Advice for using iPhone 6/6S in London

[chevman]

My wife and I have an unlocked 6 and 6s, both currently on US based T-mobile pre-paid plans ($40 each for unlimited talk, text, and 3GB of LTE per month).

We are both going to London for a couple weeks later this spring.

What are the best approaches for getting high speed data service while we are there?

We don't need a local London phone number, or expect to make many voice calls while there.

Appreciate any insight - thanks!

 

[PharmDoc]

Buy a local sim there. Vodafone, 3, o2, giffgaf offer payg sims with various data, phone and text limits. The plans are very affordable. They also sell iPad data sims and you can use those as well.

 

[BrianBaughn]

I've used "3" in the UK without any problems. Just about every locality has a store.

Changing phone numbers does goof up iMessage, though. I wish I knew of a decent workaround for that.

 

[PharmDoc]

Brian
I usually bring a spare old phone for local use and use my regular phone when I'm in a trusted wifi spot or some payg will allow a mobile hotspot too.

 

[michael9891]

I live in England and am on the Three network. I don't live in London but know it works great there. You can get a SIM card and top up voucher from lots of places. £20 will get you 12gb data, 300 minutes & 3,000 texts. So more than plenty.

http://www.three.co.uk/Store/SIM/Pay_As_You_Go

 

[chevman]

I've used "3" in the UK without any problems. Just about every locality has a store.

Changing phone numbers does goof up iMessage, though. I wish I knew of a decent workaround for that.

Never thought about this.

If I use 2FA for some apps/services, will this get hosed up if I use a local SIM with a different number?

Thanks for the tips everyone, appreciate it!

 

[boltjames]

My wife and I have an unlocked 6 and 6s, both currently on US based T-mobile pre-paid plans ($40 each for unlimited talk, text, and 3GB of LTE per month).

We are both going to London for a couple weeks later this spring.

What are the best approaches for getting high speed data service while we are there?

We don't need a local London phone number, or expect to make many voice calls while there.

Appreciate any insight - thanks!

Do you really need high speed data when you aren't in the hotel?

I ask because you'll get free wi-fi and there are plenty of free cafe's and restaurants everywhere in London, it's part of their culture. When I travel to London for business or with family we get a small dataplan, no voice plan, and use Skype for one-cent-per-minute phone calls, iMessage for free texts, and all the photos we take are saved on the Camera Roll and put up on Facebook and Instagram when we're at a hotel or cafe with free wi-fi.

BJ

 

[BrianBaughn]

Never thought about this.

If I use 2FA for some apps/services, will this get hosed up if I use a local SIM with a different number?

Thanks for the tips everyone, appreciate it!

If your 2FA is an SMS to your normal number, then yes.

To some 2FA setups you can add a second number. A Google Voice number is good for this and you'll get the texts anywhere in the world via the GV app.