Data and voice options for England/Ireland/Northern Ireland

jjerusso

Hello - I will be traveling to England, N Ireland and Ireland for two weeks and am trying to figure out the best options for data and voice service. I have an iPhone 5 on AT&T and it is not eligible to be unlocked, so the way I see it my options are:

- rent a mifi device from xcom or Telecom Square - unlimited data from $13-15/day; seems expensive as I don't really need unlimited.
- rent a mifi from Tep Wireless - cheaper but the online reviews are ATROCIOUS!!
- buy an unlocked mifi device and add SIM cards as needed - not sure if this is worth the hassle. Would I need different cards in each location?

- I could add Skype to any of these options and use that for voice calls.

- I could also get a pay as you go phone but I don't know if I would be able to tether my ipad and phone to it.

AT&T's rates - voice ranges from about $0.50-$1.00 a minute if you prepay a certain number of minutes (how could you possibly know how many minutes you would need?). Otherwise rate is $1.50. Egregious.
Data starts at $30/120mb and goes up to $120/800mb if you prepay (again - how can you predict??). Otherwise rate is $19.97/mb. Crazy!!

I would appreciate any suggestions, ideally balancing convenience and cost. Thank you.

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version Email this Page	Search this Thread: Advanced Search
Display Modes
Switch to Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Threaded Mode

	(#1)
jjerusso (Offline) Junior Member Newbie Posts: 1 Join Date: 06 Aug 2013 Country:	Data and voice options for England/Ireland/Northern Ireland - 06-08-2013, 20:59 Hello - I will be traveling to England, N Ireland and Ireland for two weeks and am trying to figure out the best options for data and voice service. I have an iPhone 5 on AT&T and it is not eligible to be unlocked, so the way I see it my options are: - rent a mifi device from xcom or Telecom Square - unlimited data from $13-15/day; seems expensive as I don't really need unlimited. - rent a mifi from Tep Wireless - cheaper but the online reviews are ATROCIOUS!! - buy an unlocked mifi device and add SIM cards as needed - not sure if this is worth the hassle. Would I need different cards in each location? - I could add Skype to any of these options and use that for voice calls. - I could also get a pay as you go phone but I don't know if I would be able to tether my ipad and phone to it. AT&T's rates - voice ranges from about $0.50-$1.00 a minute if you prepay a certain number of minutes (how could you possibly know how many minutes you would need?). Otherwise rate is $1.50. Egregious. Data starts at $30/120mb and goes up to $120/800mb if you prepay (again - how can you predict??). Otherwise rate is $19.97/mb. Crazy!! I would appreciate any suggestions, ideally balancing convenience and cost. Thank you.