| Author |
Message |
oblivion180
Posts: 1
Phone Model:
Nokia 5100
Service Provider:
Orange |
 
Wed Mar 10, 2004 5:53 pm |
Hello all,
I have a Nokia 5100, which is essentially a 7250, but in the style of a 5210e. The phone is tri-band but my exsisting provider orange is causing me problems. I live in the UK, but wish to use my phone in the USA, specifically in the state of PA for around a week. The problem lies in the fact that orange do not offer Pay As You Go customers coverage in the states. I am 16 and cannot get contract and for a week it isn't worth it so i'm looking for somewhere to buy a pre-paid sim card from an american provider. This would also reduce costs i assume as i'd pay local rates rather than having calls sent via the UK. My problem seems simple but i have yet to find a single company that has provided a solution. I've looked on the sites of most of the main providers i can find but with no luck. Any help or pointers would be greatly appriciated.
Sam
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pcwalker2
Posts: 28
Phone Model:
v205
Service Provider:
t-mobile |
Tue Apr 06, 2004 12:35 pm |
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When you get to the US go to a T-Mobile store and purchase a prepay activation kit. It's usually around $50 and comes with talktime. Make sure your nokia is unlocked though. It not go to nokiafree.org and use their calc to unlock it. It's free.Good Luck PCW2
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Ahwatukee
Posts: 1 |
Mon Apr 12, 2004 12:17 pm |
| oblivion180 wrote: | Hello all,
I have a Nokia 5100, which is essentially a 7250, but in the style of a 5210e. The phone is tri-band but my exsisting provider orange is causing me problems. I live in the UK, but wish to use my phone in the USA, specifically in the state of PA for around a week. The problem lies in the fact that orange do not offer Pay As You Go customers coverage in the states. I am 16 and cannot get contract and for a week it isn't worth it so i'm looking for somewhere to buy a pre-paid sim card from an american provider. This would also reduce costs i assume as i'd pay local rates rather than having calls sent via the UK. My problem seems simple but i have yet to find a single company that has provided a solution. I've looked on the sites of most of the main providers i can find but with no luck. Any help or pointers would be greatly appriciated.
Sam |
Hi Sam,
Good Luck on your visit to the US. The T-Mobile advice is correct but you jave to remember that this is an extremely expensive way for a young person to make calls.You may pay $50 but this will not give you $50 worth of talk time, most of it will go to paying for the new # and admin costs. You have to also be aware that when you leave one state for another you will have roaming fees just as you do when you go fron country to country over in Europe.It is very difficult to get around this, however there are some K-Marts that sell refurbished phones with cards for as little as $39, failing that you will be best off just buying a prepaid phone card which you can use on any phone, this is a reasonably inexpensive alternative and should fit your requirements better...All the best ...Ahwatukee Arizona
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pcwalker2
Posts: 28
Phone Model:
v205
Service Provider:
t-mobile |
Tue Apr 13, 2004 4:33 pm |
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While you are correct about prepay being expensive, you are incorrect about US roaming. T-Mobile's prepay cannot roam in the US;.If you would like a good idea of where it will work, go to T-mobile.com look at coverage map and then ignore everywhere they have roaming agreement. This is will it will work. Basically you only lose major coverage in the Carolina's on the east coast. If you are only going to be here for the week, either of the ways suggested will work. Be careful with buying the phones from Wal-mart. They will roam in a lot of areas and they are TDMA or CDMA and won't work in Europe. so it is money down the hole unless you plan on coming back soon. With the T-mobile chip, if you buy a $25 card or higher after you activate, the account is active for a year after the date so you could use it if you come back within a year or sell it to someone else coming to the US.
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reades
Posts: 1
Phone Model:
Nokia
Service Provider:
T-M |
Thu Jul 08, 2004 2:25 pm |
Hi Sam,
Did you ever get this question resolved? What do you think is the best solution as I am doing something similar to you next month. I am visiting ohio and want to call the uk and my relatives in ohio while I am there. Any ideas?
Here we can go to any phone shop and buy a virgin sim card for £10 and get £5 of calls. (Americans can buy the same card in the US, for use in the UK, but are beiing charged 4 times as much.)
There is a similar thing through tmobile for the USA but costs around £40. There must be a better wat!
Thanks
Rod
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clutterx
Posts: 1
Phone Model:
Sony Ericsson
Service Provider:
Cingular |
Fri Jul 09, 2004 1:54 am |
You could get a dial around service.
They'll give you an 800 number to call and it'll be like .04 a minute for the UK. You can also get an 800 number that can be assigned to your cell phone and your family could call you through that 800 number while you're in the US for the same rate.
I'm not sure if this is considered advertising or not but you could go to www.memphisit.com and they have the dial around services i'm talking about.
If you have anymore questions just email me and i'll try to help you out.
Justin
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NalgeneBottle
Posts: 2 |
Tue Feb 22, 2005 1:19 am |
Hi there.
Tmobile does offer national roaming for the To Go plan.
For dirt cheap SIM cards for Tmobile, you can go on ebay. However, refilling the phone with more minutes is expensive. I am seeing SIM cards for as low as $10 for 60 minutes. Refill rates are posted on their website.
By any chance are you going to go to Carnegie Mellon? I might go there for my Masters degree next year.
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ferna2
Posts: 1
Phone Model:
Sony Ericsson T616
Service Provider:
Entel Chile, Phone Unlocked |
Tue Mar 29, 2005 3:39 pm |
Hi:
I´m new here, from Chile travelling to California in a few weeks.
I bought a new T-Mobile sim card to use this days in Los Angeles Area, with my unlocked phone.
The question is: if I buy a prepaid card (actually they send you by email the number) in eBay for, lets say $25.-, how can I activate the sim as a prepaid one.
I want to activate the service at airport.......I was reading the problems the guy from UK had, so I want to prevent that.
Can I activate from Chile the sim card?....(few days before the trip?)
Please if someone can help, thanks in advance,
Fernando
ferna2@hotmail.com
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kate1947
Posts: 2 |
Thu Jul 03, 2008 3:27 pm |
| reades wrote: | Hi Sam,
Did you ever get this question resolved? What do you think is the best solution as I am doing something similar to you next month. I am visiting ohio and want to call the uk and my relatives in ohio while I am there. Any ideas?
Here we can go to any phone shop and buy a virgin sim card for £10 and get £5 of calls. (Americans can buy the same card in the US, for use in the UK, but are beiing charged 4 times as much.)
There is a similar thing through tmobile for the USA but costs around £40. There must be a better wat!
Thanks
Rod |
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kate1947
Posts: 2 |
Thu Jul 03, 2008 3:31 pm |
I am going to North and South Carolina for two weeks and would like to call friends ovet there and also call home to UK. What is the best way to that
Kate
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