Sister is moving to Switzerland, as usual I get to figure out her tech - Any flaws in this plan?

[Viper GTS]

My sister is headed to Switzerland for two years for grad school & needs a phone.

I'm thinking one of T-Mobile's HotSpot @ Home phones would be ideal, when she's home or around Wi-Fi she would have a US number with unlimited US calling. When she's away from home she can swap in a local pre-paid SIM.

Any flaws in this? This is of course hinges on T-Mobile not caring about traffic from a non US IP.

Viper GTS

 

[AnyMal]

You may want to check with T-mobile if it's even possible. If she'll have access to a high-speed Net over there then Skype would work equally well for less.

 

[chcarnage]

There is no T-Mobile WLAN in Switzerland and they aren't a mobile phone provider here either. Since she'll likely have a computer at home I'd settle for skype there.

Much English information about the mobile phone providers of Switzerland can be found here.

Once you've been there, go to englishforum.ch and search for the companies you now know for some experiences and further informations. Englishforum.ch is a very helpful website for newcomers with questions.

 

[intogamer]

People on howardforums have reported that this can work. But it is a bit flakey, again Hotspot@home is still a beta product

It has to be an Open WLAN connection + only two models of phones for now.

You still have to pay Voice minutes + $9.99 (promotional rate) for Hotspot@home.

I would recommend Switzerland Prepaid sim + Voip on computer for now

 

[Viper GTS]

Originally posted by: intogamer
People on howardforums have reported that this can work. But it is a bit flakey, again Hotspot@home is still a beta product

It has to be an Open WLAN connection + only two models of phones for now.

You still have to pay Voice minutes + $9.99 (promotional rate) for Hotspot@home.

I would recommend Switzerland Prepaid sim + Voip on computer for now

I looked briefly at HowardForums but didn't see anything specifically related to using it outside of the US. Happen to have a link?

By "open WLAN" do you mean that current phones cannot use security? I was under the impression that they could, just not newer methods (like WPA2).

Viper GTS