Travel to USA / Prepaid SIM over there

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#640727 14-Jun-2012 14:06

eracode: Looked at their website and there's lots of contact phone numbers for various of their services - but they were all US 1-800 numbers (like our 0-800) which do not work from outside the US. There appears to be no way at all to call them if you are outside the US, even on a paid call.

Actually you can call a US 1-800 number from here, it's just not a free call. You dial it as 00 1 800 etc and it will be charged at normal US toll rates. Not sure if this applies with all providers, but it certainly works if you are with Telecom.

OOPs - not sure how I missed that others had answered this already. Duh!

freitasm

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#640748 14-Jun-2012 14:31

surfisup1000: So you just walked into an AT&T Store and bought it using your credit card?

Yes.

surfisup1000: Were there any onerous signup requirements such as ID / address checks?

No.

surfisup1000: Are you sure AT&T won't bill your credit card again like the previous poster?

It doesn't look like...

freitasm

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#640756 14-Jun-2012 14:35

You folks should read the FAQ as well.

Xeo

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#640836 14-Jun-2012 16:25

redpocket or simple mobile.

Redpocket: compatible with all unlocked phones, iphone or android, sim and microsim, unlimited plan 60$month

Simple mobile: as above but $45

Prepaid, you buy the sim, load the money, subscribe the plan or pay as you go.

Antzzz

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#641056 14-Jun-2012 23:04

Any suggestions for a Vodafone Galaxy S user - so need to use a network that supports 900/2100mhz?

surfisup1000

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#641059 14-Jun-2012 23:10

freitasm:
It doesn't look like...

Cheers, thanks for info. Will do the same next month!

old3eyes

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#641127 15-Jun-2012 08:54

Antzzz: Any suggestions for a Vodafone Galaxy S user - so need to use a network that supports 900/2100mhz?

AT&T or T-Mo on GSM and edge data..

Regards,

Old3eyes

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Move to New Zealand's best fibre broadband service (affiliate link). Free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE. Note that to use Quic Broadband you must be comfortable with configuring your own router.

old3eyes

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#641143 15-Jun-2012 09:15

freitasm: You folks should read the FAQ as well.

Greedy pack of sods. From the FAQ

"And, you're also charged for unanswered calls over 30 seconds."

Regards,

Old3eyes

lchiu7

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#641363 15-Jun-2012 13:47

I still think TMO has the most flexible plans

http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/monthly-4g-plans

The $30 for 100 minutes of calls, unlimited text and unlimited data is great value.

And you buy online or at a Walmart. If buying online just have the Sim sent to your hotel or friend's house.

You only have to buy the Sim. You can then buy the dollar amount you want and have them allocate it to what plan you want.

It's a monthly plan but you can pay for one month. There is no recurring charge on a credit card.

Staying in Wellington. Check out my AirBnB in the Wellington CBD. https://www.airbnb.co.nz/h/wellycbd PM me and mention GZ to get a 15% discount and no AirBnB charges.

profrink

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#641398 15-Jun-2012 14:32

lchiu7: I still think TMO has the most flexible plans

http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/monthly-4g-plans

The $30 for 100 minutes of calls, unlimited text and unlimited data is great value.

And you buy online or at a Walmart. If buying online just have the Sim sent to your hotel or friend's house.

You only have to buy the Sim. You can then buy the dollar amount you want and have them allocate it to what plan you want.

It's a monthly plan but you can pay for one month. There is no recurring charge on a credit card.

Yes it is.

However not the best for 3G compatibility.

Linuxluver

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#641460 15-Jun-2012 15:35

eracode: We have recently returned from a month in the US. I took my iPad and wanted one month's data. I ended up going with AT&T and bought 5GB of data for USD50. 5GB was probably overkill but I did not want to run short because we were going to using the iPad for some of our navigation, etc. As it happened, I used about 3.9 GB. It worked flawlessly.

However I had a hassle when I returned to NZ on Sunday. I had told the guy in the AT&T shop that I was only there for a month and wanted just one month of data. On Monday I received an email from AT&T saying that my next month's payment had been successfully debited to my credit card. Clearly they were going to keep charging me every month. The problem then was that I could not contact them. Obviously couldn't use the data connection. Looked at their website and there's lots of contact phone numbers for various of their services - but they were all US 1-800 numbers (like our 0-800) which do not work from outside the US. There appears to be no way at all to call them if you are outside the US, even on a paid call.

I sent them a short email asking for a non 1-800 number and got a crap stock email reply. Clearly it was not going to happen.

Called my bank. They were very helpful but said that when the payment is by direct debit, the only way to stop it is by contacting the payee (unless you go through a 'disputed payments' process). They also said the second monthly payment of US$50 had been processed. Because I couldn't contact AT&T the only way I could put an end to all this was to cancel the relevant credit card and get a card with a new number. Then when AT&T try to debit the third monthly payment, it will fail because the card is no longer valid.

I now have my new credit card and spent a couple of hours yesterday advising various direct debit suppliers of the new card number.

All sorted now but this was trap and a lesson for a newbie. My 5GB ended up costing me US$100 plus a lot of hassle. Live and learn - I was probably naive but c'est la vie.

You can access US (and many Canadian) 1-800 numbers by dialing "0168", then the 1-800 number. You get a warning you will be charged for the call. Carry on...and the number rings and you're on. Holding for half an hour in that situation used to be a pain, but toll charges have comes down a lot in recent years.

Also....5GB for $100 is a LOT less than you would have paid for roaming the same amount of data...so you're still winning.

I keep a Bell Canada phone account alive (C$20 every month) just for the convenience of getting off the plane and having the data there and ready to go. I call a couple days before leaving and get a 5GB data add-on to the account plus some minutes for calling. While there for a month or so I might spend C$150 on this setup.....but compared to any OTHER option....it is dirt cheap. Plus I always have the same phone number whenever visiting.

_____________________________________________________________________

I've been on Geekzone over 16 years..... Time flies....

lchiu7

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#641466 15-Jun-2012 15:44

profrink:
lchiu7: I still think TMO has the most flexible plans

http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/monthly-4g-plans

The $30 for 100 minutes of calls, unlimited text and unlimited data is great value.

And you buy online or at a Walmart. If buying online just have the Sim sent to your hotel or friend's house.

You only have to buy the Sim. You can then buy the dollar amount you want and have them allocate it to what plan you want.

It's a monthly plan but you can pay for one month. There is no recurring charge on a credit card.

Yes it is.

However not the best for 3G compatibility.

Perhaps not since they only do HSPA and HSPA+ at 1700/2100 but how many modern phones in NZ can't do those frequencies?

Staying in Wellington. Check out my AirBnB in the Wellington CBD. https://www.airbnb.co.nz/h/wellycbd PM me and mention GZ to get a 15% discount and no AirBnB charges.

surfisup1000

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#641481 15-Jun-2012 16:01

lchiu7: I still think TMO has the most flexible plans

http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/monthly-4g-plans

The $30 for 100 minutes of calls, unlimited text and unlimited data is great value.

And you buy online or at a Walmart. If buying online just have the Sim sent to your hotel or friend's house.

You only have to buy the Sim. You can then buy the dollar amount you want and have them allocate it to what plan you want.

It's a monthly plan but you can pay for one month. There is no recurring charge on a credit card.

Ha, I went into walmart a couple of years back and they didn't even know what a sim card was.

old3eyes

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#641570 15-Jun-2012 19:03

lchiu7:
profrink:
lchiu7: I still think TMO has the most flexible plans

http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/monthly-4g-plans

The $30 for 100 minutes of calls, unlimited text and unlimited data is great value.

And you buy online or at a Walmart. If buying online just have the Sim sent to your hotel or friend's house.

You only have to buy the Sim. You can then buy the dollar amount you want and have them allocate it to what plan you want.

It's a monthly plan but you can pay for one month. There is no recurring charge on a credit card.

Yes it is.

However not the best for 3G compatibility.

Perhaps not since they only do HSPA and HSPA+ at 1700/2100 but how many modern phones in NZ can't do those frequencies?

Most as 1700 / 2100 are the frequencies for the T-Mo AWS system that sends data up on 1700 band and receives it back on the 2100 band. They are doing tests currently with HSPA+ on the 1900 band but I suspect it will not be ready in time for you. Most Telecom fones sold here do the 850 / 1900 / 2100 bands..

Regards,

Old3eyes

lchiu7

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#642269 17-Jun-2012 22:55

old3eyes:
lchiu7:
profrink:
lchiu7: I still think TMO has the most flexible plans

http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/monthly-4g-plans

The $30 for 100 minutes of calls, unlimited text and unlimited data is great value.

And you buy online or at a Walmart. If buying online just have the Sim sent to your hotel or friend's house.

You only have to buy the Sim. You can then buy the dollar amount you want and have them allocate it to what plan you want.

It's a monthly plan but you can pay for one month. There is no recurring charge on a credit card.

Yes it is.

However not the best for 3G compatibility.

Perhaps not since they only do HSPA and HSPA+ at 1700/2100 but how many modern phones in NZ can't do those frequencies?

Most as 1700 / 2100 are the frequencies for the T-Mo AWS system that sends data up on 1700 band and receives it back on the 2100 band. They are doing tests currently with HSPA+ on the 1900 band but I suspect it will not be ready in time for you. Most Telecom fones sold here do the 850 / 1900 / 2100 bands..

Hmm - getting a bit technical for me.

All I know is that when I roamed in the US on TMO I got 3G on my Nexus One (which I did buy there so that is okay) and my daughter's Nexus S (which I bought from Vodafone NZ for her).

As an aside there appear to be two versions of the Nexus S, the HSDPA 900 / 1700 / 2100 - i9020T for T-Mobile and the HSDPA 850 / 1900 / 2100 - i9020A for AT&T. Since VF sold the phone I presume they sold the i9020T and that is why my daughter's phone works fine on TMO AWS system.

I didn't try other phones so perhaps my sample size is a bit small.

My wife was on ATT for various reasons and she had no problem with her iPhone but then I guess that is to be expected give the ATT network was for a while, the primary carrier for the iPhone.

What about the other smart phones for 2D of VF sold here?

Staying in Wellington. Check out my AirBnB in the Wellington CBD. https://www.airbnb.co.nz/h/wellycbd PM me and mention GZ to get a 15% discount and no AirBnB charges.

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