Cell phone usage - so confused!

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I'LL leave phone advice to more knowledgeable people.

PJ,

It sounds like US Cellular is full of hot air and doesn't know what they're talking about. If a phone is locked to a particular carrier, it MUST be unlocked to operate with a SIM from another carrier. Their answer sounds like a lot of rubbish! Is the phone unlocked or isn't it? You can easily test this by finding someone that uses another network that will "loan" you a SIM for a few minutes. Insert the SIM from the other network, and if it works the phone is unlocked.

As you have a SIM that you can use in the U.K., I wouldn't bother purchasing the roaming plan from US Cellular. The easiest solution would be to have your Son stop by Carphone Warehouse and pick up a cheap, basic phone for you to use there. Leave your iPhone in Airplane mode with Wi-Fi switched on, and that way you won't incur any roaming charges.

I was in England for a month last fall, had my IPhone 5 with me. I didn't have to do anything to be able to use it. Just keep it on airplane mode. My carrier is ATT, I added a plan for England to my account for $60.00 and I had unlimited texting and 80 minutes to call back to the US. Then when I got home I cancelled the plan, it worked great.

If I remember correctly, iPhones after the 4 come already unlocked. So USCellular wasn't refusing to do it, it just doesn't need to be done at all. You should just be able to swap out the SIM (that will be the cheapest way to go). A new SIM gives you a new number, but when you get home and change it back, you'll be back to normal. You can often buy a SIM with minutes already on it (i.e. a 10 euro SIM with 10 euro of minutes on it). When I was last in Spain, I bought a 9 euro SIM, made maybe three 15 minute calls home and used it some locally, and didn't use up my time. Much cheaper than any international plan on your regular number.

Robin Z,

" I didn't have to do anything to be able to use it. Just keep it on airplane mode. My carrier is ATT, I added a plan for England to my account for $60.00 and I had unlimited texting and 80 minutes to call back to the US."

I'm not sure I understand your comment. If the phone was in "Airplane Mode", none of the wireless functions would have been operational. Why would you need to purchase a plan for that?

My understanding is most US carriers dont want you to unlock your phone because it ties you to them. I suspect what the US Cellular person was trying to say was that if you buy an international plan, you wont need to unlock you phone. Its silly, backward thinking.

If you swap sims, and they are of different carriers, your phone MUST be unlocked if you want it to work.

Since you have a sim to use, I'd buy a cheap phone from a shop in the UK, pop the sim in, and go from there. For your iphone, turn data off, and stick to wifi to get your emails etc. You can get a cheap Nokia or Samsung handset for ~20 GBP (approx 30 USD) from CarphoneWarehouse (a ubiquitous phone shop). I'm sure Tesco (think Super Target-ish, but groceries come first) or similar can offer cheap phones as well.

Like Ken, I think Robin misspoke. If you keep a phone in airplane mode nothing works, including wifi. If you have your phone in airplane mode, your calling plan won't work either. You can then turn on wifi if you want to use that, but your phone still won't work as a phone.

I have an iPhone 5 and Verizon is my carrier. Last year during a trip to the UK here is what I did:

Once I reached my seat on the plane in the US - turned Cellular Data Off and WiFi On

During the flight - turned Airplane Mode On

Once in the UK - turned Airplane Mode Off

My phone worked perfectly to make calls, and I was able to use WiFi to text and check email with no problem or data usage.

BTW, one of the new Verizon Global Plans is $40 per month for 100 minutes of voice calls, sending 100 text messages, 100mb of data, and unlimited text receiving. I know I could save a bit by buying a phone and SIM card in the UK, but for me it's the convenience of having a phone I'm familiar with, a phone number that everyone knows in case of an emergency, the ability to check email while having a bite in a pub, and a good quality camera for quick shots.

It makes a big difference on who your cellular company is here in US. I too have US Celluar and they did not offer international service options till this year. In order to retain US Cellular overseas
I had to switch to their Apple 5C phone with a trio sim card.
If you only want something for emergency it may be better to just get a cheap phone over there.

Mary, your phone's camera will still work even in airplane mode. For me, I prefer spending 10 euro for my emergency and calling-home needs to spending $40. And I have been a Verizon customer for a long time, and I don't trust them to discontinue the international service promptly when I ask them to (not to mention the nuisance of having people, robocalls, etc, calling when they don't know I am traveling several time zones away).

Nancy, thanks for your comments, but I do realize my camera will still work even without the plan from Verizon. I just prefer to carry around one device to do everything I want, instead of also having to carry and keep track of a second phone purchased there.

We've used the Verizon International plan during our trips for at least the last 8 years, and never had a problem with them discontinuing the service whenever I called them upon our return. Of course just to be sure, I always note the name of the customer service person I talk to as well as the date and time. Also, I'm probably one of the few people who still has a landline phone in their home, and that's where all the robocalls go and thankfully not my cell.

Like I said earlier; it's personally worth the extra cost to me, but I know others will see it differently.

PJ,

Are you still "on contract" with US Cellular? If you are, it may or may not impact what is going on.

I believe US Cellular uses the CDMA network in the US. This is the same technology used by Verizon and Sprint but it's different than what is used in Europe. The iPhone 5/5S supports BOTH CDMA and GSM (used in Europe). In the case of Verizon iPhones, the GSM radio can (or has been at the factory) "unlocked" so you can use a GSM SIM while outside the US. Inserting a GSM SIM disables the CDMA radio. American domestic GSM SIMs (AT&T, T-Mobile, etc.) will not function...

If you want to be 100% certain your phone will work in Europe, purchase a factory unlocked GSM quad-band phone. I did and it was the best move I've ever made. In fact, I loved it so much, I dumped my legacy cellular providers completely and now use MUCH CHEAPER monthly plans (from a major retailer). My service uses the same network as AT&T but costs a fraction of the price. AND, I can pop a local SIM in it whenever I'm traveling overseas!

I'm back from England now, so I thought I would report on what we did for phone service.

I did not unlock my iPhone 5S. As you recall, US Cellular refused to do it.

When we got to England, my son popped the SIM card he had into my phone, and it worked!! I could use the phone, use data, etc. etc. with no problem.

The night before we left for the airport to go home, we put my original SIM card back into the phone. I turned on airplane mode, and I was still able to use the WiFi in our hotel room.

So there you have it! Thank you all again for your opinions and advice.

Just back from 10 days in London. Before leaving I got an unlock code for my Galaxy S4 from ATT. If you have paid off your phone (or it is otherwise not under any contract obligations), the carriers must unlock your phone. They don't always advertise this as they want you to use their expensive roaming packages. Google UNLOCK ATT PHONE - or some other phrase for your carrier to find information. Once I got to London, I found a cellphone store (Carphone warehouse is a good chain to try - in my case the store I tried could not help me as they didn't have any "pay as you go" sims in stock). I went to an EE carrier store and bought a one month no contract plan that gave me one month of service, 500 minutes of phone , unlimited texts and 3 Gb of data for 15 pounds. Popped the sim chip into my phone and had no problems. Used apps to find Tube stops and plan tube trips and also to book taxis. Never had a problem and had plenty of data usage left when we got home. When I got on the plane, I popped the EE sim out of the phone and put in my ATT sim. Turned the phone on when I got back and it was like I never left the states.

We went to Windsor, on Peascod St there's a shop called "e.e. T-Mobile," and we paid 4GBP for the phone and 10GBP for the 1 month of service, voice and text messaging. We were unable to find anywhere selling them in the Soutwark area of London for the 1st 3 nights we were there. After we arrived in Windsor, we could find cheap shopping.

Just an FYI - All iPhones sold by Verizon are unlocked by default from the start. So you can pop in an international SIM card when you arrive in the UK. Not sure how compatible they are with international carriers, and then you also get a different phone number, so if you are expecting any calls, you'll have to provide that number to your friends and family back home. Me I just add an international plan with data and minutes to my phone and use wifi wherever I can find it while out and about in London. If I really need to I can make a call or check email while outside of wifi range with the international data plan. For a 10 day trip in London, I don't feel it is worth the hassle to buy the SIM card, etc, and have to load it with funds, have a different number, etc. Most of my calls are made from the B&B or apartment using wifi and Skype, and most of my internet activity is in the room with wifi too. If I were traveling all over Europe for 3-4 weeks, I'd definitely buy a SIM card in the UK and use that during my trip. But not a short 10 day trip.