The smartphone has become our faithful companion on trips, but when we go outside our country of origin we have to take into account that we will suffer an extra cost for the connection abroad. This is what is popularly known as data roaming and today we are going to review everything you need to know to always be connected..
To simplify it, roaming for the user who leaves their country allows them to continue having a data connection thanks to the agreements that are signed between the telephone operators so that the network offers it to one of those that is licensed in the country we are visiting. This represents a somewhat higher cost for this data traffic, although if we travel to a country in the European Union, where legislation has been passed for this purpose, it will not be as high as it was a few years ago.
What if I want to disable roaming?
The problem is that many times we do not have control over the number of Megas that we download on our trip and then we can take a little surprise on the bill. If we spend 1 GB of data in a country of the European Union, the cost that it will suppose will be 204 euros plus VAT, which is why many users choose to limit access to data when they leave their country, although this In many cases it involves losing functionality or having no control over where your suitcase is.
To avoid these surprises, when crossing a border in the EU, our mobile operator must send us a text message indicating the price of calling and receiving calls, send messages, connect to the internet and download data in the EU country to which we've just arrived. But so that there are no problems with invoices, the volume of data that you can download with your mobile device is limited worldwide to 50 euros, except if we have another agreement with the operator. Likewise, it will send us a message once 80% of the agreed data has been exceeded..
The first thing we must do if we travel outside our country is to contact our operator , since sometimes it is configured by default to automatically connect to the networks of another country. Also to request information if what we are looking for is precisely the opposite, to be able to select a network from another operator to connect to. We have to take into account that we have voice roaming and data roaming, which are activated and deactivated independently.
To disable data roaming, simply remove the data roaming in the settings of your smartphone, within the Mobile networks option. In this way we continue to have access to WiFi networks but not to data via 4 / 3G. Roaming is the most comfortable option to continue browsing and occasionally it can help us to get out of a hurry at a given time that we need information and do not have a WiFi network at hand..
Do I have other alternatives to stay connected?
Anyway, if what we are looking for is to stay connected, the WiFi network will be our ally. In this case we can use this network to call through applications like WhatsApp, which has recently incorporated it, and keep in touch with friends and family. Other options for this type of call is to use Skype or Viber, specialized in this type of communication.
If we do not want to do without the data connection, but we want to maintain an adjusted cost, we can contract a prepaid card with one of the operators of the country we visit. This is the cheapest option, but it involves changing the SIM card and phone number. It is very convenient to continue using the data and also for communications with our friends and family from the country of origin, although in some cases they receive messages from a number that they do not recognize.
The ideal is to study the operators and the prepaid rates available that they have before the trip. In this way, when we arrive at the airport or cross the border, we can go to a store to acquire a new card and continue using our smartphone without any problem. The great advantage of this system is that we are clear how much we are going to pay for the data consumed.
It is also important that we use some applications that do not require a connection and in which we have stored the information that interests us previously. An example would be downloading maps to work offline of the area we visit or saving in Pocket all the information that can be of help to have it then always available. In this way, saving data is really important and the costs if we use roaming are much lower.
Images | Lissa_87 | Kai Hendry | warrenski