International cell phone plans

[Green]

Any ideas on the best providers for international phone plans? I want to be able to use my cell phone abroad. Thanks.

 

[av8er23]

I use verizon and i know that their network in the states is different than most others around the world. you must switch phones when you travel to other countries in europe ect. i do not know about the others cingular, tmobile, ect.

 

[ATRCAPT]

If you're just looking for a way to call home I use the skipe software. (skipe.com) It costs me about 11 cents a minute to call my wifes cell phone. Hope this helps.

 

[turbinej]

t-mobile has plans and just one phone. they have multiple phones available and they will automatically convert from us to international.

 

[sweptback]

T-Mobile and Cingular use GSM service, which is more predominant worldwide. International roaming rates get expensive, but both services have a plan where you pay a little more monthly but get better roaming rates. Just make sure that you have an international phone -- not all work abroad.

If you only travel in North America, a Verizon or Sprint phone should work in most places.

If you don't mind being constrained to a laptop and internet connection, Skype is your cheapest option for sure. Also, if you have Vonage or some similar service, you can use that too.

 

[FL420]

My Verizon CDMA phone works in USA, Canada, Mexico, Dominican Republic, most Caribbean islands and Venezuela. Charges back to US are about 65 cents/minute. You must have Verizon Customer Service activate your account for international roaming. They can tell you in which countries it will or wont work. An added benefit is the ability to use the seatback skyphone on many carriers for a very reduced rate.

 

[hoya saxa]

skype vs. vonage

Anybody have thoughts on skype vs. vonage/patriotphone? I.e. which is more user friendly for calling/placing calls on the road (internationally)? Also, am I right in thinking vonage requires an ethernet cable connection whereas skype can connect through wifi alone? Pricing it out on their websites it looks like it'd cost about the same once you break down the per minute cost for SkypeOut and subscription fee of SkypeIn. Techno-wizards, educate me!

hoya

 

[AA717driver]

skype works great with wifi. It's been a lifesaver with all the int'l. stuff I've been doing. I had t-mobile for a year and it worked great. My company is forcing us to get cingular GSM/GPRS phones and they work ok too.

A word of warning--cellphone charges will kill you. The cheapest you'll get off is $.99/min. in Northern Europe. China/India and the other backwaters will cost as much as $2.99/min. TC

 

[C17CHS]

I've heard good things about Skype and Net2Phone. If you do plan on using a regular mobile phone, I'd recommend a GSM phone/plan--Cingular or T-Mobile. Make sure it's a Quad-Band phone. They'll work almost anywhere except for Korea and Japan. Get the phone unlocked and you can use local sim chips for whatever country you're in. T-Mobile says they'll unlock any phone after 90 days of service. If the phone company gives you hassles about unlocking the phone, for $20-$30 bucks you can get it unlocked through vendors on the net or in a Mom & Pop cell shop that has the SmartClip or other similar devices.

 

[Fokkerflyer]

I have been with TMobile for a while now. Although they have come a long way domestically, the coverage still kind of blows (I live in the NE). Abroad you can't beat the coverage that TMobile has though, it's fantastic. They have some great plans right now.

Cingular I heard is better within the States and great internationally, but also more expensive than TMobile is.

Hope this helps,
FF

 

[Whale Rider]

One word...........SKYPE!

 

[scar1900]

I have Vonage at home and love it. It is more of a home solution, though (as a way to dorp your local phone provider). There is a way to get a "soft phone" on your laptop, but you have to pay extra I think.

I go to Europe fairly often so I just bought a cheap unlocked cell phone over there (I think it was like $20 on ebay) and bought a prepaid plan in Europe. The prepaid plan comes with a sim card you just pop into your phone and off you go, buy minutes as needed. It's great to have to make local calls and so people can call you while your abroad (the service I have over there gets free incoming calls to boot). I had to buy a phone because I am Verizon over here (ie. CDMA, no sim card) but if you have an unlocked, tri or quad band, Cinguar or T-mobile phone you can use that, no need to buy a second phone.

As far as for calling home, I think Skype is the cheapest, but you need your computer. If you don't have that you can buy calling cards that you can use on your cell phone, but those get expensive.