Around the World
Need 5 week in-country phone service in England and Ireland, and don't know which way to turn.
Wonder if I could get some advice about phone service while visiting the United Kingdom and Ireland this spring. I am only talking about phone use within England and Ireland exclusively, not for calling back to the USA.
I will be there for about five weeks, and am trying to decide whether to use phone cards within country or purchase a mobile phone and use prepaid SIM cards. I hear that phone cards are fine, but somewhat inconvenient in Ireland because it is sometimes hard to find a phone unless you are in a large city. I'll be traveling all over the country, and will sometimes be in rural areas.
I am at a loss as to how to even contact someone who sells these type mobile phones, and thus have no idea of what the costs would be. ...
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I will be there for about five weeks, and am trying to decide whether to use phone cards within country or purchase a mobile phone and use prepaid SIM cards. I hear that phone cards are fine, but somewhat inconvenient in Ireland because it is sometimes hard to find a phone unless you are in a large city. I'll be traveling all over the country, and will sometimes be in rural areas.
I am at a loss as to how to even contact someone who sells these type mobile phones, and thus have no idea of what the costs would be. ...
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@macarmy
I would suggest that you buy a Pay As You Go mobile from a mobile phone shop once you have arrive din the United Kingdom. Such a package does not require that you be a British subject or a credit check.
There is a wide range of handsets to choose from and an equally wide range of prices to match. The price will very much depend upon what you are looking for in terms of features. If you are simply looking to make phone calls and send texts then you should be able to buy a mobile for as little as £4.99 in some shops. If you need a handset with more advanced features then you could be looking at paying anything up to £300.
Top-up cards are widely available from mobile phone shops, petrol stations, supermarkets, newsage...
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I would suggest that you buy a Pay As You Go mobile from a mobile phone shop once you have arrive din the United Kingdom. Such a package does not require that you be a British subject or a credit check.
There is a wide range of handsets to choose from and an equally wide range of prices to match. The price will very much depend upon what you are looking for in terms of features. If you are simply looking to make phone calls and send texts then you should be able to buy a mobile for as little as £4.99 in some shops. If you need a handset with more advanced features then you could be looking at paying anything up to £300.
Top-up cards are widely available from mobile phone shops, petrol stations, supermarkets, newsage...
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Dang brother - nice post! If I ever call customer service, I sure hope I get you! 😁
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I agree completely with scotsboyuk...
If you touch down in Heathrow, there are 3 Pay kiosks you can get right in the airport. I picked one up last summer, a Pana for bout 55 quid and it got me I think 50-60 mins. Not alot but it was fine for the Middlesex, West End, London, Canary Wharf and goin down to Sussex and then into Calais.
Never took it up north, to like Man or Sheff, although mates of mine use 3 pay up in York and in the lakes and they work fine. When I visit Euro I use Voda with an ol Communicator and it works everywhere.
But back to the point, for your time frame I think 3Pay is bout the best for the price... although its been about 5-6 months since I've been home.
Have fun mate and go Man U!!!!
If you touch down in Heathrow, there are 3 Pay kiosks you can get right in the airport. I picked one up last summer, a Pana for bout 55 quid and it got me I think 50-60 mins. Not alot but it was fine for the Middlesex, West End, London, Canary Wharf and goin down to Sussex and then into Calais.
Never took it up north, to like Man or Sheff, although mates of mine use 3 pay up in York and in the lakes and they work fine. When I visit Euro I use Voda with an ol Communicator and it works everywhere.
But back to the point, for your time frame I think 3Pay is bout the best for the price... although its been about 5-6 months since I've been home.
Have fun mate and go Man U!!!!
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@adilus
3 do offer good value for money, however, one should ne aware of the fact that they do not offer complete coverage of the UK.
3 is a relatively new network and operates entirely on 3G technology. At the moment 3 provides coverage to approximately 80% of the UK by population. 3 have mainly concentrated on providing coverage to the major urban centres of the UK, so it may be difficult to obtain a 3G signal in rural areas. 3 have an agreement with O2 that allows 3's customers to use O2's 2.5G network when they are in areas of the country where 3 has no coverage. It should be noted that the transition between networks doesn't always go as smoothly as 3 would like.
3's handsets are all 3G and as such they have relatively sh...
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3 do offer good value for money, however, one should ne aware of the fact that they do not offer complete coverage of the UK.
3 is a relatively new network and operates entirely on 3G technology. At the moment 3 provides coverage to approximately 80% of the UK by population. 3 have mainly concentrated on providing coverage to the major urban centres of the UK, so it may be difficult to obtain a 3G signal in rural areas. 3 have an agreement with O2 that allows 3's customers to use O2's 2.5G network when they are in areas of the country where 3 has no coverage. It should be noted that the transition between networks doesn't always go as smoothly as 3 would like.
3's handsets are all 3G and as such they have relatively sh...
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I'm not sure but I think you can rent a satellite phone and never have to worry about being out of service. here is a link
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http://www.satphonestore.com/?ovchn=OVR&ovcpn=overtu ... »
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just cut and paste in your browser or do a google for satellite phones.
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http://www.satphonestore.com/?ovchn=OVR&ovcpn=overtu ... »
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just cut and paste in your browser or do a google for satellite phones.
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@3Gstepps
A satellite phone will probably end up costing the chap more than just buying a mobile phone in the UK. O2, Orange, T-Mobile and Vosafone all have near total blamket coverage of the entire population. The only areas one would have trouble receiving a signal would in the Scottish Highlands ir the Welsh mountains and some very remote areas of England e.g. Dartmoor and the Lake District. Having said that, there is usually some coverage in the areas I mentioned.
A satellite phone will probably end up costing the chap more than just buying a mobile phone in the UK. O2, Orange, T-Mobile and Vosafone all have near total blamket coverage of the entire population. The only areas one would have trouble receiving a signal would in the Scottish Highlands ir the Welsh mountains and some very remote areas of England e.g. Dartmoor and the Lake District. Having said that, there is usually some coverage in the areas I mentioned.
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I would just wait til you are over there and go to a store. At least you are in luck that you are going to an english speaking country. But my sister is in Italy right now for 3months and she just bought a phone and did service over there. She just went to a local store and is really glad that she did that.
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if you have access to it maybe try the verizon samsung global phone I know for a fact that they can do a rental program for overseas trips, for exisisting verizon customers, as my wife and Ive used it and it worked very well.
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