Best way to handle phones? - TravelPUNK Backpacker College Student Budget Travel Message Boards!

**joe7f** · 01-07-2007, 11:05 AM

When I went to Spain I bought a prepaid Spanish mobile phone, however in a week or two I will be getting a new cell phone to replace my Nokia Candybar and was wondering if it would be better to get a phone that only needs a prepaid sim instead of an actual phone?

Do any of Verizon's phones allow this? Where do you all usually get the sim cards? I assume that will also give you a local number?

I think my next big trip will be to China and Japan but I wouldn't rule out doing something before then in Europe if I can get a good deal or the travel bug hits.

--Joey

**lost in texas** · 01-07-2007, 11:27 AM

There's no reason to buy multiple phones. Just make sure you get a "quad band" model, and you can use it almost everywhere. Most service in the US is subscription based, but prepaid sim chips can be bought all over the world. In most phones, the sim chip is located underneath the battery. Also, if you buy the phone directly from your provider (like Cingular), you'll have to ask them to 'unlock' it before you can use different chips.

**joe7f** · 01-07-2007, 11:56 AM

Does unlocking cost extra?

--Joey

**TheJake** · 01-07-2007, 12:18 PM

generally it does and most of the time the carrier won't oblige you. You have to go through an outside company, search "unlock cell" on google, and they can charge upwards of 30 dollars to get you the unlock code. Until a month or two ago it was technically illegal to unlock cell phones but luckily for us the Feds changed that.

**travelpunk** · 01-07-2007, 06:00 PM

We brought our Motorola razor phones to Madrid, because my bro-in-law unlocks and repairs phones for a living. Free for us, but you can get it done for $8-$30 on average, depending on the phone. Some phones can cost a couple of hundred to unlock, because only a few people in the world (I'm talking underground, of course) have the knowledge and software to do it.

Once you unlock your phone, you can use any sim card in it. Throughout Europe there are a variety of companies that offer prepaid card for around .10-.18 cents a minute on average.

$10- $15 bucks can get you up and running. Also, you can re-charge these cards, depending on the company, by going to ATM machines and selecting the option or back to those grocery stores, outlets, etc...

For the most expensive consumer type cell phones in the world- http://www.vertu.com/customer/index.jsp?lang=EN

**omisan** · 01-07-2007, 06:18 PM

If you're on Verizon, you can buy whatever phone you want and it won't work in much of the rest of the world - Verizon uses CDMA, while most of the rest of the world is on GSM. If you use Cingular or T-mobile in the US and have a multi-band phone, then you're all set to go. You can either use international roaming (99 cents a minute.. not great, but easy) or have your provider unlock your phone (usually not a hassle at all) and buy prepaid SIM cards wherever you go.

iomaggio · 01-07-2007, 06:33 PM

If any of the above sounds too complicated or like too much of a headache, you can always just go with prepaid calling card accounts -- I use onesuite.com -- and use that from landline phones. They're rechargeable, and "virtual," that is, there's no physical card to worry about losing.

**joe7f** · 01-07-2007, 07:07 PM

Some googling is confirming what you said Omid. Damn. I guess I will be buying phones overseas.

--Joey

**lost in texas** · 01-07-2007, 07:32 PM

If you have Verizon and can't change your sim chip, just buy another phone for travel. There is still no reason to buy more than one phone. My provider (Cingular) unlocked my phone for free, but do a search for "unlocked phones" on google or ebay and you'll find thousands. You can get a new Motorola Razr, already unlocked, for less than $180. They work everywhere.

It's really not as complicated as it sounds.

**LiveFreeorDie** · 01-07-2007, 09:11 PM

Cingular will unlock your phone, but generally only after you have been a customer for more than 6 months. Also, you may get the runaround when you call, but if you keep calling customer service, eventually you will get someone to email you the unlock code for your phone. Prob just easier to either buy an unlocked phone off of ebay or buy an unlocked phone when you get overseas. Just make sure it is at LEAST a tri-band GSM, quad-band is even better as far as using it in the US, Europe and Asia.

One last thing...Japan does not use GSM. I believe they are on CDMA, so, even if you get a GSM phone that works in China, it will not work in Japan. Japan does have a 3G network now, though, so if you shell out the bucks to get a 3G phone, it should work in Japan. Traveling and cell phones are a pain in the ass, there is no way around it. If you are spending a lot of time in each country, you could just pick up a cheap used phone in each country when you get there - that will ensure compatibility and will probably be the cheapest option. Good luck!

**c0urt** · 01-08-2007, 05:54 AM

if memory serves and please excuse me i am a few months outside of the loop, most north american cellys dont work in japan including most world and quad band phones, because they are on a standard called pdc. Disclaimer, I did a google search to be sure, but i could find anything really recent saying other wise.

here is the international gsm service map,
http://www.gsmworld.com/roaming/gsminfo/index.shtml
cool thing about it is that it lets you see who has roaming aggreements with who and where you may be able to swing service

and the most recent razor if not purchased thru t-mobile should have all four bands, apparently t-mobile locks one of the bands

and lastly, it is depressing that africa is on a faster cell phone standard than us. good night everyone

**c0urt** · 01-08-2007, 06:03 AM

for the sake of clarity, i meant to say gsm phones dont work in japan or korea, japan uses pdc, no clue what korea uses, i did a searvh online and found nothing saying that it would work

**TheJake** · 01-08-2007, 08:35 AM

Sprint is on CDMA as well. I wish I had realized that before i bought my new phone!

**Delaney** · 01-08-2007, 08:49 AM

Just wanted to let you know T-Mobile will unlock your phone for free. But only some of their phone get the correct frequency so when you call have them check the model. When I went to australia I had to move my sim card to my old phone and then had them unlock the old phone. I never ended up getting the prepaid SIM though.

Another tip, I don't know if this is usual or a mistake but I was able to use my sim card from the states to text message people from home and it didn't cost any extra than normal!

McHopsky · 01-14-2007, 09:43 PM

Not sure if this was said already, but Cingular charges a 5 dollars a month fee to make your phone able to connect all over the world. Its also a dollar or so a minute, which is pretty crappy, but easy.

lemlern · 01-15-2007, 10:23 AM

This is a kinda related question. I bought my Blackberry on ebay and it was unlocked. I got my T-Mobile sim card and all that and am using it, but is it still unlocked? Once unlocked, always unlocked?

**omisan** · 01-15-2007, 10:34 AM

Yes, once unlocked, always unlocked

And McHopsky - Cingular should *not* be charging you a monthly fee for the ability to roam internationally. Call 'em up and get that for free!

**LiveFreeorDie** · 01-15-2007, 11:37 AM

Quote:

And McHopsky - Cingular should *not* be charging you a monthly fee for the ability to roam internationally. Call 'em up and get that for free!

Here is the deal with Cingular: you can pay a monthly $4.95 fee and you get discounted international roaming rates. You can roam for free but with higher per minute charges. Whether the fee is worth it or not depends on your intended overseas call volume.

**omisan** · 01-15-2007, 01:06 PM

Ahhh, ok. Weird, that didn't come up as an option when I was looking into going with Cingular a while back. Good to know!

xanthuos · 01-15-2007, 06:06 PM

If you purchased a mobile phone in Europe, chances are it came unlocked and I would recommend keeping it for any future trips you take over there. You can simply buy a prepaid SIM most places, pop it in the phone, and go.

As Omi stated, Verizon does not usa GSM...so therefore, Verizon phones do NOT have a SIM card. You CAN find "hybrid" phones usually referred to as "Global" phones that allow both CDMA and GSM connections, but they are expensive. If you're going to use Verizon here in the US for your cellphone service (many consider CDMA to actually be a superior technology), then like I said above, I just recommend keeping your Spanish mobile for trips to Europe, since it's probably dual-band for Europe (and wouldn't work here anyway) or tri-band.

In North America, GSM operates at 850Mhz and 1900Mhz. In Europe, 900Mhz and 1800Mhz. Basically, most countries in the world use a mixture of GSM, CDMA, and to a lesser extent, TDMA. Some older standards also survive to serve rural areas (AMPS, TACS, NMT, etc). Japan mainly uses PDC (you were correct c0urt) and WCDMA (the main standard for 3G networks). South Korea, I believe, also uses WCDMA/CDMA.

T-Mobile will unlock your handset if you have been a customer in good standing for 3 months. I do not know what Cingular's terms are. Rogers is a bane on my existance, as they will not unlock ANY handset unless you pay them C$250.