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Sprint "Open World" plan (replaces International Value Roaming)


lilotimz

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So this evening I was able to change my phone plan and was also able to keep Open World. Keeping this took some work but in the end I was able to get the department to over ride the system. Sometimes loyalty to a company pays off. Now I get to pay less monthly and keep the international plan that works for me.

 

Never hurts to ask!

 

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I'm sure that swapping to some of my non-gsm capable phones will remove "Open World" forever, so I better be careful. I pretty much just use my iPhone on Sprint exclusively these days.

 

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  • 1 month later...

I just went to Bermuda yesterday. Instantly connected to LTE. I ran a speed test and initially speeds weren't throttled but mid-test the throttling kicked in.

 

Speeds topped out at 70kbps and ping was about 120ms. It sounds much worse than it actually is though. Maybe it's because I'm on LTE but I was using the internet without an issue. I couldn't upload to Instagram or Snapchat without WiFi but I could still scroll through Instagram, Reddit, Twitter, and Facebook without an issue.

 

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I just went to Bermuda yesterday. Instantly connected to LTE. I ran a speed test and initially speeds weren't throttled but mid-test the throttling kicked in.

 

Speeds topped out at 70kbps and ping was about 120ms. It sounds much worse than it actually is though. Maybe it's because I'm on LTE but I was using the internet without an issue. I couldn't upload to Instagram or Snapchat without WiFi but I could still scroll through Instagram, Reddit, Twitter, and Facebook without an issue.

 

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And this was with grandfathered Open World? Or global roaming? Or their new international roaming thing?

 

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And this was with grandfathered Open World? Or global roaming? Or their new international roaming thing?

 

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

I'm on the included Going Roaming with Unlimited Freedom. I could pay $25 for full speeds for the week but I decided not to.

 

I'm in Sint Maarten right now connected to Chippie. The HSPA+ network is running at 160kbps.

 

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The wife and I are travelling to China.

She uses a Pixel XL, and I use a Nexus 6P.

Would really appreciate some opinions on how to go about using our phones in China.

I'm assuming Google services are still blocked.

 

Should we each get local SIMs or just pay some $ for high (full?) speed data?

We'll be there around 10 days.

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The wife and I are travelling to China.

She uses a Pixel XL, and I use a Nexus 6P.

Would really appreciate some opinions on how to go about using our phones in China.

I'm assuming Google services are still blocked.

 

Should we each get local SIMs or just pay some $ for high (full?) speed data?

We'll be there around 10 days.

The data you use when roaming is usually fed back to Sprint servers first, so Google services should still work if you buy data passes from Sprint.

 

When I travelled last year with Sprint, I was not able to access my TV provider's on-demand services through local Wi-Fi hotspots. It would say that the videos were not accessible outside the US. Fortunately, the videos worked through cellular data.

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The data you use when roaming is usually fed back to Sprint servers first, so Google services should still work if you buy data passes from Sprint.

 

When I travelled last year with Sprint, I was not able to access my TV provider's on-demand services through local Wi-Fi hotspots. It would say that the videos were not accessible outside the US. Fortunately, the videos worked through cellular data.

 

You travelled to China last year and your Google services worked without issue?

I really want to avoid getting there, firing up Google Maps and finding out it doesn't work.

Would like the ability to upload photos instantly via Google Photos as well.

 

I assume if in the same situation, you would just purchase the high speed data through Sprint?

Any idea how fast the speeds are?  Thinking anywhere around 1-3MB would suffice.

 

Appreciate your time and feedback.

Skid

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You travelled to China last year and your Google services worked without issue?

I really want to avoid getting there, firing up Google Maps and finding out it doesn't work.

Would like the ability to upload photos instantly via Google Photos as well.

 

I assume if in the same situation, you would just purchase the high speed data through Sprint?

Any idea how fast the speeds are? Thinking anywhere around 1-3MB would suffice.

 

Appreciate your time and feedback.

Skid

Not China.

 

But I do know that data while roaming in both Canada and Mexico is routed back to the US (which is why ping times are higher than usual abroad).

 

I'm assuming the same applies to China.

 

You can also set up a VPN in order to use any services that may be blocked off in China.

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I'm in Mexico, parked on LTE band 2 and was able to pull a 7 Mbps download. I thought we were restricted to 3G speeds. Big difference from the last time I was here, when it was all HSPA and HSPA+

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I'm in Mexico, parked on LTE band 2 and was able to pull a 7 Mbps download. I thought we were restricted to 3G speeds. Big difference from the last time I was here, when it was all HSPA and HSPA+

Where exactly? Movistar MX has almost halted their LTE expansion while Telcel and At&t are moving at full speed.

 

As a matter of fact, I'm pretty amazed at the quickness and urgency that At&t has shown in Mexico with their LTE deployment. They have almost matched the number of cities with LTE that Telcel has.

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Where exactly?.

Just a hop over the border from El Paso. Not roaming on Movistar, which used to be the roaming partner before. SCP says Pegaso Comunicaciones y Sistemas. Maybe they found cheaper regional partners to roam wherever​ they can. I'm just amazed since I expected kbps not Mbps.

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Just a hop over the border from El Paso. Not roaming on Movistar, which used to be the roaming partner before. SCP says Pegaso Comunicaciones y Sistemas. Maybe they found cheaper regional partners to roam wherever​ they can. I'm just amazed since I expected kbps not Mbps.

According to Sprint's list of roaming partners in Mexico, they are only partnered with Movistar (up to LTE) and Telcel (up to HSPA+)...maybe they are testing something new?

 

https://www.sprint.com/popups/pop-gprsCarriers.html

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Assuming that my limited Spanish is accurate (didn't bother to use Google translate), Pegaso is a subsidiary of Telefónica, so basically Movistar.

 

 

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You travelled to China last year and your Google services worked without issue?

I really want to avoid getting there, firing up Google Maps and finding out it doesn't work.

Would like the ability to upload photos instantly via Google Photos as well.

 

I assume if in the same situation, you would just purchase the high speed data through Sprint?

Any idea how fast the speeds are? Thinking anywhere around 1-3MB would suffice.

 

Appreciate your time and feedback.

Skid

I've used Sprint roaming in South Africa and Peru and each time my data was tunneled back to a Sprint server in Kansas, so everything thought I was in the US. Sprint does this to throttle and/or count your data usage. I'm​ almost certain Google services will work. The GFW shouldn't be able to see your traffic. Have a backup plan (ie VPN) just in case though.

 

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Just a hop over the border from El Paso. Not roaming on Movistar, which used to be the roaming partner before. SCP says Pegaso Comunicaciones y Sistemas. Maybe they found cheaper regional partners to roam wherever​ they can. I'm just amazed since I expected kbps not Mbps.

As mentioned earlier, Pegaso is Movistar. When Movistar started out, they bought a bunch of regional carriers to start out their national network expansion. Pegaso was one of those regional carriers that used to service Northern Mexico. Edited by greenbastard
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Assuming that my limited Spanish is accurate (didn't bother to use Google translate), Pegaso is a subsidiary of Telefónica, so basically Movistar.

 

 

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Wow, I didn't realize Sprint added Telcel as a partner. Telcel has the best coverage in Mexico and is also the most reliable.

 

This should really help to maximize user experience.

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As mentioned earlier, Pegaso is Movistar.

Well Movistar only ever gave me 3G so even though Movistar is present in the area I was getting fully unthrottled band 2 LTE at up to 94 Mbps down and 23 up, not from Movistar. I could even stream live TV from Spectrum. Latency was acceptable at 190 ms .

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Went to Toronto this week and my phone has been on Rogers the whole time. They have great coverage. Never lost signal once.

Takes about 10 seconds to make a call. Says connecting then call goes through. Not sure why.

Can't get Play Store to work at all. Says no Internet.

 

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Well Movistar only ever gave me 3G so even though Movistar is present in the area I was getting fully unthrottled band 2 LTE at up to 94 Mbps down and 23 up, not from Movistar. I could even stream live TV from Spectrum. Latency was acceptable at 190 ms .

LTE from Pegaso? It's still Movistar. Stuff like that happens a lot in Mexico. Don't know why they don't care to update the PLMs.

 

For example, in central Mexico my phone scans would reveal two names for one network. Iusacell and 334-050 (which is Unefon...The prepaid branch of Iusacell).

 

Now that At&t owns both of them, it's even more confusing with NEXTEL showing up. At&t literally shows up under four different network names.

 

dVYG1Dx.png

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Went to Toronto this week and my phone has been on Rogers the whole time. They have great coverage. Never lost signal once.

Takes about 10 seconds to make a call. Says connecting then call goes through. Not sure why.

Can't get Play Store to work at all. Says no Internet.

 

Sent from my SM-N920P using Tapatalk

Rogers did things strange, even with their prepaid network Fido. When my friend used to use Fido when she was up in Alberta, it was a minor annoyance waiting for her to answer.

 

 

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I was in Tijuana Mexico, Friday and Saturday, with Open World add on, on my Moto X Pure and no issues, connected to HSPA+ on Movistar, no LTE. Whenever you cross the border you get the welcome to Open World Text. Im on the ED 1500 plan. iPhones do connect LTE on Movistar 334 050

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I was in Tijuana Mexico, Friday and Saturday, with Open World add on, on my Moto X Pure and no issues, connected to HSPA+ on Movistar, no LTE. Whenever you cross the border you get the welcome to Open World Text. Im on the ED 1500 plan. iPhones do connect LTE on Movistar 334 050

Were the iPhones also on Open World?

 

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