[henky]

Hey guys,
so in 2 months I'm moving to the deep south. Louisiana.
Anyway I've got an HTC Hero GSM so not the CDMA the states uses,
now I want to take my phone to the us without the simcard and get one there.

I want a plan with also a data plan, the phone is useless without it!
But I heard that AT&T's networks are seriously overloaded, therefore I was wondering what my best option would be!

Thanks!

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› See More: need simcard but where?

[cduke4]

Hi,

and welcome to the U.S.
Unfortunately in the U.S. we only have two GSM providers, AT&T and T-mobile. I have a HTC Kaiser smartphone and do not have a contract as I prefer to buy my phones. AT&T recently makes you have a data plan which I have no use for as WiFi works just fine for me, so my choice was easy. T-mobile lets you choose what kind of plan you want and you don't need to have a contract. They have the new Even More Plus Plans which are month to month plans at good prices with your choice of either just phone service or phone+text or phone+text+web ($80/mo for unlimited) you can just purchase a SIM card from them (6.99), unlike AT&T who makes you buy a phone even if you own your own phone. (you might be able to get a free phone, but why do I want that, I have my own). To me, T-mobile provides the right kind of business model that I want. They sell service as it should be. Their one shortcoming may be there service is not the best in some areas, same as AT&T, but it just depends on where you live. If GSM service is good, you are all set, if not then you may be stuck with having to use CDMA. I do not like CDMA service as it is not used anywhere else, when I travel to Mexico or wherever, I buy a SIM card when I get there and pop it in my phone and I'm good to go. I have used Verizon and they do have great coverage, but I prefer GSM phones. I have extra GSM phones that I could use when I travel however if I did go back to CDMA.
Cheers.

[henky]

Hi,

and welcome to the U.S.
Unfortunately in the U.S. we only have two GSM providers, AT&T and T-mobile. I have a HTC Kaiser smartphone and do not have a contract as I prefer to buy my phones. AT&T recently makes you have a data plan which I have no use for as WiFi works just fine for me, so my choice was easy. T-mobile lets you choose what kind of plan you want and you don't need to have a contract. They have the new Even More Plus Plans which are month to month plans at good prices with your choice of either just phone service or phone+text or phone+text+web ($80/mo for unlimited) you can just purchase a SIM card from them (6.99), unlike AT&T who makes you buy a phone even if you own your own phone. (you might be able to get a free phone, but why do I want that, I have my own). To me, T-mobile provides the right kind of business model that I want. They sell service as it should be. Their one shortcoming may be there service is not the best in some areas, same as AT&T, but it just depends on where you live. If GSM service is good, you are all set, if not then you may be stuck with having to use CDMA. I do not like CDMA service as it is not used anywhere else, when I travel to Mexico or wherever, I buy a SIM card when I get there and pop it in my phone and I'm good to go. I have used Verizon and they do have great coverage, but I prefer GSM phones. I have extra GSM phones that I could use when I travel however if I did go back to CDMA.
Cheers.

thanks for the reply! although someone on another forum pointed me to this:

Where have you bought your HTC Hero from? If you have bought it outside the Americas your Hero is very likely to support 3G at 900 and 2100 MHz only, which means it is incompatible to the frequency bands used in the US (850, 1900 and 1700/2100 MHz). In that case you would only be able to use 2G networks, which means nearly unusable slow data speed.

is this really a big problem like he says?

[cduke4]

thanks for the reply! although someone on another forum pointed me to this:



is this really a big problem like he says?

I think the Hero would be like most newer phones today and be quad band, but if it is true, it could be a problem. You would have to find the specs for your phone.

Cheers

[henky]

I think the Hero would be like most newer phones today and be quad band, but if it is true, it could be a problem. You would have to find the specs for your phone.

Cheers

yeah I looked for the specs of my phone, and he's right
the new phone I want is 200 dollars on top of a 2year contract ! damn it, I have to forfeit the best phone ever

[traveler]

oh man, you are correct about you htc not working in the states, bummer-great phone. WOW Mobile service is provided by t-mobile, sprint will be a partner/ service provider and also at&t is supposed to partner with WOW Mobile. The cool thing is that you can refer customers to WOW Mobile and get your service free ( no more mobile phone bill). Another thing that is available (but obviously won't work in your situation) SIM cards for unlocked gsm phones.
Get the unlimited service and tether the WOW Mobile phone ( Samsung I7500) to the internet. No caps, no tax, no over limit user charge-just flat fee and free if/when you refer 3 friends to WOW Mobile