payg in USA - recommendation wanted

Off to the USA soon, West Coast then Yosemite, various canyons, then
Yellowstone.

Will take an unlocked 4 band Nokia 6310 and want to buy a PAYG sim for
in country calls, booking hotels etc. I know reception is patchy in the
more remote areas.

Anyone been there recently, if so any recommendations for network? Looks
like Sprint, AT&T or Verizion are the main operators.
--
Richard C

---

› See More: payg in USA - recommendation wanted

"RCC" <richard@mapson_cowling1.demon.co.uk> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Off to the USA soon, West Coast then Yosemite, various canyons, then
> Yellowstone.
> Will take an unlocked 4 band Nokia 6310 and want to buy a PAYG sim for in
> country calls, booking hotels etc. I know reception is patchy in the more
> remote areas.
>
Nokia 6310 is dual band, (so off no use) 6310i is triband (1900MHz US)
> Anyone been there recently, if so any recommendations for network? Looks
> like Sprint, AT&T or Verizion are the main operators.
> Richard C
>
Many recommend T Mobile USA payg sims.
But with so many 800MHz GSM US networks now,
i would take a quad bander

Most up market Motorolas made in the last 3 years are quad band

Steve Terry

T-Mobile is the most cost effective and now has good 850 coverage too.

"RCC" <richard@mapson_cowling1.demon.co.uk> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

> Anyone been there recently, if so any recommendations for network? Looks
> like Sprint, AT&T or Verizion are the main operators.

Just a thought, with the usa's obsession with terrorism, you may get the
Spanish Inquisition when you buy!

?


--
J B

In message <[email protected]>, Seinman
<[email protected]> writes
>T-Mobile is the most cost effective and now has good 850 coverage too.
>
>
Thanks both - I forgot my 'i', so its tri band. I will check out the
other phones in the family and see if we have a quad. Hadn't thought of
T Mobile, will look at their US website.

--
Richard C

In news:[email protected],
RCC <richard@mapson_cowling1.demon.co.uk> typed, for some strange,
unexplained reason:
: Off to the USA soon, West Coast then Yosemite, various canyons, then
: Yellowstone.
:
: Will take an unlocked 4 band Nokia 6310 and want to buy a PAYG sim for
: in country calls, booking hotels etc. I know reception is patchy in
: the more remote areas.
:
: Anyone been there recently, if so any recommendations for network?
: Looks like Sprint, AT&T or Verizion are the main operators.

Erm.. the original 6310 is dual band, the 6310i tri-band.

Apart from that, T-Mobile works reasonably well in major cities and along
the freeways, but be aware that out of the major population centres, and
certainly in Yosemite, there is *NO* GSM coverage whatsoever.

You might be better off buying a local phone there which uses one of the
non-GSM standards.

Ivor

"Ivor Jones" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> In news:[email protected],
> RCC <richard@mapson_cowling1.demon.co.uk> typed, for some strange,
> unexplained reason:
> : Off to the USA soon, West Coast then Yosemite, various canyons, then
> : Yellowstone.
> :
> : Will take an unlocked 4 band Nokia 6310 and want to buy a PAYG sim for
> : in country calls, booking hotels etc. I know reception is patchy in
> : the more remote areas.
> :
> : Anyone been there recently, if so any recommendations for network?
> : Looks like Sprint, AT&T or Verizion are the main operators.
>
> Erm.. the original 6310 is dual band, the 6310i tri-band.
>
> Apart from that, T-Mobile works reasonably well in major cities and along
> the freeways, but be aware that out of the major population centres, and
> certainly in Yosemite, there is *NO* GSM coverage whatsoever.
>
If there was a 850MHz AMPs service there, it's likely to have been,
or is about to be replaced by 850MHz GSM

Steve Terry

In news:[email protected],
Steve Terry <[email protected]> typed, for some strange, unexplained
reason:
: "Ivor Jones" <[email protected]> wrote in message
: news:[email protected]...

[snip]

: > Apart from that, T-Mobile works reasonably well in major cities and
: > along the freeways, but be aware that out of the major population
: > centres, and certainly in Yosemite, there is *NO* GSM coverage
: > whatsoever.
: >
: If there was a 850MHz AMPs service there, it's likely to have been,
: or is about to be replaced by 850MHz GSM

Ah, well I only have a 6310i. I might be able to lay my hands on a 7250i
somewhere though, but not a lot of use in this case..!


Ivor

J B wrote:
> "RCC" <richard@mapson_cowling1.demon.co.uk> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>
>> Anyone been there recently, if so any recommendations for network?
>> Looks like Sprint, AT&T or Verizion are the main operators.
>
> Just a thought, with the usa's obsession with terrorism, you may get the
> Spanish Inquisition when you buy!

I bought 2 T-mobile SIMs from a US ebay seller last year; sent to the UK
with no problems at all and they worked fine when I travelled over the
pond. Cost ISTR 20 dollars the pair, shipped by FedEx, and with lots of
inclusive minutes.

ISTR from researching this myself that one thing to watch out for with
buying US SIMs is that they haven't expired - apparently they can have a
quite short date and IIRC it's not obvious until you try to use them??
(Could be wrong). And they won't roam to the UK, so you can't check
before leaving home!)

David

Lobster wrote:
> J B wrote:
>> "RCC" <richard@mapson_cowling1.demon.co.uk> wrote in message
>> news:[email protected]...
>>
>>> Anyone been there recently, if so any recommendations for network?
>>> Looks like Sprint, AT&T or Verizion are the main operators.
>>
>> Just a thought, with the usa's obsession with terrorism, you may get
>> the Spanish Inquisition when you buy!
>
> I bought 2 T-mobile SIMs from a US ebay seller last year; sent to the UK
> with no problems at all and they worked fine when I travelled over the
> pond. Cost ISTR 20 dollars the pair, shipped by FedEx, and with lots of
> inclusive minutes.

Just checked my records and FWIW I used a US "Power Seller" called
xmradioking; however you have to search for him via ebay.com - he
doesn't show up in ebay.co.uk

David

On 2008-06-07, Steve Terry <[email protected]> wrote:
> "Ivor Jones" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>> Apart from that, T-Mobile works reasonably well in major cities and along
>> the freeways, but be aware that out of the major population centres, and
>> certainly in Yosemite, there is *NO* GSM coverage whatsoever.
>>
> If there was a 850MHz AMPs service there, it's likely to have been,
> or is about to be replaced by 850MHz GSM

There is 850 MHz GSM service in Yosemite (zip code 95389 for coverage
checkers), though I think the service is AT&T's and T-Mobile might not
roam on it. There is also 850 MHz CDMA service from Golden State
Cellular, but I have no idea which PAYG CDMA service might roam on
that. This is typical of US rural areas in general, there are often
only a couple of carriers providing service (often carriers whose
names you'll never have heard of) and both the operators will
be at 850 MHz. If you are lucky one of the operators will be GSM,
if you aren't they'll all be CDMA.

As a rule you need a GSM phone with 850 MHz band support to have
any hope of getting service in a lot of the country. A CDMA phone
will do even better but unless you travel there frequently the cost
of acquiring equipment which is useless anywhere other than the US
makes this kind of unattractive. For a short vacation bringing a
good quad-band phone from home and living with the coverage holes
is probably as good as it gets.

Dennis Ferguson

In message <[email protected]>, Dennis Ferguson
<[email protected]> writes
>On 2008-06-07, Steve Terry <[email protected]> wrote:
>> "Ivor Jones" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>> news:[email protected]...
>>> Apart from that, T-Mobile works reasonably well in major cities and along
>>> the freeways, but be aware that out of the major population centres, and
>>> certainly in Yosemite, there is *NO* GSM coverage whatsoever.
>>>
>> If there was a 850MHz AMPs service there, it's likely to have been,
>> or is about to be replaced by 850MHz GSM
>
>There is 850 MHz GSM service in Yosemite (zip code 95389 for coverage
>checkers), though I think the service is AT&T's and T-Mobile might not
>roam on it. There is also 850 MHz CDMA service from Golden State
>Cellular, but I have no idea which PAYG CDMA service might roam on
>that. This is typical of US rural areas in general, there are often
>only a couple of carriers providing service (often carriers whose
>names you'll never have heard of) and both the operators will
>be at 850 MHz. If you are lucky one of the operators will be GSM,
>if you aren't they'll all be CDMA.
>
>As a rule you need a GSM phone with 850 MHz band support to have
>any hope of getting service in a lot of the country. A CDMA phone
>will do even better but unless you travel there frequently the cost
>of acquiring equipment which is useless anywhere other than the US
>makes this kind of unattractive. For a short vacation bringing a
>good quad-band phone from home and living with the coverage holes
>is probably as good as it gets.
>
>Dennis Ferguson

Thanks for all this good advice. I have looked at the manual for my
Palm Centro (unlocked) and it claims to be "• GSM 850/900/1800/1900
quad band world phone" Will leave the Nokia 6310i at home even though
it is the best actual phone for talking to people on that I have ever
owned.

The answer seems to be to put a small amount on 2 different networks
PAYG SIMs. Its only for things like booking or changing hotels type of
stuff, or any real emergencies. That way I get some coverage holes but
give myself the best chance of any coverage there is. From what people
have said, T mobile and AT&T would be a way to do it.

I have been on lots of trips to that area in the past - but the most
recent was 15 years ago: didn't have a mobile then, nor did many other
people.

--
Richard C