It's all GSM, in some way it might be easier with a 5S in such countries since more people may have phones which still use Micro SIM cards. You said you are going to South Africa, will you also go to other countries? I think Fanus might be better equipped to make statements about the risk of theft and so on. I would call T-Mobile or go to one of their stores, they can probably tell you if the phone is locked to them, there is a good chance it is, but they can unlock it for you. I'll CC Fanus on this email in case he doesn't see it on the list and he can reply to you, maybe direct is the way to go unless others are interested in this discussion.
Regards, Sieghard -----Original Message----- From: viphone@googlegroups.com [mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Cristóbal Sent: Friday, December 15, 2017 5:37 PM To: viphone@googlegroups.com Subject: RE: Travel abroad I was about to mention to check whether you had a CDMA or GSM phone, but since you said T-Mobile... Pretty much the entire world uses GSM, but I think a few Caribbean and Asian countries and the US use CDMA, but truth be told, I have no idea about Africa. You may want to check on that as well to be sure. -----Original Message----- From: viphone@googlegroups.com [mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Marilyn Bland Sent: Friday, December 15, 2017 5:21 PM To: viphone@googlegroups.com Subject: RE: Travel abroad Sieghard, I have a 5S and am with T-Mobile. I think I am the only one still with a 5S. Marilyn -----Original Message----- From: viphone@googlegroups.com [mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Sieghard Weitzel Sent: Friday, December 15, 2017 7:14 PM To: viphone@googlegroups.com Subject: RE: Travel abroad Who is your carrier here and when did you get your phone? I assume you are in the US? If so then as far as I know only Verizon phones are unlocked. Easiest way to find out for sure is if you have a friend or family member who has a phone with the same size SIM (most likely a Nano SIM unless you are still on an iPhone 5S which I believe had a Micro SIM and if said person uses a different provider. Just take out your SIM and put in his or her SIM, if you get service on their carrier your phone is unlocked. OK, I should say most likely unlocked, if they use an MVNO (mobile virtual network operator) who works on the same network as the main carriers than it is possible or likely that a locked aT&T phone would work with a SIM from an MVNO using the AT&T network. But if you are with AT&T and a friend is with T-Mobile or Verizon and their SIM works in your phone then it's definitely unlocked. Take care, Sieghard -----Original Message----- From: viphone@googlegroups.com [mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Marilyn Bland Sent: Friday, December 15, 2017 5:08 PM To: viphone@googlegroups.com Subject: RE: Travel abroad Hello Sieghard, I will be going to South Africa too. Sorry if this is a dumb question, but how do I know if my phone is locked or unlocked? What do I need to do to unlock it? Thanks. Marilyn -----Original Message----- From: viphone@googlegroups.com [mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Sieghard Weitzel Sent: Friday, December 15, 2017 7:02 PM To: viphone@googlegroups.com Subject: RE: Travel abroad Hi Marilyn, What african country or countries will you be visiting? Here some general advice from somebody who has travelled quite a lot. I haven't been to Africa, but I have been to the Philippines quite a lot because my wife is from there and also to Thailand and Laos and in travelling there I have been through South Korea, China, Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore. 1. Insure your phone against theft, you should ask your home insurance, I could add my phone with a $100 deductable for a mere $35 or so a year and that covers loss, theft and damage. 2. Keep your phone out of sight in public as much as possible. Again, it may depend a bit on where you are going, but if you do go to countries where a lot of people are relatively poor an iPhone is a huge prize/incentive for theft. 3. As for using your phone, if it is unlocked you can buy a local SIM in whatever country you go to and put it into your phone. This will give you a local number and access to whatever prepaid plans are available. You probably will have more use for data than for calling and SMS so try to find a plan which gives you as much data as possible. 4. Don't expect very fast data speeds or even the greatest coverage, we take a lot for granted in our highly developed countries. If you are going to South Africa maybe Fanus can chime in and give you some advice as to which carriers might have the best prepaid plans. Best regards, Sieghard -----Original Message----- From: viphone@googlegroups.com [mailto:viphone@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Marilyn Bland Sent: Friday, December 15, 2017 4:20 PM To: viphone@googlegroups.com Subject: RE: Travel abroad Hello everyone, I will be travelling from the US to Africa soon. Will I be able to use my iphone there? What will I have to do to have it function there as it does here? Thanks for any help on this. Marilyn -- The following information is important for all members of the V iPhone list. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. Your V iPhone list moderator is Mark Taylor. Mark can be reached at: mk...@ucla.edu. Your list owner is Cara Quinn - you can reach Cara at caraqu...@caraquinn.com The archives for this list can be searched at: http://www.mail-archive.com/viphone@googlegroups.com/ --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "VIPhone" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to viphone+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to viphone@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/viphone. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- The following information is important for all members of the V iPhone list. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. Your V iPhone list moderator is Mark Taylor. Mark can be reached at: mk...@ucla.edu. Your list owner is Cara Quinn - you can reach Cara at caraqu...@caraquinn.com The archives for this list can be searched at: http://www.mail-archive.com/viphone@googlegroups.com/ --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "VIPhone" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to viphone+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to viphone@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/viphone. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- The following information is important for all members of the V iPhone list. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. Your V iPhone list moderator is Mark Taylor. Mark can be reached at: mk...@ucla.edu. Your list owner is Cara Quinn - you can reach Cara at caraqu...@caraquinn.com The archives for this list can be searched at: http://www.mail-archive.com/viphone@googlegroups.com/ --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "VIPhone" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to viphone+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to viphone@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/viphone. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- The following information is important for all members of the V iPhone list. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. Your V iPhone list moderator is Mark Taylor. Mark can be reached at: mk...@ucla.edu. Your list owner is Cara Quinn - you can reach Cara at caraqu...@caraquinn.com The archives for this list can be searched at: http://www.mail-archive.com/viphone@googlegroups.com/ --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "VIPhone" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to viphone+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to viphone@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/viphone. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- The following information is important for all members of the V iPhone list. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. Your V iPhone list moderator is Mark Taylor. Mark can be reached at: mk...@ucla.edu. Your list owner is Cara Quinn - you can reach Cara at caraqu...@caraquinn.com The archives for this list can be searched at: http://www.mail-archive.com/viphone@googlegroups.com/ --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "VIPhone" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to viphone+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to viphone@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/viphone. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- The following information is important for all members of the V iPhone list. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. Your V iPhone list moderator is Mark Taylor. Mark can be reached at: mk...@ucla.edu. Your list owner is Cara Quinn - you can reach Cara at caraqu...@caraquinn.com The archives for this list can be searched at: http://www.mail-archive.com/viphone@googlegroups.com/ --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "VIPhone" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to viphone+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to viphone@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/viphone. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- The following information is important for all members of the V iPhone list. If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. Your V iPhone list moderator is Mark Taylor. Mark can be reached at: mk...@ucla.edu. Your list owner is Cara Quinn - you can reach Cara at caraqu...@caraquinn.com The archives for this list can be searched at: http://www.mail-archive.com/viphone@googlegroups.com/ --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "VIPhone" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to viphone+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to viphone@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/viphone. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.