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Airplane Mode Abroad

T

Thormier

Newbie
Hey guys , im just wondering , Im going to Greece in a week and was wondering , If i use Airplane mode will it be ok to have the phone on without getting charged to hell for turning on my phone abroad?

Also

Will i be able to connect to Wifi while in Airplane mode?
 
Yes, you can still turn on WIFI when Plane mode is on.

When abroad I think it would be better just to turn mobile network off though so you can still receive calls and texts without being charged data.

But, yeah, plane mode should stop any charges......
 
U don't need to use airplane mode, just make sure u have mobile data off. If unsure, add widget, settings, mobile data and ensure that is never green.

As above ;)
 
You can manually turn off your mobile signal and 3G internet.

Settings>Wireless and networks>Mobile Networks

Disable Data roaming. It will not connect to 3G while abroad. If you don't want to accept call roaming just don't select an operator when you land. It won't seemingly try to connect unless you set one.

That said I just found.

Settings>Call barring Settings

Some roaming options in there, TBH I wanted to get messages etc on holiday so I didn't turn any of the standard call options off.
 
I have been successfully using wifi whilst abroad and in airplane mode. When you select airplane mode it will turn off the wifi so you just have to manually turn it back on again.

I've found an app called EasySwitch, a useful widget with all of the switches in one place.
 
snowmobile said:
I have been successfully using wifi whilst abroad and in airplane mode. When you select airplane mode it will turn off the wifi so you just have to manually turn it back on again.

I've found an app called EasySwitch, a useful widget with all of the switches in one place.
Click to expand...

Yep, I tried and WIFI does indeed stwitch on while in plane mode...

RE: the roaming setting, I guess that's a good fail safe, but I would feel nervous relying on it - I just don't trust it, but not sure why! :)
 
Banzibarn said:
Yep, I tried and WIFI does indeed stwitch on while in plane mode...

RE: the roaming setting, I guess that's a good fail safe, but I would feel nervous relying on it - I just don't trust it, but not sure why! :)
Click to expand...

My wifi and mobile data (t-mo) cab be on during plane mode but unable to surf the internet. however I'm at work and our wifi is not the best, can anyone elsa try please?
 
nx1977 said:
Plane mode kills all transmitters in the phone, so wifi,bluetooth and mobile network. To use these you have to exit plane mode.
Click to expand...

Others have mentioned this already, but android 2.0+, you can enable wifi in airplane mode.
 
Just tried this also - it works but there was some weird behaviour initially. I have the plane and WiFi widgets on my home screen, WiFi was on, I then turned on airplane mode, the WiFi widget was still green, I went into the browser and got a connection error, went back to the homescreen and WiFi had now turned off. Re-enabled it again and it worked fine while still in airplane mode, so maybe bear this in mind if you try it.
 
I think when you initially turn airplane mode on, it disables wifi, but then you can re-enable it. This is true in some builds anyway.
 
danfrance said:
I think when you initially turn airplane mode on, it disables wifi, but then you can re-enable it. This is true in some builds anyway.
Click to expand...

That seemed to be the case - I think it disabled it initially but it either didn't update the widget to show it was disabled, or there was some delay and I just didn't give the widget enough time to update.

Either way it definitely works in airplane mode when you turn wifi back on.
 
I'll be out of the UK from next Monday and obviously want to ensure I'm not hit with any excessive charges.

I want to be able to receive calls and a messages, and also make calls and send messages. I can access WiFi in my hotel for free, so may do this if I feel like a browse of the internet. What is the best and safest way to set up my phone to ensure I am not hidden with any charges?

Switch of Mobile Data/APN and untick Data Roaming and Mobile Network? Am I missing anything else?
 
JohnnyBravo1000 said:
I'll be out of the UK from next Monday and obviously want to ensure I'm not hit with any excessive charges.

I want to be able to receive calls and a messages, and also make calls and send messages. I can access WiFi in my hotel for free, so may do this if I feel like a browse of the internet. What is the best and safest way to set up my phone to ensure I am not hidden with any charges?

Switch of Mobile Data/APN and untick Data Roaming and Mobile Network? Am I missing anything else?
Click to expand...

That'll do it, however, just unticking data roaming theoretically should be enough. Allways good to err on the side of caution though.
 
danfrance said:
That'll do it, however, just unticking data roaming theoretically should be enough. Allways good to err on the side of caution though.
Click to expand...

Cheers, mate.

Just as you said, I did think disabling data roaming on its own may be enough. I just thought I'd better safeguard myself as much as possible.
 
my two cents on this issue,

I recently (2 weeks ago) spent a week in turkey - i unchecked 'data roaming' for 3G so i just recieved normal signal and everything worked fine all week - no nasty charges when I got back (on tmob btw)
 
This would have been useful for me last year, had the Desire been out then.

I worked at a kids summer camp in the middle of nowhere, USA. We had wifi but the cell reception was non-existant.

Have wifi on with airplane mode would've meant drastically increased battery life :)

So yeah, if you're going somewhere with wifi, but no cell reception then it's a good thing to know.
 
Guys,

I'm abroad a lot (the clue is in the username), and all I do is set data roaming off. That way I still get text messages, calls (which I can chose to answer or not) but don't get billed for anything else. I have a widget on my 'settings' screen which is basically just a shortcut to the relevant setting, but so far I've never been tempted to turn it on while abroad.

When I get somewhere with a WiFi network I turn that on and let the phone update (email, exchange rates etc). The rest of the time it's just a phone.

It works, trust me. I've been using the phone this way for a good 6 months and it's never been a problem.
 
nx1977 said:
Adhering to the strict agreed standards on 'airplane mode', you shouldnt be able to.

Either it's a 2.x bug, or a HTC one.
Click to expand...
That is not correct, may have been before carriers starting putting inflight WiFi in the planes. So having the phone allow WiFi to work while in airplane mode is not a bug. I have used in plane WiFi before for my laptop and it works well enough, I did have problems with the SIP phone though: Some lost packets and very laggy. At that time my old phone didn't support WiFi in plane mode.

I know the tread is a little old, but I'm sure others will stumble here as I did and I like the right info when possible.
 
Right then. Orange network. Going to USA for 10 days. I am going to turn mobile data off. Use airplane mode. Manually turn wi-fi on and turn data roaming off.

I intend to check for text messages perhaps once a day. But:

a) Will turning airplane mode off be ok for this? How much more expensive is receiving a text over in USA?

b) I quite often get picture messages sent to me. This means 3G is automatically switched on when I get them. How do I make sure this doesn't happen? Is there a way round it? As I want to receive all other messages b ut don't want the pictures!

Thanks!!
 
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