Have you ever come back from a vacation or business trip from abroad and were surprised by the cost of your telephone bill for using your private iPhone or smartphone? You could always buy a local prepaid sim card and change it with your existing sim card in your phone. But this is not what I what I need. I want that my current telephone number stays active so family members or others who can still reach me. Also I do not want to have my existing sim card with a two year contract floating around my luggage. On top I enjoy using my iPhone and my iPad more than any other tablet or smart phone. There are several options available that will satisfy my above objectives. List of APN settings for different countries to surf over data networks ( internet ) with your smartphone and where to buy the prepaid sim card

1. How to avoid data roaming and roaming fees while
travelling abroad ? Mobile Wlan Hotspot Devices router
and smartphones and how to Setup those for
Internet Access
January, 2013
Have you ever come back from a vacation or business trip from abroad and were surprised by
the cost of your telephone bill for using your private iPhone or smartphone?
You could always buy a local prepaid sim card and change it with your existing sim card in
your phone. But this is not what I what I need. I want that my current telephone number stays
active so family members or others who can still reach me. Also I do not want to have my
existing sim card with a two year contract floating around my luggage. On top I enjoy using
my iPhone and my iPad more than any other tablet or smart phone.
There are several options available that will satisfy my above objectives. There are a number
of mobile wlan umts hotspot devices such as the Trekstor or Huawei E series for example the
NEW UNLOCKED HUAWEI E5830 WIFI Wireless Router E5 Modem available. They can
serve up to five devices and connect them to the internet. All what you need is a prepaid sim
card for these mobile hotspots. But one thing you cannot do with the router this to make local
phone calls.
I have found even another and cheaper solution and plus I have a local phone. Since 2011
there is a Huawei U8160 Vodafone VF858 Android Unlocked smart on the market. It is the
cheapest smartphone currently available. It is an android phone. Even a sim lock free
Vodafone 858 is still cheaper than the mobile umts hotspots. And the android Vodafone 858
can serve several devices at the same time and connect them to the internet.
As I travel during the year to different countries the sim lock free version is best suited for my
needs.
Once in the country I just need to buy a prepaid sim card for this android mobile phone. Now
I can make calls and have access to the internet.
The beauty of this comes to play when I set this Vodafone 858 to be a wlan hotspot. Now
through tethering I connect my iPhone or iPad to this android smart phone. Et voila I avoid
my data roaming costs while surfing or reading my emails or eBooks on my iPad on the
beach. In a test I was able to use the hotspot with 2 iPhones and an iPad in parallel without
problems.
Below a quick help card on how to setup internet access on your smartphone.

2. Enlarge Picture
I bought my prepaid sim card at the Swisscom shop. It requires an identity card. The sim card
was activated within 10 minutes after purchase. Yet first even with the help of the shop
assistant I could not get access to the internet.
The shop assistant recommended me to call the Swisscom help desk. They advised me to
access the manual on their website. This was neither helpful nor successful.
It was through the Question and Answer section in Linkedin that I finally got it to work. See
Use Vodafone 858 smart as a mobile umts hotspot. Eric Krakowski provided me with the
right settings. See Eric Krakowski’s Profile on Linkedin:
http://fr.linkedin.com/in/erickrakowski . Based on his advice I build the above quick visual
guide.
If you travel to different countries the global list below will be very helpful to setup your
router or smartphone with a local prepaid simcard to have access to the internet. It includes all
the GPRS APN Settings from different countries and telecom providers.
List of APN settings for different countries to surf over
data networks ( internet ) with your smartphone and
where to buy the prepaid sim card
January, 2013
This list is helpful for all who use a local prepaid sim-card when visiting another country and
need to setup internet access on their smarthphone or router:
A) Switzerland and Italy:

3. Switzerland
Settings for Swisscom – Access Point Names:
Name : Swisscom
APN : gprs.swisscom.ch
Proxy : <Not set>
Port : <Not set>
Username : <Not set>
Password : <Not set>
Server : <Not set>
MMSC : http://mms.natel.ch:8079
MMS proxy : 192.168.210.002
MMS port : 8080
MCC : 228
MNC : 01
APN type : <Not set>
Where to buy ?
Swisscom Shops or Swisscom Partner Shops such as the Mobile Zone (see map). Select
Partner Shops to view the locations. Switzerland is pretty well covered.
Activation of my prepaid sim card took less than 10 minutes in the Swisscom Shop and costs
19.90 CHF.
Settings OK TalkEasy Sim Card:
Name : OK
APN : Netgprs.com
Proxy : 192.168.10.2
Port : <Not set>
Username : tsl
Password : tsl
Server : <Not set>
MMSC : http://mms.natel.ch:8079
MMS proxy : 192.168.210.002
MMS port : 8080
MCC : 228
MNC : 03
Authentification Type: PAP
APN type : default,supl
Where to buy ?
Sim-Card tarrifes.
Places to buy. I bought my Sim-card for 15 CHF in a KKiosk. You find a KKiosk for example
at the airports in Switzerland and at Railwaystations. They also open on Week-ends. However
they will activate the card only during week days. You also need to provide an identity card.
Italy

4. Settings for Vodafone:
Name: Acc. Internet da cell
APN: mobile.vodafone.it
Proxy: not set
Port: not set
Username: not set
Password: not set
Server: not set
MMSC: not set
MMS-Proxy: not set
MMS-Port: not set
MCC: 222
MNC: 10
Authentication-Typ: not set
APN-Typ: default,supl
Where to buy?
I bought the Vodafone micro sim-card in the vodafone shop in Budoni, island of Sardina in
Italy at 9:45 am on a Monday. It was activated by 2:20 pm the same day. The card allows for
one month 500 MB data transfer and unlimeted local sms to vodafone users for 10 Euro. For
the activation of the Micro sim-card 15 Euro additionally were charged. Only a copy of my
passport was taken. No forms to fill or any other data required from my side.
Settings for TIM – Telecom Italia:
Name: mms
APN: mms.tim.it
Proxy: not set
Port: not set
Username: not set
Password: not set
Server: not set
MMSC: http://mms.tim.it/servlets/mms
MMS Proxy: 213.230.130.089
MMS Port: 80
MCC: 222

5. MNC: 01
APN Type: mms
See also: Quick Reference Card on how to setup internet access for your smartphone
B) All countries around the world (globe) :
The following links were provided by experts on Linkedin
Ivan Pisachev (Linkedin Profile):
World’s GPRS APN List
Flexispy Mobile APN Setting to use GPRS
Dirk-Jan Koeman (Linkedin Profile):
List by Vysoo
List of all International Manual GPRS Settings Arranged Country-wise: WorldWide by Amit
Rawat
If you want to join the discussion, visit:
How to avoid data roaming and roaming fees ? Mobile Wlan Hotspot Devices and how to Setup those
for Internet Access