Traveling internationally with your cell phone
So you're ready to travel? All excited, all packed and ready to go! Wait! You might need to have some form of communication so you could call back home. Traveling to a new country without any means of communication could be a big problem. This guide will help you get prepared.
1. Which cell phones can work while you travel
2. How to get cell phone service in the country that you are visiting
3. What to watch out for when traveling with your cell phone.
Which mobile phones can work while you travel
1. Which cell phones can work while you travel
2. How to get cell phone service in the country that you are visiting
3. What to watch out for when traveling with your cell phone.
Which mobile phones can work while you travel
Only certain mobile phones can work in certain countries. First of all, we need to talk about technology. There are 2 major international standards out there for cellular communications. a) CDMA - code divisional Multiple access and b) GSM - global system for mobile communications. Most countries around the world use GSM. GSM is the best option for traveling. GSM cell phones require a card called the SIM card. The SIM card allows access to the network. Without the SIM card the GSM phone cannot make calls, except emergency 911. Now that we understand a bit about cell phones, we need to talk frequencies. There are 4 basic frequencies that the world travels on: 850 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 1900 MHz. These are the frequencies that most of the world mobile phone carriers support. If you have purchased your cell phone from your carrier in your country, it probably would be locked for use on that carriers SIM card only. You will need to check your current mobile phone to see what frequency your mobile phone has by checking this website has a list of almost all GSM cell phones made. Find the make and then select the model. There you will find under "network" the type of frequency the phone has. This is very important. If you are from north America, please understand that phones here are made differently. We might have the exact same model, but may not have the same frequency. So another site to check that can you north American information is this site. 3G service is available as 2100 MHz, but not a standard worldwide as of yet. In North America, cell phone companies like Wind and T-mobile have AWS 3.5G which is on the 1700 and 2100 frequency or band.
How to get cell phone service in the country that you are visiting
Once you have figured out if your phone's frequency, we then need to find out which country has what frequency. To do this we need to visit gsmword.com. This site has coverage maps and the types of frequency the country has. click here to find out. Lets say that you are traveling to India for 2 months and you have a Motorola V3 Razr phone that was purchased from Rogers or Fido. First of all, that Rogers or Fido cell phone cannot be used with other SIM cards, unless you unlock your mobile phone. Now if your mobile phone is unlocked you can take your V3 razr cell phone to India. If you had checked Gsmarena.com you would have found that the Motorola V3 razr cell phone is a Quad band world phone with 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, and works on all the frequencies and If you have gone to the gsmworld.com site and checked out the coverage map for India you will find that India has about 15 or 16 different carriers depending on which part of the country you are going to. Listed along with the carriers is their respective frequencies. Once you have chosen a cell phone carrier (based on your location and price), you will need to purchase a SIM card. Prepaid cell phone plans are avialable worldwide. If you are traveling to a few countries, my suggestion is to get a global roaming SIM. This Global roaming SIM usually works world wide and offer great deal while traveling. One number wherever you go.
What to watch out for when traveling with your cell phone.
There are a few things that you will need to make sure when traveling with your cell phone.
1. The type of frequency(band) you need
2. If your cell phone is compatible or would you need to purchase a new cell phone
3. The different rates for the different carrriers worldwide.
4. Your phone would need to be charged, so an adapter would be beneficial.
This is pretty much it on using your cell phone abroad.
What to watch out for when traveling with your cell phone.
There are a few things that you will need to make sure when traveling with your cell phone.
1. The type of frequency(band) you need
2. If your cell phone is compatible or would you need to purchase a new cell phone
3. The different rates for the different carrriers worldwide.
4. Your phone would need to be charged, so an adapter would be beneficial.
This is pretty much it on using your cell phone abroad.
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