Travelling to China

[trailmix]

Planning on buying an N1 to use with China Mobile SIM card but my question is, what about wifi usage. How common is chinese WAPI (vs western wifi) in Beijing/Shanghai 5star hotels?

Also, can I buy a China mobile data plan card, how does that charge you by MB or time?

[thomaslkuo]

Originally Posted by trailmix

Planning on buying an N1 to use with China Mobile SIM card but my question is, what about wifi usage. How common is chinese WAPI (vs western wifi) in Beijing/Shanghai 5star hotels?

Also, can I buy a China mobile data plan card, how does that charge you by MB or time?

I live in shanghai when I am not in houston, and I plan to use the heck out of my phone there. China mobile charges 15 dollars a month for 2gb download and 30 dollars a month for 5gb download. I don't know about WAPI, but most major hotels will have wifi some charge some don't.

[amwayorlando]

Originally Posted by trailmix

Planning on buying an N1 to use with China Mobile SIM card but my question is, what about wifi usage. How common is chinese WAPI (vs western wifi) in Beijing/Shanghai 5star hotels?

Also, can I buy a China mobile data plan card, how does that charge you by MB or time?

Most routers being used in China are from western router makers such as D-link, Belkin or Linksys. So u don't have to worry about the stupid Chinese WAPI wifi security standard. It's a standard that no one is willing to use. It's the same story when it comes to home-grown 3G technology. A lot of China Mobile customers switched to their biggest competitor China Unicom, after they bought cool smartphone such as the Nexus one which only works on China Unicom's network. It's just a pain in the a$$ to change to a new phone number. That's the only reason I stayed with China Mobile after getting my N1.

Don't worry about the data plan price at China Mobile. It's extremely low compared to packages offered by US carriers. I'm on a 70 MB plan for only 10 RMB (1.5 US) per month. It's enough for me since it's easy to find Wifi networks most of the time.

[nexustravelingtochina]

My Nexus S 4G doesn't have a SIM card to remove, can I still use it in China?