Planning to use TMob for incoming texts but will this work?

[PraetorianGuard]

I am presently deciding to get a US sim with a US number for various reasons. In another thread on here people suggested either ATT or TMobile. So I have made this thread in here aswell as in the other telephone providers forum in order to get opinions concerning both providers and what options I have there.

But what I am looking for is the following in essence:

- Non Contract Sim (Ie prepaid meaning PAYG)
- Needs to be working abroad
- Cheap or prefebly free incoming texts

I have friends in the US and texting them from my regular phone costs me about $0.50 US pr text so that is just not a feasible option. So my present plan involves getting a US sim and thus a US phone number so that people in the US can text me back. Hence why it needs to be able to work abroad so I can recieve the texts over here. And then basically be sending them texts from a WebSMS service so that I will save money.

And since I will only be using the number to recieve texts I also has no gain or advantage out of picking up a monthly plan or such as it would just be a waste of my money really.

Which again also brings me to the subject of the prefebly free or otherwise cheap incoming texts. I am in no way agaisnt paying ~10 USD a month worth of credit to the phone if it means I can recieve texts. Because I figure I would have to at least keep a certain balance at least pr 90 days or such to keep it active.

But is this something Tmobile US would allow me to do firstly as a non US recident, and would it actually work abroad. Because I have looked at their website and it didn't really put in detail if it would actually work for me. I mean to put the sim in one of my phones and actually getting a valid signal considering I would be abroad and thus roaming. I figure getting texts from the US will be same price as "if" I was actually in the US.

But any help and advice in regards to getting this off the ground would be appreciated. Both in regards to feasibility as well as costs. And if people have other suggestions in regards to other providers that would do this for me and it working and being cheap then they are most welcome.

Thanks in advance for your time and effort.

 

[lmc05]

Unfortunately, T-Mobile prepaid services doesn't work ouside of the US, so I don't believe this would be your solution. I can't speak for AT&T's prpaid services, but I know that T-Mobile's won't work abroad.

 

[PraetorianGuard]

Well someone told me he had friends living abroad and they used Tmob sims and they worked

 

[lmc05]

Correct, but those wouldn't be prepaid Sims. Only post paid Sims can roam. Prepaid service doesn't have any roaming agreements, hence why it only works in the US.

 

[PraetorianGuard]

Well considering non US residents can't get post paid then explain how people abroad can get on TMob and roam.

 

[anon62607]

I am presently deciding to get a US sim with a US number for various reasons. In another thread on here people suggested either ATT or TMobile. So I have made this thread in here aswell as in the other telephone providers forum in order to get opinions concerning both providers and what options I have there.

But what I am looking for is the following in essence:

- Non Contract Sim (Ie prepaid meaning PAYG)
- Needs to be working abroad
- Cheap or prefebly free incoming texts

I have friends in the US and texting them from my regular phone costs me about $0.50 US pr text so that is just not a feasible option. So my present plan involves getting a US sim and thus a US phone number so that people in the US can text me back. Hence why it needs to be able to work abroad so I can recieve the texts over here. And then basically be sending them texts from a WebSMS service so that I will save money.

And since I will only be using the number to recieve texts I also has no gain or advantage out of picking up a monthly plan or such as it would just be a waste of my money really.

Which again also brings me to the subject of the prefebly free or otherwise cheap incoming texts. I am in no way agaisnt paying ~10 USD a month worth of credit to the phone if it means I can recieve texts. Because I figure I would have to at least keep a certain balance at least pr 90 days or such to keep it active.

But is this something Tmobile US would allow me to do firstly as a non US recident, and would it actually work abroad. Because I have looked at their website and it didn't really put in detail if it would actually work for me. I mean to put the sim in one of my phones and actually getting a valid signal considering I would be abroad and thus roaming. I figure getting texts from the US will be same price as "if" I was actually in the US.

But any help and advice in regards to getting this off the ground would be appreciated. Both in regards to feasibility as well as costs. And if people have other suggestions in regards to other providers that would do this for me and it working and being cheap then they are most welcome.

Thanks in advance for your time and effort.

Flaw in your logic, it's not actually the same price. You would have to have international roaming and texting turned on on your t-mobile account and the roaming SMS rate is just about as high as your $0.50 anyway (it's about $0.40 / text when I use my US T-mobile SIM in Ukraine or Afghanistan).




---
I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=31.512309,65.847903

 

[PraetorianGuard]

How would I need international texting turned on?. I will not be sending any texts from the phone. Only recieving. So you are saying you are paying $0.40 USD pr text you recieve?

 

[anon62607]

How would I need international texting turned on?. I will not be sending any texts from the phone. Only recieving. So you are saying you are paying $0.40 USD pr text you recieve?

I think it depends on the local carrier that is passing the SMS messages through on behalf of tmobile. In Afghanistan it's $0.40 per and Ukraine is less and Iraq was somewhere between the two, if I remember. And I have unlimited texting.

After I got my first Afghanistan tmobile bill I unlocked and made due with a local sim, ends up being less expensive.

I received texts while in Canada on tmobile and I think I remember being charged for them but I'm not completely sure.


---
I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=31.512309,65.847903

 

[anon62607]

How would I need international texting turned on?. I will not be sending any texts from the phone. Only recieving. So you are saying you are paying $0.40 USD pr text you recieve?

Also, if you are going through the trouble of getting a US sim, why not just get a google voice number and have your friends text that?



---
I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=31.512309,65.847903

 

[lmc05]

You do get charged international messaging rates even if you receive a message. T-Mobile does over services in Europe (obviously not T-Mobile USA) so maybe that's what the people you know are using? But I work for T-Mobile so I know that T-Mobile USA prepaid doesn't allow for roaming outside of the US. You can text people outside of the US at an additional cost but you can't do it in the reverse.

 

[honex97]

If you and all your friends have smart phones then you all can download a program called textplus its free app to app texting from anywhere in the world.