Laptop Air cards / 3G wireless INTERNATIONAL - Which provider is the best?
 

And I specifically need the service to work in NORWAY as Cingular/ATT does NOT work (experienced that first hand).

T-Mobile?
Sprint?
Verizon?

WHO KNOWS??!?!?!!!

Ill bump this one until I get an answer. :thumbsup

Anyone traveling here?

You need a GSM service provider in Europe, which is typically Netcom in Norway.

T-Mobile has good coverage all over Europe at a reasonable price, yet, you may have to pay roaming charges outside of Germany. It does work EVERYWHERE, it is amazing, I got coverage all the way up in the Swiss Alps. You can get a prepaid mobile phone account with data plan with T-Mobile in Germany at one of their airport stores (T-Punkt) and use it all over the EU. If you own a triband GSM phone just get the card.

That's what I used to do. Now I am only using their cellphone service and try to skimp on expensive data roaming. I always try to get a hotel room with wireless Internet, which is faster and cheaper.

AT&T for GSM

Here is the link to their prepaid cards.

http://www.t-mobile.de/xtra/0,13361,18518-_,00.html

You can get an account at the airport and buy additional cards at stationaries , gas stations, etc. as needed. They need to be activated over the phone. You pau 29 euro cents per minute and incoming calls are free.

Some of AT&T's earlier 3G cards only had the 3G frequency they use domestically (850/1900.) The later 3G cards are mostly tri-band for using 3G internationally.

On GSM world it shows Netcom and Telenor Mobil use 2100 mhz in Norway.

On ATT.com it shows the Sierra USB 881 with:
# Tri-band HSPA - 850/1900/2100 MHz
# Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE - 850/900/1800/1900 MHz

Per Verizon's website you have to use two cards. A CDMA Pc card for US and a GSM based card for international.

http://support.vzw.com/faqs/Internat...al_access.html

It does look like Netcom AS has their UMTS coverage to mostly the Oslo area. Telenor has some other areas, but their UMTS is certainly not extensive.

Yeah, they work, but you pay between $0.99 - $ 1.99 per minute, plus, you pay for incoming calls. If you own a tri-band GSM phone and get the a prepaid card there you pay only a fraction, and incoming is free. You can always pop your US-GSM card back in if you run out of prepaid minutes.

This seems to be the best course of action actually - just get an account there and pay their monthly fees (binding 12 months) - Researched a bit and found both Netcom and Telenor does this. Only cost about $300 + for a year + overages.

ATT services (Aircard) is NOT supported in Norway - I experienced that firsthand and wasted $800 for their services with no usage other than a tiny tad here in the US. Oh well.

But Telenor and Netcom seems to be the best. Wonder if they RENT their stuff out for a month or two while I am there...

Thanks guys.

You remember what card you used? A lot of the early (like last year..) ATT cards did NOT have 2100 mhz, but the recent ones do. On ATT.com it shows they have a roaming agreement with Telenor and Netcom.

No permanent plan, I get a prepaid card for 20 Euros and get a new one if I run low on minutes. If people call me from the US it's free for me anyway, if I call them I use Skype, so the cards last long. If you want a 12 month contract you need a street address and a checking account, which, in exchange, means that you have to be registered. I am not sure about Norway, but in most European countries it's a catch 22 thing for foreigners:

-without a visa no address registration
-without a street address no checking account
-without an account no cell phone.

If you don't like prepaid or need to keep your US phone # you can always get a US T-Mobile plan with a triband phone (free with a 12 month US plan) and use that all over Europe including Norway, BUT you'll be paying roaming charges of $.0.99 per minute incoming and outgoing. That's the second best thing.

http://www.t-mobile.com/Internationa..._RoamWorldwide

It does work as it uses T-Mobile's European network.

Do you have a URL for that they do have an agreement with Telenor and Netcom DATA ROAMING? I called them and they said they do not :( I use the Sierra Wireless Aircard 875U and it does NOT work there for sure.

Jenny S. - I really dont care about the money part as long as I can sit by the ocean in the southern part of Norway and work hehe

As for having to be a Norwegian, well, I am and I do have accounts there as well - only thing is I live in the US (12 years now) so I wont be using the service much while there. Hmmm, I wonder - I do have a Norwegian cell phone w/prepaid card. Maybe I can just tack it onto there? I need to check that.

If you don't care about the cost just get a US T-Mobile plan with tri-band pone and eat the 0.99 cents. It works EVERYWHERE where coverage is, from Portugal to Norway.

What's up Oy :)

http://www.novatelwireless.com/produ...lin-xu870.html

take a look here .. this is the card you need in my opinion. You can get a sim card wherever you travel and use the service.


http://www.novatelwireless.com/about...tus/index.html

Contact these guys and find out what they can do for you.

you can purchase an unlocked one off ebay for 218 dollars.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Unlocked-XU870-N...cmdZViewI tem



:2 cents:

T-Mobile will make you broke. Get a card there and use their service.

Thanks! Checking it out!

:thumbsup