Best way to get cell service in Bahamas?

[tml]

Last season we used a BTC sim card and hot spot off our i phone. Data is cheap and easily purchased. Anything other than a local Bahamas out going call was visa SKYPE through the hotspot.
The only place we anchored from Abacos to Georgetown that did not have BTC coverage was Warderick Wells and that was OK with us
TML

[akprb]

Check with ATT again. Plans changing.

[Lowcountry]

I spent 3 months in the Exumas/Nassau last winter and used Verizon. They have a co-op with Batelco, basically $10 per 24 hours every time you use it. If you don't use it, no charge. I had good coverage in Nassau, Highbourne Cay, Staniel Cay, and spotty/inconsistent at Normans Cay. I'm sure that coverage is even better in the Abacos. I made a few calls, but mostly used it for internet and weather.

[Ndavies]

We are in the Bahamas now (Bimini today). I have an old iPhone 4 that I got unlocked before leaving the US (I think it cost me about $15 to do this). I just bought a BTC Sim card and it works fine for calls and data. I saw an ad for unlimited data at $35/month, but have not tried this as yet.

I have also tried the "OneSim" card - but it didn't work over here and just ended up topping itself up at $25 per time........so my recommendation is the BTC option. There are many convenience stores here that will sell you one, install it and test it for you.

Cheers
Neil

[CaptRory]

Cool gizmo, going to get one for European travel, but does not cover Bahamas.

[akprb]

Originally Posted by Lowcountry

I spent 3 months in the Exumas/Nassau last winter and used Verizon. They have a co-op with Batelco, basically $10 per 24 hours every time you use it. If you don't use it, no charge. I had good coverage in Nassau, Highbourne Cay, Staniel Cay, and spotty/inconsistent at Normans Cay. I'm sure that coverage is even better in the Abacos. I made a few calls, but mostly used it for internet and weather.

Yup, that’s the AT&T deal now and it used our US data plan. Worked great and no fussing around with different phones.

Even streamed movies! :-)

[kapnkarl]

Originally Posted by funjohnson

We got a GLocal2Me hotspot that also has a universal sim card so you can use it right away in just about every country on earth. You then get a local sim and put that in once you've established yourself. Signal strength is great, but we also have a Weboost cell amplifier for further locations.

Take a look at the Glocalme U2 frequency list.... I haven't found many devices that offer more coverage options than this device (especially for price)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1



Matt



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[kapnkarl]

gets somewhere now... wasn't log'd into the forum

[CaptsWife]

We're in Bimini right now and Google Fi works great. And we have the older Nexus 5 models. We'll be travelling to other islands as well as other countries. I'll report back once we get out of here.

[Sailingveterinarian]

Batelco...when needed run you phone up the mast...5 years of wonderful service

[Caliber40]

iPhone 6's are NOT locked....buy your sim card from "Mr Simcard" while still in the states....when you get to the Bahamas call Batelco and sign up (after you insert your card)......it's that easy......think we paid $50 for 5 gigs of data......service reasonable......need more data call (with your credit card in hand)

Service very good thru out the Bahamas (except in Jamentos or some other out of the way Cays)

WE've done this 2 years in row without issue.

Good luck

Greg

[Symphony]

I will check out the Google Fi, but we used our iPhone 7 hotspot with the Verizon travel pass. we have huge amount of data with our US account, and so we get all that in the Caribbean, T&C, and Bahamas (as well as India and South Africa). at $10 per day it is expensive but we only use it every 3 or 4 days and have all our work correspondence saved up to transmit when we use it.

[CLASSEA]

The AP Viber Messenger is a great option for VOIP (texting, calls and messaging); searches contacts and automatically connects those current using VIber, widely used and works great, then you are just using your data! Standing by -

[nicholasd97330]

We used standard verizon service the whole time without issue....fast 4g the whole time without worry. Some remote spots we were without like central Exumas and green cay, but otherwise it was good!

[LeaseOnLife]

As another data point:
We just (12/22) bought our SIM at the BTC office in Marsh Harbour, together with a data only prepaid plan, 15GB valid for a month. The data plan is $30, we paid $54 for SIM, Data plan, VAT and Fees. And yes, the friendly employees make sure it is working with your (unlocked) phone.

Hangouts/Skype work via the data plan. No reason to buy a voice plan if you are not calling a lot within the Bahamas.

Available pre-paid plans are listed here:
Prepaid

Be careful with the combo-plans (voice and data), the $30 plan with 15GB data is only valid for 15 days. Unused data are supposed to roll over when buying a successive plan.

Dirk @ Cat Island