View Full Version : Using Brit mobiles in Orlando
Nostromo
27-10-2003, 19:58
We are going to Orlando as a large group next Spring and will split-up quite often. My wife has an O2 Network mobile telephone while I am with Orange. The situation will demand us to be able to call each other's mobile often and also to make outgoing calls within the USA; these latter will be mostly in and around Orlando but a few may be to other states. Are there any special precautions we need to take to avoid sky high telephone bills?
You will need Triband mobiles or they wont work in the USA. Another option is to buy some
cheap pay as you go type mobiles when you get there.
As for prices, I have no idea, but im sure others on here should be able to answer this for
you
Chris
We've got a Tracfone in Florida http://www.tracfone.com which cost about $60 and you can purchase pay as you go units online or in stores in Florida. I think Virgin also do something similar.
We have vodaphone triband phones and usually have bills of about £25 - 30 above normal when we have been in US. And that includes gals using them as - Mum I'm in this shop come and have a look at this jumper etc. plus the phone calls to work back in UK etc.
caroline
28-10-2003, 05:38
We have O2 mobiles and use them to call each other and back to the villa and in the shops as Fiona describes[:I] and our bills are much the same as Fionas - usually around £25 - £30 more than normal.
Nostromo
28-10-2003, 10:32
Thanks Fiona and Caroline. Yes both of us have Tribands, and the sort of calls that we will be making to each other AND others will have a similar ring (no pun intended!) to yours. So I guess we will be all right.
Don't forget unless you have one of the very latest phones, you'll have to manually change the network settings from 900/1800 to 1900.
when we go to the parks etc we use two way walkie talkies and as we use reuseable batteries this works out very cheap.
Sue
Sue,
I was just about to mention this.
If you are talking about splitting up in the parks and shopping malls then it may be advisable to get some two-way radios.
You can pick them up at Wal-Mart for a steal and they are really good (although you do tend to pick up others conversations on them too).
I keep a set in my Villa for guests to use when they visit so maybe the owner of your rental does the same. Check it out with them Nostromo.
Matt
quote:Originally posted by Matt
Sue,
I was just about to mention this.
If you are talking about splitting up in the parks and shopping malls then it may be advisable to get some two-way radios.
You can pick them up at Wal-Mart for a steal and they are really good (although you do tend to pick up others conversations on them too).
I keep a set in my Villa for guests to use when they visit so maybe the owner of your rental does the same. Check it out with them Nostromo.
Matt
Hi Matt
We bought ours in Aldi supermarket in the UK, you don't get many people on the same wave length. we also use them at home when we go out as a big group.
sue
floridadreamvilla.co.uk
29-10-2003, 02:26
Don't use the UK ones in the US Sue as I think they will intefere with the emergency services and you could get yourself in a lot of trouble. Vice-versa with ones bought in the US and back in the UK.
What was the price like for them here Sue? I thought that anything that was any good like that over here cost a fortune!!
Can you use them in the States? I mean, yes you probably can, but I mean legally?
Matt
>You can pick them up at Wal-Mart for a steal and they are really good (although you do tend to >pick up others conversations on them too).
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They were on special offer in Wal-Mart on the 27 last week at $16.95 each. We allready have a set of the type Aldi were selling at twice the price. We use them when we go Camping on long weekends. The better one's like those Wal-Mart were selling have 8 Channels and 33 sub-tone channels.
I noticed some super-duper ones claiming a 5 mile range in Eckards at $29.95 each. These also had sub-tone channelling.
As to using mobiles in Florida even Tri-banders, you still need a service provider. Voda-Fone, Orange, O2 etc use the European GSM network, this system is very very rare in the US. So if you wish to call mobile to mobile you will be calling at international calling rates, back to your UK Service Provider, then across the network and back to the US.... OUCH,,,,
Very Very Expensive calls.
Someone mentioned above buying a couple of PAYG mobiles when your out there. I think that is the most sensible solution, as even trying to obtain a PAYG SIM Card for your Tri-banders can prove a time consuming and luckless task. (I've tried that !)
You can pick up a couple of el-cheapo PAYG mobiles from as little as $39.95 each from the Flea-Markets on the 192, The calling tarriff is quite cheap also.
We only carry the Tri-Bander in the car for the Family in the UK to contact us on in an emergency. We can only call another number in the States on an international calling tarriff.
Hope this information has been of some use to you.
Nostromo
29-10-2003, 14:37
quote:Originally posted by wilfy
Don't forget unless you have one of the very latest phones, you'll have to manually change the network settings from 900/1800 to 1900.
Thanks again. Yes, we both recenly upgraded our tribands and these new phones are supposed to be auto band changers. There are instructions for a manual back-up as well, just in case.