I'm going to Germany for a month and am interested in getting a prepaid sim card for my N1. I've never done this before and am curious whether its worth it. I would like to use my phone for both voice and data, but I'd be fine with only one of these features. Do prepaid sim cards in Europe include both voice and data plans? Can anyone recommend a place to purchase a reasonably priced prepaid sim card? Also, do I need to ask T-mobile to unlock my phone in order to use a foreign sim card?
Any information would be greatly appreciated.
Prepaid in Germany
actually I don't have a nexus one yet but it is sold with plans on all networks, so I'd guess you can take any prepaid card.
There is a commom provider who sell a starterset in some supermarkets (e.g. Norma, Mediamarkt, Saturn, dm-drogeriemarkt, Kaufland, Budnikowsky, Real... according to their website ). It's name is blau.de or blauworld.de.
I'm not sure how it actually is done with these startersets, but usally you buy the simcard for ~10€ and it already has 10€ credit.
If you only want to use voice in Germany than you'd choose blau.de ( voice 0.09€ per minute in germany and data: 0.24€ per MB)
blauworld is cheaper if you want to make international calls, but more expensive for data and inner-german calls.
If your credit is used, you can buy vouchers to top it up in supermarkets and mostly every gas station.
I guess there a different cards available in these shops, this is just one I know and have good experience with.
so hopefully i could help and you'll enjoy staying in germany
[EDIT]
dict.leo.org/
^^ this translator might come in handy while your in Germany you can listen to the pronounciation and they have a android app
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Hi all,
I know a fair amount of XDA-Developer members are from Europe so I thought I would ask you:
I am travelling all of Europe for five months, visiting about 15 countries.
Do you think it is better to take my current SIM card over to Europe and pay the huge roaming fees, or would it be cheaper to buy a SIM over there to call home?
Is there a SIM that covers the whole of Europe. Google says that there isn't, and I will have to get a new SIM in each country if I don't use roaming.
Obviously, I will be using Skype and VOIP as much as possible if I can.
Any ideas?
skype + voip = data roaming=massive fees
use local sims.
Sorry, I should have been more specific. I meant Skype and Voip at Internet Cafes etc. Not on my mobile device.
Jadel said:
Sorry, I should have been more specific. I meant Skype and Voip at Internet Cafes etc. Not on my mobile device.
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Places in UK that provide free WiFi access are few and far between. The Cloud and BT provide access points but charge an arm and a leg for it!
Local PAYG SIM's will eat your cash if you call international.
O2 and others who say they are independant but actually use O2's network will not give you SMTP and POP3 free access only a basic WAP access.
IMHO after trying loads (Live in UAE but go home to UK 4x per year) I found the Orange PAYG best overall as it will give you full web access but checkout 3's PAYG if ya want faster access to Tínternet.
Travelling Europe means many different providers. If you plan on staying in any one country then get a local SIM but free WiFi is most prevalent outside of UK. I personally have a wallet full of various cards from my service engineer days but it is becoming much easier to find cafe's and hotel lobby's that give free WiFi in continental Europe.
Load up a WiFi scanning prog before you go such as WiFiFoFum and you will find them.
It has to be said the T-Mobile in the UK offer a fairly decent PAYG deal, £2.50 for 5 days "unlimited", you want the 5-day WebnWalk pass.
Free WiFi via the Cloud can be had at most McDonalds, again not ideal but better than nothing.
If you're going to be traveling to over 15 countries, then purchasing a bunch of local prepaid SIM cards can be a hassle. There are a bunch of companies that make international prepaid SIM cards that specifically cater to businesspeople/ travelers. Most work in over 150 countries so you can make calls from just one sim card anywhere, and rates are pretty cheap. I personally used a card by onesimcard.com when in Europe. Had no problems and the sound quality was excellent. The onesimcard website has a great rate calculation page where you can compare against providers like T-Mobile.
roaming fees are ca. 0.60 € pro minute. even you receive call you have to pay something like 0.40 € pro minute..
its better that u buy simcard for every country
for example in Austria there is a PREPAID simcard for 20 € which has 2 GB DATA Transfer volume for Internet usage... its very cheap for national and international calls, you can also call and send sms with this simcard
check here: www.yesss.at and here http://www.yesss.at/diskont-surfen/home.php
OR
if you have a Wifi phone, there are a lot free wifi spots, you can use wifi + voip from your phone to make a call,
have a nice trip
Maybe this is something you can look at.
https://www.united-mobile.com/?p=&l=en
You would only need to buy one sim-card.
No experience myself with this product.
in france there is not so much wifi spot (too bad)...
in france there is europeane formula with Orange and SFR (perhaps bouygue but this operator not using a standard range... so forget with your foreigner phone lol)...
the only problem is that those formula are not in prepaid simcard... only with normal formula.
perhaps you should ask your provider... sometime there is some solution with them. (when i go to USA Orange make me a special offer for the 2 month i go over there...).
I have 3 quick questions please.
1) I have a UK Diamond from Orange. I am going to the US next month. Will I be able to use my phone with an American SIM card?
2) and if so, which one? My phone is unlocked.
3) any good tarrifs to recommend? (on pay as you go, as I'm only staying for 2 weeks).
Thanks a lot.
I am going to bump this because I have exactly the same set up and want to know the answer please for when I visit New Jersey in the new year
as long as it's unlocked it should work.
att charges 25 cents a minute on a pay as you go plan. And i think t-mobile is around the same.
Thanks for that info - that is a lot cheaper than using a UK SIM card on roaming in the USA. How much does it cost to buy a pay as you go SIM and are they easy to find?
e3esxt02 said:
as long as it's unlocked it should work.
att charges 25 cents a minute on a pay as you go plan. And i think t-mobile is around the same.
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thanks a lot...
peterc10 said:
Thanks for that info - that is a lot cheaper than using a UK SIM card on roaming in the USA. How much does it cost to buy a pay as you go SIM and are they easy to find?
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they should be easy to find... However, you (and I) have to consider that in the US you pay to receive calls as well.. (right? correct me if I'm wrong)
You have to pay to receive calls when roaming, i.e. using a UK SIM in the USA. I do not know if you have to pay to receive calls when using a US SIM in the USA. Can someone living in the USA answer that please?
Can you only buy these SIMs in phone shops in the US. Or do supermarkets and other general stores sell them , as they do in the Uk and many other countries? And how much does the SIM itself cost please?
Yes, you pay as much when receiving calls in the US by the use of US Sim. More details on AT&T Pay-As-You-Go can be found at http://www.wireless.att.com/cell-phone-service/go-phones/pyg-plans-phones.jsp?_requestid=16571. Similar can be found at T-Mobile website, at http://www.t-mobile.com/shop/plans/Cell-Phone-Plans.aspx?catgroup=prepaid-cell-phone-plan, where the rate depends on the number of minutes you purchase. The difference lies in the charge per minute as well as the period that you can keep/roll-over the unused minutes. For short-term visit, obviously, the charge per minute is more important. You can find the various phone cards (including AT&T's) in most grocery stores, such as food stores, Wal-Mart, Sears, etc. You chose the minutes, insert the sim with included minutes, and you call a number to activate the number.
There are international roaming SIMs that are tailored to the country (including the US of course) you will be visiting with the calling-back-home plan at a much cheper rate. Calling from China back home to the US, for example, the rate is $0.38/min as compared to 1.89/min on AT&T International Roaming. Type "International SIM" on google search to find all these deals.
Welcome and have a nice trip to the US
Hi guys,
I'll be going to the UK in August, and spain/france/netherlands/czech republic for a little bit too. T-Mobile offers a discounted international plan, but that's AFAIK only for voice minutes. What I really need is text and data plan, but I don't know if T-Mobile can do that at a reasonable price. I have no problems with getting a temporary phone number, so I suppose I'd be open to getting a pre-paid monthly sim card while in Europe, but does anyone know if those support data plans? I can't imagine traveling through Europe without Maps/all the resources my N1.
niiiick said:
Hi guys,
I'll be going to the UK in August, and spain/france/netherlands/czech republic for a little bit too. T-Mobile offers a discounted international plan, but that's AFAIK only for voice minutes. What I really need is text and data plan, but I don't know if T-Mobile can do that at a reasonable price. I have no problems with getting a temporary phone number, so I suppose I'd be open to getting a pre-paid monthly sim card while in Europe, but does anyone know if those support data plans? I can't imagine traveling through Europe without Maps/all the resources my N1.
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in czech republic you can buy "twist internet" prepair card for unlimited internet access .. it cost 850czk which is about 40$ ... but t-mobile isn't very good with 3g coverage, so you propably ends with gprs/edge
houmles said:
in czech republic you can buy "twist internet" prepair card for unlimited internet access .. it cost 850czk which is about 40$ ... but t-mobile isn't very good with 3g coverage, so you propably ends with gprs/edge
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Thanks for the answer. Unfortunately, the Czech Republic is the last part of Europe i plan to be in. I specifically need a solution that I can buy in the UK that would ideally work throughout the rest of Europe. Do they even exist?
Just find yourself a prepaid SIM down there. I don't know what carriers work throughout Europe, but do some searching and see what carriers work for that. Find one, buy a prepaid SIM, enjoy. It's a lot cheaper than buying international plans from T-Mobile or AT&T.
(I've never done this myself, but I definitely hear it's the way to go.)
All,
Planning to travel to Asia in 2 months (Hong Kong then Thailand). Was wondering is it easier just to pick up a SIM card in the airport or in the country when I land or buy one of those International SIM card company ie ONESIMCARD http://www.onesimcard.com/ or (gulp) buy a International roaming package from AT&T. My most important is occasional phone(rare) most important is Data ie maps, search, emails etc....
I have a Dev Edition HTC One btw and with At&t as my carrier.
You're better off getting a local SIM especially since you'll be using data. You can usually get a very good rate on unlimited data (where I live, a prepaid, unlimited LTE plan runs you about 25 USD for a whole month but it might be a bit pricier in Hong Kong). Not sure if they'll offer SIM cards with unlimited data at the airport though so your best bet is to head to a local carrier store upon arrival and get your data SIM there.
bem809 said:
You're better off getting a local SIM especially since you'll be using data. You can usually get a very good rate on unlimited data (where I live, a prepaid, unlimited LTE plan runs you about 25 USD for a whole month but it might be a bit pricier in Hong Kong). Not sure if they'll offer SIM cards with unlimited data at the airport though so your best bet is to head to a local carrier store upon arrival and get your data SIM there.
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Thanks for the reply....I think I will go that route and get a local SIM.
Thanks again.
Will be heading to Canada (Quebec City) next month for a short vacation. My wife has the XT1053 which I learned here is SIM-unlocked. Wondering if we can get an inexpensive ($25 or less) prepaid SIM that will allow talk & text to the US. I have looked on the Rogers Wireless site and they have prepaid plans but I don't see a SIM that comes pre-loaded with a fixed number of minutes or texts. Does such a thing exist?
There are probably better options in the USA for getting an international micro SIM card for travellers to Canada.
I am in the reverse position, a Canadian vacationing in NY. I bought a micro SIM from a Canadian company (Roam Mobility) that specializes in US talk/data plans for travellers. I'm sure there is an equivalent in the US.
Assuming you can find a 7-Eleven once you're in Canada, SpeakOut wireless sound like they'd be a good choice:
http://www.speakout7eleven.ca/prepaid-cell-phone-rates
Alternatively, look at the flanker brands of the big carriers:
http://fido.ca
http://koodomobile.com/
http://www.virginmobile.ca/