Hey all, I'm going to be in France and Germany for work and I'm wondering if anyone has used their 3g iPad abroad and how well it works. I will be in fairly rural areas (wine regions) so WiFi and other internet options will be hard to come by. I appreciate any help.
P.s. I use at&t if that makes any difference.
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32216 posts
Jay, How long will you be in France and Germany? Do you expect to use the iPad a lot for 3G access? To begin with, I'd suggest talking to AT&T to determine what the costs might be for their international roaming plan. That way you'll have some facts & figures on hand to compare against the costs of using a Euro SIM. Happy travels!
Posted by
Pensacola
9110 posts
Basic AT&T international data is $30 for 120 mb. Higher plans are $60 / 300 mb and $120 / 800 mb. Overages are $30/120 for all. You have to pay for the plan for any billing cycle in which you use it; i.e., if you use a week in one billing cycle and a week in another, you have to pay for two months. Figure requirements here: http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/splash/datacalculatorPopup.jsp
Posted by
Frankfurt am Main, Germany
2779 posts
I'd buy local pre-paid 3G SIM Cards... in both France and Germany you can get data flats for around €15 per month on a pre-paid basis. In Germany the strongest networks in rural areas with the best availability of 3G service (as opposed to Edge, which you'll get in 99.9% of the entire country) is with Deutsche Telekom (T-Mobile) and Vodafone. You can get access to the T-Mobile network through discounters like REWE as well (however, NOT Aldi or Lidl, who offer access to the so called "E-net" at similar rates - but that's only available in urban areas)...
Posted by
Nassau
53 posts
I had a similar issue a few years ago in Germany. We rented an apartment south of Munich in a rural area and while we could see the Alps out the window – I think we were at the end of the service network coverage area. I drove around in a larger town nearby and looked for a computer store – my German is pretty poor, but they were able to set me up with a Deutsche Telekom deal that helped out. I had a month's worth of service and when I went back to the same location last year I just picked up where I left off.
Enjoy a nice glass of wine for me.
Posted by
OP
Los Angeles, Ca
3 posts
Thanks for all the help everyone! I'm going to the AT&T store tomorrow to discuss my options and I'll post the results in case they help.
Regardless, 2 weeks in German and French countryside will be a joy to behold in the winter.
Posted by
OP
Los Angeles, Ca
3 posts
I learned today that on my AT&T iPad 3G I can add international data from the settings screen. Customer service tells me that I would have to add the data now while I'm in the states because she says it won't work while abroad. I'm just hoping it works well while I'm there.
Thanks again for all the ideas.