Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with data and cell

Best pay-as-you-go cell phone plan for a few days in the USA w. a Canadian Samsung Galaxy S2

Mayma Hosey — Sat, 09 Jun 2012 13:45:41 -0800

Is there a prepaid phone plan in the US that will let me use my Samsung Galaxy S2 at full speeds, for short visits (ie: without having to pay for a full month of use)? I live in Canada, and have a carrier-unlocked Samsung Galaxy S2.

I periodically go to the US, typically for a couple of days, sometimes longer.

I'd like to find a cell phone plan that can serve my needs for these visits. I'm hoping I can find a plan that meets these criteria:

1) Gives me access to decent data speeds on my phone (Samsung Galaxy S2).

2) Does not require me to pay for a full month, if I plan to be in the US for just a few days.

In the past, I've used T-mobile's prepaid pay-by-the-day plans. Those plans let me pay for just the days I use. Great for short visits- For 5 days, I pay $10 or $15, for unlimited talk/text and data. The one problem, though, is that with my phone, I am limited to edge speeds. (T-mobile sells a Samsung Galaxy S2 which gets 4g speeds on their network, but that's apparently a different phone from my regular Samsung Galaxy S2, which I believe is only compatible w. Edge speeds on the T-mobile network).

I've also seen plans, like the one at Straight Talk, that, if I understand right, would allow me to get faster speeds, but where I'd have to pay for a full month. That's great for longer visits, but $45 seems expensive for a couple of days coverage.

Is there any plan that offers the best of these worlds? (Or some other solution I may be overlooking?)

Pre-paid SIM in Japan

VoteBrian — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 15:36:13 -0800

How can I best get cell data while in Japan? I've got a GSM Galaxy Nexus that I'd like to use while I'm in Japan. Is it possible to purchase a pre-paid SIM? If so, where would these be sold? I'll be in Nagoya, if that helps.

How can I use my smart phone as a camera and not pay data charges?

Chaussette and the Pussy Cats — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 14:29:12 -0800

How can I use my smart phone as a camera in the US and not pay data/mobile network charges? I live in Canada. Next week, I am going to the US. I want to be able to use my smart phone as a camera. If it is possible to use my phone with free Wifi (like at Starbucks) to do downloads/uploads of email and so on, that would be great. But I am primarily interested in using my phone as a camera.

I don't want to be stuck paying network fees or anything like that. I do not want a huge roaming bill.

I was thinking I could put the phone in airplane mode, perhaps, and make sure all connections were turned off.

My friend told me that even if I do that, some data will get through and I'll be paying $1 a minute.

I have an HTC Incredible, if that info helps.

Thanks.

What's the best prepaid option for travelling in Italy, Greece & Turkey?

adamfunman — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 08:31:04 -0800

Cell phone carrier to use in Italy, Greece & Turkey? We've been planning our dream vacation for over a year, and we leave shortly - however the one thing that I didn't account for was how I can stay connected while away. I'm not in a position to carry heavy roaming charges, so I thought I could buy a prepaid card in Italy for my unlocked blackberry and that would get me through.

My issue is that the internet is FLOODED with confusing information about what carrier to use, what plan to get, etc.

So mefites, have you ever bought a prepaid sim card for voice/data in Italy that will work in Greece and Turkey as well, and won't break the bank?

All micro usb cables are not created equal?

de void — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 11:05:02 -0800

Why does the motorola branded micro usb cable that came with my droid phone both charge *AND* transfer data, but generic micro usb cables will only charge the phone? Recently got a Motorola Droid phone. It included a motorola-branded micro usb cable. I can use it to charge the phone and also transfer data back and forth between the phone and a computer.

I just bought some cheap, non-branded micro usb cables to sprinkle around home and work so I'd always be able to charge the phone. However, I've noticed that the non-branded micro usb cables will NOT transfer data, only charge.

Both cables appear to have the same number of metal contacts on each end.

So what gives, why does the motorola cable allow data transfer and the generics do not?

CMobile broadband plans that cover USA & Canada?

herox — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 04:10:10 -0800

Mobile broadband plans that cover USA & Canada? I will be frequently travelling between the USA and Canada. Like about 4-5 days in each country, rotating constantly. I rely on cell service and mobile broadband on a constant basis. Constantly on the move. I also need high bandwidth/month.

Voice plans seem easy enough to get with reasonable pricing.. but the data plans are frustrating me.

I currently use millenicom for my mobile broadband, since its about the only unlimited access service I can find these days. But of course, they don't cover Canada.

Is there a company and or plan that covers both USA and Canada without charging crazy $/kb or $/mb rates when in the 'other country'? US companies charge about $60-80 for 5GB/month when in the USA, but then when in Canada: Verizon recently changed their costs to about $2/MB, and At&t wants about $15/MB. That's just nuts. As an exampole, even at $2/Mb, that's $10 to download 1 mp3.

Is the best option to buy two plans, one for USA coverage, and then when I'm in Canada, buy something up there?

I just want to read small interesting things

ictow — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 11:03:00 -0800

I'm looking for good mobile websites that are mainly text and update often, with individual content brief enough that I can finish reading by the time the bus comes. Despite what it might imply, texts from last night perfectly encapsulates what I want. I just want more of it. And maybe for it to be informative on top of entertaining. Just something internet-y that I can browse for 3-5 minutes at a time.

Best carrier for traveler with unlocked iPhone in Vietnam?

jesseendahl — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 14:38:20 -0800

I am going on a trip to Vietnam for three weeks this month and am wondering: what my best bet is in terms of carrier and coverage for a prepaid SIM for my unlocked iPhone 3G? I would like both voice and data (preferably unlimited, or just cheap). Fallback (or only) normal GPRS is fine. In the end, coverage is more important. Some of the areas I will be visiting are:

• Quỳnh Lưu province of Nghệ An (250km south of Hà Nội)
• Huế
• Nha Trang

Thanks in advance!

Jesse

Prepaid iPhone data plan in Mumbai?

jesseendahl — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 14:40:15 -0800

Hi, I will be living in Mumbai for 11 weeks next summer. I have an unlocked iPhone 3G. What is my best bet in terms of carrier and plan for the cheapest and most reliable data access? I plan to do local calls over the cell phone voice network and international calls via Skype on the iPhone. Thanks in advance!

iPhone-class RAZR replacement for Verizon service?

attercoppe — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 15:30:20 -0800

What's the best current Verizon phone for me? So I'm dropping my Alltel service and switching to Verizon to share a plan with my wife. (Oddly enough, though they merged, I can't just have them move me over, I have to cancel the one and sign up with the other.) They also say I will need a new phone.

I currently have a Motorola RAZR, as does my wife. I love mine's interface, especially the speed - the wife's is stupid slow, and kind of ugly besides. (My software version reports as GATW_04.06.00R, hers I don't know and don't have access to at the moment.) I'd like to find a phone with a similar look and feel to my current one, particularly the speed - hers seriously takes like a few seconds after a keypress to display menus or switch screens.

Alternately, I might like to go big and get something I can at least get email on, maybe even browse web pages. Streaming media capability (aka Pandora) would be more icing. The Verizon rep I spoke to says they'll give me a deal on the new phone, and I can spend a little anyway, so I'm not looking for crazy cheap - but not made of platinum either. I dream of an iPhone or even just an iPod Touch so I can use wi-fi - of course that's not an option on Verizon, but I think at least some of the BlackBerrys have wi-fi? I am not interested in paying extra for a data plan to do any of this.

You probably need more info from me, feel free to ask away and I'll try to watch closely and answer quickly. Give me your experiences and thoughts, please!

Yet another cellular-data phone recommendation question.

Kadin2048 — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 22:50:59 -0800

Can anyone recommend a phone for tethered EDGE data use with a PC, and basic voice calls? GSM, T-Mobile, Motorola preferred but not absolutely required. I've done some research but I'm a bit confused. I've decided to join the world of mobile not-quite-broadband, and I want to get a phone that I can tether to my notebook (sometimes a Mac, sometimes PC) and use for Internet access. I've actually gotten the tethered-data thing working with my current phone, a first-generation Motorola Razr V3, but it's GPRS-only and almost unusably slow once I get the office VPN up and running. All I want is to do email and light (image-disabled) web browsing, plus phone calls. I don't care about the other features, and I don't care about looks as long as it's small enough to fit into a dress-shirt pocket.

I've heard that EDGE is a step up in speed from GPRS, and the best I can really do right now on T-Mobile's network. (Or so I've been led to believe. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.) And for that, I need a new phone.

Aside from the slow data, I'm very happy with my current pairing of Motorola phone and T-Mobile as a provider. (I've used Motorola phones since they came with shoulder straps, and have never had a problem.) Plus, I got tethered data working on my non-EDGE Motorola pretty easily. Therefore I've been mostly looking at Motorola phones, but I'm open to other suggestions in the same price range.

According to what I can find, the Motorola phones that support EDGE are the newest Razr model (the V3xx), the KRZR K1, the RIZR Z3, and something called the W510. They all seem to retail for about $200USD, unlocked. However, I've read some anecdotal reports that EDGE support in some models is disabled, flaky, or non-functional. Can anyone vouch for them? If you have one, do you like it? Do you wish you'd gotten something else?

I've read their spec sheets and they seem to support different 'versions' of EDGE (e.g. the V3xx is EDGE version 10, the KRZR is version 12); should I care?

Also, I'm not sure if I should be buying a phone today that supports 3G data (HSPDA? UMTS?) so that I won't be repeating this business next year.

As you can probably tell, I'm in a bit over my head. Help me get squared away, MeFi! Thanks!

P.S.: I've read the past threads on this topic, but none seemed to discuss phones with this particular set of requirements.

Is a Blackberry 8800 on T-Mobile my best choice for a data-heavy cell plan starting in spring 2007?

allterrainbrain — Tue, 12 Dec 2006 12:47:22 -0800

My (non-existent) ideal device is a Treo -- with wifi, GSM/GPRS, and either EDGE or HSDPA -- on a service plan that includes flat-rate unlimited data, flat-rate international data roaming, and a small amount of voice usage inside the U.S. (say 100 mins/month). So, in the real world, is a Blackberry 8800 on T-Mobile my best choice for a plan starting in spring 2007? I want to use wifi, cellular-data, and cellular-voice, in that order of usage/importance. (Cellular-voice calls would only happen when there's no wifi available for VoIP.) I've been tethering my Sprint phones as laptop modems for six years -- ever since the first-generation data network where you were lucky to get 10k or 12k down -- so I'm looking forward to having EDGE-or-better speed on my next device.

Cost of the PLAN is the biggest factor for me. T-Mobile is cheaper & more flexible than Cingular for data (more below). Sprint and Verizon are out, since they're CDMA and I want GSM/GPRS for international voice & data roaming (esp. in remote areas that currently have GPRS and aren't likely to have any other data coverage for years).

Cost of the DEVICE is less important (since investing in a device that works with T-Mobile will save me money overall vs. any other carrier's data plan). I already own a basic PDA-only Palm device, and I've accepted that I'll need to keep carrying that along with the new data/phone device (since my biggest musts, Palm OS and GSM+GPRS+wifi connectivity, seem to be mutually exclusive for now [I need Palm OS itself, not just an OS that can sync with my Palm data]).

---- Here's what I want in a PLAN:
• flat-rate data plan, covering both unlimited data on the device and unlimited tethering (such as T-Mobile's $30/mo Blackberry plan for non-corporate users)
• EITHER a very cheap add-on for voice calls (like $10/mo for 100 mins/mo [not available at T-Mobile]) OR the ability, if you're on a data plan, to make voice calls billed per minute (as in T-Mobile's $0.20/min voice calls with data-only plans)
• flat-rate international data roaming with no annual commitment (such as T-Mobile's $20/mo international add-on, which you start & stop anytime [billed at $0.66/day] and which doesn't officially include free web access, tethering, or anything other than "email" [I've found many dozens of anecdotal reports to the contrary, but those experiences are apparently due to communication gaps between T-Moblie and its partners which I have to assume will be closed sometime soon]).

---- Here's what I want in a DEVICE:
• available from T-Mobile by June 2007
• non-Windows OS
• quad-band
• QWERTY keyboard
• uses GSM and GPRS and any EDGE-or-faster data standard
• has wifi (WPA-compatible) and will run at least one VoIP client (preferably many clients)
• can be unlocked and used with a new SIM card (for any travels where cheap-voice is more important than cheap-data)
• ringtones can be user-supplied mp3s (it's fine if that requires third-party software and/or lots of fiddling)
• no unsolveable incompatibilities with Mac OS (again, third-party & fiddling are fine).

Am I right that T-Mobile is my best provider and a Blackberry 8800 is my best device (assuming it turns out to have most of the features that are now being leaked -- most importantly wifi)? Am I missing any better ideas? (There are lots of mefi threads with info on older Blackberries/etc., but none specific to my situation.) Thanks for any reactions!