Best Options for Wireless Service During European Travel

[androidluvr2]

A relative is going to travel Europe this summer and she is on ATT. She will be traveling in England, France, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. Her phone is an ATT GSM phone but it is locked and ATT will not unlock it until after she returns from her trip.

So her options as I see them are to add an ATT international plan for her trip or get a cheap phone over there and then get prepaid SIM cards. But she would like her phone as it has a better camera than she is likely to get in a cheap phone.

Any opinions on which way she should go? How cheap are the cheap phones you can buy over there and what is the camera quality?

 

[eshropshire]

A relative is going to travel Europe this summer and she is on ATT. She will be traveling in England, France, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. Her phone is an ATT GSM phone but it is locked and ATT will not unlock it until after she returns from her trip.

So her options as I see them are to add an ATT international plan for her trip or get a cheap phone over there and then get prepaid SIM cards. But she would like her phone as it has a better camera than she is likely to get in a cheap phone.

Any opinions on which way she should go? How cheap are the cheap phones you can buy over there and what is the camera quality?

Biggest challenge she will have in Europe is there is no one Europe wide mobile company. This surprised me on my last visit to Europe, I figured with the EU, Euro and no borders the wireless barriers would have fallen by now. You need to get a SIM card in each country (if you plan to stay there long) or you will pay roaming fees (not cheap). I don't know what AT&T currently charges for international roaming. A few years ago when I was with AT&T it was not cheep.

If your relative does use AT&T roaming make sure they know the costs and monitor their usage. I have seen horror stories of people coming back with monster bills. The Data rate for roaming is very expensive - don't plan on getting around phone costs by using Skype on a data roaming plan. Also, the AT&T Roaming plan minutes cover outgoing and incoming calls. So if you get a 60 minute plan, if someone calls your relative this will eat up the minutes.

 

[suzi]

I am also going to Europe this summer, and visiting multiple countries. I'm wondering if using something like this would be more cost effective -- Travel Abroad without Data Roaming | International Mobile WiFi Internet Connectivity| Tep Wireless

Basically, you rent a mifi from them, which they say works throughout Europe. And then I would use my google voice account. Any thoughts on this plan?

 

[androidluvr2]

And then I would use my google voice account. Any thoughts on this plan?

Doesn't google voice require a voice connection (i.e., not just data) to initiate a call?

 

[suzi]

Not a connection to make calls, I don't think. I have an old Sprint phone (I'm on Tmo now) that I use on wifi to make gvoice calls all of the time with GroovIP.

 

[suzi]

Here is an update, in case anyone is searching the threads with the same question. Google voice works brilliantly when you have GrooveIP installed. Just make sure you are in airplane mode, with wifi on, and you are good to go. I did not get the TEP mifi. I am just using free wireless where I can find it.

Now I that I'm over here, I would recommend getting your phone unlocked before you travel and getting a sim with data. I am finding that it takes some juggling to get around without having full access to google maps at your fingertips at a moment's notice. Other than that, it's fine!