Cell phone

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

I replaced the Sim of course yesterday to go with Straight talk, that was when I discovered the hotspot capability was missing.
I do not think I can use the phone in the US on a GSM network.
I do not know that for sure though, but believe that unlocked isn't truly unlocked, just as unlimited plans are not truly unlimited either

It's a 6S

Then go with TMobile, $50 per month, take your past phone number and get unlimited data. Your 6s is unlocked and will have the hotspot on the tMobile network. What is Straight talk? You need a bigger player like TMobile.

I took my Verizon IPhone 6 and switched it to TMobile, my daughter in Portland, OR did the same with her Verizon iPhone 6s. No issues at all. Unlimited data + hotspot.

If you decide to get rid of you iPhone let me know, I'd be happy to use it over here in Europe.

[ReMetau]

I've never been able to get a unlocked Verizon phone to work as a hotspot with another company's sim.

I currently have a Samsung J7 international version bought new from Amazon for $200. My old S model phones would require constant charging, but this J model lasts days for me. I usually forget to plug it in at night anymore. I can go to bed with it on, with bluetooth and wireless still turned on, be at about 80% and wake it with it at 75%.

[msponer]

We first used T-Mobile with dual sim phones. This allowed our US number to work almost everywhere, but we could still load a local SIM into the phones for faster and cheaper data. That worked pretty well for us.

We've recently switched to Google Fi, because it's data works everywhere we've been. Buying local SIM cards was kind of a pain, since the way they recharged was often complicated, setup like a scam (in another language), and sometimes we overbought prepaid cards since we'd be out of town for a few weeks at a time. Less hassle to just be on Google Fi. Though the problem with Fi is that we don't have a local number, so locals never want to call a US number.

[Auspicious]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

However Verizon is of course CDMA and for international use I need a GSM phone, and I can do without the IPhone.

Originally Posted by a64pilot

However unless I'm mistaken a Verizon IPhone is CDMA only, at least somehow in the US it can only be used for CDMA, however Internationally it is allowed to use other bands?

The Verizon 6S has a GSM radio as well as a CDMA radio. That's why Verizon can sell international roaming. Check the side of your phone. There is a SIM card drawer for GSM - CDMA doesn't use SIMs.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by daletournier

I have an unlocked phone, generally any smartphone that is unlocked will accept local sim cards. What ever country I go to I ask the locals what the best provider is and just purchase one of there sim cards. My number changes often but that's not important to me. Or by a cheap smartphone that will take two soms cards, your home one on roam and a local one for 99% of the time.

Same thing I do.

Why lock yourself into some manipulative USA carrier when you can just pop in a new SIM for countries you visit?


A dual SIM phone makes this more convenient.

Also: where are you planning to cruise?

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by ranger42c

FWIW, we have two S5s, one on AT&T and one on Verizon. IIRC, the published battery life spec was ~29-ish hours, and ours get about that with the GPS function turned on.

Still means we have to charge them every day, of course...

-Chris

We both have SAMSUNG phones too and battery life is quite good...unless you have a bunch of stuff turned on (WiFi, Mobil Data, GPS, Bluetooth...)

[Badsanta]

So what works in Deltaville virgina and the rest of the northern neck. If tried sprint and Verizon. Verizon even put in a new tower in Reedville Virginia and everyone I talk to locally says it's still terrible service. I spend alot of time there it's my home. I will be doing the ICW great loop and I just don't know what service to change. Any thoughts. Thankyou

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by Auspicious

This is a moving target. Plans change from month to month, from provider to provider, and from country to country.

In your situation I think I would look at the specs for your iPhone and see if it has a GSM radio for international roaming. If so I would call Verizon and ask them to unlock it for use with local SIMs overseas. That would leave you with a capable smartphone, good Verizon coverage in the US, day-of-arrival coverage from Verizon international roaming, and the ability to put in a local SIM. Oh - the hotspot would work.

The iPhone also makes WhatsApp, Skype, and Viber easy. They all work fine for me and I use whatever the people at the other end prefer. I like Skype the best, probably only because I've been using it longest.

Add all the useful nav, travel, map, and crowd-sourcing apps and a smartphone has a lot of value for a cruiser.

I think this seems to sum up what will likely be best for me, go back to Verizon or maybe Sprint, and use the IPhone overseas.
On the boat I have a Wirie Pro that ought to cover data pretty well, better than a phone I think.
The 6S as others have said does have a GSM radio as well, however I read somewhere it is disabled in the US somehow.
Just like when I installed the Straight Talk card, the hotspot "button" and menu disappeared on the phone, they have a way to disable that part of the software obviously, or maybe it's no enable it, don't know which.

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by UNCIVILIZED

What phone(s) would you guys suggest for a newbie to these setups? Both for the lower 48, as well as for when traveling. Such as to Mexico, or Europe.

I thought it would be a moving target of course, but thought there would be one current best answer, seems about as bad as asking what is the best boat?
Due to the cost of equipment, I think I'm going to try to make what I have work, although my Daughter want the thing now.

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

I thought it would be a moving target of course, but thought there would be one current best answer, seems about as bad as asking what is the best boat?
Due to the cost of equipment, I think I'm going to try to make what I have work, although my Daughter want the thing now.

Just go into a T-Mobile store and have them pop in a T-Mobile SIM card and see if your hotspot is there. Problem solved if it is, then sign up for unlimited data.

[Auspicious]

Originally Posted by Badsanta

So what works in Deltaville virgina and the rest of the northern neck. If tried sprint and Verizon. Verizon even put in a new tower in Reedville Virginia and everyone I talk to locally says it's still terrible service. I spend alot of time there it's my home. I will be doing the ICW great loop and I just don't know what service to change. Any thoughts. Thankyou

Deltaville VA is a black hole for cellular communications. Verizon is about the best you can get. I can't explain the problem. I have AT&T and have LTE coverage West and North of Hartfield and even out on the Bay. Nothing in Deltaville unless I can get up 25 or 30 feet. I consider Deltaville a special case and don't make decisions based on it. Of course I don't live there. *grin*

For the Great Loop people can make just about anything work but Verizon and AT&T have the best overall performance. Verizon coverage is marginally better and AT&T is faster.

[a64pilot]

I think all newer IPhones are unlocked, I also think there is snow a law that says one day you own the phone, the provider has to unlock it, if you ask.
I own the phone, and am therefore not locked into one carrier.
I'll look into T mobile as well. I'll live with the straight talk for a month as it's already paid for.

[hellosailor]

a64-
"However Verizon is of course CDMA and for international use I need a GSM phone, "
it gets more complicated. Any newish phone is going to be 4G-LTE capable. (In the UYS, 4G and 4G-LTE are totally different services. Not necessarily true outside the US.) And all the LTE phones do in fact use SIM cards, even the ones from Verizon. So you need to check with Verizon and your phone itself, you may be able to use SIM cards.
Verizon, like all carriers, also locks out unauthorized phones. There are some fine phones from top brands that are capable of "all mode", both GSM and CDMA2000 (CDMA as such is long obsoleted) but Verizon will not allow them to be used, because they are not locked to Verizon and you could defect to AT&T with the same phone!
The GSM "world phones" also may use different frequencies outside of the US, again making models incompatible. There's a lot on Wiki and the web about which frequencies, which protocols, etc. are used by what carriers, worldwide and in the US. Suggested reading!
It also can help if you call your carrier and explain "I'll be on a world tour...what can you do with me?" because sometimes, they'll unlock or suggest an equipment change to make it possible. This industry is changing very rapidly, and as 5G deploys at the end of this year or start of next, everything will be new all over again.

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

Verizon, like all carriers, also locks out unauthorized phones. There are some fine phones from top brands that are capable of "all mode", both GSM and CDMA2000 (CDMA as such is long obsoleted) but Verizon will not allow them to be used, because they are not locked to Verizon and you could defect to AT&T with the same phone!

Are you sure about this? I have had several Verizon phones over the last 10-12 years and originally all were locked. As you suggested, I went to the when leaving for an extended business trip overseas and they gladly unlocked the phone. However the last Verizon phone I got I asked for the same service and was told the phones were no longer locked. I tested my phone with a friend's ATT SIM and it worked perfectly.

[ReMetau]

Originally Posted by skipmac

Are you sure about this? I have had several Verizon phones over the last 10-12 years and originally all were locked. As you suggested, I went to the when leaving for an extended business trip overseas and they gladly unlocked the phone. However the last Verizon phone I got I asked for the same service and was told the phones were no longer locked. I tested my phone with a friend's ATT SIM and it worked perfectly.

Were you able to use the phone as a hotspot? Every time I tried it using an unlocked Verizon phone and a different SIM, it would say checking for service authorization and fail.