Brief visit to US

[alect]

Originally Posted by inquisitor

It should find the network even automatically, which may take a bit longer upon the first use. I recently read of AT&T SIMs being tied to the phone, in which they are used for the first time, for six months - if that is true that perhaps is the reason your phone couldn't register with that certain SIM.
Lastly you should rule out that you phone has a SIM lock. But the guy should have seen and told that if that was the case.

Phone definitely doesn't have SIM lock as it was recently used in Italy and Netherlands with local SIMs.

[inquisitor]

Then your wife should perhaps try it at another AT&T store with more competent staff.

[PhotoJim]

Just buy a SIM - you're only gambling $15. There is no reason why it shouldn't work, as long as your phone is functioning correctly and is unlocked.

[sassie_65]

We will be in the US for 6 weeks next year,we're thinking of buying an Android tablet for the lighter weight[than laptop]what is the best way and approxiamate price to access unlimited usuage on a prepaid plan internet for the 6 weeks we are there? What will we need to buy to use this system[stick,simcard for 3G etc?]

[Stu]

It is not unlimited, but ATT has a 3g plan for $25 a month for 2 gigs of data for tablets. Virgin USA uses CDMA technology, but has an unlimited plan for $50 a month, but you'll be paying $150 for the MiFi.

[RTuesday]

Originally Posted by sassie_65

what is the best way and approximate price to access unlimited usage on a prepaid plan internet for the 6 weeks we are there?

Forget the poor data offerings in the US, use wi-fi. It's nearly universal in hotels. High end and extreme low-end hotels may charge, but it's generally free. Most vacation rentals (holiday flats) should have free wi-fi. McDonalds, Starbucks, bookshops, libraries etc have free wi-fi.

So unless you have a particular need for internet access on the move, you could save a lot of expense and bother by just using internet in your hotel, or while having a coffee or eating a burger.

Even for navigation there's a variety of android apps that will download the maps in advance (while you have wi-fi) so that you can use them later.

Much simpler to get a tablet that only does wi-fi (rather than some form of 3G) as well.

I travelled for months around the US and Canada this summer and never found a need for GSM/3G data, there's so much free wi-fi around.

[bylo]

Originally Posted by RTuesday

So unless you have a particular need for internet access on the move, you could save a lot of expense and bother by just using internet in your hotel, or while having a coffee or eating a burger.

There's generally no need to stay at the hotel or buy something at the restaurant. I've gotten good WiFi signals from their parking lots

One annoyance is that almost every hotspot will want you to agree to their terms and conditions every time you're in range. One US hotel that I stayed at a week ago had something like 50 hotspots in the facility [the highest number I saw was hotelname48] and I'd have to re-agree every time my smartphone got handed over to a different hotspot as I walked through the hotel. This gets very annoying very fast.

One bit of good news: Most hotels have fast broadband connections and no apparent data limits. I was able to download several GBs of TV shows as I travelled at speeds faster than I get on DSL at home.

Even for navigation there's a variety of android apps that will download the maps in advance (while you have wi-fi) so that you can use them later.

Any suggestions for Android Gingerbread?

I travelled for months around the US and Canada this summer and never found a need for GSM/3G data, there's so much free wi-fi around.

I don't have a data plan on my smartphone. The only time I find this to be a real problem is when I'm at the dentist's or lawyer's office and their WiFi is protected. Also some public facilities, e.g. at airports or hospitals, have a paywall on their hotspots at ~$10/day.

[sassie_65]

All the above info is useful but most of the time we will be travelling in our car,chasing the storms and really need to have access to LIVE coverage of radar pictures,so I assume we would satelite connection?[Hotspot,stick,etc etc]but pay as you go type set up...

[Bossman]

Check out the offerings by AT&T and Tmobile (they recently added quite a few more options) and see which one will suit you.

Originally Posted by sassie_65

All the above info is useful but most of the time we will be travelling in our car,chasing the storms and really need to have access to LIVE coverage of radar pictures,so I assume we would satelite connection?[Hotspot,stick,etc etc]but pay as you go type set up...

[RTuesday]

Originally Posted by sassie_65

All the above info is useful but most of the time we will be travelling in our car,chasing the storms and really need to have access to LIVE coverage of radar pictures,so I assume we would satelite connection?[Hotspot,stick,etc etc]but pay as you go type set up...

Unless you're in a rural area of the west (which doesn't generally have the type of storms I assume you're chasing) then cellphone (mobile phone) data should be enough, you don't need satellite.

Others have mentioned the payg offers from AT&T and T-Mobile, although you'll probably find they're only at 2G speeds (similar to dial up) in some country areas (so it'll make downloading the animated radars difficult!).

Since your safety depends on it, it's probably worth getting at least two options, from different carriers. There will be holes in the coverage of any network (especially if a storm is just going through...).

If you get a mobile router to plug the stick into you can use more than one device with it.

There's also Truconnect TruConnect Mobile - Contract Free 3G Mobile Internet for Laptop and iPad that uses the Sprint network, I've no idea how good they are (I don't think anybody here's tried them yet).

Don't forget a NWS weather radio of course, low tech but a good backup.