Technologies

Traveling Abroad This Summer? Here Are the Best Tips to Avoid Roaming Phone Charges

International travel is exciting — until you get roaming fees. Abide by these tips to keep using phone apps and data stress-free on your trip.

Modern smartphones makes international travel a breeze compared to the old days. The Android or iOS supercomputer in your pocket has all the downloadable apps and included features to smoothly reserve hotel rooms, navigate cities, translate signage through the camera and pay for goods and services. With the latest software upgrades, you can translate conversations in real time with AI-powered features and even ask your AI-powered assistants for travel tips.

All those fancy phone features and apps work best — and sometimes only work — with a data connection. While that’s covered by your domestic plan, it usually comes with extra roaming fees when you travel abroad. Here’s how to avoid those charges.

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First and foremost, you’ll want to understand how pricey those extra charges are or whether you’ll be traveling to a region that’s cheaper or free with your carrier. Some mobile carriers have partnered with carriers in other countries for more affordable roaming or even free service, albeit with some restrictions. For example, some plans — like T-Mobile’s Essentials — offer free service in Canada and Mexico, but only at slow, 2G- or 3G-like speeds. So don’t expect to stream much video on that connection.

But traveling to most countries will require you to pay mobile roaming charges if you try to use data services, make voice calls or send text messages on your phone as normal. If that’s your plan, check out our guide for the best travel phone plans.

If you want to avoid mobile roaming charges, keep the following tips in mind.

Set up mobile service before you leave

Some carriers will let you pick traveling service options ahead of time, which can include daily, weekly or monthly flat fees to get service from partner carriers in other countries. You can wait until you arrive at your destination and wait to be prompted to select your chosen service or you can set it up ahead of time. Note that some carriers will simply default you to these services rather than charge you higher roaming fees, although it’s worth confirming before you travel.

These international plans are pretty convenient, although some may come with caveats such as being deprioritized behind other carrier customers, meaning you’ll get slower speeds during peak traffic times. Check the fine print of each travel plan to know its restrictions and what you may need to pay for extra service.

Verizon’s international plans start pretty simply, with $10 a day getting you 2GB per day of high-speed data and unlimited 3G-speeds data thereafter, as well as free voice calls and texting, in more than 210 countries. That plan is discounted to $5 per day in Canada and Mexico.

If you have one of the carrier’s latest plans, known as Unlimited Plus and Unlimited Welcome, you’ll get these features included for Canada and Mexico. Customers with Verizon’s top Unlimited Ultimate option will get this international data for Canada and Mexico as well as for more than 210 countries.

AT&T has a similar $10-per-day travel plan for unlimited data, voice calls and text. The data counts against your usual plan’s allowance; going over will result in a charge and/or reduced download speeds of a super slow 2G-like connection. If you don’t sign up for this plan, traditional roaming fees kick in, charging per text message, megabyte of data and minute of voice calling.

Unlimited data for Canada and Mexico is included in AT&T’s main Unlimited plans, while the carrier’s Unlimited Premium PL and Unlimited Elite plans also allow unlimited data in 20 Latin American countries.

T-Mobile has its own international plans with unlimited calling, but they’re pretty modest with data, starting at $5 per day for half a gigabyte of downloaded data. Keep in mind that the carrier’s standard plans also include some international data allowances.

The basic Magenta and Go5G plans offer up to 10GB of high-speed data a month in Canada and Mexico, and once that’s used up, get unlimited data at very slow 2G speeds (as previously mentioned, the cheapest Essentials plan only gets data in Canada and Mexico at 2G speeds). Go5G Next, Go5G Plus and Magenta Max plans have a small 5GB monthly travel allowance for high-speed data in more than 215 countries, although that’s subject to potential extra taxes and conditions. Standard Go5G plans get the same 5GB data allowance in 11 European countries.

Although it’s possible to bump up your plan for the month (or more) you’re traveling and return to your old plan thereafter, it’s likely simpler to just pay for international data.

Getting mobile service directly from a local carrier

Before carriers got friendlier with their international agreements to support each other’s customers, one of the better traveling strategies was to get service straight from the carrier in the country you were traveling in. Once you landed, you’d just walk into a local carrier’s retail store and get a prepaid SIM card to last you the length of your trip.

That’s still possible today but it’s a bit more complicated. If you have one of the many phones that lack a physical SIM slot, including the latest iPhone 15 series and Samsung Galaxy S24 series, you’ll have to register for service through one of the eSIM accounts on your device. It’s pretty easy to do and is in fact one of the benefits of having multiple digital eSIM slots — so you can have one for domestic use and one for traveling — but it requires you to register through the carrier in question. You can even load the eSIM before you travel, through apps such as Airalo and Ubigi.

Unfortunately, there’s something else to consider: whether your phone is unlocked, that is, not tied to a carrier and restricted in using eSIMs from other carriers (even international ones). If you bought your device unlocked, you’re in the clear.

If you’re paying off your phone in installments from your carrier, it’s complicated. Verizon users have it best, as their installment plans unlock phones after 60 days. AT&T and T-Mobile, however, require you to finish your installments and fully pay off your phone to unlock it. Because AT&T’s plans have a minimum of 36 monthly installments, customers may be out of luck getting a local carrier eSIM unless they’re nearing the end of their contract — in which case it may make sense to pay the balance for more travel freedom.

Relying on a hotspot and tethering

Another method to avoid roaming is a bit more roundabout and requires you to sign up for service with a local carrier anyway but you won’t have to fiddle with eSIMs. When you land in your country of travel, you can rent a mobile hotspot (or register service on one you already own), which is a handheld device that turns cell signals into Wi-Fi.

Note that you’ll still need to pay for service either from the hotspot maker or from a local carrier, and there’s no guarantee that their networks will play nicely with a given hotspot device. Check that it’ll work in the area you’re traveling to.

Once you have one set up, you just connect to the hotspot’s Wi-Fi using your phone as normal. While it’s a bit more cumbersome, this also lets you get internet for your other devices, such as tablets and laptops, pretty much anywhere you get a phone signal from a local carrier.

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Another caveat is that you’ll need to keep the hotspot itself charged, which is another device battery you’ll have to worry about. It might be worth carrying an external battery to make sure your hotspot can last a full day while you’re out and about.

Ultimately, whatever option you choose should fit your travel habits and destinations. Some carrier partnership options will be more appealing but offer slower speeds than getting service straight from the local carrier. But don’t worry about getting locked into a choice: You can always try out one way when you arrive and switch to another if a better choice presents itself.

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Technologies

TMR vs. Hall Effect Controllers: Battle of the Magnetic Sensing Tech

The magic of magnets tucked into your joysticks can put an end to drift. But which technology is superior?

Competitive gamers look for every advantage they can get, and that drive has spawned some of the zaniest gaming peripherals under the sun. There are plenty of hardware components that actually offer meaningful edges when implemented properly. Hall effect and TMR (tunnel magnetoresistance or tunneling magnetoresistance) sensors are two such technologies. Hall effect sensors have found their way into a wide variety of devices, including keyboards and gaming controllers, including some of our favorites like the GameSir Super Nova.

More recently, TMR sensors have started to appear in these devices as well. Is it a better technology for gaming? With multiple options vying for your lunch money, it’s worth understanding the differences to decide which is more worthy of living inside your next game controller or keyboard.

How Hall effect joysticks work

We’ve previously broken down the difference between Hall effect tech and traditional potentiometers in controller joysticks, but here’s a quick rundown on how Hall effect sensors work. A Hall effect joystick moves a magnet over a sensor circuit, and the magnetic field affects the circuit’s voltage. The sensor in the circuit measures these voltage shifts and maps them to controller inputs. Element14 has a lovely visual explanation of this effect here.

The advantage this tech has over potentiometer-based joysticks used in controllers for decades is that the magnet and sensor don’t need to make physical contact. There’s no rubbing action to slowly wear away and degrade the sensor. So, in theory, Hall effect joysticks should remain accurate for the long haul.

How TMR joysticks work

While TMR works differently, it’s a similar concept to Hall effect devices. When you move a TMR joystick, it moves a magnet in the vicinity of the sensor. So far, it’s the same, right? Except with TMR, this shifting magnetic field changes the resistance in the sensor instead of the voltage.

There’s a useful demonstration of a sensor in action here. Just like Hall effect joysticks, TMR joysticks don’t rely on physical contact to register inputs and therefore won’t suffer the wear and drift that affects potentiometer-based joysticks.

Which is better, Hall effect or TMR?

There’s no hard and fast answer to which technology is better. After all, the actual implementation of the technology and the hardware it’s built into can be just as important, if not more so. Both technologies can provide accurate sensing, and neither requires physical contact with the sensing chip, so both can be used for precise controls that won’t encounter stick drift. That said, there are some potential advantages to TMR.

According to Coto Technology, who, in fairness, make TMR sensors, they can be more sensitive, allowing for either greater precision or the use of smaller magnets. Since the Hall effect is subtler, it relies on amplification and ultimately requires extra power. While power requirements vary from sensor to sensor, GameSir claims its TMR joysticks use about one-tenth the power of mainstream Hall effect joysticks. Cherry is another brand highlighting the lower power consumption of TMR sensors, albeit in the brand’s keyboard switches.

The greater precision is an opportunity for TMR joysticks to come out ahead, but that will depend more on the controller itself than the technology. Strange response curves, a big dead zone (which shouldn’t be needed), or low polling rates could prevent a perfectly good TMR sensor from beating a comparable Hall effect sensor in a better optimized controller.

The power savings will likely be the advantage most of us really feel. While it won’t matter for wired controllers, power savings can go a long way for wireless ones. Take the Razer Wolverine V3 Pro, for instance, a Hall effect controller offering 20 hours of battery life from a 4.5-watt-hour battery with support for a 1,000Hz polling rate on a wireless connection. Razer also offers the Wolverine V3 Pro 8K PC, a near-identical controller with the same battery offering TMR sensors. They claim the TMR version can go for 36 hours on a charge, though that’s presumably before cranking it up to an 8,000Hz polling rate — something Razer possibly left off the Hall effect model because of power usage.

The disadvantage of the TMR sensor would be its cost, but it appears that it’s negligible when factored into the entire price of a controller. Both versions of the aforementioned Razer controller are $199. Both 8BitDo and GameSir have managed to stick them into reasonably priced controllers like the 8BitDo Ultimate 2, GameSir G7 Pro and GameSir Cyclone 2.

So which wins?

It seems TMR joysticks have all the advantages of Hall effect joysticks and then some, bringing better power efficiency that can help in wireless applications. The one big downside might be price, but from what we’ve seen right now, that doesn’t seem to be much of an issue. You can even find both technologies in controllers that cost less than some potentiometer models, like the Xbox Elite Series 2 controller.

Caveats to consider

For all the hype, neither Hall effect nor TMR joysticks are perfect. One of their key selling points is that they won’t experience stick drift, but there are still elements of the joystick that can wear down. The ring around the joystick can lose its smoothness. The stick material can wear down (ever tried to use a controller with the rubber worn off its joystick? It’s not pleasant). The linkages that hold the joystick upright and the springs that keep it stiff can loosen, degrade and fill with dust. All of these can impact the continued use of the joystick, even if the Hall effect or TMR sensor itself is in perfect operating order.

So you might not get stick drift from a bad sensor, but you could get stick drift from a stick that simply doesn’t return to its original resting position. That’s when having a controller that’s serviceable or has swappable parts, like the PDP Victrix Pro BFG, could matter just as much as having one with Hall effect or TMR joysticks.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Feb. 18, #513

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Feb. 18, No. 513.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections: Sports Edition has a fun yellow category that might just start you singing. If you’re struggling with today’s puzzle but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by The Times. It doesn’t appear in the NYT Games app, but it does in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it for free online.

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Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: I don’t care if I never get back.

Green group hint: Get that gold medal.

Blue group hint: Hoops superstar.

Purple group hint: Not front, but…

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Heard in «Take Me Out to the Ball Game.»

Green group: Olympic snowboarding events.

Blue group: Vince Carter, informally.

Purple group: ____ back.

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What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is heard in «Take Me Out to the Ball Game.» The four answers are Cracker Jack, home team, old ball game and peanuts.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is Olympic snowboarding events. The four answers are big air, giant slalom, halfpipe and slopestyle.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is Vince Carter, informally. The four answers are Air Canada, Half-Man, Half-Amazing, VC and Vinsanity.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is ____ back. The four answers are diamond, drop, quarter and razor.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Wednesday, Feb. 18

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Feb. 18.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s Mini Crossword is a fun one, and it’s not terribly tough. It helps if you know a certain Olympian. Read on for all the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.