Phone frequency question

[Demo24]

I'm going to Europe in a few weeks and I'm trying to decide how to deal with phones. My droid obviously won't work but I'm considering bringing it and working strictly through wifi. If I setup things right I might can figure out a way to make calls that way at limited expense.

However if that doesn't pan out I have a samsung a727 from ATT, and it looks like it might have working frequencies in Europe. I found the ones in this link, can someone tell me if it will work over there?

http://www.mobilealmanac.com/p_498-Samsung-A727.html


Also, would I need to unlock the phone to have it work over there?

 

[pm]

Yes, it's quad-band GSM. It will work for calls and EDGE internet in all of Europe (including Eastern Europe). But it's not UMTS 2100 so it won't work on 3G.

You will need to unlock it if it's locked... you can immediately tell that by finding someone on T-Mobile and inserting their SIM in your Samsung phone. If it works, you'll be set. If it says "Invalid SIM" it won't work. If you don't know anyone on T-Mobile to try this experiment, you can take it to an AT&T store and request that it be unlocked and let them tell you if it is or isn't. If you are a customer in good standing and you've owned the phone for 90 days or more, then they should unlock it for you. I called a few months ago and they unlocked my wife's former Nokia E71X with minimal hassle... it took them a while though (~3 weeks).

 

[Demo24]

Well, I don't really care about 3g. It's no smart phone so I'd never really need it for any sort of 3g purpose. I'm also no longer a customer with ATT but I assume perhaps I could still get them to unlock it for me? The phone is a couple years old so I'm not worried about that.

 

[Scouzer]

Well, I don't really care about 3g. It's no smart phone so I'd never really need it for any sort of 3g purpose. I'm also no longer a customer with ATT but I assume perhaps I could still get them to unlock it for me? The phone is a couple years old so I'm not worried about that.

It'd probably be easier to buy an unlock code online. They're generally $5-25.

Check eBay. You email them your IMEI, they send you back an unlock code.

But you *don't* need to unlock it to work over there. If you are still activated with ATT, your phone will simply roam (at high expense). Unlocking is just if you want to put in a European SIM when your there for MUCH lower fees.

 

[Demo24]

Not activated with ATT, we are now on Verizon. My plan was to buy a european sim card for like 20-30 euros, etc and work off of that. If not, just buy a cheapo phone with pre-paid sim when I get over there.