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How to prevent mobile bill shock from roaming
International roaming prices are as high as R500,000 per GB.
International roaming prices are as high as R500,000 per GB.
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How to prevent mobile bill shock from roaming
- Thread starter Jan
- Start date
system32
Executive Member
Switch to pre-paid.
Your limit is the balance on your sim card, not the limit of your bank balance.
Your limit is the balance on your sim card, not the limit of your bank balance.
That was the article's very first suggestion.
Everything suggested in the article is very costly, except #1.
#2. Enable international roaming (for a sake on prepaid SIM), then USSD ##002# before leaving the country, it will cancel all diverts and deactivate voice mail. While abroad you will receive ringing for calls. Do not answer calls, reply by other means when neccessary. You will still receive SMS's.
Cell C will not enable international roaming on prepaid, but if you have contract with them and your handset is WiFi calling capable, enable it before leaving by calling a customer centre. Have a overeas ISP data bundle loaded and use your Cell C number on your Internet connection as you were in South Africa.
I think it is a critical omission of the artice to not mention WiFi calling.
#2. Enable international roaming (for a sake on prepaid SIM), then USSD ##002# before leaving the country, it will cancel all diverts and deactivate voice mail. While abroad you will receive ringing for calls. Do not answer calls, reply by other means when neccessary. You will still receive SMS's.
Cell C will not enable international roaming on prepaid, but if you have contract with them and your handset is WiFi calling capable, enable it before leaving by calling a customer centre. Have a overeas ISP data bundle loaded and use your Cell C number on your Internet connection as you were in South Africa.
I think it is a critical omission of the artice to not mention WiFi calling.
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Unbelievable that this info is so difficult to get, so much incorrect info out there:
Just returned from US trip and this is the best solution by far:
Before leaving divert all calls UNCONDITIONALLY to voice mail: Do not do the "if not available" etc.
On Vodacom that is dialing on your phone **21*0YY14YYXXXXXXX#
YY being the 2nd and 3rd digit of your number and X the last 7 digits of your number.
So all calls get diverted to your voicemail at no charge to you and you will receive a free sms informing you of any messages left.
Good idea to update your voicemail message informing pple you are not available for a while and encouraging them to send you a whatsapp instead.
Ensure you have your voice mail PIN before leaving by calling your service provider, it's normally a menu item to reset PIN and they will sms you the new pin.
To retrieve voice mails from idiots who do not whatsapp or sms you while abroad dial +278214XXXXXXXXX (x being your last 9 digits of number) (Note the "+" - long press of 0)
When you hear your message press "1"
Then enter mailbox number +2782 14 XXXXXXXXX
Then enter your mailbox PIN
This call will cost you from most countries around R5/min
Do not do "Roaming on" etc as then you can not use your phone to dial in an emergency.
SWITCH OFF MOBILE DATA ON YOUR PHONE SETTINGS!!!
Following the above will result in no bill shock, you can still make calls/send SMS to SA or the country you are in when needed, and you can use wifi when available.
When the plane lands dial ##002 # on your phone to cancel all diverts.
In the US I got a "T-Mobile Tourist Plan" sim card for $30 valid for 3 weeks, they have shops everywhere. This gives you unlimited local calls and international sms and 2gb fast data. After the 2gb it's unlimited at slower speed. The slower speed was still ok for Navigation and even facetime audio calls.
I took an old iphone with me, inserted the sim in this phone and created a Personal Hotspot from this phone(iphone 6 and newer has this function) (Tmobile is one of few which allow Tethering), so family members had data access all the time, received whatsapp's everywhere. Important to turn off auto updates on all phones connecting to hotspot, those phones thinks it is connected on wifi and that will go through your 2gb in no time.
Cheap travels!
Just returned from US trip and this is the best solution by far:
Before leaving divert all calls UNCONDITIONALLY to voice mail: Do not do the "if not available" etc.
On Vodacom that is dialing on your phone **21*0YY14YYXXXXXXX#
YY being the 2nd and 3rd digit of your number and X the last 7 digits of your number.
So all calls get diverted to your voicemail at no charge to you and you will receive a free sms informing you of any messages left.
Good idea to update your voicemail message informing pple you are not available for a while and encouraging them to send you a whatsapp instead.
Ensure you have your voice mail PIN before leaving by calling your service provider, it's normally a menu item to reset PIN and they will sms you the new pin.
To retrieve voice mails from idiots who do not whatsapp or sms you while abroad dial +278214XXXXXXXXX (x being your last 9 digits of number) (Note the "+" - long press of 0)
When you hear your message press "1"
Then enter mailbox number +2782 14 XXXXXXXXX
Then enter your mailbox PIN
This call will cost you from most countries around R5/min
Do not do "Roaming on" etc as then you can not use your phone to dial in an emergency.
SWITCH OFF MOBILE DATA ON YOUR PHONE SETTINGS!!!
Following the above will result in no bill shock, you can still make calls/send SMS to SA or the country you are in when needed, and you can use wifi when available.
When the plane lands dial ##002 # on your phone to cancel all diverts.
In the US I got a "T-Mobile Tourist Plan" sim card for $30 valid for 3 weeks, they have shops everywhere. This gives you unlimited local calls and international sms and 2gb fast data. After the 2gb it's unlimited at slower speed. The slower speed was still ok for Navigation and even facetime audio calls.
I took an old iphone with me, inserted the sim in this phone and created a Personal Hotspot from this phone(iphone 6 and newer has this function) (Tmobile is one of few which allow Tethering), so family members had data access all the time, received whatsapp's everywhere. Important to turn off auto updates on all phones connecting to hotspot, those phones thinks it is connected on wifi and that will go through your 2gb in no time.
Cheap travels!
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