Any experience with visitor to USA buying GSM PAYG SIMS

dohouch

Is it easy/possible? Going to California/Nevada area. Any recomendations? Have been googling a bit but so far my search method has only givene me this site for world wide SIMS.

Or just a link to a US/Califonian GSM network that does chapish PAYG.

thanks

Bogger77

I got a cingular gsm SIM from a regular cell fone store last ime I was over. Didnt get asked for any id and I paid in cash.
5c to text Ireland/UK, and 5 c to receive texts too.
just remember, you pay to make call, pay to receive and pay to send + receive texts.

smartblaa

Your typical phone won't work over there either unless its one of the select phones that are triband or quadband.

dohouch

@Bogger77 ; that sounds ok. Just thinking of sending a few texts, will use Skype to talk. I'll check up on Cingular, you have to start somehwere. Was checking up GSM in USA and the number of operators is bewildering.

@smartblaa. i have a 6230i which is tri-band, but I'll just check it to be sure. I migh have my mew SE T650i before I go , and that is quad-band.

ianwalsh2

I'm heading to Long Island (New York) for the Summer and have bought a T-Mobile sim already using this website. I didn't do a whole lot of research, but it seems that cingular and T-mobile are the only suitable PAYG networks. (Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong). There also seems to be poor coverage in most parts of d shtates and PAYG appears to be relatively new.

Ps I assume you realise I have to unlock your phone.

andy0

ianwalsh2 wrote:

... but it seems that cingular and T-mobile are the only suitable PAYG networks.

They are the only two GSM networks, but there are several virtual operators on them as well

http://www.prepaidgsm.net/en/usa.html has details of tariffs, and links to network sites

dohouch

andy0 wrote:

http://www.prepaidgsm.net/en/usa.html has details of tariffs, and links to network sites

Good link there.
T-Mobile USA Inc.
Prepaid Card Name: To Go
Activation Fee/Credit included: US$ 50.00/30.00
Card Validity after activation: 60 days
Net Frequency: GSM 1900

Cingular Wireless
Prepaid Card Name: Go Mobile
Activation Fee/Credit included: US$ 55.00/30.00
Card Validity after activation: 90 days
Net Frequency: GSM 850/1900
Doesn't look too much like the the land of the free. High prices and 60 and 90 day validity!

Blaster99

The 6230 will work. I've been to various urban parts of USA and coverage is fine.

dohouch

dohouch wrote:

Good link there.
T-Mobile USA Inc.
Prepaid Card Name: To Go
Activation Fee/Credit included: US$ 50.00/30.00
Card Validity after activation: 60 days
Net Frequency: GSM 1900

Cingular Wireless
Prepaid Card Name: Go Mobile
Activation Fee/Credit included: US$ 55.00/30.00
Card Validity after activation: 90 days
Net Frequency: GSM 850/1900
Doesn't look too much like the the land of the free. High prices and 60 and 90 day validity!

Probably won't do it at those prices, ony there for a week. But GSM 850 is old and 6230i has Network GSM 900 / GSM 1800 / GSM 1900. Prices are putting me of, a PAYG sim in rip-off Ireland is €10 plucs credit or is it free with Meteor?

Solair

GSM 850Mhz isn't old.

Europe uses GSM on 900Mhz and 1800Mhz.

North America (FCC) had already assigned 900Mhz to other uses, so they went for 850Mhz as a second band for GSM

The primary frequency allocation for both CDMA and GSM service in the US and Canada is 1900Mhz and 850Mhz is used for providing extra capacity in urban areas.

However, in rural areas, you may find 850Mhz is the primary frequency in use, or the only one.

Tri-band phones generally have the two European Frequencies 900 and 1800Mhz and the primary north American 1900Mhz.

Quad-band give you 850Mhz as well.

There is also a 400Mhz version of GSM but I think it's only used by one network in Africa! It was proposed for rollout in Scandinavia at one stage, but I don't think it ever happened. 900Mhz/1800Mhz became the European (and most of the world other than the americas) standard.

In short:

If you've a triband phone you'll have acceptable coverage in US Urban areas, but you may find that you'll get network congestion tones and "network busy" messages if the network's particularly busy and your coverage could be patchy.

If you've a quad-band phone, you'll have much better service.

Also, the same goes for US phones that only support European 900Mhz GSM. They've considerably reduced performance in Europe as many European (including Irish networks) use both 900 and 1800Mhz.

dohouch

Update just came across this offer which seems pretty good and includes a basic phone with the 850 band HERE


Nokia 6103 T-Mobile To Go
High-quality features in a classic flip phone: digital camera with video capture, Bluetooth® connectivity, FM radio, and instant messaging capability with AIM®, Yahoo!®, MSN®, and ICQ®
Free $25 Prepaid Refill Card Suggested retail $149.99
Instant discount -$90.00
$59.99

unavaca

Hello from California.

T-Mobile service is pretty poor out in California, but if you stick to major metros, you should be fine. Cingular is the dominant GSM provider and prices will reflect that.

You should really have an 850/1900 phone to take advantage of Cingular's network -- 850 does a much better job of penetrating buildings. T-Mobile is primarily 1900MHz, but is adding some 850 radios to improve coverage.