Hello all, I'm an active duty soldier in the US Army currently serving in Iraq and kuwait. Wifi networks are hard to come by out here so I've been doing some digging and research which led me here. The MIFI service from verizon sounds perfect for my needs but my question is can it be used overseas in countries like Iraq and Kuwait? If so what are the plans and can a unit be shipped out here? Thank you for the support and i hope to get an anwer soon. Thanks again.
You've hit upon a very politically sensitive issue. There was congressional lobbying 7 years ago to force Iraq to support a CDMA cellular infrastructure, which was partically successful. But I believe that most of Iraq and Kuwait are GSM, which means that the MiFi won't work everywhere.
In addition, even if it did, it is locked to Verizon and you would have to pay ridiculous Verizon roaming rates to use it there. You are better off getting a quad band unlocked GSM MiFi, which are widely available in Europe.
It would be EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE (like $20.48 a MB) already if you used VZW-Vodafone's roaming in Iraq which is GSM. There is NO CDMA roaming in Iraq anyways considering I don't think a non-stable country will join the Syniverse roaming CRX but the GSM carriers there would.
Thanks for your suggestion, but could you please explain in more detail what a "quad band unlocked GSM MiFi" is and how does it work out here in Iraq? I'm new to the whole MiFi community and am trying to learn as much as possible about it because it sounds like the network of the future, but only in the prestages. I really wish internet was better out here but we have no other choice but to use what we're given. That's why I'm searching for alternatives.
ajay708 wrote:Thanks for your suggestion, but could you please explain in more detail what a "quad band unlocked GSM MiFi" is and how does it work out here in Iraq? I'm new to the whole MiFi community and am trying to learn as much as possible about it because it sounds like the network of the future, but only in the prestages. I really wish internet was better out here but we have no other choice but to use what we're given. That's why I'm searching for alternatives.
GSM (Global System for Mobile) is the international standard for cellular around the world. There are 4 different frequency bands that are used in different countries, 2 in Europe, a different one in Asia, and 2 in the US. So a quad band device or phone will work anywhere in the world (except Japan and a couple of othr countries, but GSM 3G works in Japan). Unlocked means that the device is not tied to a single carrier; it will work with any carruer. You just buy a SIM (Subscriber Information Module) from a local carrier and slide it in to the device and your device becomes part of that carrier's network. Novatel makes a MiFi that meets all of these specs. It's model 2372.
Verizon has a global partnership with Vodafone because VZW is owned 50% (a few billion $$$s) by Vodafone in Europe and Syniverse (technology platform).
This allows network synergies include global GSM and CDMA GRX and CRX roaming hubs in North America, South/Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, all parts of Asia and Oceania.
Basically what will happen if you had a VZW SIM card is that it will query the local network, the local network will query the global SS7 roaming hub switch platform (probably somewhere in Europe, the closest would be in Turkey in Europe), and this will go back to Syniverse and the local operator will download your +1 USA phone profile. Immediately within a few seconds your roaming services will be active and your +1 USA number will be active in most countries in the world that are not backward (there are a few exceptions mainly due to USA political policies and sanctions...) and this will also be active with data services. The local operator will TUNNEL the traffic back to a global GRX switch platform somewhere in Europe (I think it's Frankfurt) where the internet traffic will exit as VZW has physical infrastructure in Europe and Asia. The tech. is very cool and convient but it costs a-lot of money to make it all work and all the agreements with global mobile operators, etc. This is why it's $20.48/MB in countries where VZW does NOT have a-lot of roaming revenue to wholesale with the other operator (on the other hand if roaming in UK for example the rate is a-lot cheaper and the voice rate is $0.99/minute or lower, it's all about business...).
Don't even think about this solution unless A. you have an unlimited expensve account or B. emergency use
Just get a unlocked global GSM + GSM 3G + CDMA even global modem (Qualcomm Gobi) that at least is tri-band UMTS/HSPA+, quad-band GSM/EDGE and dual-band CDMA if you want unlocked and buy prepaid data with a SIM card...
Oh but your in Iraq, that's a country still @ war/trasition/unstable... Doh, yeah that maybe hard...
Go to a local internet cafe? WiFi?
Troop internet?
I heard there was a Iraqi company in the north kurdistan that wired Iraq with FIBER/FIBRE like most stable countries with a backhaul link going into Turkey (Europe) and onto the greater internet core like a regular country...
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