Welcome to Ask Jerry, the place we discuss any and all of the questions you may need concerning the good issues in your life. I am Jerry, and I’ve spent the higher a part of my life working with tech. I’ve a background in engineering and R&D and have been overlaying Android and Google for the previous 15 years.
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Ask Jerry is a column the place we reply your burning Android/tech questions with the assistance of long-time Android Central editor Jerry Hildenbrand.
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Is there something I have to do to ensure my cellphone works whereas travelling (and does not price me some huge cash)?
T.J. asks:
I am taking a trip to Turkey, Greece, and Italy for a couple of weeks and that is the primary time I will be travelling with out my work cellphone. Will my Galaxy S23 work with out costing me an arm and a leg in worldwide roaming charges from AT&T? Is there something i ought to do earlier than I depart to ensure?
Thanks
Hello T.J.! I am jealous that you’re going to be catching the Mediterranean solar whereas I am preventing the snow and slop right here on the East Coast. You could not have picked a greater place to spend a couple of weeks and I am going to guess you may have a good time.
For a fast reply to your query — you may be capable of pop a neighborhood pre-paid SIM card in your cellphone and bypass these uber-expensive worldwide roaming charges at the price of not having your regular cellphone quantity for a couple of weeks. All of it depends upon in case your cellphone is region-locked.
Except you particularly purchased an unlocked cellphone (one thing you must all the time do when you possibly can) out of your provider (there are methods to test in case your cellphone is unlocked) it is prone to have a number of of the radio bands locked within the firmware. They’re nonetheless there and able to working, they simply want the lock eliminated.
Your provider can do that in a retailer with technicians and the proper software program, however getting them to take action may be tough; they’d fairly you pay roaming charges or purchase an worldwide plan add-on.
That is really not a nasty concept on this case. In case your cellphone is region-locked to North America spending an additional $10 or so per day is the straightforward approach to make use of your cellphone virtually wherever with out large roaming charges. It is definitely much less intimidating than unlocking the radio bands your self via the cellphone’s service menu.
When you’re like me although, you’d fairly mess with issues than give AT&T more money. The excellent news is that this has all been discovered and yow will discover full directions to do it your self. As soon as that is executed, you possibly can pop a neighborhood SIM in and go. You won’t have the quickest community connection, however every part will work.
What you will be doing is getting into a “secret code” into the cellphone’s dialer to succeed in a technical menu that means that you can lock and unlock radio frequencies. It is not tough, however it may be intimidating. That is why I discussed how a lot simpler including a day by day worldwide add-on to your plan is. You may both pay $100 or so per week or undergo a tedious and complex set of directions.
There’s a third possibility — Google Fi. In case your cellphone is carrier-unlocked (a distinct kind of lock than region-lock; cellphone makers and carriers love locking issues, apparently), you should buy a month of Google Fi service, which works with no additional charges in all three nations you talked about. You do not have to signal any type of contract, and whenever you’re executed, you simply do not renew it.
You will have a distinct quantity, identical to you’ll for those who used a neighborhood SIM card, however you will not be paying a bunch of shock charges or a day by day price to make use of your cellphone with out roaming fees.
Apart from ensuring you have enabled some type of community connection, there is not anything to do. Your cellphone will robotically regulate issues just like the time and get its new location with out doing something and it ought to work precisely the identical approach it does again house.
Now, have enjoyable within the solar for all of us caught right here within the winter climate!
