[Closed] Taking a mobile phone abroad - what are the options?

3 do free roaming to certain countries, incl data. Is SA on the list of their countries?

We just spent 2 weeks in Canada and went to a mobile supplier in a shopping mall. We explained we needed a mobile for a couple of weeks and he set us up an account with our resident friends address and ID, he managed to waive the CAD$10 fee for the SIM and when we left we cancelled the contract and paid pro-rata for the time we'd had the contract, cost us CAD$20 total. Alternative was a pay-as-you-go SIM but that would have been about double once we'd had to pay for the SIM.
Might work in SA, obviously your phone needs to be unlocked.

My father buys a cheap Indian payg sim when he goes - loads it up with some data and texts and takes old phone. It works out way cheaper for a trip over a week.

Set up Tu Go on your o2 phone. Whenever you use wifi or 3g pay as you go card you can use your phone through the app. The calls will cost no more than as if you were using it in the uk. UK can call you on your normal number and it costs nothing for you to receive them.

http://www.o2.co.uk/apps/tu-go

Buy a sim, do it in most countries

In South Africa I decided the most cost effective way was to get a PAYG sim with some calls and plenty of data. Then I stuck the card in a little mifi unit that anyone could connect to for data or swapped it to my phone if I needed to make a call. I think you need your passport to buy the sim but since I bought it in the Vodacom (I think, there are a couple) shop in the airport I had it handy at the time and they were used to getting tourists buying SIMs

obviously your phone needs to be unlocked

This is an important point if wanting to use another SIM

Local sim all the way or just use wifi hotspots

Note the movile wifi donglensuggestion is an interesting one. I have one and it works brilliantly (used only in uk) you may be aboe to buy one s/h cheap (mine cost about £75) the beauty of it is it will provide data to more than one device, mrs B uses mine for ipad and phone with her french mobile. Similar with a local sim would be most flexible and not pricey if you sell it in SA

Happy holidays

Just back from Japan, had a dongle there and hooked both phones and kindles to it, worked a treat. Being Japan, it was sent direct to our first hotel with a prepaid envelope we had to pop it into on our last night - simples.

Just back from Japan, had a dongle there

Ooo matron, nooo! 🙂

Is it possible just to survive on WiFi hotspots? It's what I tend to do whatever abroad. Don't feel the need to be anyways connected when on holiday and a catch up at a hotspot usually does it for me.

Off to Italy in summer. Am on Three so am looking forward to using my phone as I would here.

Thanks everyone!

loddrik - Member
Off to Italy in summer. Am on Three so am looking forward to using my phone as I would here.

Noting that tethering is excluded from the deal when roaming. Just in case you tether.

are there any other options?

Not using your phone?

Do you actually need it with you all day, every day for data access?

Needed ours for navigation as we did a bit of travelling round, maps and train timetables etc.

Don't need a data connection for that, though.

Mcdonald's free wifi or any other place that offers it, Whatsapp for calls and picture sending and download any maps to use offline. Or another sim. I think theres one called Libre or something similar that's usable abroad. At last my twin sim One plus 2 phone might come in handy.

Don't need a data connection for that, though.

in SA you need to register for a sim. You will need your passport and proof of address, so print off your hotel booking before you go. If you are staying with family or friends, it is more difficult.

One of the nice things about Windows Phone is the ease of downloading maps of entire regions for offline use. That's a legacy from Nokia who were doing that since yonks ago.

Though for OS / OSM kind of maps you need something else.

On Wifi... Italy is a right pain because the law there says they have to ID you for any Internet access. Hotels I've stayed in take my passport and check it before they'll give me the access code for the wifi. Many hotspots need you to sign up and then ask for an Italian address and/or phone number.

We're both with Virgin, can't even get that to work in France - decided not to chance it in Japan... Dunno if we could have done it without being online.

Irrelevant, you just need an offline maps app (eg, TomTom, CoPilot and a billion cheap or free alternatives). The only data GPS uses is for Assisted GPS to speed up the initial acquisition of a satellite lock, and that's tiny and optional.

In your pocket, in a bag, in your hand, on a lanyard or like this:[img] [/img]

All options that you could use to take your phone abroad.

Irrelevant, you just need an offline maps app (eg, TomTom, CoPilot and a billion cheap or free alternatives). The only data GPS uses is for Assisted GPS to speed up the initial acquisition of a satellite lock, and that's tiny and optional.

Do you actually need it with you all day, every day for data access?

Not all day, every day, no 😆 But, y'know - it'd just be pretty handy.

One of the nice things about Windows Phone is the ease of downloading maps of entire regions for offline use. That's a legacy from Nokia who were doing that since yonks ago.

Google maps allows you to download areas for offline use.

Go with three and you'll save £££