highland_123

Hi everyone,

I am moving over to the States at the end of July to start my new job. I am wanting to keep hold of my Iphone I use in the UK at the moment and possibility get a sim only plan. If I get my UK phone unblocked which mobile provider would you recommend?

Thanks W

tom169

I use a sim only plan from T-Mobile and it works fine for me. I brought a Google Pixel XL from UK over, but have been successful using an iPhone with them in the past.

Pulaski

Depends on location and budget. In cities you can get service much more cheaply from local or regional phone companies, but service in the outer suburbs and away from cities may be unreliable or unavailable.

If cost isn't an issue then Verizon is probably the best overall, nationwide. ATT is a close second-best. Sprint and T-Mobile are cheaper but have less coverage, especially outside of urban areas.

Olly_

What he said

What iPhone do you have? They're fairly universal but (for example) a UK purchased iPhone 7 won't work on Verizon.

highland_123

Thanks for the replies so far. It is an iphone 5s. Starting to age a bit I am still happy with it. Very much team Iphone and I think just with moving over to begin with I'll be paying out for a lot of things. Just out of curiousity, if I were to get a new iphone and plan what would be the minimum I would be paying per month? Would I need to have built up credit?

TIA.

W

lansbury

If you are bringing a phone from the UK the only 2 providers in the US who use sim cards are ATT and T-Mobile. You can put a sim in a Verizon for use overseas, but I don't think you can use a sim on their US network.

Any of the 3rd party providers who piggy back off of ATT or T-Mobile should have sim only plans as well. ATT and their partners have slightly better coverage than T-Mobile, but cost a bit more (well in Oregon anyway).

Olly_

A UK iPhone 5S isn't going to work too well in the US - it won't work on Verizon (or Sprint, but they're rubbish so no great loss) full stop because it hasn't got CDMA and it doesn't support most of AT&T or T-Mobile's LTE bands.

Monthly pricing varies depending on how much data you require, but be prepared for it to be a lot higher than you're used to paying in the UK. As an example my Verizon bill is about $140 a month for 2 iPhones and an iPad sharing 24GB of data, unlimited domestic calls and texts and 1000 international minutes. That's for the cell service only, none of the devices are financed.

If you have no credit and want a postpay account you'll probably have to put down a deposit and might not be able to finance a phone right away. I had to put down $400 per line when I signed up to T-Mobile after first arriving, but switched to Verizon after a year and didn't have to put down anything as my credit score was good enough at that point.

Olly_

All the networks use SIM cards now - LTE is a GSM technology. You can just swap phones on Verizon by switching the SIM as long as it supports CDMA but Sprint isn't so simple.

lansbury

I think you are saying what I was thinking

Unless a phone has CDMA it will not work on Verizon or Sprint. As UK phones I thought were sim only they only work with an ATT or T-Mobile sim card. Has that changed?

Olly_

Yes, for example if you have a UK iPhone 6 or 6S you can just put a Verizon SIM in and it'll work fine.

Not that many phones sold outside the US have CDMA though, Android phones generally don't.

Pulaski

I think most Verizon phones are now sim-based, and have been for 3-4 years, after Verizon built an LTE network (LTE being the next generation of GSM technology).

lansbury

Thanks

I knew Verizon phones had a sim card but thought that was for use overseas with local sims.

Live and learn.

sarasota chic

We are bringing over our iPhones 6s when we move over to the US next month so hopefully they will work, should we get them unlocked before we leave the UK?

Olly_

Yes, if you get them unlocked an iPhone 6S will work on any US network.

sarasota chic

Thank you I'll get them unlocked next week.😀