Do you travel with your Smartphone?

[beckie.c]

Question: Do you travel outside of Canada with your unlocked smartphone and actually use it with another providers SIM? Have you had a good experience doing that? When you came back did you have any issues using your phone with your original provider again? I would love to know your thoughts on this!

I'm looking at unlocking one of my older Galaxy S2 so that I can purchase a SIM card from another country and use data on it for google maps, researching excursions, etc while I am away from the hotel. (No emails, no Facebook I will be on vacation after all!) I've looked at some reviews about pricing so I think I'd be around $25 for the data & SIM I want on the trip. If I use my SK provider, they charge $10/MB plus $25... which is pretty gross...

My provider will only unlock it if it is active on the network which may mean spending $50 in activation fees to switch my iPhone to my old Galaxy and then back to my iPhone, then spending $50 to give me the unlock code. Yuck! Its only $50 to unlock my iPhone and use it... but that scares me a little if it were to get stolen, broken or messed up in some way. I don't mind paying the $50 to unlock, since I'll be able to use it on a few out of country trips over the next 2 years, but not too keen on taking my good iPhone...

I'd like the convenience, but if nothing else I'll take my iPad and hook up to WiFi when I can find it

[xlxo]

I totally bring my phone with me....

• keep in touch with fellow companions
• Love google maps to research where I am and save money when taking public transit with confidence
• research itinery LIVE throughout the day. I have web access while on a long tour bus ride.
• no more looking for UNSECURED public wifi in foreign locations. I hope you are using a VPN with public wifi.
• bypass congested free airport and hotel wifi at peak periods after dinner
• SIM card swaps mean I pay no roaming. Note you do need your original SIM if you expect people to call you with your Canadian number

It would help if you share where you are going....

• quick trips to the USA for gas? I just turn my phone on airplane mode and skip the hassles.
• day trip to the states.... Roam Mobility is my #1 choice. Operating out of Vancouver, BC.... Roam Mobility piggy backs on the US TMobile network for MOST states. Roam Mobility is the only prepaid service that ALLOWS me to call Canadian numbers. US prepaid cards do not allow you to call to a friends phone with a Canadian number. Roam Mobility charges BY THE DAY, not BY the Minute. You can spend HOURS on the phone.
• I get ATT prepaid cards for Alaska, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming and Jellystone. Roam Mobility has no partnership with TMobile in these states.
• In China and Hong Kong.... China Unicomm is my preferred carrier as they offered SIMs that work with Blackberry frequencies.
• yes a foreign sim and unlocking your phone cost money. However the savings on roaming charges is worth it.

Some more tips...

• Don't forget to dial *#06# to grab your IMEI number prior to leaving.
• Apply a good password on the phone as a theft precaution
• seriously consider setting up a FindMyPhone app if your phone goes missing
• sometimes when coming back to Canada, the phone needs a reboot to find your home carrier. After a SIM card swap, you might need to take the phone out of "manual" carrier mode and send it back to automatic to find your Canadian carrier.
• consider an external battery so you are not constantly looking for a outlet to charge your phone when travelling. Look for a high mah battery. My Momax can charge my phone a dozen times!
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-iVSD9XZLU&hd=1
• research which carrier frequencies work with your phone. Not all SIMs work on the same frequencies.
• pay attention to what frequencies the SIM uses for voice and data. It's not surprising to see data work, but voice fails.... and vice versa.

[i_forget]

Yes.

I buy a small package in case I get a phone call or texts, and then hook my phone up to wifi whenever I can.
Never had any issues, and always found it to be cheaper than buying a new SIM card and having to add money to my phone from a foreign provider.

[c_mcarthur]

i put my phone on airplane mode and try very hard not to touch it.
Unless of course we have free wifi lol then maybe once a day
but in case of emerg, I always give my family the phone numbers to the hotel i'm staying at.
There's nothing more annoying than seeing friends who are supposed to be on vacation in other countries hanging out on facebook updating,
IMO

[beckie.c]

Thanks for the tips, this year we are headed to the Dominican, next year Europe. I more so see it being useful in Europe since I would like to be able to go at our own pace rather than take a tour and for that google maps access and the ability to find hotels, train times on the go, etc would be really helpful. For the Dominican it won't be super necessary but it will probably cost about the same amount as getting hotel wifi ($14/day) so I thought I could try it out �� I like using the internet to book excursions rather than the hotel excursions because then I can look at customer reviews and choose the best ones.