US iPhone in Ireland

[jmsait19]

Hi everybody.


My wife and I are taking a vacation to Ireland and Northern Ireland. We have a couple old iPhone 4's. I've gotten them both carrier-unlocked, so my goal is to put a sim in when I get to Ireland so we can have some service.

I'm probably looking mainly for data (to find information, and maybe some mapping). A small amount of phone would also be nice. Probably don't need text as iMessage should suffice.

We'll be traveling in both the Republic and Northern Ireland.

So, I'm curious how folks who have done this before would suggest we attack this? Which carrier is going to provide us the best exeprience? Should I get a different sim when I travel North?

I'd like to get a couple, one for phone and one for iPad. My wife was able to track down info on trip advisor, but I wanted to stop in here as well to see what you guys thought.

Any help would be great! Thanks!

 

[RickyB]

You might get some responses asking on boards.ie

There will be people there who have travelled all over Ireland.

A couple of things to bear in mind:
Will you be able to get a SIM card easily, particularly since you are a nonresident.

Aside from the cost of roaming, will you even be permitted to roam? Often networks bar roaming for an initial period. So it may be worthwhile getting both an Irish SIM and a UK one.