[jtom2343]

Hey CB

I will be in Italy for a month this summer and am currently with At&t. I went to the At&t store and they said that for $24.99 I could get 20MB of data or for 60 bucks I could get 50MB.

Is this enough for very light email usage and facebook messaging?

Also if I turn data services off, when I switch if back on will my phone be flooded with pushed emails that will use up the available data?

I realize I should probably rely on wifi as much as possible but I will be kind of remote for a lot of the trip and probably won't have access to it.

Thanks

p.s. if this isn't the right section for this kind of question, my bad!

[MrObvious]

Check around maybe the Internets for other Italian carriers and see if you can find one that is cheaper and gives you the coverage you need.

[jtom2343]

Getting an Italian sim really isn't an option for me. Thanks though.

[Motorcycle Mama]

Hey CB

I will be in Italy for a month this summer and am currently with At&t. I went to the At&t store and they said that for $24.99 I could get 20MB of data or for 60 bucks I could get 50MB.

Is this enough for very light email usage and facebook messaging?

That's not very much data allowance. You could blow through that pretty quickly.

And in any case, I would recommend using the Facebook mobile website rather than the Facebook application.

Also if I turn data services off, when I switch if back on will my phone be flooded with pushed emails that will use up the available data?

Yes. It would be best to go into your BIS and set up filters to filter out everything but the essential emails from being pushed to the device. And even then, I would be wary.

I realize I should probably rely on wifi as much as possible but I will be kind of remote for a lot of the trip and probably won't have access to it.

Thanks

p.s. if this isn't the right section for this kind of question, my bad!

[Newfangled Gizmo]

If ATT provides data usage details in your past bills, you should be able to get an idea of your typical monthly usage in MB to help figure out which international option better suits you.

In my online T-Mobile bills, BB (email) usage is listed separately from internet access, which helps in this kind of calculation.

It may also be good to advise your regular contacts not to e-mail large attachments during your absence!

[jtom2343]

Thanks for all your help guys!

I think I'm just gonna get the 50MB and be careful about it.

[FF22]

Doesn't AT&T have any unlimited data plans for foreign travel. With Verizon I was able to get UNlimited data for an extra $30/month. I used quite a bit of data and opting for their plan saved me about $300 over their normal Europe-data prices. But we checked out weather a lot and 3 of us used it for email and I checked the news regularly.

If you are going to be remote, you may not get data either. I was in the Dolomites last summer and service for both data and phone could be spotty. Phone was more reliable but data less so.

[xpdamus]

Is an international data plan needed whilst 'roaming'? i didn't know this. Could i just buy a SIM from the country i am going to for cheaper?

[Gawain]

Hey CB

I will be in Italy for a month this summer and am currently with At&t. I went to the At&t store and they said that for $24.99 I could get 20MB of data or for 60 bucks I could get 50MB.

Is this enough for very light email usage and facebook messaging?

Also if I turn data services off, when I switch if back on will my phone be flooded with pushed emails that will use up the available data?

I realize I should probably rely on wifi as much as possible but I will be kind of remote for a lot of the trip and probably won't have access to it.

Thanks

p.s. if this isn't the right section for this kind of question, my bad!

Honestly, you need to check with AT&T or look at your past bills to see how much data you've been using. AT&T's international data packages aren't great, but they are clear.
AT&T International - Wireless from AT&T

If you're going to be gone a month and your data usage here is "light", then I would probably do what I could to "max" out the plan...just to avoid the overages.

[Laura Knotek]

Is an international data plan needed whilst 'roaming'? i didn't know this. Could i just buy a SIM from the country i am going to for cheaper?

It would probably be cheaper to get your phone unlocked and purchase a SIM card with prepaid data from a carrier in the country you are visiting. Your carrier might provide you with an unlock code free of charge. If not, there are several reputable unlockers in the Unlocking forum.