SIM card for travelling to the USA? Including data?

paradigm · 3 Jun 2013 at 10:23

I've never bothered before, but with our increasing reliance on technology, I'm tempted this year to get a SIM card that allows me to use a data connection whilst in the USA.

Has anyone ever purchased one? Who did you use? How much data do you think I'd need for a fortnight? Mainly email, a bit of web browsing (for searching the local area), and to enable the use of searching online for destinations on my Lumia's "Nokia Drive" sat nav (the maps are offline, so data usage won't be high).

I've found one company who offer a pre-pay SIM, with 1GB of data (as well as a pretty basic call plan), for a top-up $59.99. This runs as a MVNO on the AT&T network, so coverage should be fine in Florida.

Anyone else got any experiences to share?

NathanE · 3 Jun 2013 at 11:11

Just buy one from almost any shop in the USA.

Glaucus · 3 Jun 2013 at 11:14

NathanE said:
Just buy one from almost any shop in the USA.

This is what I did.
Just be prepared to bend over.
uSA mobile allowances are not cheap at all.

danb21t · 3 Jun 2013 at 11:21

Pretty much everywhere has free wifi so I wouldn't bother.

jimjamuk · 3 Jun 2013 at 11:26

Spoke to guy in the vodafone shop about this and his suggestion was to buy one of the prepaid cheap mobiles over there, take the sim out and use it in my existing phone. He suggested that one could be got for about $50 (unsure of allowance) but I'm off there in July so will be looking for any suggestions

megakid · 3 Jun 2013 at 11:27

When I drove across the states last month, I paid $80 ($50 + $30 "connection fee") at JFK airport as soon as I landed for an AT&T sim with 200 mins + 1Gb data that lasted 30 days. I ended up buying another 1Gb for $25 half way through. Was fairly impressed with the coverage all the way to LA, far better than my friend's T-Mobile SIM that he got.

Seft · 3 Jun 2013 at 11:28

Last time I was there (two years ago), I got a T Mobile prepaid sim for about $10. Data was $3 per day uncapped. NB you are charged to receive as well as send texts and calls.

Raumarik · 3 Jun 2013 at 11:28

Back in 2009 I just used the plethora of free wifi hotspots in every town, starbucks was always a welcome break anyway!

POB · 3 Jun 2013 at 11:30

Which Lumia? my cheap 620 does not support the required bands for faster internet.

I used http://www.simplemobile.com/ last week grabbed a SIM from eBay before I went, they do offer $50 for unlimited 4G speeds. But the $40 package with 250mb of 4G then unlimited 3G is very very slow once over the 250mb.

In a week I used 250 MB with a some emails and using Google Navigation on my Nexus.

paradigm · 3 Jun 2013 at 13:21

danb21t said:
Pretty much everywhere has free wifi so I wouldn't bother.

How will that help me in the car?

POB said:
Which Lumia?

800.

JAzz · 3 Jun 2013 at 13:23

Went to the AT&T store when I was in New York, think it was about $30 for 3GB data only. Only problem I had was none of my credit or debit cards worked as I think you need an American credit/debit card so I had to ring my mate and use his American Express.

Used on my iPad so they had 4G out there which was super quick, burned through data at an alarming rate!

areksnumbr1sxylady · 3 Jun 2013 at 13:39

I still dont get why USA network prices are so high compared to UK... They are long way off unlimited data plans like we got here.

muon · 3 Jun 2013 at 13:44

Lazder said:
I still dont get why USA network prices are so high compared to UK... They are long way off unlimited data plans like we got here.

Their mobile network is way more expensive to maintain.It's like expecting umlimited data throughout Europe (although logistically easier considering the USA is one country).

SentineL-X · 3 Jun 2013 at 13:47

I used one when I went recently, bought a SIM card and plan from http://www.mrsimcard.com/ and it was well worth the money.

I bought a sim from there a month prior to travel on the H2O data plan for $80 which included around 600 minutes and 1GB of data which can be increased if necessary, but it was more than enough for 2 weeks of travel with some fairly heavy web usage when on the road.

Scougar · 3 Jun 2013 at 14:21

T-Mobile generally do the best prices for data in the USA

York · 3 Jun 2013 at 14:47

Bought a T-Mobile sim while I was in NY for a long weekend. Cost us $15 (something around that anyway!) which included the SIM and unlimited (well 200mb/day) data for the 5 days we'd be there.

Made it much easier to navigate NY being able to still use my iPhone! Although was surprised how poor T-Mobile coverage was in places - mostly GPRS with occasional 3G signal.

Dangerous Dave · 3 Jun 2013 at 15:03

JAzz said:
Went to the AT&T store when I was in New York, think it was about $30 for 3GB data only. Only problem I had was none of my credit or debit cards worked as I think you need an American credit/debit card so I had to ring my mate and use his American Express.

Used on my iPad so they had 4G out there which was super quick, burned through data at an alarming rate!

This is what I did, they wouldn't accept a non American card. To get round this you can buy a pre paid Visa card from a shop and use that if you don't have an American Express card.

Samiad · 3 Jun 2013 at 22:32

I just got back and the T-Mobile deal is still there. $10 for the SIM card, then $3 per day for unlimited data. Unlimited in the sense of 200MB at 3G, the rest at edge speeds. You can also quickly change your package to something else and back again to unlock another 200MB at 3G speeds in the same 24h period (costing another $3)

Morfik · 4 Jun 2013 at 08:44

Edit: See below

paradigm · 4 Jun 2013 at 08:53

Definitely don't want (nor need) a MiFi rental.

And WOW is their product ridiculously expensive for a fortnight.