Using devices abroad
Discussion
Apologies for being the village idiot in such matters.
Can I use my devices abroad? We’re going on holiday abroad this year. A novelty for us. The place we’re renting advertises itself as having WiFi and this phone has international roaming too. Can we not take a Sonos speaker and an Amazon firestick and get them to work whilst we’re away? Or is that just not how it works at all?
We’ll be taking an iPhone and an iPad to potentially use as controllers for the Sonos product (as well as the firestick remote) if that makes a difference.
Holidaying in Holland if that has any bearing too.
Can I use my devices abroad? We’re going on holiday abroad this year. A novelty for us. The place we’re renting advertises itself as having WiFi and this phone has international roaming too. Can we not take a Sonos speaker and an Amazon firestick and get them to work whilst we’re away? Or is that just not how it works at all?
We’ll be taking an iPhone and an iPad to potentially use as controllers for the Sonos product (as well as the firestick remote) if that makes a difference.
Holidaying in Holland if that has any bearing too.
One tip I would give is that if you’re going to a country with a different electrical output at the sockets, don’t use up adaptors on your chargers as it can mess them up. For a few quid I’d get a local plug at your destination airport or shopping mall; they are ten a penny everywhere and won’t mess up the charging of your device.
ETA Sorry OP only just noticed you said Holland - an adaptor will be fine. See my post below for a better explanation.
ETA Sorry OP only just noticed you said Holland - an adaptor will be fine. See my post below for a better explanation.
Edited by parabolica on Thursday 23 June 07:43
parabolica said:
One tip I would give is that if you’re going to a country with a different electrical output at the sockets, don’t use up adaptors on your chargers as it can mess them up. For a few quid I’d get a local plug at your destination airport or shopping mall; they are ten a penny everywhere and won’t mess up the charging of your device.
I’ve never had this problem, always use adaptors with chargers.Power the fire stick on the TV usb.
I just did this in Canada and worked fine. The first night I used one of my kids phones as a hotspot for the fire tv and was impressed that it worked. After that, I successfully reset the wifi network so used that.
Another tip…. I take power strips with me so only need one adapter for multiple devices. There are limits to this method, but assuming you are only charging phones and not running 8 hairdryers and a microwave, there’s no risk.
I just did this in Canada and worked fine. The first night I used one of my kids phones as a hotspot for the fire tv and was impressed that it worked. After that, I successfully reset the wifi network so used that.
Another tip…. I take power strips with me so only need one adapter for multiple devices. There are limits to this method, but assuming you are only charging phones and not running 8 hairdryers and a microwave, there’s no risk.
parabolica said:
One tip I would give is that if you’re going to a country with a different electrical output at the sockets, don’t use up adaptors on your chargers as it can mess them up. For a few quid I’d get a local plug at your destination airport or shopping mall; they are ten a penny everywhere and won’t mess up the charging of your device.
I’m quite sure they use 220v in Europe, I’m also sure that is close enough to 240v that the the op will be okay with travel adapters.The worse case is the moves and music will be a little slow with the lower voltage...
Mazinbrum said:
parabolica said:
One tip I would give is that if you’re going to a country with a different electrical output at the sockets, don’t use up adaptors on your chargers as it can mess them up. For a few quid I’d get a local plug at your destination airport or shopping mall; they are ten a penny everywhere and won’t mess up the charging of your device.
I’ve never had this problem, always use adaptors with chargers.Some of the more expensive adaptors have built in gubbins to compensate for the change in voltage, but the cheap ones most people buy don't,
craig1912 said:
May also need a VPN depending on what services you use as some (I think Sky go) expect you to be in the UK.
Absolutely! Since Brexit most of the UK TV services no longer work in Europe without a VPN as they have geographical exclusions now. Not sure about a Fire Stick but the only one that seems to work ok on a laptop without running through a VPN is BBC Sounds. Even using the VPN that is part of McAfee required frequent selections of other "countries" as, particularly Sky Go, would be smart to it. Frustrating when you are trying to watch the F1 while perched on the edge of the Arctic Circle.sebdangerfield said:
Captain_Morgan said:
I’m quite sure they use 220v in Europe, I’m also sure that is close enough to 240v that the the op will be okay with travel adapters.
The worse case is the moves and music will be a little slow with the lower voltage...
230v in Europe and 230v in UK now too. The worse case is the moves and music will be a little slow with the lower voltage...
- I didn’t.
Take a UK 4 way mains strip and then you just need 1 adaptor plug.
You'll need a VPN if you want to watch iPlayer or similar (Nord or PureVPN both work well). Prime or Netflix will work, however some programs won't be available if they're UK only.
Spotify should work fine.
Check roaming costs for you phone, quite a few providers have stopped doing free roaming, if so you can usually either pay per call/MB, or buy a bundle which will give a number of minutes/Mb to use in a month. Alternatively buy a local PAYG SIM card
(I live in NL, our prime account is UK, Spotify account is Dutch but works in UK)
You'll need a VPN if you want to watch iPlayer or similar (Nord or PureVPN both work well). Prime or Netflix will work, however some programs won't be available if they're UK only.
Spotify should work fine.
Check roaming costs for you phone, quite a few providers have stopped doing free roaming, if so you can usually either pay per call/MB, or buy a bundle which will give a number of minutes/Mb to use in a month. Alternatively buy a local PAYG SIM card
(I live in NL, our prime account is UK, Spotify account is Dutch but works in UK)
tonyvid said:
craig1912 said:
May also need a VPN depending on what services you use as some (I think Sky go) expect you to be in the UK.
Absolutely! Since Brexit most of the UK TV services no longer work in Europe without a VPN as they have geographical exclusions now. Not sure about a Fire Stick but the only one that seems to work ok on a laptop without running through a VPN is BBC Sounds. Even using the VPN that is part of McAfee required frequent selections of other "countries" as, particularly Sky Go, would be smart to it. Frustrating when you are trying to watch the F1 while perched on the edge of the Arctic Circle.megaphone said:
tonyvid said:
craig1912 said:
May also need a VPN depending on what services you use as some (I think Sky go) expect you to be in the UK.
Absolutely! Since Brexit most of the UK TV services no longer work in Europe without a VPN as they have geographical exclusions now. Not sure about a Fire Stick but the only one that seems to work ok on a laptop without running through a VPN is BBC Sounds. Even using the VPN that is part of McAfee required frequent selections of other "countries" as, particularly Sky Go, would be smart to it. Frustrating when you are trying to watch the F1 while perched on the edge of the Arctic Circle."Viewing Sky abroad
From 1 January 2021, you won’t be entitled to stream Sky outside the UK using your Sky Go, Sky Kids, Sky Sports and Sky Sports Box Office apps. Some Sky apps will allow you to download your favourite shows and movies over WiFi before you leave home to watch offline while you’re abroad.
Certain rules mean people within the EU can stream content across all EU countries. From 1 January 2021, the UK will no longer be part of the EU, so we won’t be able to provide this service in the same way.
This change affects lots of online video, music and entertainment services, not just Sky."
RizzoTheRat said:
Take a UK 4 way mains strip and then you just need 1 adaptor plug.
This is a great idea and something I do, so much better than loads of adaptors hanging out the socket with the weight of various chargers trying to pull them out the wall. In fairness, I usually have a room full of camera kit so the mains strip has now increased to 3!parabolica said:
Mazinbrum said:
parabolica said:
One tip I would give is that if you’re going to a country with a different electrical output at the sockets, don’t use up adaptors on your chargers as it can mess them up. For a few quid I’d get a local plug at your destination airport or shopping mall; they are ten a penny everywhere and won’t mess up the charging of your device.
I’ve never had this problem, always use adaptors with chargers.Some of the more expensive adaptors have built in gubbins to compensate for the change in voltage, but the cheap ones most people buy don't,
Your chargers have to be rated for both, which most are not.
scenario8 said:
Thanks for the replies, chaps.
I’m not sure I fully understand how the Sonos might be affected so will look into that further.
Sounds like the firestick is worth taking (especially since it is so small) and hopefully that will just “work”.
All your gear will work in Europe, including your Sonos. You'll just have to enter the new WiFi credentials in each device when you arrive. I’m not sure I fully understand how the Sonos might be affected so will look into that further.
Sounds like the firestick is worth taking (especially since it is so small) and hopefully that will just “work”.
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