GSM carriers in the US for visitor from Ireland

[enjoyguinnes]

hi.
I'm in the states for the summer, i have unlocked phone. looking for a sim card to use and wondering what are the best mobile phone carriers to use in the states. cheers

[Charlyee]

Originally Posted by enjoyguinnes hi. I'm in the states for the summer, i have unlocked phone. looking for a sim card to use and wondering what are the best mobile phone carriers to use in the states. cheers

Hello & WELCOME to WA and the US.

The two largest GSM providers are Cingular & T-Mobile, they both have on-line coverage maps, but if you tells us whereabouts you are going to use your phone, people may also be able to recommend from their experience.

PS: Should we presume you are from Ireland?

[enjoyguinnes]

im in virginia in and around the virginia tech university. then will be going up to new york city and then over to the western part of the country...california.
cheers

and yes im irish. Conas ata tu??

[enjoyguinnes]

hey, i have a gsm unlocked phone. i am looking for a mobile phone carrier that will provide me with a sim card. only here for summer, in the virginia tech area. which providers are best?

cheers

[dmapr]

Originally Posted by enjoyguinnes hey, i have a gsm unlocked phone. i am looking for a mobile phone carrier that will provide me with a sim card. only here for summer, in the virginia tech area. which providers are best? cheers

If T-Mobile To Go is available in your area, they're probably your best bet. What phone make & model do you have? Does it support 1900MHz and 850MHz or just 1900MHz?

Check the T-Mobile coverage here.

Note that if your phone doesn't have 850MHz band you'll have to make sure T-Mobile doesn't show 850MHz roaming in the area you're planning to be in.

[enjoyguinnes]

Originally Posted by dmapr If T-Mobile To Go is available in your area, they're probably your best bet. What phone make & model do you have? Does it support 1900MHz and 850MHz or just 1900MHz? Check the T-Mobile coverage here. Note that if your phone doesn't have 850MHz band you'll have to make sure T-Mobile doesn't show 850MHz roaming in the area you're planning to be in.

i have the motorola SLVR7 quad band and unlocked. im using my irish sim card at the moment, and it switches between cingular and t-mobile. but from what i was researching t-mobiles and cingulars pay as you go phones reception is different then the normal coverage. majority of the time t-mobile gets more service though.

Originally Posted by enjoyguinnes i have the motorola SLVR7 quad band and unlocked. im using my irish sim card at the moment, and it switches between cingular and t-mobile. but from what i was researching t-mobiles and cingulars pay as you go phones reception is different then the normal coverage. majority of the time t-mobile gets more service though.

You are correct. TMobiles postpaid coverage area is very different than their prepaid coverage area.... The link that was provided above shows TMobiles "postpaid" coverage check. This is TMobiles prepaid coverage area. Unsupported Browser
The fact that your SLVR7 is Quad Band will allow you to roam onto other carriers networks with whom TMobile has roaming agreements set up.
Since you already have a phone, you could purchase one of these preactivated prepaid SIM Card off of eBay, and call TMobiles customer care at 1-877-778-2106 when the SIM Card arrives and have them give you a local number within the area code that you are staying for the summer. eBay - TMobile prepaid sim cards, Phone SIM Cards, Cell Phones items on eBay.com
This link will provide you with information on TMobile To Go's prepaid service. Unsupported Browser

Let us know if you have any other questions, and welcome to WA.

[dmapr]

Originally Posted by enjoyguinnes i have the motorola SLVR7 quad band and unlocked. im using my irish sim card at the moment, and it switches between cingular and t-mobile. but from what i was researching t-mobiles and cingulars pay as you go phones reception is different then the normal coverage. majority of the time t-mobile gets more service though.

Oops, looks like I goofed up with the coverage link, sorry Well, the good news is that when you're roaming with your Irish SIM and it shows Cingular or T-Mobile — that indicates native coverage, so it sounds like both T-Mobile and Cingular prepaid solutions will work for you. If I were you I'd manually choose one or the other in the places you expect to use the cell most and see whether either one has dead spots where you need service. Since they both provide service in the general area, it's very unlikely there will be any roaming allowed between the two, especially with prepaid. T-Mobile can be significantly cheaper, especially if you buy a pre-activated SIM on eBay, so unless it has too many dead spots I'd go with them.

[Charlyee]

Originally Posted by enjoyguinnes hey, i have a gsm unlocked phone. i am looking for a mobile phone carrier that will provide me with a sim card. only here for summer, in the virginia tech area. which providers are best? cheers

Hello again, sorry I never got back to you last night. I believe that dmapr's post below outlines what would be the best way to check for coverage for you. I agree that if T-Mobile works in the places that you will be using the SLVR, it would definitely be the cheaper alternative. From your other post it seems like you are on T-Mobile more times than on Cingular anyway.

PS: Technically I am not Irish, but I am Irish in spirit, hope that counts for something.

Originally Posted by enjoyguinnes i have the motorola SLVR7 quad band and unlocked. im using my irish sim card at the moment, and it switches between cingular and t-mobile. but from what i was researching t-mobiles and cingulars pay as you go phones reception is different then the normal coverage. majority of the time t-mobile gets more service though.

Yes both Cingular & T-Mobile have less coverage on their Pre-Pay than Post-Pay, but as dmapr mentioned what you are seeing with your Irish SIM, is the coverage you will actually get.

Originally Posted by dmapr Oops, looks like I goofed up with the coverage link, sorry Well, the good news is that when you're roaming with your Irish SIM and it shows Cingular or T-Mobile — that indicates native coverage, so it sounds like both T-Mobile and Cingular prepaid solutions will work for you. If I were you I'd manually choose one or the other in the places you expect to use the cell most and see whether either one has dead spots where you need service. Since they both provide service in the general area, it's very unlikely there will be any roaming allowed between the two, especially with prepaid. T-Mobile can be significantly cheaper, especially if you buy a pre-activated SIM on eBay, so unless it has too many dead spots I'd go with them.

[RadioRaiders]

Here's a list of MVNO's you can check out:

MVNO List.com

Obviously look at only the GSM ones, and not the CDMA

[ZaphodB]

AT&T would be my pick -- they also allow free calls between AT&T customers and I believe also nights and weekends are reduced-cost.

Bear in mind that here in the US, your minutes are used whether you make a call or whether you receive it -- unlike Eire, where incoming calls are free to the recipient.

And all I really remember of Irish (like most Americans, I spent my time in Ireland stumbling through pubs) is "Go raibh maith agat", "Ta me go maith", "Ta an muinteoir ag dul abhaile" and, heh, "pog mo thoin". None of which is really applicable here.

[JFB]

(I have merged the two very similar threads on this topic into this one to avoid confusion.)

[Telekom]

Originally Posted by esto Here's a list of MVNO's you can check out: MVNO List.com Obviously look at only the GSM ones, and not the CDMA

In that list it does not indicate which network Túyo Mobile uses. It uses the T-Mobile network.

[Telekom]

Originally Posted by ZaphodB AT&T would be my pick -- they also allow free calls between AT&T customers and I believe also nights and weekends are reduced-cost. Bear in mind that here in the US, your minutes are used whether you make a call or whether you receive it -- unlike Eire, where incoming calls are free to the recipient. And all I really remember of Irish (like most Americans, I spent my time in Ireland stumbling through pubs) is "Go raibh maith agat", "Ta me go maith", "Ta an muinteoir ag dul abhaile" and, heh, "pog mo thoin". None of which is really applicable here.

Be careful how you use the word "free." You pay to get free calls in the "Pick your plan" type GoPhone accounts.