10, extends it for another year. But with AT&T, you always have to topup with $100 to extend it for another year. Yes, you can use data on any network as long as your phone is unlocked and has the bands the network uses.

Thanks so much! I wanted to ask a follow-up if I could:

I don't have a feeling for how fast (or slow) EDGE would be. How big a difference is there between EDGE and 3G? (I'd mainly be doing things like surfing the web for travel info, not doing a lot of video downloading or uploading).

I liked the Galaxy S2 (as it has a slightly smaller screen than the Nexus) -- does this come in an AWS model as well? It doesn't seem to say this in the specs on Amazon. One review of a Galaxy s2 said you can't use 3G on Tmo, unless you buy a Tmo phone. Is this true or are they misinformed?

I've heard that ATT coverage is better than Tmo, at least in rural areas. And ATT seems to also give the option of paying $100 to keep your number for a year. But would I still be able to use data on ATT with an unlocked, non-ATT phone? (I actually spoke to three people at ATT and they couldn't answer this basic question!)

Many thanks, Lauralark

[Hellyon]

Why not buy an unlocked iPhone 4s and use with tmobile? TMo will be using 1900 soon. Right now Edge speed using Opera is pretty quick from my experience.

[Telekom]

Thanks so much! I wanted to ask a follow-up if I could:

I don't have a feeling for how fast (or slow) EDGE would be. How big a difference is there between EDGE and 3G? (I'd mainly be doing things like surfing the web for travel info, not doing a lot of video downloading or uploading).

I liked the Galaxy S2 (as it has a slightly smaller screen than the Nexus) -- does this come in an AWS model as well? It doesn't seem to say this in the specs on Amazon. One review of a Galaxy s2 said you can't use 3G on Tmo, unless you buy a Tmo phone. Is this true or are they misinformed?

I've heard that ATT coverage is better than Tmo, at least in rural areas. And ATT seems to also give the option of paying $100 to keep your number for a year. But would I still be able to use data on ATT with an unlocked, non-ATT phone? (I actually spoke to three people at ATT and they couldn't answer this basic question!)

Many thanks, Lauralark

T-Mobile's deal is a better one than AT&T's since they require that you spend an additional $100 for another year and T-Mobile only requires that you add a $10 voucher (for pay as you go.) If you use a "monthly" plan and you switch it to a PAYG plan before you leave you can keep it for just $10 per 365 days.

[lauralark]

Thanks to all - I'm now trying to figure out which unlocked phone to buy to get reasonable data speed on T-mobile prepaid, but to use primarily in Europe.
I'm still thinking of either an unlocked iphone 4s or Galaxy S2. Shushwap, I was curious what you said about the Tmobile S2 phone. I can't get a t-mobile phone (as I'll be using it mainly abroad). But I might get a galaxy S2 -- is this the same phone you're talking about, or is the Tmo version different? There seem to be slightly different versions of the S2 at Amazon, do you know which would work best for data on Tmo?

In case anyone's curious about keeping your number on a prepaid plan - I went to the T-mobile store and they said that you can't use data on the $100 prepaid plan that makes your number valid for a year. (Strangely they had earlier said you could do this). To get data you have to get a monthly or daily plan. So it looks like you have to get both a monthly or daily plan with data and then switch to a "per minute plan" and buy an additional $100 of minutes to keep the number (or you could buy $10 of minutes every 3 months if you remember to do this!). And when you switch plans you lose what you haven't spent in $ or minutes. ATT seems much more restrictive in data access on a prepaid.

The nice thing about the nexus is you would get 3g speed on Tmobile... I would rather bang my head against the wall then use edge... Its painfully slow... The Tmobile S2 is a nice phone as well... I have the Canadian version of it the S2X... It works great on Tmobile as well as Att...

[dmarkson]

On the $100 Tmo PAYG that is true, there is no data. However you can switch among prepay plans as desired (PAYG, $2/day, $3/day, etc). Switch back to the PAYG plan to maintain the year (and refill when on the PAYG plan).

[lauralark]

Thanks Shushwap - do you know if there are other Galaxy S2 phones which have those bands and would get 4G on Tmo? Or does it have to be the actual Tmo phone? I ask because I'd rather get an unlocked, non-Tmo phone as I'll be using it primarily on KPN, a Dutch network.

The international S2 and the Tmobile version are different I think.... Pick one up one ebay.... $20 to unlock and you should be able to use it at home as well... Or you can use the Galaxy nexus wich will work with Tmobile... I get there so called 4g with my S2X when I use it on Tmobile
The Tmobile version is the samsung S2 T989
Have a look where you are for a phone that would work.... or there is always ebay...
These are the bands the Tmobile s2 as well as s2x phone has
850/1700(AWS)/1900/2100 & & Quad band EDGE

[TheCellphoneGuy]

Thanks Shushwap - do you know if there are other Galaxy S2 phones which have those bands and would get 4G on Tmo? Or does it have to be the actual Tmo phone? I ask because I'd rather get an unlocked, non-Tmo phone as I'll be using it primarily on KPN, a Dutch network.

The T-Mobile Galaxy S2 is the only one of the series (not counting the S1 and S3) that supports the 1700MHz frequency. I think that there is also a Canadian version that supports 1700MHz, but it's pretty much identical.

The T-Mobile S2 has the necessary frequencies to work in Europe. There is 900MHz and 1800MHz for EDGE and GPRS and there is 2100MHz for 3G.

The only one that it doesn't have is 900MHz for 3G and per my knowledge, some European cellphone companies have been refarming that spectrum and using it for 3G (HSPA). If you're looking for a phone that supports the 900MHz for 3G,then you'll be interested in the Galaxy Nexus from Google as it supports pretty much every band out there.

One perk of the T-Mobile version is that it has a 42mbps radio build in. What that means is that it's much more spectrum efficient, so you'll be getting some nice 3G speeds, even on the 2100MHz band, back in your home country.

Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk 2

[Telekom]

what bands does kpn use...

gsm 900/1800 w-cdma 2100.