Making some headlines at gizmodo today is an article today about a tipster who learned the hard way that traveling overseas with the G1 isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. The underlying issue revolves around the fact that no matter how hard you try, no matter what you do or how hard you try, the G1 always accesses a data network. Apparently the aptly titled, “data roaming features” off feature isn’t really supposed to work like its understood it would. Not to mention, turning off the 3G and data sync.
So said user ended up with $102.85 in overages and this having called in to T-mobile BEFORE his trip to the UK to inquire about such things as international roaming with his G1. The T-mobile rep assured him that no such charges would take place should he not access the internet while overseas. Sure enough, upon returning the states and receiving the bill, this was not the case. A second phone to call T-mobile resulted in a little more truth: while in the UK he was charged roughly $0.15 for every 3 to 7 minutes on average, not all of it from calls and texts… as he put it, it was “almost as if the phone is pinging” the network while away.
So the story gets summed up with some incredible advice from T-mobile, leave the phone at home in the good ole US of A. That’s advice just leaves me speechless…
I am sorry but anyone who has a little bit of their brain functioning will simply buy a prepaid GSM card and plug it into their unlocked G1 phone. I am from Europe and I travel there frequently. The cheapest way to make calls from a cell phone is simply to buy a prepaid SIM card at ANY gas station, news stand, kiosk or grocery store.
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What about those advertisments I have seen where you can get a tempory sim card for a certain price for a certain amount of days while overseas. Could you use you G1 with that?
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Sorry Vassiallalov I did not see your post there. Duh as yours was better than mine anyway so disregard mine folks and read Vassiallov’s post.
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vasillalov that is true but sometimes you want to keep receiving calls on your own number. That is not brainless.
What is brainless is a phone that runs up charges without being used.
What is brainless is a provider that tells you not to take your phone overseas!!!
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Slow news day?
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@Benji,
Not really my friend, but since everyone else was covering it, why not us.
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another reason not to buy it,pinging the network?-what the ****?!
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As im sure most of you know, the G1 is a DATA device. TMobile charges $15 per mb of data transfered while roaming. As the G1 functions off of the Android server it is required to have a data package on the account to use the phone. The reason for this that T-mobile is constantly sending updates for the G1 features we all love so much. Email, Google maps, etc…This was the idea behind the initial design anyways was to have all these features available in top form at all times. So plain in simple all the things you love about the G1 in america continue to function in other countries as designed. If you dont like this, instead of getting upset at T-mobile for taking your G1 DATA device to another country and using there data services, call tmobile and ask to make a recomendation using the “voice of the customer” to have a function to truly cancel all data serivces while roaming. keep in mind this also disables almost all of the phones great features.
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what an idiot. Always take ur sim card out, or change bearer settings.
@Benji
No it has not been a slow day(maybe for t-mobile)
Nokia world 2008 is the news. And they just put google, rim, apple, gizmodo to shame coming str8 out of the CEO an vice of nokia. Good Job. They dont waste their time with small time talk. They do it BIG.
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vasillalov is right people are dumb and dont blame the best phone out there, and Nokia got symbian!!! wooowww they are the only one’s that want it, its like wanting a geo
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T mobile is great at telling you whatever your question is works this way then after you get higher bill tells you no it works this way. Has happened to me multiple times! (not with overseas issues but other issues) T Mobile needs to improve something this happens to much!
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@santa
Whata *** name.
Nokia officialys symbian.
It let just start naming the manufactures that use symbian: Sony Ericsson, Motorla, LG, Samsung, Fujitsu, Sharp, Toshiba (Im not too sure about the last 2).
Like a geo, that may be what u drive. Learn before you talk.
I just hate idiots who are too quick to speak. Do u call owning 40% of the smartphone market a geo?
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If You travel to another country:
1) use SIM and number from this country!
2) You want to stay in touch with friends and family in USA, use Skype! There is nice little program called iSkoot, that works well with Skype, so you pay ONLY local charges in the country you travel.
3) If you are US resident you can have regular 10 digit phone number like +1(212) 555-1212 from skype so your friends and family in US can call you abroad for the local rate, that of cours you must have either Skype or iSkoot running on your phone or computer.
P.S. Writing from personal experience, since I make 2-3 short term trips to Europe every month (business you know)
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@Travis
Where did u get this from, seriesly WHERE?
Dont miss lead the public.
Everyone u dont need a G1 data plan for ur updates. Any data connection will due, be it wi fi, 3G, EDGE. First off, ur device can recognize where u are (for wi fi) not to sure about the tmobile 3G. Second the device is registered internally to its region, so say a G1 for the UK does not get an update as the one for the states, no matter what ur connection, an vica versa. So if exchanged sim cards with someone on the UK G1, ill still get my updates on a US G1.
“Cancel all ur support features”
Stop praising the carriers. Its because of ppl like u we still are behind a walked garden.
Get with todays program an learn what todays program, carriers should be data pipes.
No ur features are not carrier dependent, it is data dependent….unless ur on at&t.
That one major point of the G1, i dont even own the device an im aware of, as the should also.
Thankfully T-Mobile is the most open GSM carrier in the United States of America.
Its ppl like us who should continue this demand and not settle for less. Dont ever think they are doing u a favor, or just turn around an bend down for them.
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the new nokia looks just like a freakin htc tilt, thely stole that design and it has a lame 3 row keyboard with a space bar on the rught side and a resistive touch screen, for me thats not much news at all… and the fact that no US carrier will pick it up like just other nokia N series phones…
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@justinhub2003
Nokia stole the design of the htc tilt(its american name). U know u woulda have made a point………thats if u knew its original design for a mobile device was by sony ericsson on the Experia X1. So ill just consider the rest of ur talk poorly backed…..
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So this cannot happen in the us correct? Because I think I roam sometimes at werk and still us data. Will they be charging me extra??
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Thanks for the warning, I’m travelling to Europe for Xmas and was planning on taking my G1, I guess I’ll put the sim back into a non 3G phone
Roaming charges are annoying when you arrive and see your provider is still Tmobile
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Tmobile lies…reps apparently attend all different training classes as they all have different information. Probably would be best to search through their help section and find answers, at least it’s in writing.
Sooooooo how about some blackberry news??? Anyone?
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Sorry, but I find the T-Mobile reps just about as useless as can be when it comes to trying to resolve issues. This is just another prime example of said uselessness.
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My G1 works just fine without a data plan, he should have used a sim without a data plan.
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wow,I have been away for a couple of weeks and every one got really mean…since when did people start using tmonews to act like a really big ***?
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@vasillalov, how can anybody in US get an (officially) unlocked phone yet?
isn’t there something like a 3 month period before tmobile sends an unlock code? and G1 hasn’t been out that long.
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I agree. Everyone has a device that they like. That does not mean it is the best and everyone else should like it too. What works for some may not work for others. It does not mean it is bad or wrong. We are all adults so let’s act like we are adults.
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Next time you talk to a rep about something like this, get their name and rep id#, make sure they note what they’ve told you, and write it down yourself. A rep could give you horrible info, but as long as its in your notes, it has to be honored.
@wagonis – you’re probably one of those people who waits until they get their bill to call in about overage and then get pissed when the reps can’t fix it, because your cycle ended before you called in. If you don’t like tmo, drop your contact, go with a different provider, and don’t post at TMOnews.
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As well, there is no need to call someone an idiot just because you know something that they do not. Come on guys….can’t we all just get along? Lol
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Ya know, I would love to get access to this customer’s account and look at it. International data is $15.00 a MB, so if he was charged over $102.00, that’s a whole lot of data usage…something just doesn’t sound right. If he turned off 3G, data roaming, and data sync, I don’t see how it can continue to access the internet. And honestly, I don’t see why this customer couldn’t get a credit for this. It sounds like he did all that he should have to prevent this, and customer care wouldn’t have been aware of any problems like this. It sounds like we need to step up, own this problem, and take the customer’s side and credit them.
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get G1 unlocked, and get internet settings from local carrier is not that hard
do a little homework can save you beaucoup of bucks, don’t forget G1 will work with most of European/Asian 3G networks
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You guys are missing another point, which is why does T-Mobile always find a way to get bad publicity?
Articles like this (together with the initial data cap put on the G1, and many other examples) are the reason why some people will never consider T-Mobile as their cellular carrier.
Having said that, I did have bad experience with the customer service myself, I think they are going way down in rating.
Going back to the issue, if the customer turned off all possible data on the G1 he should not be charged a penny.
We, as T-mobile customers, have to ’stick together’ !!!!
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I was in Toronto for several days. I just took out the sim card of my G1. I got wifi almost everywhere I went. And with Iskoot you can totally make your calls. AND, if you get YOUMAIL, you can get you voicemail and missed called online.. you can even your your messages online.
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@snowy:
who made the sony Erricson X1? thats right HTC did, and the HTC Kaiser (i beleive thats what its called, att calls it the Tilt) resembles the new nokia more than the X1 does, but what ever.. im just saying the worlds all excited about this nokia that looks very familiar too an HTC device (x1 and Tilt), and the fact that they put a Resistive touch screen on it? what the hell? i mean if your use a touch screen and you also want to compete with the likes of the g1, Iphone and storm, then you have to get a capsicitive screen (totally butchered that word), and at least a 4 or 5 keyboard, with a normal layout, not a spacebar on the left… i think this nokia phone will be good and stuff but its the keyboard that held me back on the N-96 and N-95, they have great features but lamo keyboards. they probably wont sell 20,000 in the US, especially if they dont get a carrier to pick it up..
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@rNdy – Wow, very opinionated of someone you don’t know. I never had an issue with my bill, I pay it on time and have an unlimited plan, so there can never be any surprise charges for me to worry about…I guess unlike you.
As far as posting on this site, I believe I can leave my opinion of T-Mobile on a T-Mobile theme site, regardless if it’s in a positive note or negative. So I’ll tell you what Nrdy, I’ll post here as much as I want, whenever I want, and I may just complain every time just to see your reaction…now that I know this gets to you.
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The point of this article is all twisted by the comments.
The customer called and spoke to a T-mo rep PRIOR to leaving the country. It’s not some yokel idiot with the fun new touch-thing phone… it was a guy who was fully aware of the possibility and called to find out first and was told it wouldn’t happen.
Then it did.
The other point was… allegedly he (or she) specifically was told to NOT access data. So, assuming that they didn’t load the browser, check email, the App store, etc., then what data is this phone using that the customer is held liable for? So in other words, T-mobile and this article is saying we have to PAY for OTA updates. That’s garbage. You wouldn’t accept it if T-mobile sent you service messages via text and counted it towards your monthly texts, right?
Oddly enough… when I went to Europe, I had an MDA and turned on international roaming and it never worked.
If all my friends and family weren’t on T-mobile, I probably wouldn’t stay with them.
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iPhones do the same thing, and so do some other devices. Unfortunately this isn’t anything T-Mobile specific or even a new issue.
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Just like the IPhone, the G1 constantly checks the internet…. Hence the data phone…. DUHHHH. If you travel outside the US, you will be charged, no matter who you are with and no matter what you do. After all these companies are US companies, NOT international. Another DUHHHH, so if you leave the country and take your phone, you can expect to pay extra for the phone. So stop whining about it and take responsibility for your actions. You should know better that to expect nothing when traveling out of the country. Use commom sense. Along the same lines, stop calling when you go over your minutes, they don’t care, its YOUR fault, not theirs. HAve a nice day
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@ snowy
Yes you are correct about the updates being data dependent not provider dependent. I have to add more to it. The G1 uses a specific access point name to access data without the correct provisioning on the network the G1 will most likely have issues connecting to data. The best way I can explain this is by comparing it to.sidekick. I hate to do that but it will help make my point. Did you ever wondered why you don’t hear about anyone using an unlocked Sidekick with ATT? The reason for this is the sidekick uses the APN of hiptop.com to access the sidekick servers. For the sidekick to work it most be provisioned on the HLR with the correct apn. Since ATT doesn’t offer the Sidekick that APN won’t be availbe on their HLR’s. The G1 works very similar with it having its own access point. The Blackberries have their own apns as well but will work with any network that supports those blackberry APNS. So since the Blackberry is offered by most carriers it doesn’t seem to be an issue. The G1 and the sidekick are a different story because not all carriers will support those APNs on their network.
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@Scott – I know what you mean by what you are saying, but not everyone is aware that their phones constantly check data, and especially if there is an option on the hpone to cut that off. This case is unique because the customer WAS aware and called T-Mobile to ask if this will be an issue, and they assured him it will not. So it’s really not a big ol’ DUHHHH to the customer, it’s a big ol’ DUHHHH to T-Mobile. And I hardly think this is the same as knowing you only have say…500 minutes, and using 1,500.
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I am pissed off that TMobile in Germany is giving the G1 for free. That’s not fair for us here. Check it out at http://www.pocket-lint.co.uk/news/news.phtml/19670/20694/t-mobile-slashes-android-g1-prices.phtml
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@robert – Don’t you hate that? Seems to be that way with anything that is technologically new…Apple iPhone, Asus EeePc and now the G1. Those who like to get a jump on the new tech toys always seem to get screwed for a nice chunk of $’s.
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well I have been with t-mobile for 13 years first started while I lived in germany. now I travel a lot abroad and if this is the case I will be canceling my service for the g1 and returning it to t-mobile even though I have had the phone for 3 weeks. I will get a refund ! I should have kept my dam bb curve, I would be happy just receiving email abroad for no additional cost like I had for the blackberry. but this is bull#### !!!!!
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I made a brief one earlier, here is the basics, from an experienced data user
1. get your G1 unlocked, this phone has quad-2G and WCDMA I/IV, you can use it with most of GSM/UMTS carriers in Europe and Asia
2. login my t-mobile, UNCHECK WorldClass service, this can save you from international roaming, except you’re ABSOLUTELY necessary, bring @Home phone, which you can make and receive calls over broadband with your domestic mobile number
3. do some research to get local prepaid carrier info, including voice and data rate (some local carriers even provide unlimited daily/weekly/monthly data), as well as data settings, put the carrier setting you’ll use overseas
4. upon landing, purchase the carrier’s SIM (it should be available at the airport/train station/pier), put in and viola!
this can save you from data roaming
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The G1 is pretty awesome
but having signal problems in my home the place where I use it the most 
my area is 3g strong! Maybe my building. Anyone else with th same problem?
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shouldnt have to go through all this just to use a freaking phone . not very user friendly t-mobile did not bring there awesome service from Europe to the usa ! just like cars and other electronic we are behind the curve , speaking of curve maybe i will just get the 8900 since 3g is a joke anyways !
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Go to SETTINGS, WIRELESS CONTROLS, MOBILE NETWORKS,
then UNCHECK – DATA ROAMING.
If you roam and access data, you get charged.
Its in the fine print.
If you make a phone call from UK with your USA sim from Tmobile, you’ll get charged. Its in the fine print.
Read the fine print…
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Why blame the consumer? If you turn off the data roaming in the setting then it should work.
I have been using windows mobile on my international travel and I could control data roaming.
I am planning to take my G1 on international trip. I will be pretty upset with T-Mobile and give them earful if I get charged for data roaming when my settings are set to data roaming off.
I do not understand why so much love for T-Mobile in this case?
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@Jdslim
Thank you for making it more clear to me, and to the readers.
It was a mouthful, an i’m still dumbfounded, but i comprehended it
That is one case i never liked, where the carriers would lock ur service in with some loophole.
Thats exactly why i have all my services i need fully dependent on data based. I never understood in the beginning why tmobile advises me that IM’ing will cost me SMS, or pay for email service, till later i learned(never got fooled) how they run their system an milk the consumers. I have always used an unbranded an unlocked device, with an open contract, i cant be touched. With the universal freedom of traveling anywhere in the world, accessing any source of content at my leisure.
I know it kinda sounds cliche to say this moment, but the best offering is coming from a Nokia deivce with Ovi service, BUT it also integrates any other solution of ur likening, PLUS your not required to use OVI, its by Choice. So a solution & a choice.
Now also the same goes for the G1. At the moment its only Google integrated services, but it was announced that consumers will have the choice of their own integrated solutions(presuming in its native Linux). At the moment its still early to pass judgment over Google & Android, but in time we will see how this phases out.
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@justinhub2003
“who made the sony Erricson X1? thats right HTC did”
Id like you to show me this information, i may be wrong, so id like to know.
“i think this nokia phone will be good and stuff but its the keyboard that held me back on the N-96 and N-95, they have great features but lamo keyboards.”
Have you considered an E-series Device. I suggest you head on over to Best Buy and try out the E-71, with T-Mobile.
All E-series are QUERTY, same quality build as an N, but less on the media end. Or even Better wait for the E-75.
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@G1user – The user who ended up with the overage charge DID go to “SETTINGS, WIRELESS CONTROLS, MOBILE NETWORKS,
then UNCHECK – DATA ROAMING” but still ended up with the charges. Read the original post, it’s there…and it’s not even in fine print, it’s in regular size text.
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@ snowy.
Just researh it, or ask any of the x1 fans on here, sony ericcson hired htc to help and either design or do something with phone, so its sony ericison branding and camera and general software overlaps, win mo 6.1 software and Htc made hardware, you can kinda tell this too as sony ericison x1 doesn’t really fit in with rest of SE line up… I’m on my g1 or I would try to find a link to prove it… but I’m sure someone here can verify this as I am a 100 percent sure this is accurate…
As far as nokia goes, I don’t have a problem with there E series devices as I checked em out at best buy, but its price that kills it for me and that’s even with the small subsidy best buy is doing with the E71 and the n-96 and n95, I also am not a huge fan of symbian looks. But they are the only OS with flash in there s60 browser, that’s cool and all. And the fact that symbian is the biggest os in the world although it has close to no market share in the US has to mean its not too bad. I’m just not impressed with the new nokia phone, hardware and software wise it just nothing for me and like I said a resistive touch screen kills it more, because unless they change symbian all around for touch friendly use, ur gonna have to rock a stylus with that bad boy and that’s so last summer
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Remove the SIM card, wrap it in a small piece of tin foil before reinserting. No data charges will go through.
Alternatively, you can use a knife to scrape the gold contacts off for a more failsafe approach.
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