Roaming in the USA Nov/Dec 2023

Forums › One NZ (including Farmside) › Roaming in the USA Nov/Dec 2023

nztim

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#310992 5-Dec-2023 14:23

I see a lot of threads about roaming problems over the last year, So I thought I would share my experience over the last three weeks for anyone on OneNZ planning a trip to the US

My Handset - iPhone 12 Pro (IOS 17)
Wife’s Handset - iPhone 12 Pro (Was IOS 16 Now IOS 17)

* In Nevada both mobiles were connected to T-Mobile VoLTE worked perfectly for calls/txts
* Parts of Southern Nevada T-Mobile have no 4G/5G coverage as the 3G T-Mobile network is now shut down and is OneNZ’s preferred roaming partner the phone drops down to GSM making data totally unusable unless you force the phone onto the Verizon network.
* In Utah there are areas where there is NO T-Mobile coverage, I was able to call/txt just fine but my wife couldn’t, (data was fine), we upgraded her phone to IOS 17 - This means that Verizon’s VoLTE profile is not part of IOS16

- Tip 1 When roaming on the $8 plan calls to the country you are in are part of your included minutes, we found out then hard way this does NOT apply when you are connected to wifi and using WiFi calling, this can only be assumed because you are connected to OneNZ directly and not to a local network.

- Tip 2 Alot of US websites block IP address from outside the US, When you use roaming data you still have an NZ IP Address so make sure you have a VPN app loaded

I assume Android will still have the same issues with VoLTE when roaming as they don’t contain worldwide VoLTE profiles like Apple do.

Any views expressed on these forums are my own and don't necessarily reflect those of my employer.

andyb

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#3168429 5-Dec-2023 15:21

The main US carriers (AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile) rely on smaller carriers to provide coverage for their customers, known as partner carriers for national roaming. These partner carriers are often run and owned by the community or small local companies.

These partner carriers are generally not available for roamers (technically and/or commercially). This does leave coverage gaps for roamers unfortunately.

andyb

graham007

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#3173610 20-Dec-2023 10:09

Roaming Question :

I am on one nz , postpaid plan , s23 Ult

- dont want to pay roaming , but my phone has wifi calling .

so if i did flight mode as soon as i get out of nz, and turn on wifi , will i be all good to go ?

do i have to call one nz and tell them to turn off roaming ?

please help , i leave tomorrow evening, thank you .

MaxineN

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#3173613 20-Dec-2023 10:18

graham007:

Roaming Question :

I am on one nz , postpaid plan , s23 Ult

- dont want to pay roaming , but my phone has wifi calling .

so if i did flight mode as soon as i get out of nz, and turn on wifi , will i be all good to go ?

do i have to call one nz and tell them to turn off roaming ?

please help , i leave tomorrow evening, thank you .

For all intents and purposes it can't be fully disabled. We can just prevent you from being allowed to be charged(you will still be able to attach to one of the networks especially for emergency services)

Best practice. > Wifi calling on > stick to wifi and don't turn on mobile data. Any calls made out or in on wifi calling won't occur a charge as your service will act as if it's at home.

You won't get charged for texts received on a roaming network, but you will for calls made out or accepted WHILST not on wifi calling and as well as data charges.

Ramblings from a mysterious lady who's into tech. Warning I may often create zingers.

hairy1

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#3173632 20-Dec-2023 11:24

You need to keep mobile roaming data turned off also. Even if you have a second Sim and that Sim is set to mobile data (so the One NZ is set to not use mobile data at all) you will still get charged a daily roaming charge.

I have global roaming turned off in my One NZ app and use another provider esim set to mobile data / texts / calls and still get charged daily roaming. I can only assume that although mobile data is turned off in Sim manager it still connects.

My takeaway is that the roaming switch in the app doesn't work. Hope this helps someone.

My views (except when I am looking out their windows) are not those of my employer.

graham007

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#3173634 20-Dec-2023 11:29

MaxineN:

graham007:

Roaming Question :

I am on one nz , postpaid plan , s23 Ult

- dont want to pay roaming , but my phone has wifi calling .

so if i did flight mode as soon as i get out of nz, and turn on wifi , will i be all good to go ?

do i have to call one nz and tell them to turn off roaming ?

please help , i leave tomorrow evening, thank you .

For all intents and purposes it can't be fully disabled. We can just prevent you from being allowed to be charged(you will still be able to attach to one of the networks especially for emergency services)

Best practice. > Wifi calling on > stick to wifi and don't turn on mobile data. Any calls made out or in on wifi calling won't occur a charge as your service will act as if it's at home.

You won't get charged for texts received on a roaming network, but you will for calls made out or accepted WHILST not on wifi calling and as well as data charges.

thats great help , thanks a lot

nztim

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#3173639 20-Dec-2023 12:00

a few notes when using wifi calling

Calls US numbers cost (as if you were dialing from NZ)
Some Public WiFi block IPSEC ESP protocols (a requirement of WiFi calling)

Any views expressed on these forums are my own and don't necessarily reflect those of my employer.