<commit_before>---
published: true
layout: post
title: Is T-Mobile's Simple Choice plan that simple?
tags:
  - tech
date: '2016-08-20 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)
- [Greece](#greece)
  - [Athens](#athens)
  - [Kythnos](#kythnos)
- [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][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][lte] or [3G][3g] coverage. (2016-07-19)

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

## Greece

### Athens

[Cosmote][cosmote] had [LTE][lte] and [3G][3g] coverage around most of Athens. I ran into very few dead spots while walking around the city, and only when the metro was deep underground was when I was connected to [EDGE][edge] or lost connection completely. (2016-08-18)

![The cellular gods smile kindly on Athens.]({{site.baseurl}}/images/tmobile/greece-athens.png)

### Kythnos

Kythnos is technically an island, not a city. I spent most of my time in Trivlaka Bay, where I had no connection whatsoever and was dependent on my hosts' wifi network. But in Merihas and Dryopida, I got [3G][3g] coverage from [Cosmote][cosmote] (2016-08-20)

![In the cities]({{site.baseurl}}/images/tmobile/greece-kythnos.png)

## 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][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][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)<commit_msg>T-mobile: minor alt text update<commit_after>---
published: true
layout: post
title: Is T-Mobile's Simple Choice plan that simple?
tags:
  - tech
date: '2016-08-20 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)
- [Greece](#greece)
  - [Athens](#athens)
  - [Kythnos](#kythnos)
- [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][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][lte] or [3G][3g] coverage. (2016-07-19)

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

## Greece

### Athens

[Cosmote][cosmote] had [LTE][lte] and [3G][3g] coverage around most of Athens. I ran into very few dead spots while walking around the city, and only when the metro was deep underground was when I was connected to [EDGE][edge] or lost connection completely. (2016-08-18)

![The cellular gods smile kindly on Athens.]({{site.baseurl}}/images/tmobile/greece-athens.png)

### Kythnos

Kythnos is technically an island, not a city. I spent most of my time in Trivlaka Bay, where I had no connection whatsoever and was dependent on my hosts' wifi network. But in Merihas and Dryopida, I got [3G][3g] coverage from [Cosmote][cosmote] (2016-08-20)

![In the towns]({{site.baseurl}}/images/tmobile/greece-kythnos.png)

## 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][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][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)
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