Nexus 5 & traveling overseas (outside the USA)

[r1mayer]

I just bought the Nexus 5 and waiting for delivery. I am currently using the AT&T GoPhone network for a flip phone I have been using. Yes, I am a late adopter, so I hope I haven't bitten off more than I can chew.
My question: If I travel overseas will my phone be able to work on the gophone network? Someone told me that I will not be able to connect to wifi to make a call period, whether overseas or not on google voice or skype. Can anybody tell me if this is true????

Thanks for all of your feedback.

 

[foxbat121]

Just buy a local sim and put it in.

 

[r1mayer]

Just buy a local sim and put it in.

That is 1 option, but I want to be able to receive calls from the USA from my own phone number.

 

[Gekko]

That is 1 option, but I want to be able to receive calls from the USA from my own phone number.

1. it depends on what country you travel to. for example - Canada and Mexico would work. contact AT&T for the full list - not us.
2. roaming charges will probably be high.
3. as the other poster already stated - the most practical thing is to use a local SIM.

 

[jdbii]

I thought Groove IP works with Google Voice overseas for wifi voip calls.

I'd also look into the new T-mobile Simple Choice plans. I think they permit unlimited 2G data overseas and regular cell calls at only .20 cents a minutes.

 

[r1mayer]

I thought Groove IP works with Google Voice overseas for wifi voip calls.

I'd also look into the new T-mobile Simple Choice plans. I think they permit unlimited 2G data overseas and regular cell calls at only .20 cents a minutes.

T_Mobile's Simple Choice Plan looks like an option for what I need
My understanding is that you cannot connect to wifi using any voip service without a cell tower using the Nexus 5. T-mobile removed the wifi feature from the phone as well unlike the Nexus 4.

 

[jdbii]

T_Mobile's Simple Choice Plan looks like an option for what I need
My understanding is that you cannot connect to wifi using any voip service without a cell tower using the Nexus 5. T-mobile removed the wifi feature from the phone as well unlike the Nexus 4.

I don't think Google Voice plays nice with T-Mobile voice mail. That may have changed but when I tried 6 months ago T-Mobile blocked it from integrating with GV. I would just not activate my T-Mobile voice mail, or ask Tmo to disable it. Have your contacts use your Google Voice number, and have Google Voice forward your calls to your Tmo number. Install the Google Voice App, and then you'll be able to check voicemails and texts on with your Google Voice App. I'd also not have your Google Voice text messages forwarded to your Tmo number, since I'm not sure whether or not incoming texts gets charged or not. You'll just get them for free on Google Voice app. Don't give out your Tmo number to make sure your friends and family aren't confused which number to call.

I don't know enough about it, but off the cuff I would say that I think your wrong about not being able to use voip overseas with 3rd party apps. My understanding is voip doesn't use cell towers. It uses wifi, so I don't see how cell towers would have anything to do with using a 3rd party voip app like Groove IP. Google Voice and Skype might not work overseas since I think they block using it for free overseas, but I had always thought 3rd party apps provided a work-around to get past the block. T-mobile phones have wifi calling baked into their OS (which is different than you using a 3rd Party voice app) and I thought people could make wifi calls overseas no problem with Tmo built-in wifi calling. (Somebody please correct me I'm way off mark).

 

[SEAJeff]

I don't think Google Voice plays nice with T-Mobile voice mail. That may have changed but when I tried 6 months ago T-Mobile blocked it from integrating with GV. I would just not activate my T-Mobile voice mail, or ask Tmo to disable it. Have your contacts use your Google Voice number, and have Google Voice forward your calls to your Tmo number. Install the Google Voice App, and then you'll be able to check voicemails and texts on with your Google Voice App. I'd also not have your Google Voice text messages forwarded to your Tmo number, since I'm not sure whether or not incoming texts gets charged or not. You'll just get them for free on Google Voice app. Don't give out your Tmo number to make sure your friends and family aren't confused which number to call.

That is not at all the case with T-Mobile and Google Voice. You do first have to activate your T-Mobile voicemail to keep the voicemail notification from popping up each time your phone is rebooted, but after that, you can choose Google Voice as your voicemail service in the Phone->Settings ->Call settings->Voicemail (or, just let the Google Voice setup wizard do it for you). You can also put your Google Voice number in the Phone->Settings->Call forwarding settings for "Forward when busy", "Forward when unanswered", and "Forward when unreachable".

As far as international use is concerned with T-Mobile's Simple Choice plans, yes, as of November 1, you get free 2G international data roaming. Texting with US/Canadian numbers is always free no matter where you are with T-Mobile's international roaming, too (btw, texting with Canadian numbers is free on all 4 major US carriers both while you are in the US and in Canada, MMS is considered 3G data, though, so that costs money if you're in Canada). You can also send/receive texts to international numbers (non-"+1-xxx-xxx-xxxx" numbers) for free, however, those users may be charged per their phone provider's rules.

My understanding is that you cannot connect to wifi using any voip service without a cell tower using the Nexus 5. T-mobile removed the wifi feature from the phone as well unlike the Nexus 4

You can also use T-Mobile's WiFi calling while overseas to make calls (the T-Mobile store told me that when I was activating my new account with them), however, since they do not install any software on the Nexus 5, you have to get it setup somewhere that I have not yet found the settings for (I didn't need to make calls on my last trip to Canada, so I didn't bother looking very hard. You get unlimited minutes on Simple Choice plans, so why waste data for calls while you are in the US unless you just don't have cell signal and need to connect to WiFi, instead?). It's not "removed" as it is not a part of the Nexus software, you just have to add in the settings, which I'd imagine is in the Internet Call Settings section of the Phone->Settings->Call settings.

 

[r1mayer]

That is not at all the case with T-Mobile and Google Voice. You do first have to activate your T-Mobile voicemail to keep the voicemail notification from popping up each time your phone is rebooted, but after that, you can choose Google Voice as your voicemail service in the Phone->Settings ->Call settings->Voicemail (or, just let the Google Voice setup wizard do it for you). You can also put your Google Voice number in the Phone->Settings->Call forwarding settings for "Forward when busy", "Forward when unanswered", and "Forward when unreachable".

As far as international use is concerned with T-Mobile's Simple Choice plans, yes, as of November 1, you get free 2G international data roaming. Texting with US/Canadian numbers is always free no matter where you are with T-Mobile's international roaming, too (btw, texting with Canadian numbers is free on all 4 major US carriers both while you are in the US and in Canada, MMS is considered 3G data, though, so that costs money if you're in Canada). You can also send/receive texts to international numbers (non-"+1-xxx-xxx-xxxx" numbers) for free, however, those users may be charged per their phone provider's rules.



You can also use T-Mobile's WiFi calling while overseas to make calls (the T-Mobile store told me that when I was activating my new account with them), however, since they do not install any software on the Nexus 5, you have to get it setup somewhere that I have not yet found the settings for (I didn't need to make calls on my last trip to Canada, so I didn't bother looking very hard. You get unlimited minutes on Simple Choice plans, so why waste data for calls while you are in the US unless you just don't have cell signal and need to connect to WiFi, instead?). It's not "removed" as it is not a part of the Nexus software, you just have to add in the settings, which I'd imagine is in the Internet Call Settings section of the Phone->Settings->Call settings.

Thank you for taking the time to respond. Occasionally I travel overseas and I would like my family to be able to reach me on my Nexus 5 or for me to call them from outside the USA to check in. I'm not so concerned with being able to connect with WIFI, but just the ability to reach my family or for them to reach me. It sounds like this can be resolved if I have the T-Mobile Simple plan and the .20 cents or so per minute is the way to go. I can get a sim card locally in the country and I guess just swap the cards periodically to see if I have a message.

I did call Google and they did confirm to me this afternoon that any VOIP program will use the minutes on my plan. I guess that means the WIFI is plan dependent.

Thank you again for all your comments and if there are any other suggestions they would be appreciated.

 

[jdbii]

That is not at all the case with T-Mobile and Google Voice. You do first have to activate your T-Mobile voicemail to keep the voicemail notification from popping up each time your phone is rebooted, but after that, you can choose Google Voice as your voicemail service in the Phone->Settings ->Call settings->Voicemail (or, just let the Google Voice setup wizard do it for you). You can also put your Google Voice number in the Phone->Settings->Call forwarding settings for "Forward when busy", "Forward when unanswered", and "Forward when unreachable".

I could never get Tmo stock voicemail to completely stop picking up forwarded Google Voice calls, nor could I configure correctly with the Google Voice app wizard. I'm glad to hear all of it is working now. One of the workarounds floating around earlier in the year was for people to disable their Tmo voicemails. When I moved on to AT&T mvno's I never activated the phone's stock voicemail and it made things a lot easier.

I did call Google and they did confirm to me this afternoon that any VOIP program will use the minutes on my plan. I guess that means the WIFI is plan dependent.

Groove IP doesn't deduct from your plan's minutes. I think Google was referring to wifi calling built into the OS of carrier dependent phone (i.e. T-Mobile's wifi calling).

 

[Stein357]

GoPhone doesn't support international roaming.

 

[Gekko]

GoPhone doesn't support international roaming.

International Roaming for GoPhone? Customers

AT&T International Roaming and World Packages - from AT&T

 

[r1mayer]

Groove IP doesn't deduct from your plan's minutes. I think Google was referring to wifi calling built into the OS of carrier dependent phone (i.e. T-Mobile's wifi calling).

It sounds like from reading the Groove IP site that I can get the T-mobile Simple Choice plan and use the Groove IP application to make calls overseas using the T-Mobile data plan and save a few extra bucks instead of using T-Mobile minutes.

 

[jdbii]

It sounds like from reading the Groove IP site that I can get the T-mobile Simple Choice plan and use the Groove IP application to make calls overseas using the T-Mobile data plan and save a few extra bucks instead of using T-Mobile minutes.

You wont' be able to use Groove IP over a 2G data connection, and that's the speed you'll get for free with Simple Choice Plans overseas. Groove IP works best over wifi. Some people manage to get it functional over 3G but I never could. You would be using Groove IP over a wifi connection. Those minutes have nothing to do with you plan or carrier. They are essentially free if you have access to wifi.

The reason why I suggested looking into Simple Choice is for the unlimited 2G data overseas and the flat rate of .20 cents a minute to call back home. In my opinion that would be very convenient and you wouldn't have to deal with trying to make a voip app work. Even on a good wifi connection Groove IP can be kind of finicky. Keep in mind Groove IP has nothing to do with your carrier or plan so long as you use it over wifi.