Phone

[mev]

We would like some help with this, please.

 

Whenever we travel, there are serious issues with our phones. Our carrier is Sprint, and our phone is supposed to work out of the country. The Sprint representatives have set up the phone; we have set up the phone while talking with a representative - all for nothing. And no, we can't use Verizon, no towers where we live.

 

We like to check in with family every few days just so they know we are okay and having a great time.

 

We have talked with people about the tracfone - very inexpensive to purchase; double minutes when you buy the "minutes" card, good for 90 days.

 

Does anyone have any experience with this phone or have other reasonably priced solutions to our dilemma.

 

Thanks for the suggestions that you send,

 

Mary

[Sauer-kraut]

I didn't realize Tracphone works out of the country.

 

When using your Sprint phone out of the country are you sure you have a Quad Band phone? Even if your account is set up, your physical phone might not have the proper band.

 

Also, when out of the country do you go into your settings mode and click on VIEW WIRELESS NETWORKS or something to that effect? You need to choose a provider if you are out of Sprint's network. I europe I have used Orange, Swisstel, and a host of others. That could be why your phone isn't working.

 

Good luck and check out the band that the country you're visiting uses and what your phone is capable of.

[Jinn]

Before I bought my iPhone, I used a Mobal (Mobal.com) which I purchased. Very easy to use. Julia

[corky8332]

Tracfone only works in The US.

[mev]

Salespeople are amazing - told tracfone would work in the UK - wasn't sure - glad I asked. Will be calling about Mobal later today. Looks good, need to verify charges.

 

Thanks for the information. More suggestions - keep them coming.

 

Mary

[MATHA531]

Very quickly....British mobile phones are among the cheapest in the world. British mobiles (voie only although smart phones are also fairly cheap but we'll stick to voice) operate on a system called gsm which relies on a little chip inserted in the phone called a SIM card. Without doing the whole thing, British sim cards are FREE. If you have a gsm phone with the European frequencies which is unlocked, simply slip in the sim card, top it off with some time and you're set in Great Britain.

 

As a matter of fact, if you get a T Mobile UK sim card, you can tie in with a company called yourcall world (look up their web site) which allows you to call the US and Canada for 3p/minute timed to the nearest second! You will have to provide your British mobile number to those who you wish to have call you but it will probably be cheaper for them to call you, you to hang up and then use ycw to call them back in the USA (do this all the time).

 

Lots of other stuff available.

[Chesie]

Mary,

 

My Samsung III does not have a SIM card and my carrier here told me you have to. I will be checking out Telestial.com for purchasing/renting a phone and purchasing a SIM card service. They have various ones for purchase.

 

My boss uses this service all over Europe and doesn't have a problem.

 

Just another option to look at!

 

Nanc

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

We use Sprint as well , Look into skype on your phone we travel a lot ,,all you need it wifi and a account 2 cents per min ..

[Bob++]

I would buy a cheap, old model, voice-only phone off Ebay (or similar) and buy a PAYG sim card in the UK. Just about any supermarket will sell you one or there are hundreds of mobile phone shops.

[LondonTowner]

I agree with Bob, go into a shop like Carphone Warehouse and get a cheap basic phone with a PAYG card. It will be very cheap. New EU legislation has come into force this week making all mobile phone calls within the EU much cheaper than it was.

[mev]

I will look for an inexpensive phone and buy the card in London.

 

I know we have Skype set up on our computer; I'll check out my phone now to see about Skype. How hard can it be for a tech challenged individual - lol.

 

Thanks for all ideas, one of them will work,

 

Mary

[SoBaycruiser]

I will look for an inexpensive phone and buy the card in London.

 

I know we have Skype set up on our computer; I'll check out my phone now to see about Skype. How hard can it be for a tech challenged individual - lol.

 

Thanks for all ideas, one of them will work,

 

Mary

 

Mary,

 

If you have Skype and Internet access, you have no problems. When we went to New Zealand a few years ago' we wanted to keep in contact with DH's 83 year old mother. She doesn't have a computer nor the skills. Through Skype we subscribed to their unlimited US landline plan which was about $3 a month. Because our subscription uses our own US land line as its basis, it is considered a US to US call. So we would dial his mom and she talked through her regular phone. It worked great. When we returned home after 5 weeks we cancelled our subscription and it cost us a total of $6 (2 months). Of course, we could talk visually to others through video Skype free ...but that person must have Skype too.

[Alaskanb]

I have used a Mobal phone in Europe for several years --easy to use and works very well.

[skisteamboat]

Count me in for using Skype.

 

I bought a cheap data SIM for a myfi (mobile wifi device) in London at Carphone Warehouse and used my iPad for surfing and my iPhone with Skype to call back to the states.

 

Cheers