Taking Blackberry & Ipad to the US - Any recommendations for SIM cards should I buy?

[drwtsv]

Hi,

I will be travelling to the US for 2 weeks in November and will be taking a 3G Ipad and my Blackberry 9700. It would be appreciated if members could advise recommendations for which brand of SIM cards to purchase for both devices and whether these are available to purchase at LAX. Also does the Blackberry phone & data work OK in the US if using my Australian Optus SIM card? I will be only in California if this makes a difference to which SIM is best and I would want a fairly high volume plan for the Ipad.

All suggestions would be appreciated.

Thank You !

 

[jdlover23]

Re: Taking Blackberry & Ipad to the US - Any recommendations for SIM cards should I b

Hi Drwtsv

I just got back from the US this morning, so this was my experience. In regards to the iPad, if you don't use roaming from your australian carrier, you are just going to be out of luck if you don't have access to an American credit card. I spent a day going from AT&T and apple stores with people in both just as clueless. Anyway moral of the story is this, in the US when you buy a 3G iPad it has an AT&T micro sim already in it, this creates issues as no one at AT&T has micro sims available separately, luckily I went to an apple store at the grove and was sufficiently pissed off the guy behind the counter went out the back and just gave me a micro-sim. At this point I thought I was home free, alas no, when you try and activate the sim through the settings screen in cellular data, when u r taken to AT&T create account page, you need to have an US address and credit card. I got around this by borrowing a friends credit card and using his home address. So if you don't have a great US friend like I did, you are sh$t out of luck, thanks Apple!

In regards to a sim for a blackberry I grabbed a prepaid sim from AT&T, which worked fine, but wouldn't recommend as I was charged when ppl called me as well as when I made calls! I was desperate as I needed to meet with ppl the morning i arrived and my work seemed to have turned off my global roaming, so spent no time doing any research. Whilst there I saw ads on tv for no commitment plans that could be cancelled anytime which gave you unlimited calls, texts and data for about $60 for 30days.

Like anything in life, if money is no object I'd just roam on both devices, otherwise get a sim for the blackberry from anyone, and try and get a micro-sim from apple and try to activate through a US friend. Sorry long reply but if I had known all this before I left it would have saved me a day of mucking around.

Cheers
Jdlover

 

[digga]

Re: Taking Blackberry & Ipad to the US - Any recommendations for SIM cards should I b

Avoid using your local SIM as roaming data rates tend to be crazy high, and useful only if you're crazy rich and have nothing better to do with your cash. Roaming calls are less burdensome, provided you're only making a couple of calls while you're there.

You could try getting a sim cutter and just buy a regular 3G Go (PAYG) sim card from AT&T (just the card, don't get it with a phone or you won't be able to use it in a different phone/iPad). If you buy a sim cutter, make sure you get one with a standard/microsim carrier tray, so you can use the cut-down SIM card in both the iPad and Blackberry by swapping it out whenever you need to. I'm presuming here that the Blackberry is unlocked.

Transfer credit to data (it's something like 250MB for $US15 from memory), and you should be good to go. You can top up by phone with a (non-US) credit card whenever you need to (my European card worked - and I think you can buy disposable pre-paid credit cards if yours won't work). You'll find there's plenty of free WiFi hotspots as well, which will help ease the 3G data use.

US mobile plans work a little differently than you might be used to, and yes, you pay when someone calls you. That's just the way it is. Check carefully before choosing a plan, as they have different daily/per-call rate combinations.

AT&T probably isn't the cheapest, but it does have excellent coverage, and a network that's compatible with your iPad/Blackberry. Verizon and MVNO operators using their network (like Virgin) are not going to be compatible, so do a little homework before shopping around (flyertalk has some useful threads you might want to brush up on).

 

[drewbles]

Re: Taking Blackberry & Ipad to the US - Any recommendations for SIM cards should I b

AT&T for the iPad. It's the easiest, and it's all pre-paid. You should be able to purchase this from any AT&T reseller in the USA.

For your blackberry, i'd suggest forgoing data and simply buying a pre-paid global SIM card from one of the various countries around. Check out the Communication & Internet forum here (Communication & Internet) for other people who have asked the same thing.

I work for a company that sells them so I won't spam you, but if you want any info on it let me know.

 

[drwtsv]

Thanks to everyone for the tips

Hi,

Thanks to everyone for the tips, sharing your experiences and offers of further information, its really appreciated and should make it much easier for me now. I had actually ordered a sim cutter a few days ago as I am living in Indonesia and the micro sims are not available here yet. If I cant readily buy an AT&T micro sim, I will just buy a regular phone/data sim and cut it to size and for the Blackberry I will also get a prepaid AT&T card. Thanks again.

 

[digga]

Re: Taking Blackberry & Ipad to the US - Any recommendations for SIM cards should I b

You're welcome - enjoy the trip!

 

[zan5hin]

Re: Taking Blackberry & Ipad to the US - Any recommendations for SIM cards should I b

I have not been to the states for 12 months but I do read the mobile tech blogs which keep me apprised of the situation.

Starbucks recently went completely free for wifi access through their in-store hotspots on the 1st of July, so you can just pop in (or even walk past) to get access. When I was there last year, I had to buy a starbucks card for $5 and then register an account online, and I only got 2 hours a day at one Starbucks location. McDonalds now does the same thing over there.

The best and most future proof option for you is to purchase a mifi (portable wireless router) which is unlocked, and then utilise the new no-contract plans which are on offer in the states. This will enable you to create a personal hotspot for up to 5 devices, so it will work with your blackberry, ipad and your travel partner's iphone and laptop, all at the same time for example.

Prepaid is a new concept for the US so most users are excited about it. It was the advent of the iPad over there that really got people pissed off - having to pay for two data plans, one for their iphone/smartphone and one for their iPad. Enter the mifi.

Depending on the cities you are travelling through, you can either choose a 3G mifi device which should work everywhere (unless you are using AT&T), or the new 4G wireless routers, which have not yet been rolled out to all major cities.

Clearwire Launches Rover Prepaid Brand - PCWorld Business Center

Clearwire even has a 14 day money back guarantee, so you could in theory return the device near the end of your trip :mrgreen:

David Pogue in the Times mentioned recently the Virgin (running over Sprint network) offering mifi for US$150 for the device and then $40 for a month of UNLIMITED data.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/02/technology/personaltech/02pogue.html?_r=1&src=busln

Hopefully you could also swap out the SIM and use it back in Australia with any of our 3G telcos, but cannot guarantee that. You can always sell it again on eBay US or tell your IT department to purchase it for the company and then you just loan it for your 2 week trip.

i don't know what the policy is with people without US addresses, however what I would be doing is just put the address of my first hotel, and use an Aussie Mastercard which should work for the transaction.

 

[drwtsv]

Re: Taking Blackberry & Ipad to the US - Any recommendations for SIM cards should I b

Hi Zan5hin, thanks very much for the info above, I am going to study all the links in detail . I am starting to feel very well informed about this issue ! Thanks again

 

[zan5hin]

Re: Taking Blackberry & Ipad to the US - Any recommendations for SIM cards should I b

No probs. Just keep looking and the Virgin mifi 2200 runs on CDMA EVDO Rev A so it will absolutely not work in Australia. Same with Verizon.

According to this great FAQ: Novatel Wireless MiFi 2352/2372 FAQ

the MiFi 2352 works with Optus and Vodafone over 900Mhz and the MiFi 2372 works with Three and Telstra over 850Mhz (and all the Virtual Resellers of the above). You cannot get one MiFi that works through ALL Australian carriers.

For the US, you should be able to buy a MiFi 2372 unlocked from eBay and use it with AT&T or T-Mobile. Unsure on their plans though but does not seem cheap. You might be able to get a month for $50 / 1GB. They have PAYG Sims and if you load $100 you get 365 day expiry. Don't know if it's one and the same, and you have to call AT&T and see if you can get a SIM without the laptop:
AT&T adds notebooks to its 3G lineup, launches pay-as-you-go plans
Jon - Review: Novatel Wireless Mifi 2372
MiFi USA - My Blog - The Mac Screencast Guy

$242 delivered: 3G HSPA Mobile Wi-Fi Hotspot Novatel Wireless MiFi 2372 - eBay Routers Access Points, Wireless Networking, Networking Communications, Computers Networking. (end time 24-Sep-10 20:08:40 AEST)

It Also supports the XT Network in NZ which is great, that is the best network in NZ and I spent 2 months there tethering my laptop via my iPhone and had really fast data everywhere.

Hopefully there will be one next year that supports 850 and 900 so that it works in Thailand AND the Philippines. If I got one today I would get the 8352 because personally I would rather have functionality in more countries (about to start a RTW LONE5 ex-AKL) and stick to Starbucks in the US. Internet is so much more vital is non-english countries. I don't know how it works in Japan though, as tourists cannot get Prepaid SIM cards....

Of course, this does not help with your phone call situation but I don't travel overseas for business so I can't help you with that. I use NimbuzzOUT (like SkypeOUT) on my iphone to make calls over 3G to friends and family. Noticably worse than over wifi so I stick to calling over Wifi if available, and sometimes use Nimbuzz on my PC instead of the phone too. NimbuzzOUT is cheaper than SkypeOUT as there is no flagfall.

Nimbuzz also let's you connect to your other accounts like Skype, Windows Messenger, Facebook, Google Talk so what I do is just change my voicemail message and tell people "I'm overseas but you can also reach me on the above services" as well.

 

[Fantic125]

Re: Taking Blackberry & Ipad to the US - Any recommendations for SIM cards should I b

i don't know what the policy is with people without US addresses, however what I would be doing is just put the address of my first hotel, and use an Aussie Mastercard which should work for the transaction.

I'm from AU and was in the US a few weeks ago (and am there again now) and purchased an AT&T sim. I use a relatives address in the US for the sim registration and had no issues in registering it and buying time with an AU credit card.
If you do choose AT&T, have a look at the prepaid $1.00 a day plan.

 

[drewbles]

Re: Taking Blackberry & Ipad to the US - Any recommendations for SIM cards should I b

Keep in mind the battery life on the mifi type devices is pretty cruddy. You'll be lucky to get 5-6 hours with use out of it, so you'll need to be near a power point. If you have access, they're a great way to connect multiple devices.

Else, i'd be going with the AT&T pre-pay micro SIM for ipad, and using a pre-paid global roaming SIM in your phone to maximise coverage (some, like our SIM's, offer you multiple networks on the same service, expanding your coverage beyond just T-Mobile or AT&T for GSM).

 

[Simran Gandhi]

Re: Taking Blackberry & Ipad to the US - Any recommendations for SIM cards should I b

heyy..
i am travelling to the new york, orlando, vegas, los angels can you please suggest me what sim card to guy for 20 days..
i am using a blackberry 9900 handset. i dont need any msgs o calls.. i just need blackberry services and incoming calls, mainly blackberry messenger should work..
i need something cheap and the network must be strong..
please reply asap..
thank you,
simran.