Using cellphones in Colombia

[Bbrocs]

Guys. I still have a black berry. Feel free to laugh at me. Get it out of you systems! Hahhaha!

You should see the Cel I use in Colombia! It's the kind that drug dealers in the US use to throw away when the heat is on! LOL!

But if I were to upgrade for both US and OR Colombia, what mods / hacks / unlocked / ect would I need to have a phone work in Colombia too? Could I just use my pre existing sim card (Movistar) in this new phone? You know what I mean?

Please to help! Thanks!

I upgraded my blackberry in Colombia. To a newer smart phone blackberry Z10.

I went to comcel. You would go to movie star with phone. Told them my number. They made me a new sim chip for 7, 500 pesos.

Gave me the codes to enter for internet. Showed me how much was for each combo. Deposited some money on it and for the month I had a great working cell for 40, 000 pesos or so.

[Havana927]

I wanted to know how much would It be to unlock a cell and get a SIM card in Colombia.

[Havana927]

[Archimedes]

I brought an unlocked iPhone 3 from USA and wanted to transfer my sim card from an older phone into it. I faced two problems: the battery in the iPhone had expanded and was at risk of exploding. Second, moving the sim card was not easy.

A friend recommended Luis at Elunet. Lv, which is a cell phone accessory and service shop in Medellin near Parque Poblado. The address is Calle 9 #43A. 31, Local 215. It's in the shopping center just south of Parque Poblado on the 2nd floor.

Luis initially estimated 70.000 for the battery replacement and to transfer the sim card. However, after replacing the battery, he ran into some problems getting the sim card to connect to the cell network. These problems may stem from the fact this was a USA iPhone that had been unlocked in China. Luis cleaned off all the old data and got it working for voice calls and text msgs.

Since he put several hours of extra time in, and loaned me a cell phone while he worked on the iPhone, I paid him 100.000. That seemed well worth the price as I now have a much better phone for Colombia than I've ever had before.

BTW, more than one person recommended I use a phone shop in El Centro. Besides the trouble of going there, I was warned that sometimes they do untrustworthy things like steal the original parts out of the phone and replace them with knock-offs. Anyway, I'm glad I found Luis and recommend him to everyone.

[Vegas Jeff]

I am in Medellin now and have been using this phone for a week and everything is great. I am using Claro as a service provider. The signal is great everywhere and the earpiece sound is crystal clear. The ringer is loud and the camera is decent. It is lightweight and looks nice also. I have not accessed

I bought it from the ad below about 3 weeks ago. It arrived in about a week.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Samsung-.../350896728474?

[Hioctane]

Thanks for this. I down loaded majickack and a few other items I think will be cool to have.

I have a question about the relationship between apps and the phone number / accounts that you have on your phone. Now when you sync you phone to the new sim card do you have to have all new accounts to whatsapp, wickr, majicjack, or anything that you have to be verified by your phone number?

Also if I import all my colombian contacts do I have to erase them from the phone from my trip or will my normal contacts be on my sim card? Is that question clear?

If you switch sims, there will usually be alerts asking if you want to switch. You can ignore the messages and use the apps normally.

Not exactly sure what you meant by the last question. If you don't want to worry about the import / export of contacts, keep the contacts on the sim.

[SlamCity7777]

I have a HTC One android unlocked gsm phone that I use from travel. I bought a simm and added a data plane (13mil / one week). I also installed majicjack so, I can call the US. This worked great. I was able to call locally and international (thru majicjack). The world is getting smaller.

Thanks for this. I down loaded majickack and a few other items I think will be cool to have.

I have a question about the relationship between apps and the phone number / accounts that you have on your phone. Now when you sync you phone to the new sim card do you have to have all new accounts to whatsapp, wickr, majicjack, or anything that you have to be verified by your phone number?

Also if I import all my colombian contacts do I have to erase them from the phone from my trip or will my normal contacts be on my sim card? Is that question clear?

[Boricua75]

Oovoo, tango, & whattsupp are IM / chat apps or are they for online calls like a Magic Jack or Vondage phone?

I have a HTC One android unlocked gsm phone that I use from travel. I bought a simm and added a data plane (13mil / one week). I also installed majicjack so, I can call the US. This worked great. I was able to call locally and international (thru majicjack). The world is getting smaller.

[SlamCity7777]

I just use my iphone 5 since it has international roaming. I don't make enough calls or texts for it to be an issue. If I need to make contact I use the wifi and use oovoo or tango or whattsupp. Its free.

Oovoo, tango, & whattsupp are IM / chat apps or are they for online calls like a Magic Jack or Vondage phone?

[Razor77]

I just use my iphone 5 since it has international roaming. I don't make enough calls or texts for it to be an issue. If I need to make contact I use the wifi and use oovoo or tango or whattsupp. Its free.

[Hioctane]

Hahaha! No issue with my girl having a cell phone. She is a normal colombian chica so a smart phone is like the Holy Grail to her. She wishes she had what we would consider a "burner" phone here in the states.

I got her a used Iphone 4 from Craigslist. It reads my USA tmoble and when I used my Peru Sim card it sayd "No service", that's a good thing right? If it said "no sim card" that is a bad thing and I wasted my money?

My Google Phone reads the Peru sim card "claro no service" so that is clealy a good thing for my nexus in Colombia si? I do not want to cut up my Colombian sim card.

This sound all good?

Looks good. To further test, try a friend's AT&T SIM in it. Or get a prepaid AT&T SIM. Or simply go to a local, mom and pop cell store and ask if it is unlocked.

[SlamCity7777]

They work fine. Just make sure you know what phone she currently has. Some chicas have newer phones than you!

Hahaha! No issue with my girl having a cell phone. She is a normal colombian chica so a smart phone is like the Holy Grail to her. She wishes she had what we would consider a "burner" phone here in the states.

I got her a used Iphone 4 from Craigslist. It reads my USA tmoble and when I used my Peru Sim card it sayd "No service", that's a good thing right? If it said "no sim card" that is a bad thing and I wasted my money?

My Google Phone reads the Peru sim card "claro no service" so that is clealy a good thing for my nexus in Colombia si? I do not want to cut up my Colombian sim card.

This sound all good?

[Hioctane]

Ok. I forgot to ask. What about older Iphone models? For example a 3GS is almost years old now and is 2 models behind the 5 & 4s / 4. But it would be more then acquitted for Colombia as 4G is rather rare in Colombia anyways and people mostly use wifi correct? (that's the vibe I got from this topic)

My buddy has a stack of his old Iphones and he has a very clean 3 with the box so I'm thinking that might be an inexpensive way for my girl to get her precious Iphone. Thoughts?

Thanks again for all the help with this.

Oh and it's factory unlocked, GSM, Quad all that junk, mini sim card as we discussed.

They work fine. Just make sure you know what phone she currently has. Some chicas have newer phones than you!

[SlamCity7777]

Ok. I forgot to ask. What about older Iphone models? For example a 3GS is almost years old now and is 2 models behind the 5 & 4s / 4. But it would be more then acquitted for Colombia as 4G is rather rare in Colombia anyways and people mostly use wifi correct? (that's the vibe I got from this topic)

My buddy has a stack of his old Iphones and he has a very clean 3 with the box so I'm thinking that might be an inexpensive way for my girl to get her precious Iphone. Thoughts?

Thanks again for all the help with this.

Oh and it's factory unlocked, GSM, Quad all that junk, mini sim card as we discussed.

[SlamCity7777]

I'd like to take a second and say thanks to all those who have taken the time out of their internet life to chime in, advise, field questions, and hold my hand in this entire cell phone fiasco. I've decided to go with either a Nexus or Galaxy. Whichever I can get on ebay for the best deal (I have a price in my head and will not go over that, not including shipping).

I hope all my questions will help the next guy down the line and if he should ask the same questions (prob not as I am a tech cave man) just have him search my posts! Hahah!

Muchisimas gracias por todo!