iPhone Solutions

Seven Observations on using an iPhone Overseas

By David North ⋅ July 2, 2009 ⋅

I recently had the chance to use my iPhone on a two week trip in the Middle East. The short, it worked great. Here are some of my observations.

Plan ahead. Make sure you get the international calling plan (cheap) and data plan (not so cheap, but get a bigger plan than you think you might use). If you plan to use your iPhone out of the country, you should get the plans in advance. With the international plans in place you can use your iPhone much like you do at home, but with increased rates. If you don’t have the plans, you can use your iPhone like you do at home but the rates are outrageous. Take a power converter. For now you will need an electrical power converter and plug to make your charger work with the electrical outlets overseas. I was able to charge my iPhone every night in the hotel with out any problems.
Don’t expect free WiFi. At least in the Middle East (Isreal, Jordan, Egypt) there was no free WiFi in the hotels or anywhere else I went. I had hoped to use Skype to make some calls, but without WiFi this was out. I was also hoping for WiFi on the airplane, but Luftansa did not have it.
Do expect 3G. I was able to get 3G service just about everywhere I went, except maybe the day we drove acrosss the Siani desert. This means getting email, browsing and using Google Maps worked great. Goolge Maps doesn’t have great information for every location. They did work in the Middle East, but some locations did not have much detail listed. The GPS did find me in the Nile Delta and I could find most of our hotels on Google Maps.
Do expect clear phone reception. I made several calls back to the US with no problem and with great reception.
Do take lots of tunes. Travel always means some dead time (although we didn’t have much) and listening to your own music is a great way to relax.
Do load on the iPhone documents and reference info you will need. I loaded some documents using Quick Office and some travel info apps for the locations we were visiting.
Do keep the world updated on your travels. I updated my Facebook status just about every day and got great comments back from my friends.