USA SIM card question

[Fantasia Sam]

OK so I know that Free Wifi is becoming more and more accessible throughout WDW but I still like to be able to use my iPhone in 4G mode plus I make quite a few calls to others in the USA when I am there. I want to shop around this year to be sure I am getting the best price.

In the past I have used www.mrsimcard.com and right now the card I like is for Talk/USA Text/2GB Data for $85 for- they send me the SIM card internationally through the post.

I just want to make sure I am not missing out on other best priced options and I think some of you wait and buy your SIM card when you get to Orlando, is that right?

Phone is unlocked so no problem there.

Where do you all shop for your US SIM?

 

[Elise79]

We use an AT&T sim. Had them years now but they came from eBay. We just picked the plan online.

 

[london75]

I meant to post at the time but now is as good a time as any. AT&T have changed their plans so you need to spend $60 to get a reasonable chunk of data, that will get you 2gb though which is loads. It used to be $25 so it's a real shame.

I doubt you'll get 4g though as your phone will be geared to UK spectrum unless you bought it there plus AT&T have a tendency to throttle speeds for payg sims anyway. I've always found their 3g good enough though.

 

[Fantasia Sam]

Hmmm interesting then because the H2O SIM that I've bought through MrSimCard for the last 3 trips uses the AT&T network and I definitely do get the 4G because it comes up as that on my iPhone maybe it says 4G and I don't actually get 4G speed?

I just don't want to spend $85 on it if I don't have to for that 2GB which I do get through usually in 10 days and have to top up LOL

 

[Elise79]

It looks like $60 for AT & T with 2GB data now.

Even DH can't get through 2GB in 2 weeks now we have Wifi in park.

I got 4G on my iPhone 4S and it was faster than 3G at home.

(Sidenote I am really glad I kept our SIMS active as we still get the old cheaper plan )

 

[Fantasia Sam]

It looks like $60 for AT & T with 2GB data now.

Even DH can't get through 2GB in 2 weeks now we have Wifi in park.

I got 4G on my iPhone 4S and it was faster than 3G at home.

(Sidenote I am really glad I kept our SIMS active as we still get the old cheaper plan )

Ha-ha well I clearly have way more online social appetite than your DH Although to be fair last time I was staying at the Dolphin for a week and their wi-fi was terrible so ended up using the 4G (I knew I hadn't imagined that) all the time!

Yes I bet you are! Back in 2003 I bought a Virgin PAYG Mobile out in America and I used to top up and keep the number for years but once I got the iPhone here and kept one of my old ones it made sense for me to get the SIM cards but I wasn't going often to justify getting a SIM and keeping it active, however now I am rethinking that idea.

So how do I get me an AT&T $60 sim card and can I keep it active oh and can I recieve and make calls on it?

Cheers

 

[Elise79]

Buy the cheapest AT&T Sim you can find on eBay.

Register it online on the AT&T Go Phone Site and pick the $60 a month plan.

We then use Pinzoo to add credit.

Unfortunately it looks like you would have to keep it active every month with a monthly plan so not really cost effective. We have an old non-monthly tariff that I add minute/message/data packs to when we are there and then it doesn't cost anything when we are not there.

Anyway this way would still be less than your $85.

 

[dansamy]

Go to Walmart. Buy a Tmobile sim card for $10 & a $30 plan. 5gb of 4g data, unlimited text, 100 minutes talk.

 

[Elise79]

Go to Walmart. Buy a Tmobile sim card for $10 & a $30 plan. 5gb of 4g data, unlimited text, 100 minutes talk.

iPhones only get 2G on t-mobile due to banding as t-mobile US don't carry iPhones.

 

[wayneg]

Go to Walmart. Buy a Tmobile sim card for $10 & a $30 plan. 5gb of 4g data, unlimited text, 100 minutes talk.

iPhones only get 2G on t-mobile due to banding as t-mobile US don't carry iPhones.

So would this be good for a HTC android phone?
I don't know the first thing about SIM cards in the US but need to get something for Matt at Uni, he will be there 9 months, $30/month sounds good if it gives him 5gb/month
Found it on Walmarts site http://www.walmart.com/ip/T-Mobile-SIM-Kit/24099996

 

[Mrdudecool]

So yeah this one was a huge topic for us ICP's out here now.
A lot of us have iPhones that are unlocked and wanted to use them.

I found a company called Simple Mobile. They run on T Mobile's network and offer Unlimited text, talk and data with the first 250mb at 4G speed for $40 a month. This is what I'm using now and works perfectly fine!

The thing about the 2G on iPhones is partly correct however T Mobile are currently doing something called refarming, basically they are making the 2G into 3G so phones like the iPhone from the UK can and do get 3G speeds.

The simple mobile has worked well and had no problems with it. It's reasonably priced, can use your current phone if unlocked and gets the 3G too.

 

[Fantasia Sam]

Thanks Elise for that and yup I want to stick to AT&T so I get the 4G

 

[london75]

Thanks MrDudeCool, I'm going with Simple this time, $40 is great for unlimited.

I'm currently 3g anyway, I don't see any need for 4g to be honest, my 10mbits speed at home has never proven to be a bottleneck so can't imagine paying more for 4g.

 

[Scottk]

I just bought a couple of AT&T sims off of eBay for £6.95 each - they were delivered in a few days. Can't remember seller name but they were the only uk based one selling for that price.

I think you need a non iPhone IMEI number to activate - we are there for 3 weeks but can't see us getting through all 2gb but I'm sure we'll try!

 

[wayneg]

Not understanding the benefits of the Simple Mobile deal over the Walmart deal.
I realise with Walmart you only get 5gb of data but the whole 5gb is 4G compared to Simple which is unlimited (only 1st 250mb at 4G)
Matt uses less than 2gb/month now so 5gb is more than enough, so is the Walmart deal better or I am missing something and would be better paying the extra $10/month.

 

[london75]

Not understanding the benefits of the Simple Mobile deal over the Walmart deal.
I realise with Walmart you only get 5gb of data but the whole 5gb is 4G compared to Simple which is unlimited (only 1st 250mb at 4G)
Matt uses less than 2gb/month now so 5gb is more than enough, so is the Walmart deal better or I am missing something and would be better paying the extra $10/month.

I don't think so, the benefit for me is that I have the sim in the phone before I go (ebay), turn on the phone when we land, credit a pre-purchased voucher (pinzoo) and I'm up and running my office away from home in 30 minutes rather than waiting to find a Walmart.

For Matt, the walmart deal sounds good.

 

[dansamy]

So would this be good for a HTC android phone?
I don't know the first thing about SIM cards in the US but need to get something for Matt at Uni, he will be there 9 months, $30/month sounds good if it gives him 5gb/month
Found it on Walmarts site http://www.walmart.com/ip/T-Mobile-SIM-Kit/24099996

Yes. Note that it's only 100 minutes a month. If you want generous data, minutes AND texting, it's a lot more. But if you just need data & text with a few minutes, the $30 plan is perfect.

And, sorry I forgot about iphone not having a band that tmobile uses your 4g.

 

[wayneg]

Yes. Note that it's only 100 minutes a month. If you want generous data, minutes AND texting, it's a lot more. But if you just need data & text with a few minutes, the $30 plan is perfect.

And, sorry I forgot about iphone not having a band that tmobile uses your 4g.

We all use Kakao Talk which uses data for calls and messages so no need for minutes or texts its really data he uses, minutes & texts not much use. http://www.kakao.com/talk/en Apparently 82 million users now, we can't fault it, 3 way messenging feature works very well for what we need.

 

[DisFanJen]

iPhones only get 2G on t-mobile due to banding as t-mobile US don't carry iPhones.

Actually T-Mobile do now carry iPhones and are nearly finished with a full network upgrade to handle 4g speeds on them.

T-Mobile iPhone 5

The reports are currently that the Lake Buena Vista area is nearly all converted so you should be able to get fast speeds there. The T-Moblie network upgrade is scheduled to be finished by the end of the year.

 

[Elise79]

Actually T-Mobile do now carry iPhones and are nearly finished with a full network upgrade to handle 4g speeds on them.

T-Mobile iPhone 5

The reports are currently that the Lake Buena Vista area is nearly all converted so you should be able to get fast speeds there. The T-Moblie network upgrade is scheduled to be finished by the end of the year.

They never used too.

Whether you will get 4G will depend on the bands as a UK iPhone5 is a different model to the UK one - details here http://www.apple.com/iphone/LTE/

We are missing the bands for LTE and some of the T-mobile 3G bands.