Discussion
Having had the luxury of a company mobile for the last few years I now need to buy my own to have when travelling round the world. Am i best just going down to the link , carphone warehouse etc or are any net sites any good or does the small print mean I'l be shafted. Does anyone know any good sites?
Also as I'm going to be in china,asia,aussie and america for 6 months so does anyone know which provider is best. I want to recieve text messages for free and send a couple but will only be ringing in an emergency. I've heard all the scare stories of huge bills with a mobile abroad and what to know exactely what I will be spending in the depths of cambodia etc.
ta
Also as I'm going to be in china,asia,aussie and america for 6 months so does anyone know which provider is best. I want to recieve text messages for free and send a couple but will only be ringing in an emergency. I've heard all the scare stories of huge bills with a mobile abroad and what to know exactely what I will be spending in the depths of cambodia etc.
ta
Have a look at www.tariffcheckers.com/ for a start, not sure about overseas costs though as I only had a quick look when I was looking at a new phone for UK use only.
Must be tri band for use in the US I'm on T mobile and they currently only have 2 phones that would fit the bill an ericsson flip thing and the t68i pictures bells and whistles thing I've now got but don't know how to use :biffa: The old motorolla ti 250 has now been binned which is a shame because they were bomb proof. Even if I could use it I don't actually think you can send picture messages from outside the UK yet so the t68i would be a waste of money for your travels
was looking at the t68i as its colour, tri band, small and funky. wont be using the camera though but maybe when I get back to the uk as i take it all contracts are for a year. Just need to know excactly how much calls will cost abroad - asked a spotty youth in the link and was met by a somewhat blank face.
Do you have a handset already? If you do there are some great SIM card only deals. For about £60 you can get 12 months connection AND upto 175 minutes per month to use anytime to UK landlines (from the UK though) or same Phone company (either Vodaphone or O2 - formerly BT cellnet). In your case, if you're travelling, a SIM card only deal with no inclusive minutes costs about £15 for 12 months. Only other charges, apart from non-inclusive calls are itemised billing. If you don't have a handset look for reconditioned, second hand ones, or handset only deals. FreshMobile do very cheap Handset (with connection, No line rental etc) deals.
Vodaphone tend to have most international agreements... and Cambodia is very expensive! Check to see whether Tri-band is really necessary as the 1900 MHz is mainly for USA (well, they just have to be different). A dual band i.e. 900/1800 MHz (which most handsets are) will probably suffice. And check for coverage as well. Just because you have a tri-band phone doesn't mean to say it'll work in the area of the States that you'll be visiting.
Bon Voyage!
MC
>> Edited by MajorClanger on Friday 9th August 11:28
Vodaphone tend to have most international agreements... and Cambodia is very expensive! Check to see whether Tri-band is really necessary as the 1900 MHz is mainly for USA (well, they just have to be different). A dual band i.e. 900/1800 MHz (which most handsets are) will probably suffice. And check for coverage as well. Just because you have a tri-band phone doesn't mean to say it'll work in the area of the States that you'll be visiting.
Bon Voyage!
MC
>> Edited by MajorClanger on Friday 9th August 11:28
I have bought all my mobiles from www.etccomms.co.uk
....as for bills abroad....well youve got your hands tied regarding charges whilst using other networks...
personally i would buy the mobile in the states....
....they tend to have simular models to UK, but better talking packages....
....as for bills abroad....well youve got your hands tied regarding charges whilst using other networks...
personally i would buy the mobile in the states....
....they tend to have simular models to UK, but better talking packages....
I had the same problem, and needed a phone that worked in the Baltics, the rest of Europe and the States, also needed advice and I went to the Link and the kids in there were too busy chatting to each other so I left, went to Phones4U, bloke was irritatingly thick and wasn't listening to what I wanted, so ended up at Carphone Warehouse, very helpful, very keen to get me what I wanted and sucessfully sold ne an Ericsson T68 with loads of goodies on a 1-2-1 (T-mobile) plan...has worked fine and the bills are OK (have bought 5 hours per month talk time up front).
The phone allows me to choose whichever network I want when abroad, or can just select the best signal.
>> Edited by Windsorphil on Friday 9th August 10:22
The phone allows me to choose whichever network I want when abroad, or can just select the best signal.
>> Edited by Windsorphil on Friday 9th August 10:22
quote:
sorry to barge in again...but a friend who travels alot has just gave some excellent advice....
...get a tri band phone
...remove the sim card
...he told me how he bought a sim card when ever he moved on to another country....that way your not tied to any one network...
I've heard thats the best way to buy sims over there - forgive my ignorance but does that mean i'd have a different number each time i changed sims? wouldnt want that if so?
Thanks for the advice so far guys
The idea of a foreign sim when abroad only works with cellnet/vodaphone as orange and 121 (or whatever they are all called now days) have their phones software locked so that they only work with their sim cards. (can be unlocked but costs)
Also Greg, No I use it to make phone calls and thats it. I quite fancy using it to plug into swish new funky laptop
but have other things more pressing to be arsed with the day or so it would take for me to work it all out, I did try to RTFM but it was crap and told me FA so I gave up 
Oh i forgot I have managed to work out how to do the screensavers and have got a nice little animated gif of some bird getting her lil out quality
>> Edited by mel on Friday 9th August 11:31
Also Greg, No I use it to make phone calls and thats it. I quite fancy using it to plug into swish new funky laptop
but have other things more pressing to be arsed with the day or so it would take for me to work it all out, I did try to RTFM but it was crap and told me FA so I gave up Oh i forgot I have managed to work out how to do the screensavers and have got a nice little animated gif of some bird getting her lil out quality >> Edited by mel on Friday 9th August 11:31
quote:
The idea of a foreign sim when abroad only works with cellnet/vodaphone as orange and 121 (or whatever they are all called now days) have their phones software locked so that they only work with their sim cards. (can be unlocked but costs)
I've had a couple of "SIM-locked" phones unlocked recently. Most phones can be unlocked for about £10. Try your local market, there's normally a couple of stalls selling phone covers/accesories. These stalls ususally have a dodgy looking unshaven guy with a laptop and a few hundred different phone connectors. Takes him about 3 minutes to unlock a phone.
its no use I'm going to try talking to the spotty kids in the link etc this lunchtime just in case they know anything. Questions first:
Are the tariffs the same price at every place - eg is the O2 30 plan the same price whereever u go?
If say I want O2 network surely it will be cheaper going to the O2 shop rather than the link etc?? is the only difference between shops the price of the handsets or do tyhe tariffs vary?
Are the tariffs the same price at every place - eg is the O2 30 plan the same price whereever u go?
If say I want O2 network surely it will be cheaper going to the O2 shop rather than the link etc?? is the only difference between shops the price of the handsets or do tyhe tariffs vary?
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