Roam Mobility Review/Thoughts

I've been using Roam Mobility for a few years and I thought that I would write my thoughts/review on their service.

Roam Mobility is a US SIM card designed mainly for Canadians traveling to the US that allows for unlimited calling (Canada/US), texting (Canada/US), and data options. It also allows for data only plans. I primarily use Roam Mobility for the data only plans since I have a grandfathered unlimited calling/texting/data US prepaid plan which cost less than Roam Mobility's unlimited daily plan.

Roam Mobility has gone through some changes since I've been using them but this blog entry describes their current service. Currently in order to keep the SIM card active, the subscriber must purchase a daily plan or data plan at least once every 12 months. At one point, it was 12 months and then lowered to 6 months but currently it has changed back to 12 months.

The daily plans is purchased beforehand and can be scheduled to start after a traveler arrives in the US. It is purchased via credit card. Their different plans are purchased via their webpage and charged directly to the traveler's credit card. The daily rates range from $4.95+taxes per day for unlimited calling (Canada/US), texting (Canada/US), and data to $2.95+taxes per day plan for unlimited texting (Canada/US) and unlimited 2G data. Even though the data is unlimited is throttled to 2G after the 4G/LTE daily limit is used up (~500MB/day). The taxes depend on the customer's home province. They also have a $3.95+taxes per day plan for unlimited calling/texting (Canada/US) for those customers who don't require data. 2G data is sufficient for instant messaging and e-mailing but it is too slow for any streaming and personally I would say that it is also too slow for web browsing. I would say that it is also too slow for using the Facebook app on the phone.

As mentioned, I will generally only purchase their data only plan since I find their unlimited plan to be more expensive than my prepaid US grandfathered daily plan. There are also sometimes when I go to the US (or a family member goes to the US) and doesn't want an unlimited plan. For example, paying $4.95+taxes for a day when you will only make a few calls a day and speak for roughly 10 minutes costs over $0.50/minute when there are certain prepaid plans that can cost as little as $0.05/minute. I found Roam Mobility's data plan to be good but in the US city that I was visiting, their service wasn't the best. I believe that they use T-Mobile's network since I also had a T-Mobile phone with me and I had roughly the same reception on my Roam Mobility phone as I did with my T-Mobile phone.

Roam Mobility used to offer telephone support but they no longer offer telephone support. When they did offer telephone support, I found their support to be very good. Their support now is only available via webform. During my last trip to the US, I tried to get support via their webform and I have found Roam Mobility to be unresponsive. During my vacation/trip to the US in January 2017 (which is why I didn't update my blog during that time), I had issue with their service and logged in a request on the day that I arrived in the US and even after getting back one week later, I have still not heard anything back from them (beyond getting a ticket/reference number). Based on my lack of response, if you have issues during your trip for service that you prepaid for, you might continue to have issues until you come back to Canada.

If you have any comments/questions regarding this blog entry, please don't hesitate to leave a comment in the comments section below. Please note that the comments are moderated and any comment containing a URL link (whether embedded or not) will automatically be flagged as spam and will not be posted.

Lycamobile US Pay As You Go Prepaid SIM Review

I've had my Lycamobile US Pay As You Go Prepaid SIM for approximately 8 months after purchasing the SIM while I was in Las Vegas on a trip. I used to have a RedPocket Mobile US prepaid SIM but I found that based on my usage, I couldn't continue to maintain the RedPocket Mobile SIM because with an annual renewal of $100 and at $0.10/minute to call the US/Canada (among other countries), I wasn't reducing the balance enough in the span of a year to justify renewing it. If I couldn't use $100 at a rate of $0.10/minute in the span of 1 year whenever I (and my friends/family) visited the US, there was no way that I could use over $100 the following year if I renewed it by adding $100 since the previous balance would carry forward for another year and be added to the $100 that I just added to the balance.

I did some research prior to my trip to Las Vegas for another Pay As You Go Prepaid SIM with a low per minute rate and a low renewal rate or better terms to keep the US SIM active. I came across Lycamobile US which has favourable terms in order to keep the US SIM as well as the phone's balance active and it also had a very low per minute cost using direct dialing. The per minute cost at that time (which I was interested in) was $0.02/minute to make a call to a US number, $0.02/minute to receive a call while in the US, $0.03/minute to make a call to Canada, $0.04 per message to send a text message to a US number, and $0.16 per message to send a text message to a Canadian number. The current Lycamobile Pay As You Go prepaid rates are $0.05/minute to make a call to a US number, $0.05/minute to receive a call while in the US, $0.06/minute to make a call to Canada, $0.04 per message to send a text message to a US number, and $0.16 per message to send a text message to a Canadian number. Since it offered direct dialing at very low rates, there was no need to remember any calling card number or PINs prior to making an outgoing call.

In order to keep the SIM and balance active, Lycamobile only required that there be a billable charge every 90 days. I thought that this might present some problems but Lycamobile also roams in many countries (including where I live in Canada) so I could use it and create a billable charge at the higher rate for roaming in Canada (~$1.84/minute outgoing, $1.50/minute incoming, & $0.64/SMS) if I didn't go to the US in the span of 90 days. The current terms stipulate that any balance remaining on your account after 90 days don't rollover regardless of whether there is a billable charge on your Lycamobile account or whether you top up your account.

I purchased a Lycamobile SIM from a store a few hours after arriving in Las Vegas and inserted it into my unlocked GSM phone when I arrived at the place that I was staying in Las Vegas. When I powered on the phone, I waited a few minutes so that my phone could acquire/register onto Lycamobile's network. I then called 622 and waited to be prompted to enter the ZIP code. I entered the ZIP code for the place that I was staying at in the US. A few seconds later, I received my new phone number on the new Lycamobile SIM that I purchased. I then purchased $10.00 worth of airtime and placed it onto the phone.

The next thing that I did was to register my account on their webpage so that I could manage/view information regarding my account. The webpage for this is *HERE* and the only thing required to register on their website is the phone number and the PUK code for the phone (which was found on the large SIM card where you broke/removed the miniSIM, microSIM, or nanoSIM from this card). One of the things that I like about logging into the My Lycamobile website is that the website shows detailed call logs. These detailed call logs show outgoing phone numbers and dates/times/duration/costs of all calls. The incoming calls are shown as with your phone number in the "Called Number" field/column. The webpage also shows the current available balance on the SIM. The only information that isn't shown on the account webpage is the expiration date so one must manually calculate it based on the last billable charge in the "Call History."

One of the things that I like is the fact that it roams in Canada and allows for the use of free system "star" commands that allow users to check the balance by dialing *611# and also allows for the display of the phone number by dialing *613#. The only negative thing about the *611# command is that it (like the "My Lycamobile" website) doesn't display the expiration date.

The Pay As You Go service with Lycamobile includes call display and voice mail. The voice mail can be deactivated. I deactivated the voice mail on my account since I didn't want people leaving me voice mail messages.

During my usage of the Lycamobile prepaid SIM, I didn't have any issues with it. The only issue that I experienced was that sometimes when going from one country to another country, it will display an "Inactive SIM" message for a few minutes prior to acquiring/registering onto the network of the country. I corrected this by turning off the phone, waiting about 1 minute, and powering it back on again and waiting a few minutes.

Because I only use my Lycamobile US SIM when I (or my friends/family) visit the US and there is no expiration date shown on the phone or on the My Lycamobile website, the way that I keep track of the expiration date is to add 90 days to the date of my last usage and record the date in my agenda with a few reminders prior to that date. I then modify this date as it becomes necessary. According to the Lycamobile's website (section 3.4), a system generated SMS and/or e-mail is supposed to be sent to the user when the phone reaches 40 days and 60 days of inactivity but I have never received an SMS or e-mail to indicate this despite going over 60 days of inactivity with the phone.

The new terms and conditions mention that when topping up, any amount that remains from the top-up after 90 days is lost. You can find this information in section 4.6 on their terms of usage *HERE*. For me, this is a major issue and I can't really recommend Lycamobile to travelers because of this change in policy.

If you have any comments/questions regarding this blog entry, please don't hesitate to leave a comment in the comments section below. Please note that the comments are moderated and any comment containing a URL link (whether embedded or not) will automatically be flagged as spam and will not be posted.

MiniSIM to MicroSIM Cutter Usage/Review

One of the things that I encountered after purchasing my new LG Nexus-4 was that most of my SIM cards were the "normal" miniSIM and not the microSIM required in the newer phones such as the LG Nexus-4.

Where I used to work, they had a SIM cutter to cut miniSIMs into microSIMs. Because the SIM card that I was using in my Samsung Nexus-S was a T-Mobile miniSIM and I was going to use my LG Nexus-4 as an upgrade to my Samsung Nexus-S, I needed to either convert/cut my T-Mobile miniSIM into a microSIM or I needed to purchase/get a new T-Mobile microSIM and transfer my account from the miniSIM onto the microSIM. I didn't want to go through some of the problems that I had when I first purchased my T-Mobile SIM from the US and have it shipped to Canada so I opted to cut my T-Mobile miniSIM into a microSIM. Since I live in Canada, it also wasn't very convenient for me to purchase a new T-Mobile microSIM.

I wanted to ask a friend where I used to work to cut it for me but because of a scheduling issue, this was not possible during the period that I wanted to do this. I saw a MiniSIM to MicroSIM cutter on sale (under $5) and it was relatively inexpensive compared to how much it would cost me to purchase replacement microSIMs for all the different miniSIMs that I had so I decided to purchase it. Since I have a lot of active miniSIMs, I thought that having my own person MiniSIM to MicroSIM cutter would be useful and based on my purchase of price under $5 (average price is around $7).

I've seen/used the microSIM cutter where I used to work in order to test various work phones so I knew what it involved. I've also done research on the internet and seen various videos and tutorials on how to manually cut the miniSIM into a microSIM using a tracing tool and a knife so I know that a miniSIM could be used in a cellphone which required a microSIM as long as you were able to get the SIM card to microSIM size without damaging it. Rather than taking my chances at manually tracing/cutting my miniSIM, I decided to use a miniSIM to microSIM cutter.

The SIM cutter is basically roughly the size of a small stapler and functions similar to a paper hole puncher. The miniSIM card goes into a slot and you squeeze on the lever causing the SIM cutter to punch out a microSIM card sized piece that you are able to put into your microSIM card phone. Before punching out the microSIM, I placed my finger on the top of the SIM card while it was in the SIM cutter to make sure that it was firmly in place and didn't move while I squeezed the SIM cutter handle and cut the SIM card. After punching out the SIM card, I found that the new microSIM card piece was a bit rough along the edges where it was cut/punched out of the original card but the modified/cut SIM card fit into my LG Nexus-4 without any issues. Just as a precautionary measure, I decided to sand it along the top of the cut SIM card (not the side with the gold contacts) just to make sure that the SIM card wouldn't be lodged/stuck in the SIM slot of my phone.

I powered on my LG Nexus-4 with my recently cut SIM card and it powered on without any issues. It also was able to lock onto the cellular network without any issues as well. I did not try making/receiving a call unnecessarily because of the roaming charges but because the phone showed that it had locked onto the proper cellular network, I don't expect any issues with this.

If you have any comments/questions regarding this blog entry, please don't hesitate to leave a comment in the comments section below. Please note that the comments are moderated and an comment containing a URL link (whether embedded or not) will automatically be flagged as spam and will not be posted.

Unlocking GSM cellphone and Manufacturer's Warranty

I often get/see questions on some of the cellphone and electronic forums that I frequent about unlocking GSM cellphones and the warranty status of doing this. Although I don't believe that this is likely, the unlocking laws in other countries might be different and what my current blog entry discusses in my experience in Canada with unlocking a phone and warranty status that I've received or didn't receive after the unlocking process.

First of all, for those people not familiar with what I mean by unlocking GSM cellphones, I have to explain that a lot of GSM carriers or carriers that use SIM cards (in the case with HSPA carriers) do with their cellphones. They apply what is called a subsidy lock onto the phone so that no SIM card other than SIM cards authorized by the carrier can be inserted and used in the phone. Placing another carrier's SIM card into a subsidy locked phone will generally cause the phone or device to display an "Invalid SIM:" or "Wrong SIM" message. On certain phones, you will be prompted for a subsidy unlock code.

Carriers lock the phone because generally they give a discount for the phone and they don't want consumers to use a competitor's SIM card in a phone that they've sold you. Another reason that carriers subsidy lock the phone is because when consumers travel internationally with their cellphones, they want consumers to pay roaming and long distance charges which are often quite high.

There are basically three ways to unlock most GSM cellphones. The first way involves entering the subsidy unlock code into the phone. The second way involves using customized/hacked firmware on the phone which tricks the phone into thinking that it is unlocked. The third way involves using a SIM insert/attachment in your phone. I've seen a fourth method illustrated on some websites for certain phones that would involve hardware modifications to the phone which would definitely void the manufacturer's warranty since it involves opening up the phone so I won't discuss this method of unlocking cellphones since it definitely voids the warranty.

The subsidy unlock code is a unique code that is specific for the phone (i.e. based on the IMEI number of the phone). This means that the subsidy unlock codes for one phone won't be the same for a different phone (since the IMEI numbers are different for the phones) even if the manufacturer, make, and model are the same. The method of going into the subsidy unlock code entry screen is different for the different manufacturers. Unlocking your cellphone via subsidy unlock code does not cause you to lose the warranty. I'll  write more on this later in this blog entry. It is the preferred method for unlocking a phone since when the manufacturer/carrier releases an updated authorized firmware to correct specific problems to the phone or give the phone additional features, your phone will remain unlock if you apply their new firmware.

The customized/hacked firmware method to unlock your phone involves uploading customized firmware on the phone that was not approved/authorized by the manufacturer of the phone. This customized firmware tricks your phone into thinking that it is unlocked or it makes the phone not check the SIM to see if the SIM card matches the carrier. Because you are installing non-authorized software on the phone in order to trick your phone into thinking that it is unlocked, your phone warranty can be void. Another issue with this method of unlocking is that if the manufacturer/carrier releases an updated authorized firmware that fixes specific problems in the older firmware or gives additional features, if you decide to install this authorized firmware on your phone, your phone will re-lock to the original carrier.

The SIM insert/attachment method for unlocking the phone requires that you place your SIM card on top of a thin SIM-like device before inserting it into the phone. It tricks your phone into thinking that it is unlocked or that the SIM card matches the carrier for that phone. Some SIM insert/attachments require that you cut the SIM card and because you must place both the SIM and the SIM insert/attachment into the phone's SIM slot, it can possibly cause damage to the phone's SIM card reader which won't be covered under your phone's warranty. I don't see this happening unless you really have to force the SIM and the SIM insert/attachment into the phone's SIM slot or if your force the SIM and the SIM insert/attachment out of the SIM slot when removing it. Using this method to unlock a phone also adds additional thickness to the "SIM" and depending on the phone can make removing the SIM difficult. These SIM insert/attachments have another limitation in that they don't work with all phones nor will they work with all SIM cards. The good thing about these inserts is that generally your phone's warranty is still valid unless you damage the SIM slot/reader. The negative thing about these inserts is that they may be rendered inactive when/if you update your phone's firmware or if you change your SIM card to a different revision of the carrier's SIM card. This will cause your phone to go back to its original locked state even when properly using the insert. I actually damaged the SIM slot reader on one of my phones using this method but this was probably due to my own carelessness when trying to swap my SIM card. The warranty was already expired on this cellphone and even if it wasn't expired, since the damage was caused by me and no part of "normal use", it would not have been fixed under warranty. Now, this cellphone functions as a very small Android device instead of an Android cellphone since it will no longer accept/read any SIM cards. Of course, I can still use this device to make calls using VoIP (voice over IP) using a Wi-Fi network.

Why does using the subsidy unlock method not void the warranty? The reason for this is that the manufacturer placed this into the phone (and not some hacker) and the phone's native/default firmware was written to accept the subsidy unlock code. Also, in lot of countries around the world, certain carriers will provide the subsidy unlock code if certain conditions are met. These conditions range from fulfilling the length of the contract, travelling abroad for a prolong period of time, purchasing a phone at the unsubsidized price, or just paying the carrier to unlock it. Unfortunately, currently in Canada, there is no condition that warrants the carrier giving or selling the subsidy unlock code to you or unlocking your phone. Certain carriers will unlock the phone for you at a cost but as of today, this is an exception and not a rule.

The subsidy unlock code can be purchased from various retailers/sellers that specialize in unlocking phones. The price of the subsidy unlock code varies between sellers and varies between phones but I've seen them being sold for as low as $1 and for as high as $100. Certain carriers will also "double-lock" their phones so that you will need 2 codes to enter in order to fully unlock the phone.

If you don't know the subsidy unlock code number for your particular SIM based phone, if you try to randomly enter numbers or enter a subsidy code for another IMEI, the only negative impact that can happen is that your phone will permanently lock to the carrier and you will not be able to use the IMEI subsidy code unlock method to unlock your phone in the future. The number of times that an incorrect code can be entered varies between manufacturers and phone models but once this limit is reached, your phone will be permanently locked to the carrier. This is the only "damage" that can occur if you unlock your phone via the subsidy code method.

Some customer service representatives or salespeople for Canadian carriers will say that unlocking a cellphone will void your warranty but because it is just entering a code into a phone without modifying the underlying manufacturer's software/firmware on the phone, it can't void the warranty. More importantly, another reason why it can't void the warranty is because certain carriers (in other parts of the world) will unlock the phone for the consumer under certain conditions. It would be similar to Microsoft saying that the Xbox warranty is void because you happened to push certain buttons on the gamepad/joystick in a certain sequence or a cordless phone manufacturer to say that the warranty was void because you happened to dial a specific number.

With the customized/hacked firmware approach to unlocking phones, the manufacturer as well as the carrier will often times consider that the warranty is void since the software is not authorized/official. If the original firmware can't be placed back onto the phone prior to the warranty request a lot of carriers will not process the warranty request to the manufacturer. The manufacturer will also consider that the warranty is void since the software/firmware on the phone is not the same firmware that they produced for the phone (or gave to the carrier).

If you have any questions/comments regarding this blog entry, please don't hesitate to leave a comment in the comments section.

Registering a new Red Pocket Mobile Prepaid SIM

A few people asked me about my primary US SIM card so I thought that I would write another blog entry on Red Pocket Mobile but this time, I would concentrate on the purchasing & activation process.

As I mentioned in my first Red Pocket Mobile SIM blog entry, I purchased my Red Pocket Mobile SIM on Ebay. I later purchased a replacement SIM directly from the company in the US since I could no longer locate a seller on Ebay selling it. Both came from the US and both took roughly the same amount of time for it to arrive to me in Canada (~ 1 week). The one from the Ebay seller sent it via regular USPS (United States Postal Service) in a regular business sized envelope whereas the one which came directly from Red Pocket Mobile was also sent via USPS but the company used a more expensive USPS option of sending it. I don't remember what USPS option Red Pocket Mobile used to send their SIM card to me but it was in a big USPS international envelope. It took approximately 1 week for me to receive the SIM card directly from the company (shipped from California to the province of Quebec). From the private Ebay seller (located in New Jersey), it also took approximately 1 week for me to receive the Red Pocket Mobile SIM card.

You can also purchase the Red Pocket Mobile SIM card (as well as airtime) in some cities. I've seen it being sold in New York City (in Chinatown) but I don't recall the name of the business establishment.

The first thing to do before considering purchasing the Red Pocket Mobile SIM card or any carrier's phone service for that matter (either through a private seller or directly through the company) is to make sure that there is coverage in the area that you will be visiting (or in the area where you live).

As mentioned in my first blog post on Red Pocket Mobile, Red Pocket Mobile is an AT&T MVNO and they use the native AT&T GoPhone (Prepaid) network. Their coverage map is located *HERE* and you will have to make sure that you select "GoPhone" underneath the "Coverage Type" and in the "GoPhone Coverage Legend," you will have to make sure that "Pay As You Go" is selected.

As you can see, their US coverage is limited but if you will be using their SIM card within their coverage zone, Red Pocket Mobile is an option that I think deserves consideration especially for people who are from one of the places where Red Pocket Mobile only charges local rates to call (or if you plan on calling one or more of these places a lot). These places are Canada, the US, China, Hong Kong, and Singapore. Red Pocket Mobile also charges local rates to call Taiwan but this only applies to Taiwanese landlines. Calling Taiwanese cellphone numbers costs a premium. Red Pocket Mobile recently added a few other places where calling these places, local calling rates apply. These new places are 3 Mexican cities (Monterrey, Mexico City, and Guadalajara) and South Korea. Calling a South Korean phone number and paying the local rate appears to only work for landlines.

After receiving the SIM card, I activated my Red Pocket Mobile SIM card by going to their website. I filled in Red Pocket Mobile's online activation form and within an hour, I received my Red Pocket Mobile phone number as well as my PIN. The PIN is required to log onto Red Pocket Mobile's website (gives you access to the outgoing calls made to non-US phone numbers).

Since I live in Canada and I obviously didn't have a zip code, I used the hotel's zip code for the zip code field. There are only 3 mandatory fields on the form. The zip code is used to give you your Red Pocket Mobile phone number. The hotel that I was staying at was in Las Vegas so I received a phone number in the 702 area code. The only importance in the area code is how much it will cost people to reach you at the area code. With your Red Pocket Mobile phone/SIM, it costs you the same amount whether you have a Las Vegas area code and you call someone in New York City or whether you call someone in Las Vegas with your Las Vegas area code. As long as you have Red Pocket Mobile coverage, it will cost the same regardless of where you're physically located in the US when you make/receive the call to these places. The SIM ID# field is important since the company needs this in order to activate the particular SIM card. Finally, the e-mail address field is important since this is where you will receive the information (i.e. your newly created Red Pocket Mobile phone number, etc.) I didn't complete any of the other entries before submitting the form and it didn't cause any issues with my account.

When I purchase my Red Pocket Mobile SIM card, the company offered $10 initial airtime upon activation. I'm not sure if they still do this but it is my guess that it is still done.

After your Red Pocket Mobile SIM is activated, if you are in an area that Red Pocket Mobile has coverage, you should activate your voice mail. To do this, you will have to insert your Red Pocket Mobile SIM card into your unlocked GSM phone and call your Red Pocket Mobile phone number. From what I remember, the entire process takes less than 3 minutes so will cost around $0.45 in order to set it up. You cannot activate your voice mail if you do not have coverage since the system requires that you use your cellphone in order to activate it. Once your voice mail is activated, you can access it by calling your Red Pocket Mobile phone number from any phone.

After activating my Red Pocket Mobile SIM, since I thought that $10 worth of airtime wasn't sufficient for my needs, I purchased airtime via the company's website. I picked the option for them to e-mail me my ePIN refill code and I paid using PayPal. Once I received the code, because I was still in Canada, I couldn't enter this code directly into my phone because I didn't have Red Pocket Mobile coverage so I went to their website and submitted the refill ePIN code. The link to do do this is *HERE*. If I was already in the US and if I had Red Pocket Mobile coverage, the refill ePIN can also be entered directly on the handset.

If you are in an area that offers Red Pocket Mobile coverage, you can also check your airtime balance by calling *777#. If you're in an area without Red Pocket Mobile coverage, you can get your balance by calling their North American toll free number 1-888-993-3888 or by sending them an e-mail at cs@redpocketmobile.com. During regular business hours (Pacific Time), I find that e-mails are generally responded to within a few hours.

If you have any questions/comments regarding this blog entry, please don't hesitate to leave a comment in the comments section.

Red Pocket Mobile US GSM Prepaid Service Review

After not having access to a cellphone because of the high costs of roaming and long distance from Canadian cellphone service providers (can be as high as $2.00 per minute with one of my Canadian cellphone accounts), I thought about getting cellphone service whenever I traveled within the US. I was interested in getting a cellphone or cellphone service with a low yearly maintenance fees as well as low per minute rates within the US and low per minute rates to call Canada since over 50% of my calls whenever I'm in the US would be calling Canada. I also had a preference for a GSM service provider because I wanted to use my unlocked smartphone and I didn't want the added cost of having to purchase a new cellphone. In my search, I came across a company called Red Pocket Mobile.

I've been using my Red Pocket Mobile SIM for approximately 2 years after purchasing it from a seller on Ebay and all in all, I'm happy with the service. I will sometimes lend my Red Pocket Mobile SIM to friends and family when they go to the US.

Red Pocket Mobile is an AT&T MVNO that doesn't use the full AT&T coverage map but uses the native and more limited AT&T GoPhone (prepaid) coverage map. To view Red Pocket Mobile's coverage (and AT&T GoPhone's coverage map), go to AT&T Coverage Map Viewer and under the heading "Coverage Type," click on the "GoPhone." In the "GoPhone Coverage Legend" section, select "Pay As You Go Plan."

What I find attractive about RedPocket Mobile is that the basic airtime rate is a maximum of $0.15 per minute and a minimum of $0.10 per minute (based on airtime purchase). Red Pocket Mobile like most carriers round the calls up to the closest minute. For my airtime purchase of roughly $25 every 90 days, I have access to a US cellphone number with the very low rate of $0.15 per minute. This low basic per minute rate applies to calls made to US phone numbers as well as phones in Canada, China, Singapore, Hong Kong, Monterrey (Mexico), Guadalajara (Mexico), and Mexico City (Mexico). The low basic per minute rate also applies to landlines in Taiwan and South Korea (calling cellphone numbers in both of these countries carries an extra surcharge).  Calling other countries/cities not listed above carry a long distance surcharge. Red Pocket Mobile uses direct dialing in order to get the low basic rate to call the above non-US countries. Some other wireless carriers such as O2 Wireless Service require dialing a US number similar to a calling card number in order to benefit from their low basic rates (before connecting to the long distance number). O2 Wireless allows for calling more countries at local rates but there was something in the terms of usage for O2 Wireless that didn't appeal to me based on my usage.

Red Pocket Mobile includes call display, call waiting, voice mail, and SMS services. The charge for incoming as well as outgoing SMS is $0.10 per text message regardless of the destination. I didn't like the idea of paying for incoming SMS that I had no control over where some of the SMS might be spam so I had Red Pocket Mobile disable SMS on my account. Unlike T-Mobile prepaid, Red Pocket Mobile is able to disable SMS on your account. Similar to T-Mobile prepaid, call forwarding is not part of Red Pocket Mobile's service and neither is wireless data. Unlike in Canada (at least with Rogers), there is no charge if someone leaves you a voice mail message at your Red Pocket Mobile number. However, there is a charge to listen to your voice mail messages from your phone.

With Red Pocket Mobile, when dialing a non-US number, there will be a short pause and then a message will say "Thank you. Connecting your call" before attempting to connect to the non-US number. This "connecting your call" message adds approximately 5 seconds to the call in the case that the call is actually completed. You are billed a minimum of 1 minute for the call when calling a non-US number. These non-US numbers are recorded on their website when you log into your account. If the call is not completed, there is no charge for the call. A completed call is any call that is answered or goes to voice mail. Depending on certain redirection (forwarding) options, a call will also be considered as being completed by Red Pocket Mobile if you call such a number (for example calling a Google Voice number will count as a completed call regardless of whether the person picks up the phone or not).

In the places that I've used my Red Pocket Mobile SIM with my quad band GSM phone, I find that the reception is quite good. I've used it in Washington DC, New York City, Las Vegas, Flagstaff, Atlantic City, and Philadelphia as well as at the Quebec Lacolle border crossing into the US. I did notice that in some casinos in Las Vegas, I would have no reception/coverage but once I left the casino floor, the signal bars on my cellphone would go up to the maximum level. When calling, I would sometimes get what appeared to be noise/static and the call would not complete. After the "connecting your call" message, I would get this "static/noise" and I would be forced to manually hang-up/disconnect the call. This caused me to have to make the call twice (being billed for the call that didn't appear to go through and the 2nd call). I don't have the exact figure on this but during my trip to New York City, this happened less than 5% of the time (where I would get static/noise and have to hang up). However, once the call was actually completed, there were no problems with noise or sound quality. The problem that I experienced in New York City might have just been because of the congestion problem with AT&T's network.

Red Pocket Mobile's website advertises 24 hour phone support but they don't offer 24 hour support (at least not in English). I had an issue with my account in the evening on a Saturday and I had to wait until 1pm on Sunday in order to get a customer service representative on the phone (their hours are based of Pacific Time and they start at 10am on Sunday according to their timezone). Generally when I have a question or non-urgent request because of possible language issues (since the company caters to a Chinese clientele), I deal with the company via e-mail which is generally responded to within an hour during regular business hours.

For personal reasons, I deactivated voice mail on my Red Pocket Mobile account. However, when I did have voice mail on my Red Pocket Mobile account, I noticed that their voice mail system had more advanced features than what I'm used to in Canada. For example, it can be set up so that if someone leaves you a voice mail message, the voice mail system will call you at another phone number to let you know about the voice mail. The voice mail system can also be set so that if you call from your Red Pocket Mobile SIM, you are not prompted for a voice mail PIN in order to access your voice mail messages.

An important thing to note is that in order to use/activate your voice mail for the first time, you must call yourself at least once from your Red Pocket mobile phone. It isn't possible to activate your Red Pocket Mobile message initially from using another phone. Since I received my Red Pocket Mobile SIM while I was in Canada, I wasn't able to activate the voice mail until I went to the US since Red Pocket Mobile does not offer any international roaming capabilities. You won't be able to activate your cellphone's voice mail box if you leave the United States (or if you're in the United States but don't have AT&T GoPhone coverage). After you call yourself from your Red Pocket mobile phone for the first time, you are walked through the process of setting up your voice mail box. I believe that you are billed airtime for this process, however, the entire process took under 2 minutes so at most it will only cost $0.30. Once your voice mail box is set up, you can then pick up your voice mail messages from any phone by calling your Red Pocket Mobile cell number, waiting for it to go to voice mail, and pressing "*" during the message.

When dialing any number in Canada and the US, I found that the phone requires the international prefix of "1" before the actual phone number. This doesn't make a difference in terms of charges but it just causes some issues dialing some of the contacts in my smartphone where I haven't entered the "1" before their area code.

Just like with most prepaid phones that I'm familiar with, Red Pocket Mobile offers rollover minutes as long as you add your airtime prior to the balance expiration date.

As mentioned above, Red Pocket Mobile does not allow for international roaming so if you leave the US coverage area, you will not only not have access to make/receive calls but you will also not be able to obtain your balance by dialing *777# and hitting [SEND] from your Red Pocket Mobile phone. This isn't really an issue since I've found that it is easy to obtain your balance by sending an e-mail to Red Pocket Mobile's customer service.

I have another blog entry (which concentrates on the activation/purchasing process) about Red Pocket Mobile *HERE*.

If you have any questions/comments regarding my review on Red Pocket Mobile's US GSM Prepaid Service, please don't hesitate to leave a comment in the comments section.

T-Mobile Prepaid Cellphone Service Review

I have a few US phone numbers (two are cellphone numbers) so I thought that I would review T-Mobile USA's prepaid phone service.

The first thing to do before getting a prepaid local phone (in this case a US SIM) is to check the coverage map for the carrier. Regardless of the per minute rate, if the carrier does not offer coverage or has very weak coverage in the city that you will be visiting (or the city that you will be using the prepaid phone in), you should not get a prepaid phone from that carrier whether the carrier is CDMA or GSM.

I'm a fan of GSM because I can continue to use my existing unlocked GSM phone by simply using the GSM carrier's SIM card. Most GSM companies will allow customers to use phones that aren't sold by them. There are some exceptions like Net10 (in the US) so it pays to do your homework before purchasing a carrier's prepaid SIM card.

T-Mobile Prepaid is actually my secondary US SIM card. I actually bought T-Mobile prepaid because with my primary US SIM card. The reason that I purchased it was because my primary US SIM card was an AT&T MVNO and at the time, AT&T's native coverage did not include Vermont. I had gone to Burlington (VT) and my primary US SIM card didn't have any coverage.

The first thing to note about T-Mobile prepaid is that in order to activate a T-Mobile SIM card on prepaid, you must have an activation code. The activation code is included with prepaid kits but is not included in any postpaid option. The activation code also can't be purchased from T-Mobile without purchasing a T-Mobile prepaid activation kit or a T-Mobile prepaid phone with activation kit. If you purchase a brand new T-Mobile SIM card, you won't be able to activate it with T-Mobile prepaid. You can only use this SIM card as a replacement for your T-Mobile prepaid/postpaid account or you can use it to sign up for a postpaid plan. Postpaid plans aren't an option for people who don't live in the US and/or don't have a good credit rating in the US.

T-Mobile has two main prepaid plans (for all phones), one prepaid plan for SideKicks, and one what I term "hybrid" prepaid plan. The two main prepaid plans are the "Pay by the Day" plan and the "Pay As You Go" plan. Both plans don't offer data except for something extremely limited call T-Zones which is accessible on some phones.

In this blog entry, I will only write about the "Pay By the Day" plan and the "Pay As You Go" plan since I've tried both of these plans with my T-Mobile prepaid SIM card.

The "Pay By the Day" plan allows for unlimited nationwide calling from 7pm to 7am. It also allows unlimited calls to any T-Mobile number. All other nationwide calls outside of the 7pm to 7am time period are charged $0.10 per minute. There is a daily charge of $1 per day for every day that the phone is used. On days that the phone is not used, there is no charge.

The "Pay As You Go" plan offered staggered per minute rates for nationwide usage which range from approximately $0.33 per minute downto $0.10 per minute. The staggered per minute rate depends on the airtime top-up purchase. The lower the airtime top-up, the higher the per minute rate. The lowest airtime purchase available is $10 and the highest airtime purchase is $100. For any purchase under $100, the expiry date is 90 days. The expiry date is not cumulative. By this I mean that if the current expiry date is 7 days when you refill (top up) your account and you purchase airtime that offers a 90 day expiry, you will get 90 days and not 97 days. For a purchase of $100, you not only get the preferential per minute rate of $0.10 per minute for nationwide usage, you also get the benefit of a 365 day expiry and something called "Gold Rewards."

"Gold Rewards" is a benefit that allows any airtime purchase (top up) to have an expiry date of 365 days. It also allows for an extra 15% more minutes for all airtime purchases under $100. It can be obtained only on the "Pay As You Go" plan and not on the "Pay By the Day" plan. However, once it is obtained and you switch from "Pay As You Go" to "Pay By the Day", if you were ever to switch back to "Pay As You Go", you will benefit from "Gold Rewards" again. Customers obtain "Gold Rewards" after they've exceeded $100 in total airtime since the life of the account. They can either do this by purchasing low airtime top-up amounts until they reach $100 (subsequent purchase will qualify for Gold Reward benefits) or they can instantaneously purchase a $100 airtime top-up (immediate access to Gold Rewards).

T-Mobile prepaid charges long distance to call outside of the US. To call Canada, it is an extra $0.50 per minute added to the per minute rate which will give an effective rate of approximately $0.88 per minute downto $0.60 per minute. T-Mobile prepaid also offers roaming in both Canada and Mexico (but no other countries). The per minute rate to use the phone in Canada is $0.69 per minute while in Mexico, it is $1.49 per minute.

T-Mobile prepaid charges for incoming SMS and outgoing SMS. They don't offer any SMS packages nor do they allow for SMS to be disabled on the account. They also don't offer call forwarding and if the voice mail is disabled, the caller will go to the voice mail system without an option of leaving a message. If the caller is paying for the call, it will be interpreted as if the call was completed and he/she will be charged for the call (ex: calling from a payphone/cellphone). When in Canada, I've sometimes gotten charged $0.69 for calls to my T-Mobile number that I don't pick up and go to my non-existent voice mail box while other times, I don't get charged.

Unlike with Canadian prepaid, there is no 911 chargs and no other monthly charges for T-Mobile prepaid.

Some useful T-Mobile prepaid free short codes:

• #NUM# or #686# - Displays phone number of current SIM
• #999# - Prepaid balance.
• *#06# - Display IMEI of phone
• *ADD or *233 - Refill Account Airtime
  

A few of the things that I don't like about T-Mobile prepaid:

• They don't offer any form of "true" data (even pay per use)
• They  don't offer call forwarding
• They don't allow for the disabling of SMS
• They don't offer any online means to track/monitor your cellphone usage/charges
• They charge an extra $0.50 per minute to call Canada.

A few things that I like about T-Mobile prepaid:

• Gold Rewards expiry date policy
• They allow roaming in Canada and Mexico

Since I've already achieved "Gold Reward" status, I currently keep my T-Mobile prepaid account active by topping up my account with a $10 airtime purchase every < 365 days. Because of my $10 top-ups, my per minute rate however is now not $0.10 per minute but it is less than $0.33 per minute (since I had airtime remaining from my initial $100 airtime purchase).

T-Mobile prepaid (Pay As You Go) makes a good choice for someone who visits the US occasionally and does not want a high cost to maintain/keep the account. After the first $100, as mentioned above, it will only take $10 per year to keep the prepaid account. The airtime balance will carry forward as long as the airtime top-up is done before the expiry date. Granted, the per minute rate after a few years will approach $0.33 per minute when this is done but for Canadians, $0.33 per minute to use a phone in the US is often times a lot cheaper than the roaming rates that some Canadian (or non-US) carriers will charge when using the phone in the US. For example, with Rogers prepaid, the charge to use the phone in the US is an incredible $2 per minute!

If you have any questions/comments regarding my review on T-Mobile prepaid, please don't hesitate to leave a comment in the comments section.