One of the coolest things I get to do these days as part of Tech Field Day is bring friends from all countries to the United States to meet with various companies. But too often, they find themselves isolated and unable to communicate because of our odd mobile phone network. Although prepaid SIM cards are more available these days, I'm having a tough time locating a data SIM … [Read more...] about Is there no such thing as a cheap, prepaid data SIM in the USA?
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Making Sense of Global Mobile Phone Networks
The mobile phone network landscape is incredible confusing. I pulled together the following overview to help myself make sense of it, and I thought it might benefit my readers, too. Overview: 2G, 3G, 4G, and more-G! Today's worldwide mobile phone network consists of many different technologies operating at many different frequencies. Setting aside the frequency issue … [Read more...] about Making Sense of Global Mobile Phone Networks
How to Prepare Your AT&T Phone for Travel Abroad
The difference between American and European mobile phone providers are vast, and the modern traveler is likely to run afoul if they are unprepared, running up a surprisingly large bill! Here's a rundown of my standard techniques to prepare my American mobile phone for travel abroad. Frequency Compatibility The first thing to do when considering a trip abroad is checking … [Read more...] about How to Prepare Your AT&T Phone for Travel Abroad
Wireless Internet Access During My Trip To The Netherlands
Mobile broadband roaming is insanely expensive. Using my AT&T iPhone overseas costs $20,000 per gigabyte, and that's not a typo or a joke. So I always pick up a local 3G data SIM for my Huawei E585 mobile hotspot when traveling. Here's documentation of my experience with T-Mobile in the Netherlands this week. The Best Wireless Internet Overseas First, it is absolutely … [Read more...] about Wireless Internet Access During My Trip To The Netherlands
4G: Is It Really A Standard If No One Cares?
Americans have terrible mobile broadband network infrastructure, yet our service providers make it sound awesome. Now that 2 of our 4 national wireless providers now offer 4G service, one might conclude that the United States is awash in mobile broadband. But neither of these supposed 4G offerings is anywhere near fast enough to meet the ITU standards for 4G, and even our 3G … [Read more...] about 4G: Is It Really A Standard If No One Cares?