Telecom XT Roaming in the US - Nothing but Problems

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › Telecom XT Roaming in the US - Nothing but Problems

barbaras

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#42236 1-Oct-2009 10:42

I recently took my new Telecom XT phone to the US. Although I was able to make and receive calls in San Francisco I was unable to connect to any network in the eastern states. I was extremely disappointed to find I was unable to connect to the AT&T network in major cities like Pittsburgh or Charlotte. My phone consistently showed five bars of coverage, however after spending hours with service people from both Telecom and AT&T I was still unable to connect to a network. After further discussions with Telecom I have been advised there is no handset they can guarantee will work in the US. THey have recommended I find someone myself that has successfully roamed on the east coast of the US so they can update my handset. I am currently using a Sony Ericsson W508a. Any information greatfully received.

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#260031 1-Oct-2009 11:17

email me you phone number and the dates/times/locations you had problems, I'll see if there is any info avail in system logs to identify what went wrong.

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Brunzy

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#260118 1-Oct-2009 13:23

barbaras: I recently took my new Telecom XT phone to the US. Although I was able to make and receive calls in San Francisco I was unable to connect to any network in the eastern states. I was extremely disappointed to find I was unable to connect to the AT&T network in major cities like Pittsburgh or Charlotte. My phone consistently showed five bars of coverage, however after spending hours with service people from both Telecom and AT&T I was still unable to connect to a network. After further discussions with Telecom I have been advised there is no handset they can guarantee will work in the US. THey have recommended I find someone myself that has successfully roamed on the east coast of the US so they can update my handset. I am currently using a Sony Ericsson W508a. Any information greatfully received.

I'm just back.

Used a Samsung F480 in San Francisco,and also in NY/NJ,then transferred the sim card to an iphone .
No problems that I was aware of,althouh I did not use it extensively

Behodar

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#260317 1-Oct-2009 20:36

I'm interested in hearing whether you had any problems with receiving texts. I was in Anaheim, California in August and I could send to NZ and US numbers, but could only receive texts from NZ numbers (including from my dad's NZ number even though he was roaming in Germany at the time). The ones sent from US numbers (from three different networks) to me got lost in the ether, and they didn't turn up when I got home either.

barbaras

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#260476 2-Oct-2009 10:31

Thank you for your feedback/help. I will talk with Telecom about the Samsung F480.

When I was in San Francisco I could receive both voice and text messages. Unfortunately as soon as I left San Fran I lost all connection, except I did have a banner saying "Emerg. Calls Only". Thankfully I didn't need to make an emergency call, my clients may have disagreed

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#260500 2-Oct-2009 11:13

barbaras: When I was in San Francisco I could receive both voice and text messages.

Were the texts from NZ or US numbers, or both?

barbaras

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#260506 2-Oct-2009 11:26

Both, however the US texts came up with a foreign looking number - it was definitely not the number of the mobile they were sent from, and I couldn't use reply to respond.

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NealR

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#261517 6-Oct-2009 09:30

Barbara

Sadly I was unable to find what your exact problem was. Have asked our roaming team and AT&T to keep an eye out for this sort of problem.

Neal

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Zeon

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#262486 8-Oct-2009 18:33

I have heard a similar story of someone trying to use an XT phone in the US. Worked in Canada fine apparently but nothing but problems in the US

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NealR

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#262618 9-Oct-2009 08:31

It's really important that when you have a problem that you tell us right away. It really does make locating the problem so much easier.

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Damager

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#262884 9-Oct-2009 19:35

AT & T seems to get lots of complaints about their network. It may not have been your phone at all that was the issue.

- Telstra HTC Touch Pro2 - Energy ROM WM6.5.5 20 Oct/Cyanogen Mod Froyo 2.2 - R.I.P
- AT&T Galaxy S Captivate 16GB on XT (now with brother)
- Samsung Galaxy S2 on XT- Runs ICS 4.0.3 Resurrection Remix 9.2
- Business Hours - Work In The Electricity Industry, After Hours - DJ/Turntablist - Will Scratch Vinyl For Free'
- What's next??? S3?

johnr

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#262888 9-Oct-2009 19:43

Damager: AT & T seems to get lots of complaints about their network. It may not have been your phone at all that was the issue.

We get no complaints about AT&T that i am aware of and I do quite alot around roaming postpay and prepay

John

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old3eyes

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#262973 10-Oct-2009 09:19

One podcast I listen to is Buzz Out Loud and they are always saying that AT&T has the worst network especially 3G in the US. Best network was Verison and Sprint with Tmobile 3rd..

Regards,

Old3eyes

barbaras

4 posts

Wannabe Geek

#262984 10-Oct-2009 10:12

Thank you to everyone who has replied to my original message.

As far as AT&T is concerned, they spent hours with me trying to resolve the issue. I got better service from them than I did my own provider in NZ. And now after lots of discussions with Telecom, I am happy to advise Telecom have given me a Samsung F480 handset (thanks Brunzy) and a reasonable credit on my phone account.

Fingers crossed everything will be ok next time.

bbman

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#263124 10-Oct-2009 19:13

One of the major issues for roamers has been the phone is set to UMTS or 3G only. Since several dealers and myself when I was one set the phone to this setting to improve battery performance (we explain that when roaming it should be set to GSM or Dual mode) still people fail to change.

I had a major client bollock about this when they went to the UK. Due to the limited 2100mhz coverage outside of the cities this clients phone would not find a network as it was set to 3G only.

After some abuse I asked them if they had changed the phone to dual mode, they said no and shouldn't have to? We changed the setting and they were up and running again.

May not be the problem here but something to look out for.

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Waipara1

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#266121 22-Oct-2009 15:30

I have had Telecom XT problems in Chile and Argentina. Voice calls seldom connect and I cant retrieve voicemail.

As usual Telecom have rush released a product without testing it. Mind you I have spent about an hour on the phone to Telecom (the one number that does seem to work).

My advise. If you are a New Zealander and planning an overseas trip, sign up with Vodafone!

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