USA SIM cards for Iphone/ipad

[uk mouse lover]

In the past I've had success on an iPhone with the AT&T Sims on the Go tariff.

I usually get a new SIM for around £4.50 on ebay, whoever has the cheapest unused sim really.

Then when there I go on the no daily charge 10c/min rate and add $25 for the 1GB data package.

So for around £20 total I can keep up on work emails, use apps and let the kids play games even if they require an internet connection which many do now.

Here's the AT&T Go Phone tariff summary page
http://www.wireless.att.com/cell-ph...cell-phone-plans.jsp?wtSlotClick=1-007FTV-0-2

Sounds good but did At&t know your on a iphone as i have read many thinks saying when thay find out your on a iphone thay slap you with a Iphone data bundle and thats a high rate?

 

[london75]

Sounds good but did At&t know your on a iphone as i have read many thinks saying when thay find out your on a iphone thay slap you with a Iphone data bundle and thats a high rate?

Technically you can't activate the sim with your real imei number which is how they tell. Fortunately their online system allows you to type all zeroes as an imei number and it works fine.

It's payg remember, how can they charge you anything? I get my top up cards from here http://www.pinzoo.com/wireless-refill-minutes/att-cingular-go-phone-prepaid-airtime-cards/ which actually gives you a slight discount and emails you the pin code to type in on the ATT site. Beware, first time you buy they will want to ring you to confirm you're not money laundering (Pinzoo this is not AT&T) and because they are US based it will be during their working hours so expect a call that day.

It's worked a treat for the last couple of years.

 

[uk mouse lover]

Technically you can't activate the sim with your real imei number which is how they tell. Fortunately their online system allows you to type all zeroes as an imei number and it works fine.

It's payg remember, how can they charge you anything? I get my top up cards from here http://www.pinzoo.com/wireless-refill-minutes/att-cingular-go-phone-prepaid-airtime-cards/ which actually gives you a slight discount and emails you the pin code to type in on the ATT site. Beware, first time you buy they will want to ring you to confirm you're not money laundering (Pinzoo this is not AT&T) and because they are US based it will be during their working hours so expect a call that day.

It's worked a treat for the last couple of years.

So do you just buy the sim and activat it and then top up or do you have to do anything to get the web (like a bolton ect?)

 

[london75]

So do you just buy the sim and activat it and then top up or do you have to do anything to get the web (like a bolton ect?)

It is a bolt on so in order what I do is...
At home
1. Order Sim and trim to micro sim size for iPhone (although this year I paid 50p more for a micro sim)

On arrival in Florida
2. Put Sim in phone
3. Go on computer in villa/hotel (should have mentioned that bit before)
4. go to https://www.wireless.att.com/activations/
5. Follow instructions using a local address, if in a villa I use villa address otherwise pick something from Google Maps
6. I think you then select the tariff and I choose the no daily tariff option as I don't get the sim for calls just data
7. At the end of registration you can add credit or later visit here https://www.paygonline.com/websc/index.jsp with the login details you created in 5
8. Use the PIN from PINZOO if you did it that way
9. Purchase bolt-on


The key bit I learnt the first time I went was if you only buy $25 and want the $25 bolt on, use a laptop on wifi to activate as the process will use a few kb of allowance which will take a few cents out of your balance and not leave you enough to buy the data pack.

Hope that helps, when are you going (sorry turned signatures off so can't see countdowns). You can have my sim when I return on the 22nd July if you want. Saves half the hassle and will have some credit left.

 

[uk mouse lover]

It is a bolt on so in order what I do is...
At home
1. Order Sim and trim to micro sim size for iPhone (although this year I paid 50p more for a micro sim)

On arrival in Florida
2. Put Sim in phone
3. Go on computer in villa/hotel (should have mentioned that bit before)
4. go to https://www.wireless.att.com/activations/
5. Follow instructions using a local address, if in a villa I use villa address otherwise pick something from Google Maps
6. I think you then select the tariff and I choose the no daily tariff option as I don't get the sim for calls just data
7. At the end of registration you can add credit or later visit here https://www.paygonline.com/websc/index.jsp with the login details you created in 5
8. Use the PIN from PINZOO if you did it that way
9. Purchase bolt-on


The key bit I learnt the first time I went was if you only buy $25 and want the $25 bolt on, use a laptop on wifi to activate as the process will use a few kb of allowance which will take a few cents out of your balance and not leave you enough to buy the data pack.

Hope that helps, when are you going (sorry turned signatures off so can't see countdowns). You can have my sim when I return on the 22nd July if you want. Saves half the hassle and will have some credit left.

WoW gr8 info, We go Sep 28th

 

[Elise79]

In the past I've had success on an iPhone with the AT&T Sims on the Go tariff.

I usually get a new SIM for around £4.50 on ebay, whoever has the cheapest unused sim really.

Then when there I go on the no daily charge 10c/min rate and add $25 for the 1GB data package.

So for around £20 total I can keep up on work emails, use apps and let the kids play games even if they require an internet connection which many do now.

Here's the AT&T Go Phone tariff summary page
http://www.wireless.att.com/cell-ph...cell-phone-plans.jsp?wtSlotClick=1-007FTV-0-2

AT&T have recently changed the rules on GoPhone You can now only add data bundles to the $25 or $50 a month pre-paid plans

Technically you can't activate the sim with your real imei number which is how they tell. Fortunately their online system allows you to type all zeroes as an imei number and it works fine.

It's payg remember, how can they charge you anything? I get my top up cards from here http://www.pinzoo.com/wireless-refill-minutes/att-cingular-go-phone-prepaid-airtime-cards/ which actually gives you a slight discount and emails you the pin code to type in on the ATT site. Beware, first time you buy they will want to ring you to confirm you're not money laundering (Pinzoo this is not AT&T) and because they are US based it will be during their working hours so expect a call that day.

It's worked a treat for the last couple of years.

Pinzoo now do real time refills which work great

 

[london75]

Ah yes, hadn't seen the change in terms.

Looks like I'll need the 25+25 package then. Or I suppose $50 for unlimited everything might be better, will have to do more reading.

Anyway, you're still welcome to the SIM on our return as I never put enough on to keep it active and just buy a new one each year.

 

[Lisa x]

I'm on Orange and their website has details of packages you can buy from here:

http://www.orange.co.uk/roaming/usa/

I think I might go for one of these! There is wifi in the rooms for when I am there so just need it for the parks for the apps occasionally! Is there wifi around the pools at Disney resorts?

Last time we were in Florida, I stupidly turned my data roaming on, checked Facebook (I know I know, why spend time on FB when in Disney haha) for literally less than 2 minutes (opened the app, checked my inbox for a message, none there, came out of the app and turned data roaming off), I did this twice the whole time we were there and they had charged me just over £60 for data roaming

 

[london75]

They are pretty expensive bundles to be honest, I suppose it just depends how much you're going to be on 3g vs wifi.

The AT&T Sim works out at
Max £10 to unlock your phone
Max £5 for Sim card
£32 for 1GB data
=£47

500Mb data is £175 with Orange, which will be provided by the AT&T network anyway.

I'm all for Apple's proposal to do away with Sims altogether, you'll just be able to "download" a Sim when in whatever country you're in and use the local tariff. Then with VOIP on top, it will still be your own number anyway. Give it 5 more years and this will be the way smartphones work.

 

[Lisa x]

They are pretty expensive bundles to be honest, I suppose it just depends how much you're going to be on 3g vs wifi.

The AT&T Sim works out at
Max £10 to unlock your phone
Max £5 for Sim card
£32 for 1GB data
=£47

500Mb data is £175 with Orange, which will be provided by the AT&T network anyway.

I'm all for Apple's proposal to do away with Sims altogether, you'll just be able to "download" a Sim when in whatever country you're in and use the local tariff. Then with VOIP on top, it will still be your own number anyway. Give it 5 more years and this will be the way smartphones work.

I definitely won't be doing the £175/month package! I was thinking more the £20/month one! I only want to wind my family up occasionally by checking into parks and sending them a picture that they will be jealous of via whatsapp!

P.S. they would do this to me too!

 

[duffdo]

Hi guys

I travelled to the US in October 2011. I have an IPhone 4 on Vodafone in the UK. Their roaming data charges are amongst the cheapest (£3/mb in USA, vs £6/mb on the O2 network.)

I phoned Vodafone well in advance of my trip and asked them to unlock my phone. I then bought one of these SIM cards off ebay:

http://www.mysimplemobile.com/

It turned out to be a regular SIM card, cut down to micro SIM size.

When I got to the US, the SIM card worked and connected to the Simple mobile network. The next part was where I came unstuck:

I tried to activate the SIM with their $40 plan (unlimited everything for 30 days.) Unfortunately, their website would not accept my UK credit card, nor could they accept payment over the phone. I was told I would have to purchase a top up card at the Florida Mall.....this was too much hassle for me, so I stupidly decided to carry on using my Vodafone SIM instead....

All in all, I would try using Simple mobile again....

Or, if you can do without the functionality of an iPhone, buy a cheap PAYG when you get over there!

 

[london75]

I suppose it depends how careful you are with what your phone is up to. It's a nightmare on the iPhone with cloud, photostream, push email etc.

It's amazing how much bandwidth can be consumed. I work on 3G all day every day at client offices and admittedly I use a laptop rather than just a phone but I use up to about 300MB per day and that's assuming Windows doesn't decide to ignore my settings and download updates for me.

If you send 10 iPhone pictures without shrinking first and view 10 pictures other people have taken, bye bye 30MB allowance. Scary.

 

[Lisa x]

I suppose it depends how careful you are with what your phone is up to. It's a nightmare on the iPhone with cloud, photostream, push email etc.

It's amazing how much bandwidth can be consumed. I work on 3G all day every day at client offices and admittedly I use a laptop rather than just a phone but I use up to about 300MB per day and that's assuming Windows doesn't decide to ignore my settings and download updates for me.

If you send 10 iPhone pictures without shrinking first and view 10 pictures other people have taken, bye bye 30MB allowance. Scary.

Haha shows how much I understand about it all

Think I will look into one of your suggestions. Only reason I thought I would go for the orange bundles is because literally you just text a word and viola! Lazy I know!

Thank you so much for all of the info you have posted here!

 

[london75]

Does Orange have a usage meter or an app that provides a breakdown of usage?

See what it's like for a day or two doing what you'd do in the parks, ie couple of Disney apps, look up some menus, look at queue times and go on facebook 20 million times (I hate FB, excuse the sarcasm!), take a few snaps and upload one or two and see how much you've used.

That'll give you an idea if it's feasible.

1GB normally works out more than enough for 3 weeks for me but I know 30MB wouldn't be close, however, I do still do work emails while I'm away and check multiple times per day.

 

[uk mouse lover]

Ah yes, hadn't seen the change in terms.

Looks like I'll need the 25+25 package then. Or I suppose $50 for unlimited everything might be better, will have to do more reading.

Anyway, you're still welcome to the SIM on our return as I never put enough on to keep it active and just buy a new one each year.

I would be very grate full if you are not wanting to keep the sim card?

and if you don't want it back i would be more then happy to pass it in to any one on my return (about OCT 14th)

 

[Disneymad]

Sounds very good for people who just want the net when back at the room, i will only be using if for the ride maps and wait time round the parks (even with the amount of trips to DW i have been on I still look on the maps and google earth to find we have still missed a shop in world showcase or a photo spot in MK.

I'm not sure if I'm misunderstanding you, but the devices I linked are mobile. One is the size of a usb stick and the other is the size of a credit card. You carry them on you, they connect to the internet and then your phone/ipad/itouch connect to the device.

 

[uk mouse lover]

I'm not sure if I'm misunderstanding you, but the devices I linked are mobile. One is the size of a usb stick and the other is the size of a credit card. You carry them on you, they connect to the internet and then your phone/ipad/itouch connect to the device.

I got one of them for over hear but i wont be able to pic one up when over the USA as we dont drive and not planning on going the mall this year

 

[2Tiggies]

I

Does Orange have a usage meter or an app that provides a breakdown of usage?

See what it's like for a day or two doing what you'd do in the parks, ie couple of Disney apps, look up some menus, look at queue times and go on facebook 20 million times (I hate FB, excuse the sarcasm!), take a few snaps and upload one or two and see how much you've used.

That'll give you an idea if it's feasible.

1GB normally works out more than enough for 3 weeks for me but I know 30MB wouldn't be close, however, I do still do work emails while I'm away and check multiple times per day.

I had a 24 month mobile broadband contract with Orange and I know on the laptop I could click on the little icon in the task bar at any time and it would give a full detailed breakdown of usage, UK/Roaming/ etc and they do say on their website that you can have this or text notifications sent to your phone to monitor but I haven't explored the option. I would just like to have it for the Lines App in the parks. I have no other need for internet in the parks.

Yes, it will work out horrendously expensive, but the data bundles prepaid they were offering seemed fairly reasonable if you were going to use them enough to justify the outlay.

I do find it frustrating that Disney don't seem to consider this. I can see why they aren't promoting wifi in the parks but in fairness, they have an enormous international tourist base and they themselves have launched planning apps like Mobile Magic - yet only those on a US network can really use them without incurring ridiculous costs.

For me it would be really nice to have, but I'm not willing to cough up extortionate sums for the privilege. It's a nice to have, not a must have ... but at the same time, a very-annoying-not-to have benefit

 

[london75]

Bizarre timing but Carphone Warehouse just sent me a link to this which is a usage monitor for Android.

http://www.carphonewarehouse.com/news/latest-news/bill-angel?portal=ILEMAIL&promo=0512_V1_NSCV_BILLA

I know there are plenty out there but it was timely so thought I'd post.

The only reason I was shocked at Orange was that the tiers seemed a touch low for a smartphone, fine for a Blackberry doing mostly messages but the iPhone in particular needs a good supply of data or it becomes a lot less desirable to carry it with you.

 

[2Tiggies]

The only reason I was shocked at Orange was that the tiers seemed a touch low for a smartphone, fine for a Blackberry doing mostly messages but the iPhone in particular needs a good supply of data or it becomes a lot less desirable to carry it with you.

Ah that explains it. I thought maybe I had misunderstood the Orange offers, but I have a Blackberry so yes, it works a bit differently where data is concerned. I will of course check the terms and conditions of the offer out very carefully if I consider it. I just thought the data bundles for roaming didn't look too bad. But with that said, my peace of mind is always to turn off data while roaming when out in the US. Obviously I would need to have that switched on to be able to use the bundles and really don't want to encounter any glitches with their service charging wrongly ... I have had issues with Orange a couple of years ago when I was sitting peacefully in Scotland using my mobile broadband dongle and was disconnected because I had exceeded 3G of Roaming Data Although it was clearly an error and was eventually sorted out, it took over a month to and a threat of taking matters further before they rectified the problem.