<commit_before>---
published: true
layout: post
title: Is T-Mobile's Simple Choice plan that simple?
tags:
  - tech
date: '2016-08-04 14:30:00 +0300'
---
If you have an unlocked [GSM][gsm] phone, you can easily avoid buying and carrying around a bunch of SIM cards with you especially if you're traveling to a bunch of different countries by subscribing to any [T-Mobile Simple Choice plan][tmobile-plans]. They include unlimited data and SMS, and phone calls are 20 cents per minute. (I use my [Google Voice][google-voice] number to get around that.) Check out the [full list of supported countries][tmobile-countries], but I'm going to be keeping a running tally of how well the service really performs in each city I visit.

<!--more-->

Jump directly to a country or city:

- [Estonia](#estonia)
  - [Tallinn](#tallinn)
- [France](#france)
  - [Paris](#paris)
- [Iceland](#iceland)
  - [Keflavik](#keflavik)
- [Latvia](#latvia)
  - [Riga](#riga)
  - [Sigulda](#sigulda)
- [Lithuania](#lithuania)
  - [Vilnius](#vilnius)
- [Ukraine](#ukraine)
  - [Kiev](#kiev)
  - [Lviv](#lviv)
  - [Malyn](#malyn)
  - [V'yunyshche](#vyunyshche)

## Estonia

### Tallinn

[Tele2][tele2-ee] goes up to 3G, but I didn't find the connection wholly reliable even in Old Town. I also wasn't successful in using the city-provided wifi around the city. (2016-07-21)

![Tallinn's lower temperatures were a welcome break from the heat wave in Paris.]({{site.baseurl}}/images/tmobile/estonia-tallinn.png)

## France

### Paris

Unless you're riding the [Metro][paris-metro], [Orange][orange-fr] provides either LTE or 3G coverage. (2016-07-19)

![Paris: the hottest day of the year and no air conditioning...]({{site.baseurl}}/images/tmobile/france-paris.jpeg)

## Iceland

### Keflavik

I didn't actually leave the airport since I had what amounted to less than an hour of layover time, but I had LTE coverage while I was there. [NOVA][nova-is] was the local provider. (2016-07-19)

![Keflavik weather]({{site.baseurl}}/images/tmobile/iceland-keflavik.jpeg)

## Latvia

### Riga

[Tele2][tele2-lv] goes up to 3G, and although there were some rare dead spots in Old Town, for the most part the speeds and connectivity seemed way better than in [Tallinn](#tallinn). I even relied on my personal hotspot on my phone to connect my tablet to the outside world since my hostel's wifi networks were not the best. (2016-07-24)

![Riga was markedly warmer than Tallinn.]({{site.baseurl}}/images/tmobile/latvia-riga.jpeg)

### Sigulda

[Tele2][tele2-lv] goes up to 3G, and I was surprised at how few dead spots there were even while I was hiking around the outskirts of town. (2016-07-23)

![Sigulda is slightly cooler than Riga, possibly because of all the green space.]({{site.baseurl}}/images/tmobile/latvia-sigulda.jpeg)

## Lithuania

### Vilnius

See a pattern yet? Yes, it's [Tele2][tele2-lt] again, and they provide up to 3G speeds. I did encounter the rare dead spot while wandering around, but for the most part, it worked great. (2016-07-27)

![More hot weather in Vilnius]({{site.baseurl}}/images/tmobile/lithuania-vilnius.png)

## Ukraine

### Kiev

I was connected to [Vodafone][vodafone-ua]'s 3G network except in the subways where I sometimes had EDGE network access. (2016-08-03)

![Kiev was pretty hot.]({{site.baseurl}}/images/tmobile/ukraine-kiev.png)

### Lviv

In the center of the city, [Vodafone][vodafone-ua]'s 3G network was pretty good, but I was staying south of city center, where EDGE was more dominant. (2016-08-04)

![Also warm in Lviv but not as hot as Kiev]({{site.baseurl}}/images/tmobile/ukraine-lviv.png)

### Malyn

A small town outside of Kiev still has EDGE network coverage through [Vodafone][vodafone-ua], so although slow, I could usually connect somehow. (2016-08-01)

![Malyn is living on the EDGE.]({{site.baseurl}}/images/tmobile/ukraine-malyn.png)

### V'yunyshche

This village has only 21 people, so what kind of service do you expect? It was fine for me, though: who needs electricity and running water 100% of the time? (2016-07-30)

[google-voice]: https://www.google.com/voice
[gsm]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/GSM
[nova-is]: https://www.nova.is
[orange-fr]: http://www.orange.fr
[paris-metro]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_M%C3%A9tro
[tele2-ee]: https://tele2.ee
[tele2-lt]: http://tele2.lt
[tele2-lv]: https://www.tele2.lv
[tmobile-countries]: http://www.t-mobile.com/cell-phone-plans/simple-choice-international-plan-countries.html
[tmobile-plans]: http://www.t-mobile.com/cell-phone-plans.html
[vodafone-ua]: https://www.vodafone.ua<commit_msg>T-mobile: Added Istanbul<commit_after>---
published: true
layout: post
title: Is T-Mobile's Simple Choice plan that simple?
tags:
  - tech
date: '2016-08-11 10:00:00 +0300'
---
If you have an unlocked [GSM][gsm] phone, you can easily avoid buying and carrying around a bunch of SIM cards with you especially if you're traveling to a bunch of different countries by subscribing to any [T-Mobile Simple Choice plan][tmobile-plans]. They include unlimited data and SMS, and phone calls are 20 cents per minute. (I use my [Google Voice][google-voice] number to get around that.) Check out the [full list of supported countries][tmobile-countries], but I'm going to be keeping a running tally of how well the service really performs in each city I visit.

<!--more-->

Jump directly to a country or city:

- [Estonia](#estonia)
  - [Tallinn](#tallinn)
- [France](#france)
  - [Paris](#paris)
- [Iceland](#iceland)
  - [Keflavik](#keflavik)
- [Latvia](#latvia)
  - [Riga](#riga)
  - [Sigulda](#sigulda)
- [Lithuania](#lithuania)
  - [Vilnius](#vilnius)
- [Turkey](#turkey)
  - [Istanbul](#istanbul)
- [Ukraine](#ukraine)
  - [Kiev](#kiev)
  - [Lviv](#lviv)
  - [Malyn](#malyn)
  - [V'yunyshche](#vyunyshche)

## Estonia

### Tallinn

[Tele2][tele2-ee] goes up to 3G, but I didn't find the connection wholly reliable even in Old Town. I also wasn't successful in using the city-provided wifi around the city. (2016-07-21)

![Tallinn's lower temperatures were a welcome break from the heat wave in Paris.]({{site.baseurl}}/images/tmobile/estonia-tallinn.png)

## France

### Paris

Unless you're riding the [Metro][paris-metro], [Orange][orange-fr] provides either LTE or 3G coverage. (2016-07-19)

![Paris: the hottest day of the year and no air conditioning...]({{site.baseurl}}/images/tmobile/france-paris.jpeg)

## Iceland

### Keflavik

I didn't actually leave the airport since I had what amounted to less than an hour of layover time, but I had LTE coverage while I was there. [NOVA][nova-is] was the local provider. (2016-07-19)

![Keflavik weather]({{site.baseurl}}/images/tmobile/iceland-keflavik.jpeg)

## Latvia

### Riga

[Tele2][tele2-lv] goes up to 3G, and although there were some rare dead spots in Old Town, for the most part the speeds and connectivity seemed way better than in [Tallinn](#tallinn). I even relied on my personal hotspot on my phone to connect my tablet to the outside world since my hostel's wifi networks were not the best. (2016-07-24)

![Riga was markedly warmer than Tallinn.]({{site.baseurl}}/images/tmobile/latvia-riga.jpeg)

### Sigulda

[Tele2][tele2-lv] goes up to 3G, and I was surprised at how few dead spots there were even while I was hiking around the outskirts of town. (2016-07-23)

![Sigulda is slightly cooler than Riga, possibly because of all the green space.]({{site.baseurl}}/images/tmobile/latvia-sigulda.jpeg)

## Lithuania

### Vilnius

See a pattern yet? Yes, it's [Tele2][tele2-lt] again, and they provide up to 3G speeds. I did encounter the rare dead spot while wandering around, but for the most part, it worked great. (2016-07-27)

![More hot weather in Vilnius]({{site.baseurl}}/images/tmobile/lithuania-vilnius.png)

## Turkey

### Istanbul

[AVEA][avea] provides [LTE][lte] service, which was unexpected. My phone did slip back to 3G sometimes, and underground, connections are unreliable. (2016-08-11)

![Argh, why did I pick August to come to Turkey?]({{site.baseurl}}/images/tmobile/turkey-istanbul.png)

## Ukraine

### Kiev

I was connected to [Vodafone][vodafone-ua]'s 3G network except in the subways where I sometimes had [EDGE][edge] network access. (2016-08-03)

![Kiev was pretty hot.]({{site.baseurl}}/images/tmobile/ukraine-kiev.png)

### Lviv

In the center of the city, [Vodafone][vodafone-ua]'s 3G network was pretty good, but I was staying south of city center, where [EDGE][edge] was more dominant. (2016-08-04)

![Also warm in Lviv but not as hot as Kiev]({{site.baseurl}}/images/tmobile/ukraine-lviv.png)

### Malyn

A small town outside of Kiev still has [EDGE][edge] network coverage through [Vodafone][vodafone-ua], so although slow, I could usually connect somehow. (2016-08-01)

![Malyn is living on the EDGE.]({{site.baseurl}}/images/tmobile/ukraine-malyn.png)

### V'yunyshche

This village has only 21 people, so what kind of service do you expect? It was fine for me, though: who needs electricity and running water 100% of the time? (2016-07-30)

[avea]: http://www.avea.com.tr/web/en/
[edge]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enhanced_Data_Rates_for_GSM_Evolution
[google-voice]: https://www.google.com/voice
[gsm]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/GSM
[lte]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/LTE_(telecommunication)
[nova-is]: https://www.nova.is
[orange-fr]: http://www.orange.fr
[paris-metro]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_M%C3%A9tro
[tele2-ee]: https://tele2.ee
[tele2-lt]: http://tele2.lt
[tele2-lv]: https://www.tele2.lv
[tmobile-countries]: http://www.t-mobile.com/cell-phone-plans/simple-choice-international-plan-countries.html
[tmobile-plans]: http://www.t-mobile.com/cell-phone-plans.html
[vodafone-ua]: https://www.vodafone.ua
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