Hi! I'm terribly confused about how international roaming works with a 8830 via Sprint. I'll be in Rwanda for a couple of months, and I'd like to be able to continue to have access to my gmail, if I got the int'l data plan from sprint, would I also be able to use a local Rwandan SIM card? Would I be able to get a SIM card that has a data plan? I'm really just trying to find the cheapest way I can make sure I have access to my e-mail and chat all the time, and every time I call sprint they give me a different answer about how much things cost/what would actually be available in Rwanda!

I'm scared I'll get there and have to pay out the nose for roaming costs!

Thanks, I'm a newbie to all this and appreciate your expertise!

Welcome to the forum.

It looks like you should have service in Rwanda.

Traveling Internationally

If you want access to email and data, the simplest way is to get international coverage added to your Sprint account. One good thing about Sprint is that you can add international coverage for just the time that you are gone, and revert to your normal data plan once you return.

You can purchase and use a Rwandan SIM card for making and receiving calls. That will work fine for calls and texts. It WILL NOT work for data.

The absolute cheapest way to do this is to get the international data plan and a Rwandan SIM. When you want to place and receive calls, you put in the Rwandan SIM. When you want to check email and get data, you put the Sprint SIM card in.

Obviously this is a big pain in the butt, but it is the cheapest way.

One more option, while on the Rwandan SIM, if you disable the GSM network entirely as in , turn off the SIM totally, and turn on our wifi and locate a free hotspot (some hotels now offer free wifi service at the lobby), you will be able to access your gmail and hotmail services, from the BB and Opera browsers

on my 8820 , with 4.5 OS, it is the only way i can use browser based email facility on wifi, you will also need to configure your browser to use "hotspot"

as much as the droves swear by it, the RIM logic is about as exasperating and absurd as any logic can be, so go figure

ATTENTION - if you do opt for an international data plan and keep your Sprint SIM online , make sure you are fully cognisant of the charges involved, the BB devices will keep pinging the email server every few seconds, and regardless of whether you have mail or not, the reply ping will also be generated, and each ping either way is charged,

so BB roamimg is an expensive proposition,

best of luck,

exile

Two items are blatantly incorrect in this post,

First, the 8830 does not have wifi, so that is not an option.

Second, the Sprint international data plan provides unlimited data on the BB (no tethering) while abroad, so the cost is fixed to the cost of the plan -- which if memory serves me correctly is $70/month.