iPhone use in UK and France

[callmedory]

My husband and I have 4s’s through AT&T. To my knowledge, they are locked. We’re going to London and Paris (and outside the cities on day trips), and I’ve been tasked with all research and prep. It’s time for me to learn about phones because, although my husband is frustratingly intelligent, he has ZERO patience for this aspect of things. I don’t mind. I do the work, sift and summarize, and tell him everything because I will likely forget (I have a memory like a steel sieve).

I know we can buy throwaway phones there but, to be thorough, I need to learn about this option and any other options. I would truly appreciate the help. I also ask that I could repost these instructions to those for whom it would help.

I am VERY good at following good instructions. Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is this test of your teaching skills: What would I have to do to get my US phone to work in both London and Paris. I’ve read that we will likely have to get a SIM for each country--but what that actually entails (buying it, inserting it, changing settings, whether I need to get it unlocked--and how), I am in the dark.

Again, your efforts will be much appreciated.

 

[MightyApple]

Well, you should try Jailbreaking. This depends on what version of iOS you have on your device. Almost any version of iOS that's before iOS 7.0.4 is supported on iPhone 4S. I can't tell you how to Jailbreak because I don't know what version you have. Try searching on the Internet.

 

[MacInWin]

Jailbreaking shouldn't be necessary. Contact AT&T and ask them about unlocking the phones for you. Assuming you've been a good customer, they should be willing to do that. Don't take "no" for an answer, not all the first level tech support know that they can and do unlock phones.

What my wife and I did the last time we went to Europe was to have our provider, Verizon, extend our coverage to Europe. It cost, as I recall, about $100/month on top of our regular wireless bill, but we kept our same numbers and had a pretty good data limit. That is also be an option at AT&T. Link.

 

[vansmith]

As noted, you'll need to unlock your phones if they are indeed locked to your carrier (if you bought your phone from your carrier, it's likely locked). Call them up, confirm that and then get them to unlock it if they allow you to do so.

In Europe, you'll need to get SIMs for local carriers. I'll let the European members jump in here but it might be worth looking at separate carriers for each or looking to see if there is one in either the UK or France that also has reasonable rates in the other country (maybe a French carrier has reasonable roaming rates in the UK - I don't know but anything is possible).