Any way to disable global roaming on my account?

Forums › 2degrees (including Slingshot, Orcon, Flip, Stuff Fibre, MyRepublic, 2talk and Vocus) › Any way to disable global roaming on my account?

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cokemaster

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#3191554 6-Feb-2024 21:15

@Linkzor, assuming iMessage activations weren't a concern, the way I would operate it as:

Disable the 2 Degrees SIM.
When I am expecting a 2FA, attach to wifi, turn on Flight mode. Enable the 2 Degrees sim and wait for it to attach using Wifi calling.
Once I've got the 2FA, disable the SIM. Turn off flight mode.

This *will* work, however fully acknowledge that this is a hassle which is why I tend to just pay $5 (AUD) a day for daily roaming.

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Aaroona

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#3191717 7-Feb-2024 10:48

cokemaster:
I had tried with 2Degrees and One NZ prepaid, whilst they can block you from making any chargeable events whilst roaming… your device still attaches to the foreign network… which in turn means your iPhone won’t try and use wifi calling over mobile data.

Maybe it was just luck of customer service however.

Hmm this is interesting. Was that 2D Postpaid?

When I spoke to customer service, they recommended just putting my phone in flight mode (obviously a non-starter). Then when they checked with their supervisor they "found the option" to disable roaming.

I'm now wondering if they have actually disabled it entirely from the account level as I need, or just put in some barring. I might swing by a 2D store and see if they can be of any help. It obviously works against the Telcos to help set this up, but is an enormous cost saving as customer, since the providers here don't have any decently priced mid/long term roaming, which most of my trips are.

My next trip overseas isn't for a couple of months, so won't be able to test it beforehand unfortunately.

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#3191720 7-Feb-2024 10:55

@Aaroona - 2 Degrees prepaid. It'd attach to any (eg. show signal, not show SOS Only or not show No Network) of the AU networks (eg, Telstra, Vodafone/TPG, Optus) but any calling or SMS would fail.

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phrozenpenguin

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#3211501 27-Mar-2024 05:13

This was an interesting thread and highlighted a seemingly little known but handy way to maximise usage and save costs whilst roaming. If I go to AU for a few days I am fine paying the daily roaming charge. If I am in EU for weeks or months at a time it gets expensive - hence my interest.

I’ve been in a position to test this out in the UK - here are my results; TLDR: it ("wifi roaming" over cellular data attached to "local" eSIM) works and I did not need to contact 2Degrees, step 4 seems to be the "magic".

Steps below on 2Degrees pay monthly number

Left NZ, phone on flight mode while travelling.
Arrive UK, go on wifi. 2D wifi calling was enabled and shows in menu, calls work.
Login to 2D portal, change spend control to $5 (waited until got txt message to confirm; delivered over wifi calling - took about 5 mins). Did this to ensure I didn’t get charged a bunch without knowledge (unlike last time…!). Could have done this beforehand if I thought about it.
iOS > Settings > Mobile Service > select NZ 2D sim > Network Selection > change from “Automatic” to “Vodafone UK”. Vodafone is NOT a 2D roaming partner - it is NOT listed here. This should mean that phone cannot connect to roaming (effectively what the OP was trying to block through 2D).
Disconnecting from wifi shows “No Service” for cellular.
Signed up to eSIM with UK provider (whilst connected to wifi to do the auth/background stuff). Set eSIM to be mobile data provider inc profile etc.
Waited ~10mins for things(?) to get activated.
Disconnect from wifi - iPhone now shows
1. (UK line) UK network 5G
2. (NZ line) 3 UK using Mobile Data
Note that 3 UK is listed as a 2D roaming partner, but in step 4 we selected Vodafone (to ensure the handset didn’t connect). Not sure what is happening here to show 3 UK.
Tested whilst not on wifi - so must be using “wifi calling” over “mobile data” from eSIM
1. Calling NZ number using NZ line - connected fine. Incoming also works.
2. Incoming SMS to NZ number - received fine (i.e. 2FA). Haven’t tested outgoing - rarely use.

Note at no time (yet) have I had an SMS from 2Degrees re roaming. Although last time we were roaming we never got SMS either.

I will monitor my bill over next few days to see if anything happens, although I am expecting the $5 spend limit to ensure nothing happens.

If this works as it seems to, I much prefer this to an account level roaming stop, as if I needed to I can increase my spend limit, set network to auto and then I am roaming on 2D, paying the $8/day.

I've paid about NZD24 for 50gb of data inc 10gb EU data, unlimited SMS and unlimited calls over 30 days - so quite a bit better value than 3 days of 2D roaming!

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#3211591 27-Mar-2024 14:33

This will only work when you have an operator that 2Degrees doesn’t roam with.
In the case of Australia, 2Degrees will happily roam on all three networks.

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phrozenpenguin

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#3211731 28-Mar-2024 02:31

cokemaster: This will only work when you have an operator that 2Degrees doesn’t roam with.
In the case of Australia, 2Degrees will happily roam on all three networks.

Thanks, good to know. But I suspect (hope) outside AU there are a lot of operators that 2D doesn't roam with.

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