Sprint Global Roaming in Prague

I just switched to Sprint. I am not sure if I will be going to Europe soon, but I plan to use Sprint's roaming plan if I do. I have used T-Mobile's plan (basically the same as Sprint's) in the past and it worked fine. Remember, Sprint doesn't have actual service in Europe - they have roaming partners. You could wind up roaming on the same mobile network as a SIM you would buy. Your phone should connect to the fastest network (LTE if available) but then`they slow you down to 2G data speeds. With T-Mobile, I usually didn't notice the slowdown except when trying to stream a video or upload a bunch of pictures - then the phone would slow way down. I assume Sprint's service is about the same.

If you need to make phone calls home to the US, install Google Hangouts on your phones. It lets you make free calls to phones, even to landlines, on WiFi or mobile data. (Free to US numbers, a few cents per minute to non-US numbers.) I have used Hangouts for years overseas - it worked OK even with T-Mobile 2G data. Nice to have free calling vs. 20 cents/min if say you have to call your airline and get put on hold. See if your phone supports WiFi calling; if so, you can also make free calls on WiFi directly with your Sprint number.

My advice would be to get an EU SIM once you arrive in Europe. It doesn't matter which EU country you buy it in, you can use it in all EU countries, and there are no roaming fees - you simply pay the domestic fees of whichever EU state you bought it in. All basic pre-paid SIM cards include generous data allowances, so one €20 SIM bought at the start of your trip, will work out much cheaper than any US-based roaming package.

Thanks, Marcus - we have plenty of time to decide but our cellphone plan already includes Global Roaming at no extra charge. Just trying to decide if the Unlimited free texting and 2G data ($5 additional per day if we want high speed/LTE data) and the $0.20/Min for calls that’s part of the plan will cut it for the 6 days we are there with our iPhones - we also have WiFi calling which hopefully helps keep calling costs down

I have Sprint and an iPhone 8 and last year, I was so thankful when Sprint added Global Roaming. I did not upgrade to high speed because I never had a problem getting internet service. Texting between iphones was great. I did use it a few times for calls but mostly texting. I've always had to add international service for a month and was pleasantly surprised of what I got for no extra cost on Sprint this past summer. I've never bought a separate SIM card but as I said, I did more internet, texting & emails than I did actual phone calls. I did, call Sprint international and asked them specifically what to sent my phone to so I wouldn't get roaming charges, or an extra fees. It was a simple call! If you can't get help or find it out, post again or message me and I'll look at my notes from trip. Have fun!

Thanks, Dana!

I do have instructions on what I'm supposed to do and the Sprint Tech did say I could do it ahead of time, but will still IM you to see if its the same info!

Would you please post a link to the Sprint instructions? Thank you.

Helen

You would need to first update your device's PRL and Data profile:

Make sure to be connected to the Wi-Fi.

1. From the home screen, tap Phone.
2. On the keypad, dial ##873283# and tap the Call button.
3. Tap OK. The handset will search for profile updates and install them.
4. Tap OK.
5. The PRL and Data Profile now updated.

Before departing, please make sure you set up your device for International use. You may follow these steps to Enable International Data/Voice Roaming :

1.From the home screen, tap Settings.
2.Tap Cellular.
3.Ensure Cellular Data is enabled, and then tap Cellular Data Options.
4.Tap Roaming.
5.Tap to enable Voice & Data Roaming.
*Note: This screen is not displayed if Voice & Data Roaming is already enabled. Continue to the next step.
6.Tap to enable Data Roaming and disable International CDMA.
7.The device is now configured for international data roaming

When you land in PRG, just turn on your device and accept pop up terms for Global Roaming. Calls will be $0.20 a minute and no charge for texts and unlimited 2G data. You can access LTE speeds for $5 for a 1-day data pass or $25 for a 7-day data pass.

Keep in mind that if you have the Open World option, rates are a little different......

I didn't have to do anything to roam with Sprint in Europe May: turned on the phone in Madrid and later Lisbon and within a minute or two I was connected. I did check ahead of time to make sure my phone (Moto E4) had Preferred Network Type set to "global."

This is what I was told by Sprint to do to our iPhones prior to our trip. Did you find that you had actually gotten unlimited texts and 2G data? Just want to make sure we don't come home to any surprises with our next bill.

Well, I don't text with my Sprint number nor did I make any calls with it (I use Google Hangouts to make free calls to the US, and for the one call I needed to make to a phone in Portugal, I used Skype). I did have unlimited data...until I got tired of how slow it was and fired up my Dutch Vodafone SIM (10 euros to get 2GB of data, plenty of data for nine days in Portugal). I still used the Sprint SIM on and off for a few days (OK...I had two phones with me). I could have lived with the 2G data for the whole time, but it might have been frustrating sometimes (like waiting for a Google map to load), and because I knew I had the Vodafone option I just used that most of the time, after the first few days. The day passes for faster data might be an option for some - but the Vodafone option was just cheaper for me, and I cared only about the data.

I used T-Mobile's similar plan with 2G data a few years ago and lived with that.

Hmmmm..... I do have an old iPhone 6 - I might be able to go that route for high speed data.......

Yeah, you can use Sprint and see how it works and have your spare phone too - and if you find Sprint too slow, buy a SIM card there for the spare phone. You might find Sprint is just fine, though.

Im in CZ now using Sprint global roaming and did noyt purchase any extra sim card. Ive had no problems or extra charges with texting, emails and slowere data usage. I've been in big cities and smsller obes all across the countries. Great service!

I had great service in Portugal, too, with Sprint in May the first few days. The data slowness showed itself when trying to load Google Maps - often fast enough but once in a while sloooowwwww. Everything was noticeably faster after swapping in the Vodafone SIM. Had the Vodafone SIM cost 50 euros instead of 10 euros for the week or so I needed it, I would just stayed with my Sprint phone and lived with the speed. 10 euros for a week of faster speed seemed well worth it.

We just booked Rome for a week next March as well so we’re really curious to see how well