Ipad roaming in Argentina and Chile

[Faffa]

Hi, I'll be travelling to Argentina and Chile shortly. I'm going to take my Ipad (3g+WiFi) and well as Nokia E7 (Both Vodacom) . Will it work there and what must I do on this side to make sure it will work on that side? The iPad will mostly be used for emails and perhaps a little surfing here and there. The E7 will mostly be used for receiving and sending sms's with the odd phone call.

I'm also worried about data costs and call costs.

Any advice will be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

[Ockie]

First...make sure roaming is provisioned on the sim that is used in the Ipad.

Second....data roaming is very expensive. See rates below for your convenience:

PLMN Network Name GSM GPRS 3G Local Calls Calls to SA or International Receive a Call send and sms Data rates per mb
(Packet Data) Super Saver Data Per MB
(Packet Data)
ARGCM CTI MOVIL/CLARO Yes Yes Yes R 8,00 R 23,50
R 6,00 R 2,75 R 128,00 -
ARGNC NEXTEL Yes No No R 8,00 R 23,50
R 6,00 R 2,75 - -
ARGTM TELEFONICA MOVILES Yes Yes Yes R 8,00 R 23,50
R 6,00 R 2,75 - R 17,50
ARGTP TELECOM PERSONAL S.A. Yes Yes Yes R 8,00 R 23,50
R 6,00 R 2,75 R 128,00 -

So basically, make sure you are roaming on TELEFONICA MOVILES as they are a partner network and charge R17.50 per meg instead of the others charging R128.00 per meg.

Double check that your Ipad supports the below frequencies for 3G as this is what they use in Argentina.

3G capabilities
Required UMTS 850
Recommended UMTS 850 and UMTS 1900


OC

[Faffa]

Thanks Ockie - this helps a lot!

[Ockie]

Thanks Ockie - this helps a lot!

Pleasure.

PS: My best friend when I was 10 nick names was Faffa. :-)

[Faffa]

I don't think it was me lol

[BloemGuy]

Depending on how long you are planning to stay there, buying a prepaid SIM (chip prepago) could be a better/cheaper option than roaming on the iPad. Also, unless you are going to travel to remote areas, WiFi is widely available in most accommodation options and you may not really need 3G. Prepaid data is relative cheap -- 10 pesos (R17) for 1GB on Movistar -- but access is only for 2 days, so one is bound to waste. On the other hand, just over R250 a month will give you 15GB of mobile data, but you will have to recharge the plan several times. The prepaid packages are listed here.

In Chile Movistar has a special iPad microsim available with plans for 1 hour, 3hours, 1 day or 7 days. 1 day will 1990 Chilean pesos (ZAR15 ) and 7 days will be 9990 Chilean pesos (ZAR156). Details are here.

The online translators should be good enough if you get stuck with the Spanish or I'll help out if you need.

[Faffa]

Thanks Bloemguy - this also helps tremendously.

[Jola]

Those local sims together with a mobile router using the UMTS 850MHz and 1900MHz bands would just do the trick.

Unfortunately the local mobile routers (eg R201) just will not do it, they are all UMTS 900MHz and 2100MHz.

Maybe try to get a cheap one over there - something like a E585, E586, E583C, but with the right frequencies.

[KaasP]

Those local sims together with a mobile router using the UMTS 850MHz and 1900MHz bands would just do the trick.

Unfortunately the local mobile routers (eg R201) just will not do it, they are all UMTS 900MHz and 2100MHz.

Maybe try to get a cheap one over there - something like a E585, E586, E583C, but with the right frequencies.

Hi. The E586 is also available in SA now, around R1k, ex Vat. Feel free to PM me if you'd like one. Agree, that router + a local sim would work well. Advantage is that you can connect your phone and iPad to the router for data and keep your SA sim in the phone for voice.

[Faffa]

Thanks for all the inputs!