Q: How to get USA sim card for german cell phone

Hi guys,

I've got a SonyEricsson P800 and want to use it in the US. Can I go into
some shop and just buy some prepaid sim card, or are there any pitfalls?
I will go around with a camper, so I don't have a valid adress in the US.
Which are good telephone companies, esp. for dialing-up into the internet
using the cell phone?

Thanks
Daniel

--
dipl.-inf. cand.-phys. Daniel Rolf
finecode software / www.finecode.de

"Daniel Rolf" wrote in message
...
Hi guys,

I've got a SonyEricsson P800 and want to use it in the US. Can I go into
some shop and just buy some prepaid sim card, or are there any pitfalls?
I will go around with a camper, so I don't have a valid adress in the US.
Which are good telephone companies, esp. for dialing-up into the internet
using the cell phone?

Thanks
Daniel

Unless it's tri-band, it won't work in the US -- we use some silly frequency
for GSM that's different from most of the rest of the world. If it is a
tri-band phone, you're limited to one of two service providers: Cingular or
AT&T. The other major providers, Verizon and Sprint, don't offer GSM
service and won't work with your phone.

I know that Verizon offers pre-paid service; I'm not sure about the others.
You may find it cheaper and easier to simply buy an expensive phone plus a
pre-paid card from Verizon, which offers the best coverage in the U.S.

As a rule, sale of pre-paid service will most likely be limited to company
stores, though you may be able to purchase it from Radio Shack or some of
the larger electronics chains, such as Best Buy and CompUSA.



--
dipl.-inf. cand.-phys. Daniel Rolf
finecode software / www.finecode.de

"PTRAVEL" staggered to the nearest keyboard and
wrote:

Unless it's tri-band, it won't work in the US -- we use some silly frequency
for GSM that's different from most of the rest of the world. If it is a
tri-band phone, you're limited to one of two service providers: Cingular or
AT&T. The other major providers, Verizon and Sprint, don't offer GSM
service and won't work with your phone.

T-Mobile also offers GSM (and only GSM) service in the U.S. They have
prepaid SIMs available.


--

There is another little peculiarity - when you purchase either your prepay
GSM phone or GSM SIM card (both are available), you'll be allocated a number
(not the rest of the world system where the number is attached to the sim -
but a two stage process) - this number will be location specific depending
on where you buy it. All calls to/from outside that local call area will
then be long distance - PLUS - you will pay for calls received also (unlike
the rest of the world where you pay for calls you originate only). Oh! and
one last thing - coverage is patchy at best for GSM, outside major cities
(and not too good within some!).

--
PaulO

"Daniel Rolf" wrote in message
...
Hi guys,

I've got a SonyEricsson P800 and want to use it in the US. Can I go into
some shop and just buy some prepaid sim card, or are there any pitfalls?
I will go around with a camper, so I don't have a valid adress in the US.
Which are good telephone companies, esp. for dialing-up into the internet
using the cell phone?

Thanks
Daniel

--
dipl.-inf. cand.-phys. Daniel Rolf
finecode software / www.finecode.de

May be useful:

http://www.rentcell.com/coverage-map-usa-gsm.htm

--
PaulO

"Daniel Rolf" wrote in message
...
Hi guys,

I've got a SonyEricsson P800 and want to use it in the US. Can I go into
some shop and just buy some prepaid sim card, or are there any pitfalls?
I will go around with a camper, so I don't have a valid adress in the US.
Which are good telephone companies, esp. for dialing-up into the internet
using the cell phone?

Thanks
Daniel

--
dipl.-inf. cand.-phys. Daniel Rolf
finecode software / www.finecode.de

On Thu, 9 Oct 2003 15:26:47 -0700, "PTRAVEL"
wrote:


"Daniel Rolf" wrote in message
...
Hi guys,

I've got a SonyEricsson P800 and want to use it in the US. Can I go into
some shop and just buy some prepaid sim card, or are there any pitfalls?
I will go around with a camper, so I don't have a valid adress in the US.
Which are good telephone companies, esp. for dialing-up into the internet
using the cell phone?

Thanks
Daniel

Unless it's tri-band, it won't work in the US -- we use some silly frequency
for GSM that's different from most of the rest of the world.

A quick look at SonyEricsson's website confirms that the P800 is
indeed tri-band

Martin

Thanks for your answers!

What about Internet access. In Germany, the cell phones networks has its own
national area code, so
it doesn't matter if you call from Hamburg or Munich. Moreover, there are
internet provider
dedicated to cell phones with a cell phone number local to your club
(Vodafone, T-Mobile, etc.), i.e. you pay only the club rate if you dial up,
which is much less than calling a number outside your club.
What about this in the US?
And, what about data calls at all using prepaid cards. Is it possible?

bye
Daniel

--
dipl.-inf. cand.-phys. Daniel Rolf
finecode software / www.finecode.de
"Daniel Rolf" schrieb im Newsbeitrag
...
Hi guys,

I've got a SonyEricsson P800 and want to use it in the US. Can I go into
some shop and just buy some prepaid sim card, or are there any pitfalls?
I will go around with a camper, so I don't have a valid adress in the US.
Which are good telephone companies, esp. for dialing-up into the internet
using the cell phone?

Thanks
Daniel

--
dipl.-inf. cand.-phys. Daniel Rolf
finecode software / www.finecode.de

Daniel Rolf wrote:

Hi guys,

I've got a SonyEricsson P800 and want to use it in the US.

If it's a triband phone, you can use it, but there isn't GSM coverage
for the whole country.

Can I go into
some shop and just buy some prepaid sim card, or are there any pitfalls?

I did that once when I was in the US. I got a T-Mobile sim card and used
it in my triband Erisson phone. The main pitfall is that it was damned
expensive and they charge you for both incoming and outgoing calls. Most
Americans who have cell phones don't use prepaid services; they have
annual contracts. Therefore the sim card business is mostly tourists and
business travellers and they get soaked.

I will go around with a camper, so I don't have a valid adress in the US.
Which are good telephone companies, esp. for dialing-up into the internet
using the cell phone?

I believe there are only two companies in the US that provide this type
of service. I can't remember the other. Service is pretty much limited
to the east and west coasts, or was when I last checked into it.

At the prices they charged, you would be much better off using public
libraries or internet cafes to connect to the internet.

Barbara

PaulO wrote:

There is another little peculiarity - when you purchase either your prepay
GSM phone or GSM SIM card (both are available), you'll be allocated a number
(not the rest of the world system where the number is attached to the sim -
but a two stage process) - this number will be location specific depending
on where you buy it. All calls to/from outside that local call area will
then be long distance - PLUS - you will pay for calls received also (unlike
the rest of the world where you pay for calls you originate only). Oh! and
one last thing - coverage is patchy at best for GSM, outside major cities
(and not too good within some!).

Just to add to this: When I bought my T-Mobile sim card, they charged me
for setup, I think $15. This gave me a NY area phone number. I could top
that off whenever it got low at any T-Mobile vendor, but if it actually
went to "0", I would have to pay another setup fee and get a new number.
When it was getting low, I decided not to use it any more until I topped
it off. However, I forgot about that incoming call charge, and left it
turned on. My husband called me from Italy, and "poof!" there went my
service. I managed to spend over $50 of service in little over a week. I
wasn't using it much, either, as I was staying with friends and
relatives a good part of the time and was also using a normal prepaid
long-distance card for most of my outgoing calls.

I think it cost something like fifty cents a minute, which is
outrageous. That also included a special promotional discount.

Barbara

Daniel Rolf wrote:

And, what about data calls at all using prepaid cards. Is it possible?

If you mean normal long-distance prepaid cards (for using from a
land-based phone), then it should be possible. I used to use my laptop
from hotel rooms when I was travelling on business in the US. On Windows
xx operating systems, under dial-up networking, you should be able to
set it up to enter the appropriate series of numbers, with pauses where
required. It may take a little experimenting to see how long you should
pause while the recorded voice says, for instance, "Press 'one' for
English, press 'two' for Spanish".

Barbara