[andrew markwort]

I'd quite like to take my iPhone abroad with me to use for the games, videos, mp3s, etc. However, I've no urge to run up a massive phone bill by accessing the internet or using the phone whilst abroad. This is probably a very dumb question - please is there anything I have to do (other than put the thing in Airplane mode) to ensure that any access to phone or internet is disabled and there's no possibility of running up phone charges?

[sim667]

Just turn data roaming off...... job done

[The Jamess]

also rember if you use wi fi thats free so u can leave that on and if ure lucky enough to get a wi fi spot use that !

[andrew markwort]

Many thanks guys.

[Zain]

would it be ok to leave Enable 3G option to on?

[TinoM]

Originally Posted by sim667

Just turn data roaming off...... job done

Might be a really stupid question, how do I do that? I had a look in settings and can't seem to find it....

[sim667]

Originally Posted by TinoM

Might be a really stupid question, how do I do that? I had a look in settings and can't seem to find it....

Settings>General>Network> Data roaming on/off

[sim667]

Originally Posted by Zain

would it be ok to leave Enable 3G option to on?

No...... 3G is a data connection, leaving it on will land you with a large bill..... The only way of getting cheap data abroad is to get the o2 data bolt on, when i was in the states i didnt bother, there was free wifi to use everywhere

[Zain]

Originally Posted by sim667

No...... 3G is a data connection, leaving it on will land you with a large bill..... The only way of getting cheap data abroad is to get the o2 data bolt on, when i was in the states i didnt bother, there was free wifi to use everywhere

That's what I was thinking. So set data roaming and 3G both to off.

My settings are currently roaming off and 3G set to on. Is there a difference while roaming in the UK, or is it just to preserve the battery?

[fat jez]

Originally Posted by sim667

No...... 3G is a data connection,

No, it's not, 3G is a standard, the same as GSM.

Andrew, if you don't plan on making any calls, just set airplane mode on, which will turn off the phone and wifi functions. You can re-enable wi-fi if you find a hotspot you can use without turning the phone functions back on.

Hope this helps.

[hutch]

Originally Posted by sim667

Just turn data roaming off...... job done

Lets not confuse matters the correct answer was earlier in the thread

[sim667]

Originally Posted by fat jez

No, it's not, 3G is a standard, the same as GSM.

Andrew, if you don't plan on making any calls, just set airplane mode on, which will turn off the phone and wifi functions. You can re-enable wi-fi if you find a hotspot you can use without turning the phone functions back on.

Hope this helps.

Er.... you will get data charges if you use 3G abroad...... therefore i would have called it a data connection.

[fat jez]

Originally Posted by sim667

Er.... you will get data charges if you use 3G abroad...... therefore i would have called it a data connection.

Don't confuse 3G with data, the two are not synonymous. 3G is a standard, covering the bearer (transmission frequency, codecs, etc) of voice calls and data services. It is not necessarily a data connection, unless you use it to connect to a packet switched service (the same as GPRS). Switching 3G off just means that any voice calls would be made over the GSM radio interface instead of the 3G one (although as most 3G networks have poorer coverage than the GSM one, it can help battery life). If you switch off 3G on the iphone, then unless you have disabled data roaming under the settings->general->network preferences (as mentioned in the second post by you in this thread) you can still have a data connection over GSM (using GPRS) while roaming.

[The Jamess]

if youre on pay as u go can it only charge you the amont of credit you have on your phone >? daft question but not sure ?

[fat jez]

Originally Posted by The Jamess

if youre on pay as u go can it only charge you the amont of credit you have on your phone >? daft question but not sure ?

Correct (the first bit, it wasn't a daft question )

[nictry]

Just a comment on use abroad, I turned my roaming/3G off while in the US however decided that a couple of times I would check emails and also had an occasion to use facebook to show a few pictures etc. to people I was with. Came home expecting to get a shock with costs but was actually surprised at how little costs I had run up! I would estimate that using it for downloading some emails and a bit of surfing cost me roughly £1 each time I used it, obviously if you had some mega file sizes or tried to look at picture intensive web pages you might pay more but I certainly wouldn't be too worried about using mine when away as long as it inly once in a while.

[upthorpe]

Just come back from a weekend in Barcelona - I have a 3G iphone on PAYG.

I did use data roaming a few times to check emails and send a couple. I also phoned the UK twice (maybe a couple of minutes each time).

The cost of all of that was about £4. This came straight off my credit which was about £30 - I use favourite place which covers most of my UK calls from home/pub/work so it was starting to build up.

I did find free wireless eventually, but when you are paying nearly 5 Euro for a beer its not too excessive to use roaming for occasional use.

At least with PAYG you can see how much its costing you after every session and you aren't going to come home to an unexpected charge...

[trailer]

There's a few apps, such as TruPhone, which are probably cheaper to use when you're roaming.

[DavidChaps]

I know this is an old thread but worthy of some additional info. My Iphone (unlocked) is on a T-Mobile web n walk combo package in UK - works well - but not overseas.
Data cost os £7.50 per MB yes MB not GB. Same cost anywhere in the world. Half a dozen emails could easilly be 1Mb.
Also ansaphone costs are huge, if you retrieve you pay for the call 3 ways which can be around £3.60 per minute.
Sim is coming out of the iphone when I get on the airplane - will put a US sim in when I get there !

[Zain]

Never used roaming abroad, just couldn't justify the cost.

As for checking emails, WifiTrak outside a tower block of flats usually gets a few bites

[magoo1]

Another vote for WifiTrak -it's brilliant! It finds many more hotspots than the iPhone does by itself - I used it in Prague recently and had no trouble finding free wifi to hook up to!

[DavidChaps]

Remember, if struggling for signal, iPhone has the aerial in the bottom (unlike almost every other phone) so signal gets lost in your hand.
Turn iPhone upside down, wait a few seconds, and signal strength normally improves.

[mkdr24]

the advice I would give is to turn everything off you can! Turn off Push, and disable automatic checking of email as well as turning off roaming and 3G.

If you still end up with a bill, play hell to o2, they will refund.

There is plenty of Wifi available in most places these days!

[Kieron]

Sign up for Skype and use that for calls on wi-fi

[peyton]

I am going to USA this week and have just got an iphone. I want to use the ipod function without using the phone.

what i have read has been great information but i just have one small question. I am with Vodafone and i have unlimited wifi. some have said that this only applied in UK and other have said they have been using wifi hotspots. if i find a free wifi connection (i.e. my hotel) will i be able to use this for free or should i turn the wifi off for the duration?

also, turning off data roaming, 3G etc - is that enough? or should i turn on "airplane mode" as well?

thanks

[fat jez]

If you only want to use it as an iPod, turn on airplane mode. You can then enable wifi without enabling the phone functions if you find a wifi hotspot. I'd still turn off Data Roaming just in case though!

[RobM]

peyton - The comment about WiFi only working in the UK probably refers to the free WiFi from BT Openzone and The Cloud. WiFi works everywhere, the only thing that changes is the hotspots that are free to you are UK based only.

If you find a free WiFi hotspot elsewhere, or find a hotspot you're willing to pay for, you have no restrictions on using it

[DanWalsallFC]

Hi guys, first post so be nice! :D
Sorry to dig up this thread but I am moving to Jersey in the Channel Islands for 7 months, I go tomorrow, and it's classed as abroad on the mobile networks.
I am using an iPhone 4 but I have been told by 3 network that I can't put my contract on hold, can't reduce minutes & texts etc even though I won't be able to use those services..

I am quite worried as I don't want to wake up with a phone bill for 100 pounds one day! I have Skype (for calls) and WhatsApp (for texts and picture messages) on my phone already and I just hope I am near a wifi connection!

What do I do? My iPhone 4 is also unlocked so I am able to put in another SIM, but ideally I want to keep the number I have..

Shall I turn 'aeroplane plane mode' on and then turn my wifi connection on and hope for the best? Then possibly get myself a cheap 'pay as you go' Jersey phone to use if I need to phone people in Jersey as I am there for 7 months.

Thanks for any possible solutions you have guys!

[RobM]

I would do it the other way around...

Find yourself a cheap PAYG phone on Three in the UK and put your contract SIM into that.
When you're in Jersey, find a PAYG SIM locally on a local network and use that in your iPhone 4 while you're out there (since it's unlocked).

Then forward the Three number from your contract onto the PAYG SIM, so calls are received still and use your cheap PAYG phone just to check text messages sent to your Three contract number. All outgoing calls, which will be the expensive bit on Three in Jersey, will be made on the local PAYG network and will be much cheaper.

[trailer]

If it's anything like the Isle of Man then Sure / C&W do a PAYG SIM for which calls back to the UK mainland are free. Use that in your iPhone although it would mean getting a new number.

Sure - Cable & Wireless, Guernsey