Using 3G cellphone on Camino Frances with a Spanish SIM card

[MFord]

I have an old 3G cellphone, unusable now in the US but how about on the Camino Frances? I will be walking April/May 2022. If I can buy a SIM in Spain and use that instead of my iphone, I wouldn't have to worry about losing it.

 

[La Rubia]

I'm guessing yes - 3G still works here in Portugal, so it's probably the same for Spain.

 

[Peter Fransiscus]

I have an old 3G cellphone, unusable now in the US but how about on the Camino Frances? I will be walking April/May 2022. If I can buy a SIM in Spain and use that instead of my iphone, I wouldn't have to worry about losing it.

Or you can convert your 3G cell phone,

Converting a 3G phone to 4G is not long process nor hectic. Instead, it is easy to update the phone within a few minutes.

However, it has some requirements like the mobile should have Android 4.4 KitKat version, MediaTek chipset, and an active 4G sim.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

I have an old 3G cellphone, unusable now in the US but how about on the Camino Frances? I will be walking April/May 2022. If I can buy a SIM in Spain and use that instead of my iphone, I wouldn't have to worry about losing it.

Try using this online tool. You will have to enter each network separately and then look for the color encoding the 3g service.

3G / 4G / 5G coverage in Spain - nPerf.com

Compare the network coverage of mobile operators and check their performance at home !

www.nperf.com

 

[Marcus-UK]

I have an old 3G cellphone, unusable now in the US but how about on the Camino Frances? I will be walking April/May 2022. If I can buy a SIM in Spain and use that instead of my iphone, I wouldn't have to worry about losing it.

3G is still popular in most of Europe it is the fallback in areas where 4G LTE has not been rolled out. 5G is also being rolled out.

There has been no major announcement for discontinuing 3G services in Europe.

However be wary some US phones do not work on the same frequencies as European phones so you would need to check your phone specification against European phones.

However to avoi any hassle you could probaly pick up a cheap 4G European phone for less than 20 Euros. It won't be smart but it will work with SMS, MMF etc

 

[Roland49]

Maybe, but only maybe!
Even Germany, not well known for it's speed in getting rid of outdated technology, switched off the last remaining 3G-Network in the last week of 2021.

 

[Peter Fransiscus]

There has been no major announcement for discontinuing 3G services in Europe.

There are you wrong , in the Netherlands they will start to shut down 3g at the beginning of February 2022.
This was already announced in 2019.

 

[Marcus-UK]

Just goes to show that when you think you know a subject well, things move on! I think my original advise should just have been "Buy a cheap 20 Euro phone when you land" You can then buy a local SIM package!

I worked in the Telecoms/IT industry for 30 plus years and retired five years ago. This was during the design phase of providing the extremely large bandwidth requirement for 5G radio towers. I currently get higher bandwidth to my PC tethered to my 5G phone than I do from my home ADSL2 broadband network.

At the time I retired discussions based on the phasing out 3G networks were based the difficulty of migrating Legacy Defence, Emergency Services and Utility companies to newer generations of network transport. Only when there was a feasible plan available would the Telecom Regulators allow the cessation of 3G services.

Depending upon the local Telecoms authority, certain countries are allowing 3G to be phased out. In some cases they are requiring 3G to be phased out to allow the Frequency bands to be re-used for next generation technologies. In the US AT&T is planning on phasing out 3G in 2022 I am not sure about Verizon. The UK has no concrete plans to phase out 3G as of 2020. I no longer have membership of the International Telecoms Union (ITUT/CCIT) and have not kept track of what is happening in most of Europe.

As to when 3G will totally close I have no idea! The 5ESS switches that run much of the plain old telephone system (POTs) are still in operation today forty years later. My rotary dial home phone still works when the 4G and 5G radio towers don't.

 

[Antnix1]

I have an old 3G cellphone, unusable now in the US but how about on the Camino Frances? I will be walking April/May 2022. If I can buy a SIM in Spain and use that instead of my iphone, I wouldn't have to worry about losing it.

I wouldn't like to rely on older tech as networks sometimes neglect it or let it become congested to force customers to upgrade, including where roaming agreements exist with other network operators. I won't go into detailed examples other than to say, you're best to just have a 4G phone on a decent Spanish network like Movistar.

Another pointer but the camera quality on a new iphone vs a years old android is massive. If you like decent photos without carrying a separate camera, take your iphone .. get a protective case. And consider bringing a power bank. You can charge the power bank and use it to charge your phone so you don't have to leave an expensive phone unattended. Though some would argue it's not worth the extra weight.