<Home>
<400
Navigational Equipment>
Added
03/09/2004
I
have been told by many people that the preferable type of cell phone for
international travel is a "tri-band with SIMM card".
I understand that the tri-band allows the phone to be used with any of
the three frequencies used in different parts of the world, and the SIMM card
allows the phone to be changed from carrier to carrier.
Is
there any cell-phone guru out there who can confirm this?
Does anyone know where to purchase such a phone without a local provider
commitment?
I
think I can get a Sony/Ericson from Cingular, but have to sign a one-year
contract. I am planning to leave
for Mexico in next two weeks.
Tri
band effectively works in all GSM countries (most of the world
except a few ones like Japan, etc.), and changing the SIMM card allows
you to use a local access number. You
can buy any of these phone
either with or without a contract. You
can find evaluations and
internet sales channels on www.epinions.com.
If you use a contract,
the hardware is cheaper (or free) but your service is linked.
In the
US, many cell phones purchased through contract automatically force you
to use the contract provider first. Non
contract phones give you more
freedom. I am using a Sony Ericsson
and had a Nokia before, both
tri-band. Cost can go up quickly if
you call internationally with
these phones. I am traveling my
fair share and tri-band allows me to
receive my call when I am abroad (but I am paying for international
connections every time someone calls me. By
switching SIMM, you get a
new local number that must be communicated to your different contacts.
SIMM cards will generally be included in a contract. These contracts
can be very flexible, including pre-pay, monthly, yearly.
Another option is to use voice over IP. If
you can connect your
computer broadband or DSL, you can use portable numbers. See companies
like
Vonage for example. It sells with a
small modem type device that
allows you to receive and make long distance calls whenever you are for
a fixed small monthly amount ($15 for US and Canada).
I
live in the UK and am new to this list, but I have a tri-band phone
and
when I travel it comes with me, these phones work most anywhere. The only place
we have problems is the bahamas, apart from that it has been fine and we have
sailed in Whitsunday Islands, Bay of Islands Caibbean and used it all over the
USA, Australia, Asia and Europe.
For
you the best way to buy is a sim free phone, that means you buy it
without the sim card and then you could buy the sim card for the area
you
will be in ie Mexico when you get there.
Best
place to buy would probaby be online, go onto one of the main
search
engines and enter the name of the phone you are interested in and also put sim
free after the name and see what comes up. I bought a Nokia 6600 for my grandson
for Christmas exactly that way as he already had a sim card, saved quite a lot
of money buying it online as well.
Go
to this web site it has it all http://www.telestial.com/
As
for phone service, I used a cell phone with an external antenna. I get about
9,600 baud on a good day on average so it's equivalent to a older US Robotics
landline modem. It works great for email, ok for web and totally useless for
downloads. Make sure you get a digital plan otherwise your phone bills will beat
your mortgage.
I
use Verizon plan that gives me 600 day min, unlimited night and weekends with
data min included. As long as I stick to unlimited internet at night or
weekends I can keep the bill below $70 incl phone use and taxes.
A
satelite phone system sounds expensive, but I have found some
for about $2000.00 They are supposed to work great. I think they
even have a modem for that system.
I
know we have been talking about remote internet connection on and
off for some time now but I just came across a site that is better
than I have ever seen on this topic. Check
out:
http://www.jiwire.com
Here
I found two items of significant interest. First, they maintain
a searchable database of worldwide wi-fi hotspots including many free
ones. Just enter a location and it
will tell you where you can hop
on the net. Heading for a marina
and need a free connection in town?
Check out the list and find a free connection nearby. The site even
includes maps and driving directions. They
even have a free offline
locator program that you run on your mac/pc without being online so
you can find a hotspot. There were
a handful of free sites within a
few miles of my marina that I never even knew about.
Second, there is a comprehensive "how to" section that shows how to
connect to the net through your cell phone, including equipment
requirements and cell phone service options.
I was impressed, I hope
you will be too.