Moving your cellphone from PI to US

[rouguewave 7]

Can any of you share what your experiences were regarding the changes in cellphone service, usage, and equipment when you moved from PI to US? This is the latest discussions between honey ko and I. I understand a little of the technology and will be reading and researching more, but just thought I'd ask on the forum to see if there were any particular "nuggets" that members could offer. Things like:

Did you just bring your phone here (US) and sign up for a service, or have to buy a new one?

Any problems getting your cellphone to work with US provider, if you tried?

Did you find (or try to find) a plan that allowed you to exchange txts with Phil friends & family?

If this is covered elsewhere, I apologise for the duplicate. I did a quick look, but didn't see anything specific to this. Thanks.

[Steve_Donna 0]

This thread might help you a little bit.

Smart phone, roaming in USA, how

To cut it down to short, you can only use the sim cards from the Phils for text only when in the states.

You can use a sim card from Cingular, T-Mobile, etc that is compatible with the the service bands on the phone. So you wouldn't have to purchase a new phone, but with the cellular deals now a days, you typically get the phone for nothing or next to nothing.

[Jasman0717 9]

This thread might help you a little bit.

Smart phone, roaming in USA, how

To cut it down to short, you can only use the sim cards from the Phils for text only when in the states.

You can use a sim card from Cingular, T-Mobile, etc that is compatible with the the service bands on the phone. So you wouldn't have to purchase a new phone, but with the cellular deals now a days, you typically get the phone for nothing or next to nothing.

Go with the new service. I got Claudeth a nice camera phone by just adding her onto my account.

[Dogwood_Poet 16]

I got Kathlene a new RAZR v3XX for free after rebate by adding her to my Cingular/AT&T/INSERT NEW COMPANY HERE account. and for about $15 got an unlock code off eBay. Sent her the phone and for some reason, it gets a good signal with the AT&T sim, but her Touch Mobile sim only picks up in the city. (TM says she is too far from the tower) but I digress . . .

That way when she leaves for the US, she can just put the AT&T sim back in and be ready to give me a call once she lands in Detroit after she gets done with immigration. That way she will feel a little more comfortable as she travels and has to change planes in Detroit to meet me in Nashville.

Do ask about reception though, I have held my cheap LG phone next to the latest Motorola and I have 3 or more bars and they have no signal with the same provider.

Edited October 22, 2007 by Dogwood_Poet

[Chantel 0]

Did you just bring your phone here (US) and sign up for a service, or have to buy a new one?

I left mine in the PI cause my fiance sent me one before my flight, I used it to contact him during my layover and before we get out from the plane....

besides there are lots of phone company here that you can both get the service with free call between the users.....

[CountryGirl 0]

Did you just bring your phone here (US) and sign up for a service, or have to buy a new one?

Any problems getting your cellphone to work with US provider, if you tried?

Did you find (or try to find) a plan that allowed you to exchange txts with Phil friends & family?

I brought my razorv3i cellphone to the U.S. with me and put the sim card in at my POE at Minneapolis and it worked fine. The reason that it worked fine is because it is a GSM/QuadBand phone which is the same technology used by AT&T which is the carrier that my fiancee uses. If you use sprint or nextel and your fiancee uses globe or smart in the philippines it will not work due to the different technology (unless you sign up with AT&T, Verizon, Rogers, or the like).

CG

[spidergirl 0]

Can any of you share what your experiences were regarding the changes in cellphone service, usage, and equipment when you moved from PI to US? This is the latest discussions between honey ko and I. I understand a little of the technology and will be reading and researching more, but just thought I'd ask on the forum to see if there were any particular "nuggets" that members could offer. Things like:

Did you just bring your phone here (US) and sign up for a service, or have to buy a new one?

Any problems getting your cellphone to work with US provider, if you tried?

Did you find (or try to find) a plan that allowed you to exchange txts with Phil friends & family?

If this is covered elsewhere, I apologise for the duplicate. I did a quick look, but didn't see anything specific to this. Thanks.

This my experience. I brought along my phone from PI because as what other told me , if i have the roaming activated i can receive text from my families from PI. When i got here in Las Vegas my phone didn't work at all even with the roaming account activated. International Roaming is not available in this area (that sucks). Second thing is our phone from PI are built with 220V battery pack and the US voltage input is 110V, so when the battery runs out you have way to recharge it. So my phone is setting there inside my drawer, its useless, i can't even take out the phone numbers stored on its phone book. I am using Chikka for texting, for me it costs nothing but it cost 2.50 pesos / text for someone in PI to reply.

[RonMay 1]

everybody's saying here are right when i got here i had my roaming phone plus another US phone line. so i was bringing 2 phones everywhere i go lol... then i gave it up after 2 months and sent my roaming phone back to phil... at&t or other services will give you free phone if you're in a family plan so phone here is easy to get... good luck and God bless

[rouguewave 7]

Thanks for all the helpful responses. This is all good information.