Best Phone & Service Combo For My Needs?

[KarenM]

Yo, guys.

You're all really great to take the time to help me out. I appreciate it.

Thanks for the model numbers to look into, Bossman, and the link. Are those models Motorola?

but you sound intelligent enuf to follow the directions for doing that.

Ha! I refrained from pointing out that I have a Ph.D. Only problem is it's in the most non-technical field it could be, so it doesn't do me much good on this stuff! I'm math and techno-challenged. :meh:

Telestial is a very reputable outfit..... The advantage is that you would know the number to give out before you leave.

That is one thing I'm completely motivated to have: I want everything good to go when I get on the plane with my phone, so, when I arrive at CDG to pick up my leased car, I can call my friend in Paris to check in, etc, with no hassles or techno-challenges to contend with.

Where are you located? If, by chance, you are in northern Ca., I'll give you a perfectly fine quad band Moto V330 in exchange for a check for $50 to your favorite charity. (As long as it isn't the NRA)

Well, as fate would have it, I'm in Fairfax, in Marin County, just north of San Francisco. Where are you? You can email me at kkmickleson at comcast dot net if you think this might work.

Matha, I'm astounded by the thoroughness of your response!

OTOH you can get a US toll free number which is your own for a charge of $1.50/month.....in this case no pin would be needed. In any event, if you are using united mobile, you would pay $0.14 US/minute timed in 6 second intervals to reach you

Do I understand correctly: if I had UM with CBW, I could get from CBW a toll-free # for U.S. callers for $1.50 a month? ie: It's from CBW, not from UM?

But, once I sign up for CBW, I'm tied to this double call-back system, where I have to call and wait twice? Sheesh! This is all such a pain in the butt! God help me if I've had a couple of drinks when I call for a dinner reservation in Italy. :blink:

...united mobile to the United States through its naitive service charges $.49/minute with a $.35 set up fee for each call

Does this mean calls TO the U.S.?

The Yackie system sounds really good.

By the way, nobody has answered my question about using a "Mobal" phone with a UM card. Would this work?

Well, my last question would be this: Is there ANY system which would allow me to bypass all this ringing, hangups, waiting, calling-to-hang-up-again stuff? If so, what grand price would one pay for it?

You are all great. Thanks again.

Karen

[MATHA531]

Karen:

You understand correctly...if you open up a callbackworld account, which by the way is free to open and has no maintenance charges, you can get a US toll free number for $1.50/month and key it to whatever number you want via the web or by calling them. They're very helpful. If you key it to a United Mobile account, as long as you are in free United Mobile receiving turf which is, as we noted, all of Western and Central Europe as well as much of Eastern Europe, South Africa, Australia and China to boot, you will be paying 14?/minute for their calls to this number...they will pay whatever it costs them to call a US toll free number which in the US is of course nothing.

You are not wed to callbackworld...use them to call on united mobile only if yu want...they have other than the optional $1.50/month for a US toll free number no other recurring charges. You don't want to use them to make calls, you don't have to...they are not inalienably tied to the phone.

As far as the double call back on united mobile, well simply program your trigger number into your phone with 1 touch dialing.....bravo next to nothing for you to do...use the 1 touch dialing to call the trigger number wait for the first call back, answer and hang up and then wait for the second call back, answer and follow the directions. Once you've done it once or twice...well my 16 year old daughter is on a teen tour of Europe and I taught her to do it and in 25 seconds she figured it out.

As far as getting your French number from the rip off artists at Telestial, note that when I bought my first French sim (before United Mobile existed), it did not come with the number on the sim card...I had to call a number in France and at that point they texted me my number...so getting a French sim card in advance might not do what you want it to do. But you can make local calls in France with united mobile for 20?/minute (to landlines, something like 40? to mobile) via callback world...when the female voice sayd, "Please enter phone number followed by the number sign key now" simply type the French number with the prefix 33 and omit the first 0 in the number...it will go through. Incidentally these rates are even cheaper than you would pay on most French local sims!

Yes you can use the French local sim if you go in that direction and the Italian local sim to dial directly to the United States but right now that will cost you an arm and a leg (well maybe just a leg) as compared to callback world...I don't know if the "inconvenience" of the double call back is so terrible given the amount of money it will save.

And when you order a United Mobile sim card through United Mobile on its web site, you will know your Liechtenstein number which you can key into callbackworld before you leave.

The only thing to be careful about, as noted, is the difficulty in getting a real world tri band phone in the United States anymore...almost all the US sellers on ebay on their triband phones only sell the next to useless USA tri band phones from either Cingular or T Mobile that have substituted 850 frequency for 900...going to Europe without both 900 and 1800 on the phone might leave you up the creek without a cell phone in some countries and also restrict your choice of local sims...somebody on one forum lamented the fact she bought a cell phone from an ebay vendor in the USA went to Croatia and found it didn't work. The idiots at the cell phone store and her tour director (she was on a tour) told her the phone was locked which was absolutely untrue...the problem was, she later discovered, was the vendor claiming he was selling her a true world tri band phone sold her a stripped down US tri band cell phone without 900 and the Croatian sim card she bought was on a company which only used 900....the obvious solution being, of course, quad band phones.

Hope that helps.

[Bossman]

Yes. Those are all Motorolas.

Thanks for the model numbers to look into, Bossman, and the link. Are those models Motorola?

Yes. It's from CBW. Or you can get the regular toll-free# that will require a PIN#. There is not monthly charge for this one.

Do I understand correctly: if I had UM with CBW, I could get from CBW a toll-free # for U.S. callers for $1.50 a month? ie: It's from CBW, not from UM?

I know...that's the minor drawback. If we can call it that. But, the calls are a whole lot cheaper. And you get one # to use in several countries.

But, once I sign up for CBW, I'm tied to this double call-back system, where I have to call and wait twice? Sheesh!

Yes. If you call directly without going through CBW. In this case you only get one callback.

Does this mean calls TO the U.S.?

Yes. It does sound good. Quite a few of us here, especially those based in the US, have ordered this sim. Majority of us also have UM. But if yackie holds up to all that iot promised, it will be very competitive with UM. Just the fact that we get a US# is a big plus.

The Yackie system sounds really good.

I am not sure about the mobal phone compatiility. Whatever phone it is, you can probably get it for 50% or less of the price mobal is wanting for it somewhere else.

By the way, nobody has answered my question about using a "Mobal" phone with a UM card. Would this work?

Yes. You will just have to get a regular sim. You can buy one in each country or buy one and just roam on it in the other country.

Well, my last question would be this: Is there ANY system which would allow me to bypass all this ringing, hangups, waiting, calling-to-hang-up-again stuff? If so, what grand price would one pay for it?

[KarenM]

OK. Sorry if I'm being dense here, but I need to clarify and see if I understand:

I get a phone--(With a little luck, Matha, Mike's tried & true V330).

I sign up for a UM account with the Lichtenstein #.

I then sign up w/CBW for an 800 number. (in my case, I'd pay the $1.50 for no pin.)

At that point, my phone number changes from whatever UM gave me (Lichtenstein #) to a U.S. 800 number. Correct? And, anyone calling me from within Europe would also use the 800 #?

I master the callback procedures as described above.

When I call to Italy# from within Italy, or to France# within France, I have to use the country code without the first zero, as if I were making the call from the U.S.?

HOWEVER, do I understand that IF the Yackie system is working correctly, it would replace BOTH the UM and CBW, while also providing a U.S. based, permanent, phone number?

Thanks again for your patience.

Karen

[snidely]

Karen -
I have a new Moto #L6 coming which should be delievered by Mon. I'll email you then and we can meet somewhere - we'll have to flip to see who pays the bridge toll. As said, you can have it in exchange for $50 check to a charity.
I am also the one who has had the Yackie card for a couple weeks, so can give you a demo.
Hmm. Maybe in exchange for all this you can buy me a drink

I am in Bkly.

...mike

[MATHA531]

You never actually give up the Liechtenstein number...calls to the 800 number are routed there but you can also be reched directly (not that you would probably want to given the price for calls to Liechtenstein) on the +423 number...it is even advantageous for the most part given the way European numbers operate to have European people call the US toll free number (they will probably pay less to call the US toll free number than to call a Liechtenstein number even from France and Italy).

As for Mobal, a couple of years ago I used them to buy a nokia phone from them which they were selling at the time...the phone arrived unlocked and I have never used them thereafter and I am sure many people did the same.

The only question is if the phone is unlocked...I hear they're pushing motorola quad bands now for the reasons we described earlier. It is easy, if a Nokia phone is locked, to unlock it. It is much more difficult to unlock a Motorola phone, it can be done but somebody will probably have to do it for you...nokia phones they have broken the unlocking calculator which is a free download on the net (Nokia, those rats, are working with mobile companies to render this calculator useless but it still works for older models' ;to me locking phons is immoral anyway but that's a whole different topic)...mobal I would never use for calls; their rates are obscene.

[KarenM]

I have a new Moto #L6 coming which should be delievered by Mon. I'll email you then and we can meet somewhere - we'll have to flip to see who pays the bridge toll. As said, you can have it in exchange for $50 check to a charity.

I am also the one who has had the Yackie card for a couple weeks, so can give you a demo.
Hmm. Maybe in exchange for all this you can buy me a drink

Way cool! If you can find a place to have a drink where they serve vodka, I'm game! Maybe Skates is the only option?

Looking at the lists of phones you guys have, it amazes me. Do you just buy 'em for hobbies? Or is it sorta like all the digital camera guys--just gotta havethe latest thing??? Do you need this L6, or is it a new toy?

Karen

[KarenM]

Thanks, Matha. It is slowly growing a bit clearer.

Hey, Mike: That Motorola V330 is unlocked, right????

Karen

[snidely]

Originally Posted by KarenM

Thanks, Matha. It is slowly growing a bit clearer.

Hey, Mike: That Motorola V330 is unlocked, right????

Karen

Unlocked? Of course. Wouldn't have anything else.

I keep my phones for years. My everday phone is a tri-band phone that I have had for 3 or maybe 4? years. The problem is it doesn't work on the 850 band now in use in the U.S. Doesn't affect me here in Ca.. (Use T-Mobile here.)
Got the V330 a few months ago to use w. Cingular when out of Ca/Nv. Problem is that I like a bar shaped phone like my old Sony-Ericsson. The V330 is a clam shell and doesn't fit well in my shirt pocket. My new phone is a bar style phone.

The one reason I never upgraded to newer phones is: they all have color screens that I find impossible to read under many circumstances.. I can read my SE black and white screen under almost any condition. The screen is always "on".

I am not as technically "with it" as many here. Only text a few times a year - but use thousands of voice minutes a month. I have taken to using my cel almost 100% of the time instead of using an office or home land phone. I am addicted to my bluetooth head set.

...mike

Just to explain to everyone: Members here are not only all over the U.S. - but all over the world!! It turns out that Karen is about 15 miles as the crow flies from me across San Francisco Bay. Driving is maybe 20-25 miles. She lives in the "rich" Marin County - I live in the politically radical town of Berkeley. I am on the East side of S.F. Bay, she is on the North side.

[Przemolog]

Some European voice in discussion (however, neither French or Italian) .

Originally Posted by KarenM

I sign up for a UM account with the Lichtenstein #.

I then sign up w/CBW for an 800 number. (in my case, I'd pay the $1.50 for no pin.)

At that point, my phone number changes from whatever UM gave me (Lichtenstein #) to a U.S. 800 number. Correct? And, anyone calling me from within Europe would also use the 800 #?

As Matha has already told, you don't "lose" or "change" your phone number.
In fact, you have two phone numbers. The first one is a Liechtenstein number assigned to the UM SIM card (ie. a piece of electronics which you'll receive from the vendor and insert in an appropriate place in your mobile phone). If someone calls that number, and you're in Europe, you pay nothing for receiving a call. A 800 "personal" number from CBW is completely independent of UM or any other operator.

Originally Posted by KarenM

I master the callback procedures as described above.

When I call to Italy# from within Italy, or to France# within France, I have to use the country code without the first zero, as if I were making the call from the U.S.?

GSM mobile phones and networks support "international number format". This means that no matter where you are and where you are calling/messaging, you dial +CountryCodeDestinationNumber , eg. +12345556789 for US/Canada,
+391234567890 for Italy etc. If you mean "leading zero" used for national calls within some countries, you'right - if you replace this zero with +CountryCode, it'll be OK. Usually you dial "+" sign just by long pressing a key on the phone with "+" printed on it.

Originally Posted by KarenM

HOWEVER, do I understand that IF the Yackie system is working correctly, it would replace BOTH the UM and CBW, while also providing a U.S. based, permanent, phone number?

From the technical point of view you're right. Moreover, Yackie also offer non-US landline numbers. It's not clearly stated on their website if it is possible, but at least in theory you might have more than one number attached to same the mobile phone e.g from US, France and Italy...
The problem with Yackie is that you pay for all received calls, and so far the balance check and topping up the account is possible only via the website. Thus, you're risking running out of the credit, especially when you don't have frequent access to internet. With CBW's 800 # used to forwarding your calls there's no such a risk since it's a postpaid service - your credit card will be charged after calls, you don't have to make an advance payment(prepaid).

Originally Posted by KarenM

3. Can receive messages??

If by "messages" you mean "text messages" aka SMS, you can receive them for free. It doesn't matter if you choose an "international" SIM card like UM, or SIM cards from national operators in France and Italy. But of course, you must remember some facts:
1) No matter if you use CBW or any service of that kind (i.e. with a US number forwarded to a mobile phone number in another country), text messages must be sent to the mobile phone number assigned to your SIM card, not to the US number. This rule applies to UM and to national SIM cards from France, Italy or any other country as well.
Yackie SIM cards use Israeli numbers for SMS sending/receiving.
2) Basically you can make a voice call from any country to any other country in the world. But international SMS interchange is generally possible only between networks which signed so-called roaming agreements. Even in that case, messages don't need to go through e.g. in this thread Matha told that he couldn't send messages from T-Mobile USA to UM (despite there's a roaming agreement between T-Mo and FL1, the "real world" operator of UM).
3) If you want to have messages sent to your mobile phone as e-mails (e.g. to 423663012345@united-mobile.com), forget it! Since receiving messages in Europe is free, such e-mail2sms forwarding is very rare, since neither sender nor "addressee" would pay for such a service .