Some basic cellphone questions for the technologically naive.....

[saltwaterpearl]

Please forgive the following very basic questions. I have read through a number of cell phone threads, but I am so unversed in this subject, I just want to confirm that I understand this process and my anticipated situation. (FYI, my prior caminos were all in the pre-cellphone era!)

I currently use a Samsung Galaxy Note 1. As it is close to three years old, I intend to upgrade in the next month. After upgrading to a new phone, the Note will then be purely for travel.

I would like to take that old Galaxy Note on our camino. We want to have a local phone for emergencies/booking, and we want to be able to Skype and email home (USA) occasionally, and we want to use it "offline" as well, for maps/guidebooks/Kindle and document storage. So....

I would remove my old SIM card from the Note, correct? I would need to get a charger that would work in Spain. And I will also need to ask that it be "unlocked"?

Without a SIM and a service contract, will it still function as a just WiFi device? So we will still be able to access the internet, and we will still have access to my Contacts, and be able to email or WhatsApp them whenever we come across a WiFi signal?

Then, when we get to Spain, we can go to a mobile store like Vodaphone, Orange or Movistar and get a Spanish SIM that can be easily "recharged" as needed.
That will give us local call minutes that we can use for emergencies or booking ahead.
It will give us SMS, which is for sending/receiving texts.
It will give us Data, which is for accessing the internet when WiFi is not available.
Do I understand all this correctly?

Do these Spanish SIMS also allow affordable international calls?
Also, we will be in France on the GR-10 for the first 5-6 days. Will we need a French SIM for that time? And we anticipate spending our last 2-3 weeks in Portugal. Would we swap out the SIM again?

Does this seem the best/easiest way to go in my case? Is there anything I am missing or misunderstanding?
Thanks!

 

[fraluchi]

I am not familiar with a Galaxy note but know from experience that the use of a SIM card from one country is expensive in another. So you'll be best to calculate probable use and swap before crossing a border. You can obtain, from any of the three providers you mention, a package which can include Internet. Have your equipment unlocked before you leave. Take your charger (if adaptable to 220 V. in Europe) and purchase a plug adapter from any hardware store in France, also valid for Spain and/or Portugal. Some other European countries (like the UK) require different adapters.

 

[Bajaracer]

Please forgive the following very basic questions. I have read through a number of cell phone threads, but I am so unversed in this subject, I just want to confirm that I understand this process and my anticipated situation. (FYI, my prior caminos were all in the pre-cellphone era!)

I currently use a Samsung Galaxy Note 1. As it is close to three years old, I intend to upgrade in the next month. After upgrading to a new phone, the Note will then be purely for travel.

I would like to take that old Galaxy Note on our camino. We want to have a local phone for emergencies/booking, and we want to be able to Skype and email home (USA) occasionally, and we want to use it "offline" as well, for maps/guidebooks/Kindle and document storage. So....

I would remove my old SIM card from the Note, correct? I would need to get a charger that would work in Spain. And I will also need to ask that it be "unlocked"?

Without a SIM and a service contract, will it still function as a just WiFi device? So we will still be able to access the internet, and we will still have access to my Contacts, and be able to email or WhatsApp them whenever we come across a WiFi signal?

Then, when we get to Spain, we can go to a mobile store like Vodaphone, Orange or Movistar and get a Spanish SIM that can be easily "recharged" as needed.
That will give us local call minutes that we can use for emergencies or booking ahead.
It will give us SMS, which is for sending/receiving texts.
It will give us Data, which is for accessing the internet when WiFi is not available.
Do I understand all this correctly?

Do these Spanish SIMS also allow affordable international calls?
Also, we will be in France on the GR-10 for the first 5-6 days. Will we need a French SIM for that time? And we anticipate spending our last 2-3 weeks in Portugal. Would we swap out the SIM again?

Does this seem the best/easiest way to go in my case? Is there anything I am missing or misunderstanding?
Thanks!

First, what carrier is your Galaxy Note with? More than likely, it is locked to that carrier and must be unlocked to use other carriers. Contact your carrier to get it unlocked.

Second, once your phone is unlocked, you just remove your old SIM card and replace it with the one you buy. Get a dual USB charger, this one comes with everything you'll need and even has the 12v plug for car use. http://www.ebay.com/itm/MiLi-intern...092?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2eccf6d51c

Third, without a SIM card installed, it'll be a wifi only device.

Fourth, once you purchase and install a valid SIM card with data and voice, you'll have a fully functioning smartphone that you can use like you would at home, Spanish SIM cards gets free incoming calls and SMS inside Spain, even if you don't have credit. The same applies to French and Portuguese SIM cards.
http://www.lebara.es has their site in English and has special offers for inexpensive voice calls and data. You can add credit at most convenience stores if you need more voice or credit data.

Fifth, If you're only going to be in France for a few days, wait till you get to Spain and get a Spanish SIM card and then get a new SIM card when you cross into Portugal, you could roam in Portugal with your Spanish SIM in Portugal, but it would suck up all your phone credit and data quickly and you'll be unable to add credit once you leave Spain.

PM me if you have more questions.

 

[David]

Or - you could take your old phone with the sim it already has and not make any calls with it, just have it for emergencies and for emergency texts from home. Telling everyone at home to leave you alone and only contact you if there is a crisis you need to know about. Then switching it on for just a couple of minutes at the end of the day to see if anything has come in.
This is your time out, your moment - for possibly the first time in your life to step out of all that holds you there. Dropping the old world you left completely and just experiencing the Camino - just you and the pilgrimage, no other world - especially! that one you left to enter the Camino.
Just a thought.

 

[NicoZ]

I would remove my old SIM card from the Note, correct? I would need to get a charger that would work in Spain. And I will also need to ask that it be "unlocked"?

Without a SIM and a service contract, will it still function as a just WiFi device? So we will still be able to access the internet, and we will still have access to my Contacts, and be able to email or WhatsApp them whenever we come across a WiFi signal?

Often phones when they boot will give an error message if a SIM isn't installed. But you can test this at home.

Then, when we get to Spain, we can go to a mobile store like Vodaphone, Orange or Movistar and get a Spanish SIM that can be easily "recharged" as needed.
That will give us local call minutes that we can use for emergencies or booking ahead.
It will give us SMS, which is for sending/receiving texts.
It will give us Data, which is for accessing the internet when WiFi is not available.
Do I understand all this correctly?

A local SIM will make you a customer of a local provider. If you want all those things you should pick an offer providing those features. Just getting a SIM won't guarantee you anything other then the base rate. (Voice,SMS and data) Base rates are often fairly expensive if you make much use of the service. Better to pick a monthly offer.

Do these Spanish SIMS also allow affordable international calls?

Depends on the plan/carrier/offer. If you intend to do a great deal of LD calls then it's best to see if there is an offer. The cost can depend on what country you call

Also, we will be in France on the GR-10 for the first 5-6 days. Will we need a French SIM for that time? And we anticipate spending our last 2-3 weeks in Portugal. Would we swap out the SIM again?
!

Need? No. It depends on how much you intend to use. What you intend to use. For low volume voice I wouldn't bother changing SIMS in France or even Portugal. Voice/SMS roaming is fairly cheap with an EU SIM. If you need data in Portugal it might be worth it. For France Five/Six days might be either way. There are usually data daily roaming offers. Say €3 a day. Not much sense spending €15-20 for a new SIM and data plan plus the time/effort to get the new SIM.

 

[SYates]

"It will give us Data, which is for accessing the internet when WiFi is not available."

I wouldn't bother with data as wifi is incredibly wide spread on the Camino Frances, so, if you can survive max one day without it you don't need this option in your SIM card. Buen Camino! SY

 

[fraluchi]

[...]I wouldn't bother with data as wifi is incredibly wide spread on the Camino Frances, so, if you can survive max one day without it you don't need this option in your SIM card. Buen Camino! SY

I fully agree with that suggestion, and it saves a lot of money. I use an iPod touch in Europe (not only on the Camino) at the numerous WiFi spots and in Spain (or any other country for that matter) a 10 Euro SIM into the cheapest unlocked cellphone for "just in case". (I found that Orange had reasonably good coverage everywhere, but I also have a Vodafone cheapy). Ultreya!

 

[MichaelC]

Edit ... ah fug. I googled the Galaxy after I posted. I thought all smart phones were "global phones" now, but apparently the Galaxy isn't. Deleting all the brilliant and totally irrelevant advice I offered about you don't need to worry about sim cards. Because you do.

 

[NicoZ]

e I offered about you don't need to worry about sim cards. Because you do.

It's cheaper to get a local SIM. But if it's a GSM phone with the right frequencies it will work without changing the SIM. Roaming might end up very expensive .

 

[Bajaracer]

I have one device, an unlocked GSM iPhone 5, I bought it through T-Mobile and paid it off in full a couple of months later and T-Mobile unlocked it for me.
I've used it with SIM cards from T-Mobile, Telcel Mexico, Orange in Spain, SMART Phillipines, and finally AT&T. That's five different SIM cards on one device, the only things I need to bring are the plug adapters for the country I'm visiting and a paper clip to change SIM cards.
Since you'll be traveling for close to two months, it would be cheaper to buy a local SIM with data and have your US phone service suspended for the time you'll be away.
From my experience, having a fully functioning smartphone with local data service can be a godsend.
For the price of a couple of bad pilgrim meals, you can have local service with data.

 

[Bajaracer]

Edit ... ah fug. I googled the Galaxy after I posted. I thought all smart phones were "global phones" now, but apparently the Galaxy isn't. Deleting all the brilliant and totally irrelevant advice I offered about you don't need to worry about sim cards. Because you do.

What phone carrier is your Galaxy on? There are different versions of the Galaxy depending on what phone carrier you use, some are GSM, some are CDMA (US, Canada, Japan, and S. Korea,) if it's a GSM version then it can be unlocked.

 

[susanawee]

Please forgive the following very basic questions. I have read through a number of cell phone threads, but I am so unversed in this subject, I just want to confirm that I understand this process and my anticipated situation. (FYI, my prior caminos were all in the pre-cellphone era!)

I currently use a Samsung Galaxy Note 1. As it is close to three years old, I intend to upgrade in the next month. After upgrading to a new phone, the Note will then be purely for travel.

I would like to take that old Galaxy Note on our camino. We want to have a local phone for emergencies/booking, and we want to be able to Skype and email home (USA) occasionally, and we want to use it "offline" as well, for maps/guidebooks/Kindle and document storage. So....

I would remove my old SIM card from the Note, correct? I would need to get a charger that would work in Spain. And I will also need to ask that it be "unlocked"?

Without a SIM and a service contract, will it still function as a just WiFi device? So we will still be able to access the internet, and we will still have access to my Contacts, and be able to email or WhatsApp them whenever we come across a WiFi signal?

Then, when we get to Spain, we can go to a mobile store like Vodaphone, Orange or Movistar and get a Spanish SIM that can be easily "recharged" as needed.
That will give us local call minutes that we can use for emergencies or booking ahead.
It will give us SMS, which is for sending/receiving texts.
It will give us Data, which is for accessing the internet when WiFi is not available.
Do I understand all this correctly?

Do these Spanish SIMS also allow affordable international calls?
Also, we will be in France on the GR-10 for the first 5-6 days. Will we need a French SIM for that time? And we anticipate spending our last 2-3 weeks in Portugal. Would we swap out the SIM again?

Does this seem the best/easiest way to go in my case? Is there anything I am missing or misunderstanding?
Thanks!

I used an old HTC phone with an old SIM card (no current credit on it so, to make it work for WIFi and listening to music, I just set it on Flight mode for the entire time. .... this worked beautifully for me.

 

[Oravasaari]

This is a very useful thread for the technically challenged! I am a bona fide techno caveman so am simplifying things on my camino by taking my own ( Finnish SIM in an old Samsung smartphone ( old means light and cheap ;-) ), I will turn OFF packet data in network settings ( this means the phone will be unable to use the Spanish mobile network for data (internet etc), I will turn ON notify of open WiFi networks ( then my phone will tell me when there is a nearby WiFi). I will leave WiFi OFF until I am in a village/cafe and want to use wifi. Wifi eats battery a bit.

This way I will only incurr any voice calls or text message costs. All other comms will be across free WiFi. Will tell all contacts not to call or text unless in emergency etc.

The best solution to keep in contact in my opinion is WhatsApp. It is free first year then 0,89 Eur cents a year. With that and WiFi it is possible to send and receive instant messages, video, audio, photographs etc. Send a few photos from the day's added to any message back home. It is also quick enough to have a real time conversation by text etc, small/short video message etc. Whatsapp.com

 

[kmccue]

I have one device, an unlocked GSM iPhone 5, I bought it through T-Mobile and paid it off in full a couple of months later and T-Mobile unlocked it for me.
I've used it with SIM cards from T-Mobile, Telcel Mexico, Orange in Spain, SMART Phillipines, and finally AT&T. That's five different SIM cards on one device, the only things I need to bring are the plug adapters for the country I'm visiting and a paper clip to change SIM cards.
Since you'll be traveling for close to two months, it would be cheaper to buy a local SIM with data and have your US phone service suspended for the time you'll be away.
From my experience, having a fully functioning smartphone with local data service can be a godsend.
For the price of a couple of bad pilgrim meals, you can have local service with data.

 

[kmccue]

Quick question? I would rather buy the sim card on line and have it mailed to me...just less hassle, tho I have read that I can likely buy one at the Madrid airport. My question is...are they difficult to "set up"? I can unlock my phone and get my US card out...but once I put the Spain sim card in...am I off and running?

 

[NicoZ]

Quick question? I would rather buy the sim card on line and have it mailed to me...just less hassle, tho I have read that I can likely buy one at the Madrid airport. My question is...are they difficult to "set up"? I can unlock my phone and get my US card out...but once I put the Spain sim card in...am I off and running?

Best to buy it in a Spanish shop. Hand them the phone and ask them to install the SIM for you. They should activate it for you. The phone if you're lucky will be up and running before you leave the shop.

You don't say what phone but these days many phones auto config.

 

[SYates]

... My question is...are they difficult to "set up"? I can unlock my phone and get my US card out...but once I put the Spain sim card in...am I off and running?

Yes, it might take a few minutes for the activation to get through, but after that and putting in the provided PIN you are up and running - at least your phone is ;-) SY

 

[Bajaracer]

Quick question? I would rather buy the sim card on line and have it mailed to me...just less hassle, tho I have read that I can likely buy one at the Madrid airport. My question is...are they difficult to "set up"? I can unlock my phone and get my US card out...but once I put the Spain sim card in...am I off and running?

With my experience with my unlocked iPhone 5, I bought my SIM card at Crystal Media in Madrid, installed it and it connected to the Orange network with no special settings, the same thing when I switched back to my US SIM card when I got back to the US.
You could buy a Spanish SIM card and have it shipped to you, but it there are issues with it you have no recourse, wait till you get to Spain to buy one.

 

[mcdeltat]

I got a Lebara SIM card in Madrid. I was very happy with it. The lady set it up for me. I had coverage throughout almost the entire Camino (well, I only started in Sarria, to be fair...) including 2 Gigs of data, which was more than enough. You need your phone unlocked beforehand and either a Spanish charger or an adapter for your plug (neither of which should cost you more than $10, or so). If it's a USB charger, it automagically converts the voltage so you don't also need a voltage adapter.