Carrier TMo USA used in UK

[BarkingGhost]

I think I may need to call a corporate office or something since I am getting conflicting information from TMo stores in the USA.

Wife and I have iPhone 5 (not s/c) on Simple Plan. We are planning a trip to the UK in the 4th Quarter of the year and being over there for three weeks.

Not looking for calling back to USA or use much data beyond GPS and simple browsing, and maybe a little email.

Trying to figure out the best option for wife and me to communicate together while over there. Supposedly there is a Simple Plan International for $15 which has unlimited data and text, but a bit unclear about the voice.

It says $0.20/min but I think that is if we call landlines or mobiles not on our account. Not sure if it is also between our mobile to mobile calling.

Also, not sure how well out TMo USA iPhone 5 will work in the UK (3G, 4G/LTE). Mostly around London and Southern England. Anyone got any ideas?

Also thought about just landing over there, acquiring one of their free SIM's (for each phone) and implement a Pay As You Go service.

 

[iGeek2014]

Can't help you with T-Mobile USA as I'm from the UK.

Are you using the A1428 model? If so it'll only support LTE bands in the US.

You could try Three UK. They are pretty good for 3G coverage. And have a decent allowance for data, calls and texts.

 

[CEmajr]

I believe your calls to each other will still be $0.20/min because you're roaming and T-Mobile USA has no UK presence. EDGE data and texting are what is free on your Simple Choice plan.

Not sure about LTE in the UK but at the very least you'll get 3G. Unless you plan on paying extra to access the higher speeds it doesn't really matter anyway because the free international roaming is limited to EDGE speeds.

 

[nickprete11]

T-Mobile has free data and texting roaming internationally. It's actually pretty useful for when you need it. For you to make calls to anyone, it'd be $.20 a minute. Since there is free data, throttled to EDGE speeds, if you need to talk between each other, you could use FaceTime Audio because that uses data and doesn't count as minutes.

 

[patt2k]

while roaming sounds good and yes it really is.

I would still recommend you just buy a prepaid sim in UK.

You would prob pay like 20-30$ but get unlimited data at least not 128kbps.

 

[MyRomeo]

You shouldn't have a problem with coverage over here so it comes down to preference and cost. You could use your international roaming which sounds quite good value or if you think the cost justifies it pick up a pre paid sim in any shop over here and for $20 or so you should be able to get free calls and a hefty, if not unlimited 3G data allowance. I would suggest three.

The t-mobile iphone 5 won't work on our lte networks but our 3G is usually pretty good so you shouldn't miss it too much

http://store.three.co.uk/mobile/view/content/simonlypayg

 

[aneftp]

A lot of people don't realize you can use FaceTime Audio to make voice over internet calls. They will function over EDGE as well.

Since T-Mobile has "free EDGE" international roaming. Why not communicate with Facetime Audio if you want to call your wife in the UK or obviously you can use wifi as well.

Also you can force iMessage to send only iMessage (uses data) instead of SMS. And you can sent iMessage via Tmobile's USA free international data roaming in the UK as well.

Just don't sent SMS to non iPhone users.

Tmobile USA will limit you to EDGE speeds for international data roaming but hey it's free.

 

[CEmajr]

A lot of people don't realize you can use FaceTime Audio to make voice over internet calls. They will function over EDGE as well.

Since T-Mobile has "free EDGE" international roaming. Why not communicate with Facetime Audio if you want to call your wife in the UK or obviously you can use wifi as well.

Also you can force iMessage to send only iMessage (uses data) instead of SMS. And you can sent iMessage via Tmobile's USA free international data roaming in the UK as well.

Just don't sent SMS to non iPhone users.

Tmobile USA will limit you to EDGE speeds for international data roaming but hey it's free.

He can send SMS to non iPhones. Those are free.