Spark roaming issues with eSIM

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › Spark roaming issues with eSIM

steve98

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#300809 6-Oct-2022 07:10

My wife and I both have Spark prepaid eSIMs. Before travelling to the US, I bought a roaming pack and expected it to "just work" once we landed in the US like it has on previous trips. It didn't. I spent almost an hour on the phone to Spark via Skype over the hotel wifi to get a roaming connection to work. It eventually worked after randomly turning on/off mobile roaming, switching between 3G/4G and manually selecting between the networks available at the location.

The next day (today), we decided to add a roaming pack to my wife's phone and now having exactly the same issue only we have not been successful in resolving it. The agent in the end said it would be escalated but could take 24/48 hours to resolve.

I'm convinced this is somehow related to us being on eSIM. We never had these issues when on physical SIMs, and now that we're both on them we're both having issues that aren't normal and that roaming Helpdesk can't resolve.

Has anyone else struck these issues?

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#2978039 6-Oct-2022 07:30

Had similar issues with regular sims recently in Hawaii. Two phones on the same spark account, one worked and the other didn’t. Friends with Vodafone were similar.

I think it was related to VoLTE setup and 4G.

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Linux

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#2978040 6-Oct-2022 07:30

When you action a manual network selection and select a network what is the error you get when the handset fails to connect?

I don't believe this is related to eSIM

steve98

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#2978046 6-Oct-2022 07:41

Linux: When you action a manual network selection and select a network what is the error you get when the handset fails to connect?

I don't believe this is related to eSIM

There’s no error message as such, it just never connects and says “SOS” where the signal ‘bars’ usually are.

steve98

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#2978047 6-Oct-2022 07:45

johno1234: Had similar issues with regular sims recently in Hawaii. Two phones on the same spark account, one worked and the other didn’t. Friends with Vodafone were similar.

I think it was related to VoLTE setup and 4G.

Ah ok interesting although we have tried with VoLTE disabled and 3G Instead of 4G and that still didn’t resolve things.

johno1234

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#2978151 6-Oct-2022 10:38

steve98:
johno1234: Had similar issues with regular sims recently in Hawaii. Two phones on the same spark account, one worked and the other didn’t. Friends with Vodafone were similar.

I think it was related to VoLTE setup and 4G.

Ah ok interesting although we have tried with VoLTE disabled and 3G Instead of 4G and that still didn’t resolve things.

I'm out of my technical depth here, but my understanding is you must use 4G/VoLTE as 3G is either gone or nearly gone in the USA.

steve98

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#2978388 6-Oct-2022 18:55

It randomly started working about three or four hours after purchasing the roaming pack. Strange that it took so long but at least it’s working now.

Linux

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#2978393 6-Oct-2022 19:17

steve98: It randomly started working about three or four hours after purchasing the roaming pack. Strange that it took so long but at least it’s working now.

@steve98 not related to buying the roaming pack more like an issue was resolved between SparkNZ and the roaming carrier!

tripper1000

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#2978481 7-Oct-2022 10:40

You might want to shoot down to Walmart (or what have you) and pickup a cheap local phone.

eSIM chains you to your local provider. With a physical sim (and unlocked handset) you can slap in a local SIM which resolves many roaming issues and costs.

steve98

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#2979205 8-Oct-2022 19:52

Managed to break the screen of my phone so picked up an iPhone 14 pro. The eSIM has been moved to my new phone but interestingly I received a text saying:

From Spark: Your coverage while roaming in the US may be limited in certain areas. This is because AT&T has turned off its 3G network and now runs a 4G only network.

You need a VoLTE roaming capable device to make or receive calls over 4G networks while roaming on AT&T, and we believe the device you are using is not capable of VoLTE roaming at this time.

Standard roaming is still available on T-Mobile (2G & 4G) however due to network and coverage differences coverage may be limited in certain areas.
For more info, visit: www.spark.co.nz/shop/mobile/volte/

Interesting they think my device can’t do VoLTE roaming but yeah, all I’m getting is T-Mobile 2G. Guessing the iPhone 14 pro hasn’t been profiled correctly somewhere along the chain. Got 4G just fine on my iPhone 11.

steve98

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#2979206 8-Oct-2022 19:54

tripper1000:
You might want to shoot down to Walmart (or what have you) and pickup a cheap local phone.

eSIM chains you to your local provider. With a physical sim (and unlocked handset) you can slap in a local SIM which resolves many roaming issues and costs.

Not really. There are a ton of local eSIM providers I could select from and install via an app for instant service but I like having my own number to make and receive calls and texts while I’m travelling.

andyb

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#2980060 10-Oct-2022 12:16

Interesting they think my device can’t do VoLTE roaming but yeah, all I’m getting is T-Mobile 2G. Guessing the iPhone 14 pro hasn’t been profiled correctly somewhere along the chain. Got 4G just fine on my iPhone 11.

The issue will be that your iPhone 14 hasnt registered on the Spark IMS Network in NZ before, so isn't registered as being VoLTE capable, even though it is. Because isn't being ID as VoLTE capable, the steering platfrom is steering you to T-Mobile (because they still have a 2G network) so you can still make calls, and its blocking access to AT&T.

Email me andrew dot bluck at spark.co.nz with your mobile number, I will add you to the steering workaround, which will allow you to manually connect to AT&T which will force the registration on the IMS network and allow you to use VoLTE on AT&T.

andyb

steve98

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#2980088 10-Oct-2022 13:03

andyb:

Interesting they think my device can’t do VoLTE roaming but yeah, all I’m getting is T-Mobile 2G. Guessing the iPhone 14 pro hasn’t been profiled correctly somewhere along the chain. Got 4G just fine on my iPhone 11.

The issue will be that your iPhone 14 hasnt registered on the Spark IMS Network in NZ before, so isn't registered as being VoLTE capable, even though it is. Because isn't being ID as VoLTE capable, the steering platfrom is steering you to T-Mobile (because they still have a 2G network) so you can still make calls, and its blocking access to AT&T.

Email me andrew dot bluck at spark.co.nz with your mobile number, I will add you to the steering workaround, which will allow you to manually connect to AT&T which will force the registration on the IMS network and allow you to use VoLTE on AT&T.

thanks for that info — it did sort itself out after about 24hours. Using it on 4G with no issues now.

Nate001

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#3067002 22-Apr-2023 15:42

We arrived in Melbourne today and having same issues on spark. My iPhone with eSim is fine. Partners iPhone 14 with eSim not working on data. Both on prepaid and bought data packs before departing. All settings identical.

Did anyone ever resolve this issue? I tried calling spark but gave up after being transferred around and on hold for 40mins. Better things to do while on holiday!

andyb

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#3067005 22-Apr-2023 15:48

Flick the team an email roaming@spark.co.nz with your mobile number and they will help. You could have a roaming bar in place.

andyb

Nate001

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#3067018 22-Apr-2023 16:26

andyb: Flick the team an email roaming@spark.co.nz with your mobile number and they will help. You could have a roaming bar in place.

Thanks I’ll try that. Last time we were roaming was pre covid in USA and was fine so didn’t consider data bar.

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