Overseas travel

Australia & New Zealand Homebrewing Forum

Help Support Australia & New Zealand Homebrewing Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

mckenry

Brummagem
Joined
31/8/06
Messages
2,350
Reaction score
671
I posted this on a 'proper' phone forum, but the bludgers there wont reply :angry:

My real source of wisdom is here, so surely one of the brothers knows exactly what I am on about?
All my other o/s travels, I didnt own a smartphone, just a basic Nokia, had roaming enabled and so I just stayed in touch with SMS. They cost something like 70c per SMS from o/s and happy with that. I could take calls if need be.

Below from other forum.


I have an iPhone 5.

When travelling o/s and not wanting to incur large data charges / massive bill for anything, what do I need turned off / on to still receive SMS and calls?

From my searches it seems if I turn Cellular Data off and Data Roaming off, I can still get SMS. Is that right?

Can I still get phone calls with both these turned off? It seems all I need is to make sure International roaming is set to on from Telstra to be able to get call. I am assuming here International Roaming is different to Data Roaming.

I even read on telstra website where they suggest you have data roaming on overseas, but reading further it may be just if you need to keep in touch via email?

I feel that by having both turned off, it will stop me being able to access email & internet which seems to be the big $ surprises to most that claim 'they were unaware' of these extra charges. For example someone said they left Data roaming on so they could get SMS, but then copped a huge bill.

Is there anything wrong with my theory? All I need is to stay in touch with home via SMS or call if necessary.
If I want to check email I'll use one of the free wi-fi spots.

I have also read that some apps still get push notifications regardless? How can that be?

If all this can be answered in a simple doc somewhere on the telstra website, please point me there.
 
Yes, your correct, I have been os many times with my iPhone 4S. Turn off data roaming and cellular data, and use free wifi for email etc. you will still receive calls and SMS, but keep in mind if you answer a call from outside where you are, you and caller are paying international fees coming off your Telstra plan. SMS also costs more to send.

Cheers
 
Hi tonyt,
Thanks for the info. On the other forum, someone answered and said I only need to turn off Roaming Data. Not Cellular data. Wouldnt having cellular data on, mean data can come through the cellular network that I have connected to, in whatever country I'm in?
I think its safer to have both off, but struggling to understand the difference, while o/s
 
tonyt said:
but keep in mind if you answer a call from outside where you are, you and caller are paying international fees coming off your Telstra plan.
When answering abroad, you pay extra fees, not the caller. The caller might not know that you are abroad as he called an Australian number, and therefore only gets charged 'normal' rates as if you were here.

Can't help you with the Iphone, but on Android it's pretty straight forward, just turn data roaming off.

Also be aware that you might incur charges when incoming calls get diverted to your mailbox, as the call basically travels from Australia to where ever you are, then back to the mailbox in Australia.
 
With cellular data off, you simply can't use phone to call anywhere which makes it financially safer. We spent most of our time in one country, so we take an old Nokia with us and buy a local pre paid sim card to make calls, at least that way you get no nasty surprises!

Cheers
 
Where are u going. Now a days a lot of countries have prepaid sim cards ro use on their nwtwork. U get a new number etc buy ridiculously cheap sms, data and call rates. Me and mate have done it whilst in NZ.
 
citymorgue2 said:
Where are u going. Now a days a lot of countries have prepaid sim cards ro use on their nwtwork. U get a new number etc buy ridiculously cheap sms, data and call rates. Me and mate have done it whilst in NZ.
You can do this in literally every country. I usually pre order online, when I arrive the sim is already at my accommodation and I just need to swap it over.
Just make sure you go with a 'real local provider' rather than those 'especially for travel agencies' who rip you off (still cheaper but not as cheap).

Then you can also use data at local rates and don't need to rely on wifi hot spots.
 
If you buy locally in a third world country then on the day you fly out you give the thirty buck phone to a beggar or homeless looking person and karma will shower you with roses.
 
Remember to turn voicemail OFF before you go. That is the source of suprise charges for calls 'diverted' when you hang up to your mailbox. Besides that, yea, turn data roaming off and it should be fine. Remember though, text messaging other iphone users will then cost you same as if there was no free messages between iphones.
 
tonyt said:
With cellular data off, you simply can't use phone to call anywhere which makes it financially safer. We spent most of our time in one country, so we take an old Nokia with us and buy a local pre paid sim card to make calls, at least that way you get no nasty surprises!

Cheers
Hi guys,
Yes I am well aware of the extra charges for answering calls, mailbox etc. All I am trying to find out is if my phone WILL recieve SMS and calls with cellular data and/or Data roaming off.
Also want to know, why some state only turn off Data Roaming and not cellular data off.
I CAN still make and recieve calls with cellular data off. Just tested it, or are you saying it wont work overseas?
 
It will work, no problem.

basically, if you don't turn data off the foreign network still won't give you data because you have data roaming off. If you do turn it off you'd probably operate on their 2G network, probably better coverage and more battery too.
 
practicalfool said:
It will work, no problem.

basically, if you don't turn data (cellular??) off the foreign network still won't give you data because you have data roaming off. If you do turn it off you'd probably operate on their 2G network, probably better coverage and more battery too.
So, youre in the "just turn data roaming off and leave cellular on" camp?

Data roaming off stops any data coming in e.g. app push, email, internet etc? But only while overseas? Its always set to off on my phone and I still get data.
Cellular data - is this 'data' the same? app push email internet etc? And only works on your home network?
 
mate, it is a 2 way street.

If you have (cellular) data turned on when overseas, but roaming off, your phone WILL transmit and try to get data, but because you turned data roaming off - the network there will (should) refuse your request.

PS: Jut to clarify, it does nothing to your normal SMS functionality. Anything is technically data but cellphone companies charge you differently for what channel it is carried on, voice + SMS is treated separately to any other type of data. Remeber the bad old days when clicking a link to 'download' a ringtone used to warn you that you are going to use data? That distinction is still the same.
 
If you're worried about apps sending push notifications anyway (somehow?) just go in to Setting -> Notifications then remove any apps from the Notification Center that you feel might go rogue.

Make sure your handset can handle the GSM frequencies used in the country you're visiting. I don't believe all iPhones are the same worldwide.

If you do go down the local sim card street advised above remember that it will cost people at home more to contact you.
 
mckenry stop using my name in vain (bludger) :icon_drool2:
Your service provider is the best source of information on what to do overseas.
Ensure that you have International Roaming turned on at the service provider or else you cannot use the phone at all.
You should also check to see if you need to unlock the phone before leaving. I am a bit confused on that one myself, a locked phone cannot be used with other phone companies in Australia so how can it roam onto a network overseas?

My last trip overseas I barely used the phone, sent several SMS, had to use my voicemail several times, fielded a coupel of calls from back in Oz and came home to a large bill. Next trip I am getting a prepaid SIM card in whatever country I am in.
 
Back
Top