We often see questions regarding how Republic phones work when traveling outside the U.S. Here is Republic’s official word on international service. With that said, I would like to offer some additional detail.
Republic Wireless doesn’t offer international cellular coverage. When on unrestricted WiFi, you will, generally, be able to make calls and send text messages to U.S. and Canadian numbers and otherwise use your phone as if you were home. Republic phones (no matter where physically located) receive calls from anywhere in the world but make calls to U.S. and Canadian numbers only.
If you need to make calls to local (in country other than Canadian) numbers where you’re traveling when on WiFi, many make use of third party services such as Skype, Google Voice, Google Hangouts, Rebtel or Vonage.
I prefer lesser known and, typically, less expensive service providers that can be integrated with a Republic phone’s native dialer (Phone app). An additional advantage is not needing a second phone number. To those you are calling, it will look like you’re using your Republic number. More details are at Calling International Numbers with a Republic Phone.
Alternatively, you can use an international calling card with a U.S. access number. International calling cards are commonly sold at convenience stores.
Republic 3.0 Phones
Republic has two cellular network partners. One partner operates a GSM network. The other partner operates a CDMA network. Outside the U.S. CDMA networks are virtually non-existent. Therefore, it’s critical when traveling internationally that one’s Republic phone be provisioned with a GSM SIM. Equipping your phone with a Republic GSM SIM will not provide cellular coverage outside the U.S., however, will prevent your phone from presenting a cellular configuration error that renders the phone inoperable.
Your phone may or may not currently be provisioned with a GSM SIM. To find out, please follow Republic’s guidance here: How to Tell If a Phone Is Active on GSM or CDMA. If your phone is already on GSM, you’re good to go. If your phone is on CDMA, please open a ticket requesting a GSM SIM. You’ll want to activate that GSM SIM in place of the CDMA SIM currently in your phone prior to leaving U.S. soil. As a reliable WiFi connection is required, I suggest doing so before leaving for the airport (or seaport). Upon return to the U.S., you may reverse the process and reactivate your CDMA SIM. If travel takes you outside the U.S. for more than 20 days, your CDMA SIM will expire and need to be replaced. In that case, please open a second ticket a few days before returning home, so that a fresh CDMA SIM will be waiting for you.
If cellular service outside the U.S. is desired, Republic 3.0 phones provide the option of using a local (in country) SIM to provide cellular coverage where you’re traveling. You’d switch between Republic service on WiFi and local cellular service by swapping SIM cards. An online resource for locating a service provider where one will be traveling is here: A guide to finding the best prepaid SIM card when traveling. It defaults to Albania as that’s the first country in the alphabetical list, however, one may simply click on the country or countries they’ll be traveling to for relevant information.
Legacy Republic Phones
For legacy Republic phones (Moto E1, E2, G1, G3, X1 or X2), you might temporarily switch to Republic’s $5 WiFi only plan. This will save some money while on your trip. More to the point, doing so will make sure that your text messages reach you while out of the country. If you don’t switch to the WiFi only plan you may not receive your text messages as Republic Wireless will attempt to route them to your phone via Sprint’s cellular network, which you can’t access. This is the nature of Republic’s blended WiFi/cell technology. For more on ensuring receipt of text messages, please scroll to the Republic Anywhere heading.
Depending on your current plan, you may need to wait for your bill cycle date before changing your plan to the $5 WiFi only plan will take effect. If uncertain which set of grandfathered plans is in use on your phone, please open the Republic app and note the words describing your current plan underneath your phone number.
If among those words you see “Talk & Text” with or without reference to cellular data, please see here. Your plan change will be almost immediate, so you might want to make this among the last things you do as you prepare to leave U.S. soil.
If among those words you see “Base Plan”, please see here. Please note the plan change will not take effect until your next bill cycle date.
Additionally, I suggest placing your phone in Airplane mode then manually reenabling WiFi. Doing so will help preserve battery life otherwise wasted while your phone attempts to locate a cellular signal it’s incapable of connecting to.
If cellular access is a must while traveling, you might consider renting a phone for that purpose.
DEFY XT
There isn’t much to do when traveling internationally with your DEFY XT. Your DEFY has one all everything plan that cannot be changed and does not provide cellular access outside the U.S. Just as it does at home, your DEFY will use available WiFi.
To preserve battery life, I suggest placing your phone in Airplane mode then manually reenabling WiFi.
If cellular access is a must while traveling, you might consider renting a phone for that purpose.
Republic Anywhere
Anywhere is Republic’s proprietary text messaging app built specifically for Republic members. Use of Anywhere is not required, however, more on why one should consider doing so is here.
When traveling internationally, use of Anywhere is the best way for legacy phone (Moto E1, E2, G1, G3, X1 and X2) users to ensure receipt of text messages while out of the country. For those using a Republic Refund plan, use of Anywhere removes the obstacle of needing to wait for one’s bill cycle date in order to send and receive text messages outside the U.S.
For those using newer 3.0 phones and a local (in country) SIM while outside the U.S., there’s an additional benefit as well. You will be able to send and receive text messages using your Republic number with the local SIM resident in your phone. This works both when connected to WiFi and when using the local SIM’s cell data connection. This benefit does come with the caveat one will not be able to send and receive text messages using the number of the local SIM. Calls using the local SIM’s number and use of cell data are not impacted by use of Anywhere.
Upon your return home, please consider sharing your experience by leaving a comment. Have a safe and enjoyable trip!
