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Esteemed Contributor
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Registered: ‎11-15-2011

 

TracFone adds new $10 Global card

Esteemed Contributor
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Registered: ‎08-18-2016

@glb613 wrote:

@x Hedge wrote:

But why are you so focused on calling, @bargainsgirl ?

 

Can't you email from smartphone to smartphone?

Texting between phones still uses telephone lines, but emailing on phones, tablets, etc goes over WiFi, which is available in any city. If you email you can attach short audio clips, video, and pictures you've taken.

 


That isn't true.  Texting uses a cellular data plan. 

 

"Once your message is typed, it travels through radio waves to the control channel. The control channel is the pathway that allows your phone to communicate with your cell phone tower so that your phone can send and receive calls, data packets and SMS messages."

 

"Text messaging, or texting, is the act of composing and sending electronic messages, typically consisting of alphabetic and numeric characters, between two or more users of mobile devices, desktops/laptops, or other type of compatible computer. Text messages may be sent over a cellular network, or may also be sent via an Internet connection"


@glb613 

Are you saying texting between phones never uses telephone lines? 

 

Yes, there are ways to transmit both SMS and MMS texts that require wifi/internet connection.

 

I just want OP to find a method to communicate in a way that meets her needs while traveling out of the country. She seems focused on calling, which apparently has more limitations  and greater expense.

 

Respected Contributor
Posts: 3,442
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

I've been to Europe or Canada every year since 2012.  You need an international plan to text or call from your phone. You can use free Wifi when you have it but, I've never used it for phone calls or texting.  Some pople wait and rent a phone when they get to their destination which is something I've never done.  

 

Cell phones use Wifi or cell towers.  They don't use landlines. 

 

 

Esteemed Contributor
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@glb613 wrote:

I've been to Europe or Canada every year since 2012.  You need an international plan to text or call from your phone. You can use free Wifi when you have it but, I've never used it for phone calls or texting.  Some pople wait and rent a phone when they get to their destination which is something I've never done.  

 

Cell phones use Wifi or cell towers.  They don't use landlines. 

 

 


Ok.  So let's say she chooses to email instead.

 There are small, inexpensive tablets (like mine) that are about the size of the bigger phones. Easy to carry around. She could attach her photos and recordings to emails, no?

 

My neighbors go on cruises. They use the ship's WiFi. One does online classes, gets her assignments and submits her homework, from the middle of the ocean!

And no one's mentioned the possibility of skype.

 

So I can't believe @bargainsgirl' need to communicate to/from people in European locations needs to be this difficult.

What I'm saying is, unless the communications have to specifically be by phone, there are other methods to consider.

 

 

 

Respected Contributor
Posts: 3,442
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

@x Hedge wrote:

@glb613 wrote:

I've been to Europe or Canada every year since 2012.  You need an international plan to text or call from your phone. You can use free Wifi when you have it but, I've never used it for phone calls or texting.  Some pople wait and rent a phone when they get to their destination which is something I've never done.  

 

Cell phones use Wifi or cell towers.  They don't use landlines. 

 

 


Ok.  So let's say she chooses to email instead.

 There are small, inexpensive tablets (like mine) that are about the size of the bigger phones. Easy to carry around. She could attach her photos and recordings to emails, no?

 

My neighbors go on cruises. They use the ship's WiFi. One does online classes, gets her assignments and submits her homework, from the middle of the ocean!

And no one's mentioned the possibility of skype.

 

So I can't believe @bargainsgirl' need to communicate to/from people in European locations needs to be this difficult.

What I'm saying is, unless the communications have to specifically be by phone, there are other methods to consider.

 

 

 


You can use free Wifi where available for e-mail, FaceTime, Skype and other internet ways of communicating.  Some phones have Wifi calling.  If yours does, you need to enable it. 

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 5,457
Registered: ‎08-28-2010

In India and China, only one person in the group could text or make a call because they had an international calling plan.  The rest of us were out of luck.

Respected Contributor
Posts: 3,090
Registered: ‎01-13-2012

I still would like to know if anyone has taken a Tracfone to Europe just to take photos.  If you read the Tracfone website it will tell you that their phones will not work in Europe to make phone calls. I am not looking to call.  Just to take pics.  I plan to use my Amazon tablet to email home by connecting to WIFI when it is available. 

Contributor
Posts: 68
Registered: ‎05-29-2011

@bargainsgirl wrote:

I still would like to know if anyone has taken a Tracfone to Europe just to take photos.  If you read the Tracfone website it will tell you that their phones will not work in Europe to make phone calls. I am not looking to call.  Just to take pics.  I plan to use my Amazon tablet to email home by connecting to WIFI when it is available. 


 I  have used my Tracfone in Europe to take photos.Your phone will take photos no matter where you are. Taking photos doesn't require any kind of a connection to anything. It's a digital camera, just like any other digital camera you would use to take photos. All that being said, do yourself a favor and take a good quality camera to take photos. 

Respected Contributor
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Registered: ‎01-13-2012

Thanks!!

 

Respected Contributor
Posts: 3,237
Registered: ‎03-29-2011

@bargainsgirl wrote:

I still would like to know if anyone has taken a Tracfone to Europe just to take photos.  If you read the Tracfone website it will tell you that their phones will not work in Europe to make phone calls. I am not looking to call.  Just to take pics.  I plan to use my Amazon tablet to email home by connecting to WIFI when it is available. 


I've used my Tracfone to take pictures in several European countries.