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I live in Portugal and I'm going on vacation to the U.S. in a few months. I'd like to buy an Asus Transformer (Prime or 300) while in the U.S., but I don't know if the Wi-Fi or 3G will work in Portugal. I only know for a fact that 4G doesn't work.

Can anyone help me on this one?

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2 Answers

up vote 6 down vote

The tablets in Asus Transformer line (including TF 101, Prime TF 201, and Pad 300) do not have a cellular modem, so they will only work on WiFi. WiFi is a universal standard and will work just fine in any country, provided that your router supports the 802.11 b/g/n specification.

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Even if WiFi is a global standard, some channels are not available in all countries. A lot of devices for the US market ignore all 802.11a/b/g access points on channels higher than 11 which cloud be used in Europe without legal problems. Don't know if this also applies to Asus Transformer. – Robert Jul 16 '12 at 17:31
Good point, @Robert! I don't know about the Transformer tablets, but most Android OS versions (even carrier/manufacturer skinned ones) give you ability to change the channel under Advanced options on the "Wi-Fi" settings screen. – Chahk Jul 16 '12 at 17:57
+1 to this answer, I'm from Portugal and we've got all 14 channels here. – Zuul Jul 16 '12 at 18:45
up vote 2 down vote

Networking

According to the device specifications for the Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime:

Connectivity 802.11 b / g / n, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR

By a scan performed using inSSIDer 2.1

enter image description here

I'm from Portugal - Coimbra, and my 802.11 b/g/n is set to channel 6 to 10.

Other networks around my location are spread from 1 to 14.

According to the 802.11 b/g/n specifications, channels go from 1 to 14. Portugal has them all.

See this Wikipedia - List of WLAN channels (scroll a bit down to see the comparison table).

All flags are green to use that device in Portugal.

Power

As you've mentioned at the comments, US uses 110V, Europe uses 220V.
This is easily overcome by the usage of a transformer:

Goldsource STU-100

Amazom :: Goldsource® STU-100 Step Up/Down Voltage Transformer Converter - AC 110/220 V - 100 Watt

  • The wall plug can be used in the US or Europe.

  • The output is either 110v or 220v, depending of what you need.

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OP may be able to set the region to change the wifi channels allowed, but YMMV on this one... – Broam Jul 16 '12 at 19:23
@Broam what I'm trying to say is that all channels are available here (Portugal), so the device may be limit to certain channels, but will always work! (I too acquire network devices overseas and never had any problems) :) – Zuul Jul 16 '12 at 20:04
@Broam I had to search for the definition of YMMV :) – Zuul Jul 16 '12 at 20:06
Thanks everyone. The only problem now is the different voltage in US (110V) and europe (220v). – Joao Brito Jul 17 '12 at 9:30
@JoaoBrito I've edited the answer with a transformer. (solves the voltage problem for both locations.) – Zuul Jul 17 '12 at 10:52
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