3G Short Term Connection in USA

[mutt]

Friend is heading to USA for training, he will be in Seattle, Philly and Dallas. Can anyone give me advice on the best means of obtaining 3G connections whilst travelling. Is it possible to get a prepaid chip from AT&T or any company?

If not 3G, what service would you suggest for a short term?

Mutt

[kenhughes]

When I first moved here, I bought a T-Mobile chip and slotted it into an ex-Vodafone (UK) contract Eriksonn (sp?) handset. The folks at the T-Mobile store were quite aggressive in wanting to know who had unlocked it for me. I explained that Vodafone and O2 contract phones weren't provider-locked in the UK, but I don't think they believed me. :E

The costs are staggeringly high though. At that time it was 25c per minute for incoming and outgoing calls - and the coverage areas are significantly less than for the same network on contract. The airtime is charged from when your handset starts ringing, regardless of whether you answer it or not.

I think the 'ancilliary' services are curtailed too, but I'm not sure - all I needed it for was voice and SMS. I can't remember whether I had a data option or not.

The chip cost $50 and I bought a $25 airtime card, which lasted about a week. :mad:

Edited to add: Oh, and no international 'cheap-rate' plans either. I think the cost per minute to the UK was around $1.25 - incoming and outgoing.

[IO540]

3G is a data connection, not voice. Voice uses plain old GSM.

3G may work in the USA, using the usual roaming system, but GPRS certainly works over there and is 2x faster than here. Any 3G data module should fallback to GPRS.

On PAYG, say UK Vodafone, the rate is stiff, around £10/MB, but it does work. I found Vodafone and Virgin (T Mobile) both worked fine on GPRS.

GSM of course works fine anyway (voice calls).

[KiloDeltaYankee]

Mutt, be advised that 3G or more specifically UMTS in Europe and the rest of the world operates in the 2100 MHz band. In the Americas it is on 850 MHz and 1900 MHz. There are not many 3G phones or datacards that operate on both 2100 MHz and 850/1900 so even if your friend gets a US pre-pay SIM card he probably won't have 3G access.

What about WiFi access? There are access points everywhere in the US....many of them free. Your friend could still use GSM roaming for voice calls.

IO540 voice is also carried on 3G, along with SMS, MMS, WAP, video calls, data etc.

Hope this helps,
KDY

[mutt]

Thank you for your responses.... we havent heard from him, so guess he is having problems...........

Such is life :):)

Mutt