Cheapest & safest way to use iphone4 in New York (Travelling from UK)

[jimmyrp110]

Good evening to you all.

In about 4 wks or so myself & my wife will be going to New York for 4 days.

All previous holidays to Europe etc , I've just left my iPhone at home as have had no need to have it with me. On this occasion our daughter will not be coming with us , so I want to take it so we can FaceTime her at the appropriate times.

Now I have read a few conflicting stories with regards to users taking their iPhones to America , & then coming home to enormous bills the following month.

Now this is what I want to do :-

I will not be answering any calls should my phone ring. To stop charges incurred by voicemail , do I need to turn voicemail off , therefore it just ringing until it cuts out ?

If I see my parents number come up on screen then I know it will only be because of emergency. I will then obviously answer & use. Will I need to get some kind of bolt on from O2 for this service ?

I know the hotel we are staying at in New York has free wifi , so I will safely be able to FaceTime our daughter on her iPhone back home. Am I right in saying that the FaceTime call will not incur any additional charges as over wifi ?

Now this is where I'm also unsure what to do.

Whilst away I know we will both possibly want to use my phone for twitter. I will also want to use my phone to access & send messages via Yak & whatsapp.

If I can't send these messages via wifi (will be out & about most of time) will I need some kind of data bolt on to cover the cost & prevent the ridiculous shock charges when home ?

I'm not bothered about receiving or sending emails either.

So there we are. Sorry for all the questions , & I'll be most grateful & appreciative for any help & advice.

Regards James

 

[Daveoc64]

Now this is what I want to do :-

I will not be answering any calls should my phone ring. To stop charges incurred by voicemail , do I need to turn voicemail off , therefore it just ringing until it cuts out ?

It would be advisable to turn off Voicemail. Dial 1760 from your phone before you leave the UK to turn it off. Dial 1750 to turn it back on.

If I see my parents number come up on screen then I know it will only be because of emergency. I will then obviously answer & use. Will I need to get some kind of bolt on from O2 for this service ?

Caller ID should work ok, there isn't anything you can buy or add on to make it better though.

I know the hotel we are staying at in New York has free wifi , so I will safely be able to FaceTime our daughter on her iPhone back home. Am I right in saying that the FaceTime call will not incur any additional charges as over wifi ?

If you start the FaceTime call by using the Contacts App on the iPhone rather than activating it within a voice call then there will be no charge.

Whilst away I know we will both possibly want to use my phone for twitter. I will also want to use my phone to access & send messages via Yak & whatsapp.

If I can't send these messages via wifi (will be out & about most of time) will I need some kind of data bolt on to cover the cost & prevent the ridiculous shock charges when home ?

O2 doesn't offer a data bolt on for usage abroad, data usage in the US is charged at £6 per megabyte of data sent or received.

O2 (as with all carriers in the EU) has to cap your international data usage at £40 per billing month. At this point, data will stop working until you contact O2 customer support.

If you do only use Twitter and basic messaging apps (like whatsapp) your data usage should be quite small. However, the costs are VERY high in comparison to usage in the UK. Your phone might do other things in the background while you are using these services (like App updates or checking Mail) which could use up additional data.

By default the iPhone will not try to send or receive data over the mobile network when you are abroad.

This is configured using the Data Roaming option under:

Settings > General > Network.

When "Data Roaming" is set to "Off", no data will be sent over the mobile network outside of your home network.

When it is set to "On" the phone will use the foreign data network.

Make sure to check these settings before you leave to ensure they are set how you want them.

 

[jimmyrp110]

Many thanks for your very helpful reply.

When I said my parents number will only call if emergency , I meant that if they call me , will it cost me more when I answer.

Also , if I turn off Data Roaming , will I still be able to send & receive via Yak & whatsapp.

Many thanks for your continued help.

Regards

James

 

[Daveoc64]

Many thanks for your very helpful reply.

When I said my parents number will only call if emergency , I meant that they call me , will it cost me more when I answer.

The normal rate is £1.03 per minute to receive a call in the US. Your parents would pay the usual UK rate to call your phone.

If you have an O2 contract with more than 600 minutes per month, you normally get the International Traveller Service for free. This brings the cost down to 39p per minute.

Also , if I turn off Data Roaming , will I still be able to send & receive via Yak & whatsapp.

They will only work when you are connected to a Wi-Fi network without Data Roaming enabled.

 

[psywzrd]

Is your phone unlocked? If so, pick up a pre-paid sim from at&t or t-mobile while you're in the US and you can use your phone while you're here. You can still use wifi if you want but getting a pre-paid sim will let you use it while you're out and about.

 

[jimmyrp110]

Just reading your reply through again I think I misread it first time.

I believe you're saying that if you turn data roaming off , this will prevent data working in the background ' silently ' & possibly incurring charges I'm not aware of.

Unfortunately though , I believe you're saying that if I wish to use Twitter , Facebook , Yak & Whatsapp whilst away , data roaming needs to be switched on.

Now this is rather drastic but could tHis help.

As I don't want to send or receive emails on my iPhone whilst away , what if I just delete my 3 email accounts from my iPhone ? I can then just set back up upon return.

Secondly , as I will only use the 4 apps I've mentioned , can I just delete all other apps from my phone , therefore nothing to search for & download in the baccground. I can then just resync with iTunes upon my return.

Would this help.

Regards

James

 

[jimmyrp110]

Is your phone unlocked? If so, pick up a pre-paid sim from at&t or t-mobile while you're in the US and you can use your phone while you're here. You can still use wifi if you want but getting a pre-paid sim will let you use it while you're out and about.

No it's not unlocked.

Come the time I go at end of July it will be over 12 months into contract. I'm on 18 month contract.

If I get it unlocked & put one of these sims in , I guess it'll be a diff number which could mean a nuisance for use with yak & whatsapp etc.

Regards

James

 

[Daveoc64]

No it's not unlocked.

Come the time I go at end of July it will be over 12 months into contract. I'm on 18 month contract.

If I get it unlocked & put one of these sims in , I guess it'll be a diff number which could mean a nuisance for use with yak & whatsapp etc.

Regards

James

Based on what you've told me, I don't think getting a US SIM is going to be a good idea.

I would recommend that you get your phone unlocked though. It's totally free and easy to do.

Just fill out the following form on O2's website:

https://www.o2.co.uk/apps/help/help?qid=1&q1=2&route=unlocking&case=Handset Unlocking Form

 

[Daveoc64]

Now this is rather drastic but could tHis help.

As I don't want to send or receive emails on my iPhone whilst away , what if I just delete my 3 email accounts from my iPhone ? I can then just set back up upon return.

Secondly , as I will only use the 4 apps I've mentioned , can I just delete all other apps from my phone , therefore nothing to search for & download in the baccground. I can then just resync with iTunes upon my return.

You don't need to go this far. It is very drastic as you say.

I would do the following:

Go to Settings > Mail Contacts, Calendar > Fetch New Data > Turn Push Off

Also in the same menu:

Set "Fetch" to "Manually"

Go into "Advanced" and set each account to "Manual".

This should ensure that email is only checked when you go into the Mail app.

Any other Apps shouldn't use any data unless they are open, I was merely trying to urge caution with data usage abroad!

You can do the reverse of these steps once you return to the UK.

 

[jimmyrp110]

Many many thanks for your continued help.

What is the purpose of Flight mode in the settings , apart from having it switched on whilst on the plane. What does this do , & would I need to keep it switched to On for my duration.

What does it stop working ?

Regards

James

 

[Daveoc64]

Many many thanks for your continued help.

What is the purpose of Flight mode in the settings , apart from having it switched on whilst on the plane. What does this do , & would I need to keep it switched to On for my duration.

What does it stop working ?

Regards

James

Flight Mode disables all of the iPhone's radios.

The main purpose of it is to stop the device causing interference with aircraft systems.

It would prevent the Mobile Network, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth from working, so it's not really suitable for your needs.

 

[jimmyrp110]

I guess another option would be to try & connect to a wifi network when out & about in New York.

As I say , I know I can get access to wifi in the hotel. It would be great if I could possibly get access to a wifi network whilst ' walking the streets '

Now how much this would be I have no idea , however if I can I could the turn off everything you mentioned & feel comfortable using what I'd like to use.

Like here in the Uk , certain wifi networks have their hotspots. I can only imagine New York City is on a par , if not better.

I would appreciate comments from anyone who's had experience of Wifi coverage & potential cost whilst out & about.

Regards

James

 

[Daveoc64]

I know that Starbucks provides free Wi-Fi in the US.