Data plan for iPhone 4 in the States

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Lizard1977

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#129563 19-Sep-2013 16:11

I'm going to be in the States for work, for just over a month. I'll be in Washington DC, Iowa, Chicago, and New York. I'll have my iPhone 4 with me, and a tablet/netbook convertible, which I'd like to be able to tether to my iPhone for internet access from time to time. I've been told that wifi access will be reasonably prevalent, but to be on the safe side I'd like to have a 3G data plan on my phone so that I can stay in touch with my wife back in NZ via Viber and Voxer/Skype. I won't have much need to txt or call anyone in the States.

I've been told that Verizon is probably my best bet, as it offers the most reliable coverage in Iowa (where I'll be for two weeks), so I'm leaning that way. They have a 99c/day pay-as-you-go option, which seems to just deduct 99c from your top-up credit whenever you use the service. This looks to be the best value, as I may not need it every day if the wifi coverage is as good as it sounds.

I've looked through Verizon's website, but I haven't been able to find out how to get a micro-sim for my iPhone. I presume I can just walk into the store and get one, but I'd like to know before I go over there. Does anyone know if this is right? Or is there a better suggestion than Verizon? I would ask Verizon, but bizarrely there doesn't seem to be a simple email address for queries...

johnr

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#898589 19-Sep-2013 16:15

CDMA network so will be a no go on your iPhone

Inphinity

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#898593 19-Sep-2013 16:24

You'll probably need to look at AT&T or T-Mobile, I think most of the other major US carriers (Verizon, plus Sprint, MetroPCS, Cricket, and US Cellular) are CDMA also afaik. Many have LTE coverage, but the iPhone4 won't support it, so that's no good to you either. Alternately, if you want to stick with a CDMA-based carrier, you could look to get a handset while over there.

johnr

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#898595 19-Sep-2013 16:28

A number of threads on this very topic are covered on this very topic if you search Geekzone

dickytim

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#898644 19-Sep-2013 18:26

AT&T served me well, but worth trying T-Mobile as I used them for my Ipad and they were really good.

Gave my sims to someone on here to take over in Sept and asked for them to give them away on their return, so you might get lucky!

dickytim

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#898647 19-Sep-2013 18:27

BTW my experience with wi-fi at hotels was really BAD!

I wouldn't rely on it.

johnr

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#898656 19-Sep-2013 18:39

dickytim: BTW my experience with wi-fi at hotels was really BAD!

I wouldn't rely on it.

+1 I was in Canada / US few weeks back and had issues with WIFI

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Lizard1977

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#899633 22-Sep-2013 10:33

That's my concern, and why I was looking at lining up a SIM card and data plan in advance, especially if I can use it on daily activation basis, so that I only use it when the wifi doesn't work well. As I'll be in different places over the four weeks, I want something that give consistent service across the country. From what I've read, AT&T and T-Mobile aren't so great in places like Iowa, where I'll be spending half my time. I'll give them another look though...

dazzanz

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#900691 22-Sep-2013 14:42

dickytim: BTW my experience with wi-fi at hotels was really BAD!

I wouldn't rely on it.

I wouldn't rely on it, but some places are decent and it really is just luck of the draw. I'm currently in a US hotel and have been in many different ones across the country for the last 6 weeks. I've found, surprisingly, that often the cheaper hotels have better WiFi - I think because they don't overdo it with logins etc, it is just a normal WiFi network with either no encryption or WPA. I'd recommend using a VPN like PureVPN or ProXPN while on hotel WiFi.

As for SIM cards, like was already mentioned you won't be able to use Verizon due to their CDMA network. Depending on your iPhones supported frequencies you may find T-Mobile to be a bad choice as well, also their coverage isn't as good as AT&T from my experience, although if you are just in major cities it should be no problem. I actually went with Red Pocket, which uses the AT&T network, it is about $50 for 3GB of data. I also use SIMPLE on my Nexus 4, which uses T-Mobile and is unlimited data. Seems to work well and has gotten me out some tight spots when the hotel WiFi wasn't great and I could tether.

I used AT&T last year and found it quite expensive but it may have changed now, I think for a prepaid sim I paid something like $60 for 1GB.

profrink

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#900698 22-Sep-2013 14:57

As already mentioned really your only option is AT&T or one of their MVNO's like Straight Talk or Red Pocket. On T-Mobile you will likely be stuck on EDGE due to needing the AWS frequencies for 3G.

Or you could get a pocket WiFi router from Verizon and go that route if you're really desperate for data with them.