Smartphone Rental in Europe

[audreyh1]

Anybody use the global sim cards?

https://www.whistleout.com/CellPhones/Guides/your-guide-to-global-and-travel-sim-cards

Probably more expensive than a local sim, but you don't have the hassle of having to change for each different country.

I researched these types heavily in 2014 and came to the conclusion that they use numbers from countries that are expensive to call to in Europe, and that you jump through ring-back hoops to make things work, and there are often technical issues. I concluded they weren't worth the hassle and haven't looked back.

We decided to take the other approach that avoids having to change for each different country. (T-Mobile)

Did it with one of the phones for the past two years, now will do with both because I am really done with valuable time lost researching and then hunting up local SIMs.

 

[Gone4Good]

Occasional use? I have never seen anything stating that it is only for occasional use.

We'll, "only for occasional use" overstates the restriction. But as with most things in life, unlimited doesn't really mean unlimited.

From T-Mobil's Q&A:

If the plan includes unlimited data and text, is there any limit?

As long as the majority of your usage is on T-Mobile’s U.S. network, you will experience unlimited data and text. Service may be terminated for excessive roaming, misuse, or abnormal use.

That's why I went the local SIM Card + Skype dedicated number route instead of signing up with T Mobil. Also, it's cheaper my way, but probably more of a hassle.

 

[Fedup]

Verizon does have international roaming. Not sure you'd want to pay their expensive roaming charges, though.

I was going to stop the roaming, I'm not sure how it works yet, I need to do more research. But we had guest over from the UK and he told me to buy SIM card. That's why my ears and eyes perk up when I read SIM card.


Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum

 

[Fedup]

If your Verizon phone is an iPhone 5 or iPhone 6 you can still use a T-mobile SIM for Europe as your phone is unlocked and you can switch SIMs temporarily. You'll just need to sign up for their Simple Choice plan and cancel it upon return.

If it is not an iPhone - you need to find out if it is unlocked and if it supports GSM bands. If it does, you may still be able to use it with a T-mobile SIM.

Not really other options you can buy in the US unless you add on international coverage or just take the $ hit for using overseas.

I don't count those weird SIMs like WorldSIM sold by the Lithuanian or Isle of Mann companies - or wherever they are - too many gotchas/hassles..

Thank you, I have an iPhone 6 and iPhone 5s. I will look into it.


Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum

 

[audreyh1]

Thank you, I have an iPhone 6 and iPhone 5s. I will look into it.


Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum

We have a Verizon iPhone 5 and one year we signed up for the T-Mobile Simple Choice plan which charges monthly (it's not a contract plan), bought the SIM, and swapped the out the SIM, carefully storing the Verizon SIM at home.

We tried to do this just a few days ahead of our trip - enough time to make sure it was all working.

When we got back, we called to stop/cancel the plan. I think we did go a little over a month, but they simply pro-rated the partial month and refunded us the remainder of the month charge.

A local pre-pay SIM will be cheaper if you are visiting just one country, and the time there is limited. Provided you can figure out what to buy and where to buy it! But we liked the no-hassle feature of the T-mobile solution, knowing the phone number before we left the US, and the seamless transfer as we crossed country boundaries.

 

[photoguy]

I researched these types heavily in 2014 and came to the conclusion that they use numbers from countries that are expensive to call to in Europe, and that you jump through ring-back hoops to make things work, and there are often technical issues. I concluded they weren't worth the hassle and haven't looked back.

That's good to know. I've just been so annoyed that the MVNOs in Canada are terrible and thought the global sims could solve that and other international travel.

We decided to take the other approach that avoids having to change for each different country. (T-Mobile)

I think ting also allows global roaming at reasonable rates and I'm looking at google FI too.

 

[YVRRocketSurgery]

Not sure if this is offtopic for this thread but hoping it might be handy.

For a Mediterranean trip and cruise a couple of years ago, we unlocked our Samsung Galaxy phones and bought a prepaid sim card from Europasim. We think it's a small operation (ie some guy out of his basement?) that is a reseller of Vodafone sim cards. The initial sim card cost 10E which came with 5E of credit. For 3E/day, it gave us 500MB of data, 50 SMS messages, and 50 voice minutes per day. We used it in Germany, Italy, Greece, Turkey, and Spain but it's apparently valid in 47 EU countries.

The challenges were:
I forget exactly but it either didn't work tethering to our laptop/tablets or it cost us a few dollars more.
Adding dollars to the sim was a bit of an adventure (but doable) since the recharge website is in Italian.
There's a PIN associated with the sim card so every time you rebooted your phone, you had to remember what the pin was and enter it.
There are some special rules (good and bad) around the usage in Italy and when you cross into or out of Italy.

 

[mpeirce]

I'm curious to see if Wi-Fi calling, which ATT offers on the iPhone 6 and above, works when I'm in europe.

It works great here in the US. I'm been able to call regular phone numbers when I'm on WiFi and have no ATT cell signal. Hopefully this'll work over there too.

 

[braumeister]

I see no reason why it shouldn't work the same over there.

One caveat: some hotels have crappy wifi speeds.
You can check that in advance to some extent at this site:
Hotel WiFi Test: Find Hotels with Fast WiFi

 

[mpeirce]

I'm curious to see if Wi-Fi calling, which ATT offers on the iPhone 6 and above, works when I'm in europe.

D'oh!

Had the linked page open in another window and my eye wandered over there and I actually read the small print:

Note: At this time, you can only use Wi-Fi Calling to call or text from the U.S., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
​

Oh well... At least FaceTime Audio will still work.

 

[braumeister]

Oh well... At least FaceTime Audio will still work.

Or Skype. Still a good option.

 

[audreyh1]

I'm curious to see if Wi-Fi calling, which ATT offers on the iPhone 6 and above, works when I'm in europe.

It works great here in the US. I'm been able to call regular phone numbers when I'm on WiFi and have no ATT cell signal. Hopefully this'll work over there too.

We use WiFi calling heavily in the US - which is how we were able to switch to T-mobile full time are a carrier. But we didn't try using it in Europe.

One possible problem - phones can "know" when they are overseas.

 

[audreyh1]

D'oh!

Had the linked page open in another window and my eye wandered over there and I actually read the small print:

Note: At this time, you can only use Wi-Fi Calling to call or text from the U.S., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
​

Oh well... At least FaceTime Audio will still work.

And imessaging. It turns out this is the main way we communicate with family even while in Europe, so having a local number is not so critical.

I seem to recall T-Mobile does allow wifi calling in Europe. We just hadn't tried it.