I am planning a two week trip in October covering London, Switzerland, Bavaria, and Rome. I am looking at getting an unlocked GSM quad band phone off ebay. It comes with a money back guarantee and I want to check it out as best I can before I travel. What sim card can I get that will work here in the US, but will also tell me that the phone will function in Europe? I realize that I may want/need to buy new sim cards when I arrive in my destination countries, but is there an (inexpensive) sim card that I can use here to test the phones capabilitiy?
Posted by
Gaston, Oregon, USA
931 posts
For around $15 you can buy a number of pre-paid U.S. sim cards cards here in the states, and try out your phone. We have "Go Phone" pre-paid cards at many of the grocery stores around here. "Go_phone" is an AT&T pre-paid option. Their $15 card is good for one month, then it expires.
Posted by
OP
Middletown, MD, USA
40 posts
I found this card: http://www.telestial.com/view_product.php?PRODUCT_ID=MSIM-PPL2 It looks like a good, inexpensive way to test the phone. What do you think?
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32220 posts
Joe, Obtaining a SIM card and trying the phone in the U.S. may not be an accurate indicator in terms of whether it will work in Europe. If by some mistake they sent you a dual-band phone with only the two North American frequency bands, you could easily try it with an AT&T or T-Mobile SIM, and it would work fine. Imagine your surprise when you power-up the phone in Europe and the display reads "No Service". If you're confident that the supplier is in fact providing you with a quad-band, unlocked GSM phone, it should work fine in Europe. There's no way to do a realistic test here, since the Cell Towers here don't operate on the 900 / 1800 MHz frequency bands. Don't forget to check the Charger supplied with the Phone to ensure it's designed for "world operation" from 100-240 VAC. Also, don't forget Plug Adapters. Cheers!
Posted by
OP
Middletown, MD, USA
40 posts
I kind of figured that would be the case. The supplier has good feedback and sells quite a few of the phones so I expect they are as advertised. I just want to make sure this one is not defective.
Posted by
Tuscaloosa, AL
1152 posts
Do a search to find out the technical specifications of the phone before you buy it. That is one way to determine if it truly is quad band. I often use phonescoop.com for that purpose. You could also try and buy a prepaid U.K. SIM card off ebay before you go. Check out this thread: Buy SIM card in Amsterdam or London?