Seeking advice on Cell coverage & GPS navigation when traveling internationally

[Greg]

Greetings all. My wife and I are going to be headed to western Europe soon for about a month and wanted to source the forum regarding cell phones and GPS navigation there. I'll be using a car in a few countries and was wondering what the best options are in terms of cost and hassle, etc. For instance, it looks like the link below you'd pop it in and get cell service in all of these countries, not just one of them (so you can use it for passing through multiple countries) and then use google maps or something better for navigation. Not sure what types of speeds you might need for navigation though or how offline maps work over there. Any advice is appreciated and thanks in advance!

http://www.amazon.com/Unlimited-Excelle ... B00YHQFEAY

- Greg

[Mark Leavy]

I've never tried to get a universal SIM card.  Whenever I hit a new country I just pop into one of the many cellular/mobile stores that are all over the place.  Tell the 20 year old kid how long you will be in the country and for a reasonable price they will pop a SIM in your phone, loaded with data.

In a lot of places, be prepared to show your passport to buy the SIM.

As far as GPS goes... I like having offline maps with me for when there is no cell coverage (or my data plan runs out).
For the US and Mexico and Europe I have had good success with the Navigon app on my iphone.  There may be better apps out there - and Navigon isn't cheap - but it is nice to have a map when you don't have data coverage.

I generally don't bother renting a car in Europe, but if you have wifi access at your hotel you can pre-download maps in Google Maps.

[Greg]

Thanks for your response Mark. My reasoning for getting a universal SIM card (like the link I posted which I believe covers ALL of those countries, not just you picking one from the list), is that I'm only going to be in each country for a few days and I'm moving through 9 countries. If I can get a universal, that'll be cheaper than buying a new SIM card every 3 days (I'm essentially doing an executive summary of each country hah).

I'm as of right now only going to be renting a car in the United Kingdom and maybe in Germany. Everywhere else I'll be taking public transportation.

For the offline maps on Google Maps, do you then need a working cell phone network to then use your GPS to put you on that Google Map you downloaded? Or can you use the navigation aspect (i.e. put in Point A and Point B on that offline map you downloaded and then gives you turn by turn directions of how to get there) without a internet connection? The reason I ask would be for figuring out the size of data I would need when purchasing this universal SIM card as I said above.

[Mark Leavy]

For the offline maps on Google Maps, do you then need a working cell phone network to then use your GPS to put you on that Google Map you downloaded? Or can you use the navigation aspect (i.e. put in Point A and Point B on that offline map you downloaded and then gives you turn by turn directions of how to get there) without a internet connection? The reason I ask would be for figuring out the size of data I would need when purchasing this universal SIM card as I said above.

If you are using offline maps with Google maps you don't need an active data connection to see your GPS position on the map, but you DO need a connection for turn by turn directions.  (The routes are calculated on the server).  Navigon (and others like it) provide turn by turn directions even while off-line.

If you end up buying the universal SIM, please report back how it worked for you.  It sounds pretty useful.

In general, I've found data coverage in Europe to be pretty good everywhere, so if you have your phone all setup, you probably don't need to sweat the off-line maps too much.

[Xan]

I've never tried to get a universal SIM card.  Whenever I hit a new country I just pop into one of the many cellular/mobile stores that are all over the place.  Tell the 20 year old kid how long you will be in the country and for a reasonable price they will pop a SIM in your phone, loaded with data.

In a lot of places, be prepared to show your passport to buy the SIM.

As far as GPS goes... I like having offline maps with me for when there is no cell coverage (or my data plan runs out).
For the US and Mexico and Europe I have had good success with the Navigon app on my iphone.  There may be better apps out there - and Navigon isn't cheap - but it is nice to have a map when you don't have data coverage.

I generally don't bother renting a car in Europe, but if you have wifi access at your hotel you can pre-download maps in Google Maps.

That worked fine for me in England, but in France (a few years ago) it was a no-go.  I was unable to get any kind of data without being a long-term customer.  :-(

[Greg]

If you end up buying the universal SIM, please report back how it worked for you.  It sounds pretty useful.

I might buy this but from the website it looks like it talks about seamlessly transitioning from one country's cell towers to the next country. I'll have to keep digging.

https://www.mobal.com/international-gsm-sim-card/

[ochotona]

T-MOBILE

They have an awesome international roaming plan. I never worry about travel abroad. I just go, and don't worry about it. No awful surprises on my next bill when I get home.

[Mark Leavy]

T-MOBILE

They have an awesome international roaming plan. I never worry about travel abroad. I just go, and don't worry about it. No awful surprises on my next bill when I get home.

My sister uses T-Mobile and nothing else.  She swears buy it.
http://luggagetag.blogspot.com

I don't buy it because I don't buy contracts.

[ochotona]

T-MOBILE

They have an awesome international roaming plan. I never worry about travel abroad. I just go, and don't worry about it. No awful surprises on my next bill when I get home.

My sister uses T-Mobile and nothing else.  She swears buy it.
http://luggagetag.blogspot.com

I don't buy it because I don't buy contracts.

I don't have a contract that I know of. Maybe I did ten years ago when I started with them, but not for years and years since.

[Mark Leavy]

I don't have a contract that I know of. Maybe I did ten years ago when I started with them, but not for years and years since.

I had T-mobile a long time ago - but haven't looked at it in awhile.  Sounds like it is worth investigating.  One thing I've noticed is that if you buy a T-Moble iphone it is "unlocked" and can be used with any SIM card. So... it seem that a lot has changed over the years.

I'll look into it again.  And... my sister is crazy smart

[WiseOne]

I looked into this a while ago, because I go to Europe a couple times a year.

T mobile is indeed the best way to go, but only if you get their full cell/data plan i.e. that's your regular phone service.  May not be worth it if for example you are otherwise happy with something like Airvoice.

If you're only going for a short time, just call your cell provider and ask them to tack on an international plan temporarily.  If it's going to be a long stay, you may be best off buying a pay as you go phone when you get to your destination.  The SIM card dodge does indeed work in the UK, but good to know that may not be universal.