Going overseas with Softbank phone...

impish

impish

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I have an iPhone 6s with Softbank. I am going to the US for a week next week. I could go and buy a burner phone for the week, but trying to be ecological I'd rather not if I can use my softbank phone in the US.

1) My phone isn't unlocked, but it could be with a phone call. Has anyone bought a sim in the US and used in a softbank iPhone and if so what service providers worked?

2) Has anyone used Softbank's roaming service? Their website is hard to read but it looks like I might need some additional subscription. Can anyone confirm if that is the case or not?
 
iPhone 6 and after came with America data plan... you can use Sprint’s network for free without putting your 6S into roaming mode. It should connect to sprint natively without you doing anything.

Probably, just need to ask Softbank to confirm your phone and plan include the America 放題 plan.

Otherwise, the max roaming charge per day for data is something like 2500 yen?
 
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impish said:
Oh sweet! I hadn't seen that link. I'll have to check and make sure that is available for me.
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The only technical point I’ll add here is that even though you are in America, unless on local wi-fi, data is always routed back to Japan and then to the internet. Most of the time it works well, but it can be annoying when a website thinks you’re in Japan but actually in the states. (That happens with any roaming scenario, not just this one.)
 
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TAG Manager said:
The only technical point I’ll add here is that even though you are in America, unless on local wi-fi, data is always routed back to Japan and then to the internet. Most of the time it works well, but it can be annoying when a website thinks you’re in Japan but actually in the states. (That happens with any roaming scenario, not just this one.)
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I just went through the procedure of unlocking my phone online. I keep a t-mobile account open in the US, but my t-mobile phone charging port is damaged so I can't charge it and don't want to spend more money for a phone. I just pulled out the SIM card from that phone and made it iPhone sized and popped it in, the unlocking seems to have worked. I am able to connect to Softbank and docomo's networks locally via the iPhone. Now that that works I have 2 options for service while I am there.

It is so weird, downstairs I was connected to Softbank, and upstairs I am connected to Docomo. So strange....
 
FWIW...in LAX, it appears that T Mobile seems to be the main carrier that offers that offers temporary SIM plans. I bet it is probably expensive...and you phone will need to be unlocked. I say this because from my experience, you will always need an unlocked phone when using another company's SIM.
 
ur19877 said:
FWIW...in LAX, it appears that T Mobile seems to be the main carrier that offers that offers temporary SIM plans. I bet it is probably expensive...and you phone will need to be unlocked. I say this because from my experience, you will always need an unlocked phone when using another company's SIM.
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Prepaid sim plans aren't expensive in the US, it's like $30 for unlimited talk and text for a month. I use to pay for my phone that way when I was unemployed as I couldn't afford the fees I was paying before hand. I am aware that I would need an unlocked phone I just had never gone through the process of doing it before. However I just did it and it was a painless process.
 
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I actually used roaming in the US back on 2013 and it wasn't so bad. I think it only added about 5000 yen for 1 month I was there and I had no trouble with the reception. I think there is a feature where you can add roaming. I would not recommend using it too much, it would be cheaper to rent a portable wifi and just use roaming for calls.
 
Anikaluv said:
I actually used roaming in the US back on 2013 and it wasn't so bad. I think it only added about 5000 yen for 1 month I was there and I had no trouble with the reception. I think there is a feature where you can add roaming. I would not recommend using it too much, it would be cheaper to rent a portable wifi and just use roaming for calls.
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I am unfortunately looking for more than data so portable wifi would not an option this trip. Going to be with too many people and too many children that need to be able to call an adult in the group if they are lost or have a problem.
 
Well, for calls, I doubt it will go too high with SoftBank. I used mine mainly for data but for phone calls only I think it's cheaper.
 
Sprint has shitty coverage in some states. It’s really pissing me off right now.
 
TAG Manager said:
Google up the last round of investment that Son tossed at Sprint for infra. buildout.
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Guess that money hasn't reached where I am now. I'm within 10 miles of the capital building and Sprint is "no signal". When I can get Sprint its never more than one bar and not reliable enough to hold a phone conversation or get my email.

Fortunately for me I keep a US burner phone that I just add minutes to when I come here. Its a "half smart" LG handset that I got for $10 in 2016 at a Kroger grocery store.
 
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TheScientist said:
Guess that money hasn't reached where I am now. I'm within 10 miles of the capital building and Sprint is "no signal". When I can get Sprint its never more than one bar and not reliable enough to hold a phone conversation or get my email.

Fortunately for me I keep a US burner phone that I just add minutes to when I come here. Its a "half smart" LG handset that I got for $10 in 2016 at a Kroger grocery store.
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Yeah, they said 2019 was a target timeline for further buildout. There were some articles about it along with 5G rollout too.
I don't usually have problems with Sprint, but totally agree that it lags behind the big 3 around the states. (T-Mobile, AT&T, Verizon)
 
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TAG Manager said:
Yeah, they said 2019 was a target timeline for further buildout. There were some articles about it along with 5G rollout too.
I don't usually have problems with Sprint, but totally agree that it lags behind the big 3 around the states. (T-Mobile, AT&T, Verizon)
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Really depends where you are I guess. Round these parts T-Mobile has the best coverage followed by AT&T. No Verizon at all.
 
I don't know if Sprint will make it 2-3 more years... Almost merged with T Mobile...but I can't see them being relevant long term..
 
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