Cell phones for students studying abroad????

[arthuruscg]

To make calling the U.S. cheaper, you could look into a couple of apps; GrooveIP and Talkatone, they are wifi based telephone apps for smartphones and tablets. She would need to have access to a wifi network but calls to the U.S. would be free. You would port her current cell phone number to Google Voice and these apps use Google talk to ring a special dialer on the phone. You could then get a local prepaid sim for her to make calls in her home away from home country.

You just saved me the trouble of writing the same recommendation up.

 

[maggiew]

I studied abroad in Costa Rica and used AT&T's international plan and it was super expensive. When I later studied in Scotland I used O2's pay as you go phone and it worked fine for what it was (one time my mom had to call me from the states and it took all 10 pounds of credit in about 1.5 minutes so you could call her if there was a need). If she has a phone with a removable sim card she can get a local one in Europe (iPhones do not have this). I just used skype to talk to people at home. So I say don't go with your current providers plan.

Also I'm not sure about the texting with google voice but don't expect her to have free wifi (if it needs wifi), I found that almost nowhere in Europe did. Some pay as you go plans include wifi access however (but not all, and some may cost more so shop around).

Do you think dorms in London or the University will have wifi for students?

Maggie

 

[SandrA9810]

Since her US number won't be tied to a cell phone in the US, you shouldn't have to pay for the data plan. If you do need a phone, buy a pay as you go phone, and that will knock off the data charges.

I think more people have experience with AT&T over T-Mobile in this scenario. Hopefully they work nearly the same.

 

[digitalsiren]

I've been abroad for a greater part of the past 3 years in various countries/continents. I'd have her get a pay-as-you go in London for you to call in to her or for her personal use there.
As for her calling you, Skype works OK, but I've been happier using Google Voice. I call my family right through my Gmail account and it only costs $.01 per minute to call back to the states. I almost always have a great connection through Voice but less so with Skype.

 

[horseshowmom]

https://www.straighttalk.com/secure/ServicePlans

StraightTalk has an unlimted international plan for $60 a month - no contract. You might check into it.

ETA: Here's some more information - http://www.straighttalk.com/unlimitedinternational

 

[RangerPooh]

I work as an academic advisor at university and our program strongly encourages students to study abroad. From what I have learned, many programs will supply students with pre-paid phones as part of their tuition/fees. This is due to their phones not working abroad.

Depending on your phone you could try to fund a SIM card for that country that will work in your phone, but its no guarantee that it will work. Thus is what DH did when he was conducting his field research in Africa.

 

[maggiew]

I talked with the TMobile store and with the Samsung Galaxy S3, she can unlock the phone and then buy a SIM card in London when she gets there.

We will have to pay for her plan here in the US while she is gone, but since we have a family plan, it really is only $5 extra for her (provided we can remove the data portion. Not sure about that yet.)


I searched about SIM cards in London and it looks like she can get a London SIM card for 10 pounds per month with free texting.

Maggie

We are looking at SIM cards right now and some of them say "No colour SIM". What does that mean?

Maggie