Roaming onto Vodafone - no mobile data

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nzkiwiman

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#224053 31-Oct-2017 10:03

Last week I travelled from Dunedin to Central Otago. with the plan to play Pokemon Go in towns I had never played in before.

The problem was that in towns that didn't have 2Degrees coverage, I would roam onto Vodafone but no amount of changing the settings on my phone or restarting would give me internet/data access; which killed any chance of playing a game that relies on accessing the internet.

I assume that as long as roaming data is enabled on the cellphone, that it "should just work", at which point I wonder if my parallel import phone (LG G6 870DS) is the cause of the issue ..

Can anyone point me into the right direction?

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#1892976 31-Oct-2017 10:24

Yes, provided handset settings are correct - APN 'internet', roaming data enabled - then it should just work.

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These comments are my own and do not represent the opinions of 2degrees.

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Peppery

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#1892983 31-Oct-2017 10:32

What data pack are you using? Any chance you're still using a zone data pack?

2degreesCare

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#1893063 31-Oct-2017 12:05

Was Network selection (2G/3G/4G) on Automatic or set to 4G or 3G only? Set it so it can pick up all frequencies.

Also if the phone is built for the US or Spark market here it may not pick up our U900 3G signal. 4G is not available on roaming.

^POB

nzkiwiman

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#1893149 31-Oct-2017 14:18

Peppery:

What data pack are you using? Any chance you're still using a zone data pack?

$19 Prepaid Carry Over Data; I've mentioned looking into Zone Data but haven't purchased yet

2degreesCare:

Was Network selection (2G/3G/4G) on Automatic or set to 4G or 3G only? Set it so it can pick up all frequencies.

Also if the phone is built for the US or Spark market here it may not pick up our U900 3G signal. 4G is not available on roaming.

^POB

Originally all networks, automatic

As I got more and more annoyed, I started manually selecting networks and speed of network

According to specs I can find online, it supports U900 3G

http://www.phonemore.com/lg-g6-dual-h870ds/specs/3251

https://www.frequencycheck.com/models/Ak8mw/lg-h870ds-g6-dual-sim-td-lte

It feels to me like it was a repeat of a similar issue I had in October 2016 with my Nexus 5X, no data while stopping in Timaru on the way to Christchurch
On the way back I couldn't replicate so I put it down to a weird phone/network issue

Next time I repeat the trip, I'll make sure I have my other phone with me to test as well (Huawei P10 Lite)

MichaelNZ

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#1893152 31-Oct-2017 14:26

2degrees data roaming is heavily crippled due to the non support on band 28 (700MHz) for roaming. If this is important I'd suggest switching to Spark. A huge improvement in customer service is an added bonus.

nzkiwiman: It feels to me like it was a repeat of a similar issue I had in October 2016 with my Nexus 5X, no data while stopping in Timaru on the way to Christchurch

Nexus 5X only supports a limited band 28 as used by Spark. If you want full band 28 support get a Samsung. I have also heard 6X is ok on this account but I have not confirmed it.

Linux

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#1893171 31-Oct-2017 14:45

MichaelNZ:
2degrees data roaming is heavily crippled due to the non support on band 28 (700MHz) for roaming. If this is important I'd suggest switching to Spark. A huge improvement in customer service is an added bonus.

nzkiwiman: It feels to me like it was a repeat of a similar issue I had in October 2016 with my Nexus 5X, no data while stopping in Timaru on the way to Christchurch

Nexus 5X only supports a limited band 28 as used by Spark. If you want full band 28 support get a Samsung. I have also heard 6X is ok on this account but I have not confirmed it.

There is zero 4G national roaming onto VodafoneNZ 4G no matter what the band is 700 900 1800 2100 2600Mhz

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MichaelNZ

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#1893176 31-Oct-2017 14:48

Linux:
There is zero 4G national roaming onto VodafoneNZ 4G no matter what the band is 700 900 1800 2100 2600Mhz

Yes. This is correct. I meant to say no 4G roaming at all but 2degrees is additionally crippled in rural areas by lack of band 28.

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#1893179 31-Oct-2017 14:51

MichaelNZ:
Linux:
There is zero 4G national roaming onto VodafoneNZ 4G no matter what the band is 700 900 1800 2100 2600Mhz

Yes. This is correct. I meant to say no 4G roaming at all but 2degrees is additionally crippled in rural areas by lack of band 28.

Many rural 2Degrees sites have band 28 700Mhz 4G live but very limited spectrum so speeds are like fast 3G+

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MichaelNZ

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#1893181 31-Oct-2017 14:53

Linux:
Many rural 2Degrees sites have band 28 700Mhz 4G live but very limited spectrum so speeds are like fast 3G+

Is that a recent change? When I was with 2degrees I was basically told no 700Mhz. I left them for Spark after they became 3rd world and have not looked back.

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#1893184 31-Oct-2017 14:55

MichaelNZ:
Linux:
Many rural 2Degrees sites have band 28 700Mhz 4G live but very limited spectrum so speeds are like fast 3G+

Is that a recent change? When I was with 2degrees I was basically told no 700Mhz. I left them for Spark after they became 3rd world and have not looked back.

I have a number on 2Degrees not my primary number but I was up Doubtless bay / cable bay last week and no issues on 4G with 2Degrees even bay of Islands no issues

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coffeebaron

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#1893212 31-Oct-2017 15:45

Lots of recent band 28 upgrades by 2degrees. They did Putaruru recently.

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SaltyNZ

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#1893259 31-Oct-2017 18:08

MichaelNZ:

Linux:
Many rural 2Degrees sites have band 28 700Mhz 4G live but very limited spectrum so speeds are like fast 3G+

Is that a recent change? When I was with 2degrees I was basically told no 700Mhz. I left them for Spark after they became 3rd world and have not looked back.

All the sites going up now go up with 700. They haven't done any 1800-only sites for quite some time, I don't think.

iPad Pro 11" + iPhone 15 Pro Max + 2degrees 4tw!

These comments are my own and do not represent the opinions of 2degrees.

KiwiSurfer

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#1893288 31-Oct-2017 19:54

MichaelNZ:

2degrees data roaming is heavily crippled due to the non support on band 28 (700MHz) for roaming. If this is important I'd suggest switching to Spark. A huge improvement in customer service is an added bonus.

Pokemon Go hardly requires 4G so I am not sure why you're focusing on the lack of LTE band 28 as the culprit here. 2degrees has very good 2G/3G 900 MHz coverage by way of their own network and national roaming on Vodafone. Their own native 4G coverage (which includes a growing number of 700 MHz sites) is only icing on the table for Pokemon Go usage but far from necessary.

Last time I did a road trip in the South Island I was very impressed at the extent of 2degrees + Vodafone 2G/3G roaming coverage (to the point I had excellent 3G service in a surprising number of places my friend on Spark couldn't even find a signal). I am sure that roaming coverage is probably not as good as it was back then (due to cutbacks mentioned above) but I doubt it's the reason behind the OP's issues.

If it works on 2degrees then I suspect it probably has the correct bands needed for VF roaming so either roaming is disabled on the phone or 2degrees has barred roaming for some reason.

Questions: Does your phone send/receive phone calls OK while roaming on Vodafone (to rule out core roaming issues not just data roaming)? How do you know it's actually roaming on Vodafone (as most phones seem to conceal this fact)?

MichaelNZ

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#1893289 31-Oct-2017 19:58

It has been my experience 2degrees rural coverage is lousy compared to Vodafone even testing with the same handset and location.

hio77

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#1893290 31-Oct-2017 20:05

KiwiSurfer:

Pokemon Go hardly requires 4G so I am not sure why you're focusing on the lack of LTE band 28 as the culprit here. 2degrees has very good 2G/3G 900 MHz coverage by way of their own network and national roaming on Vodafone. Their own native 4G coverage (which includes a growing number of 700 MHz sites) is only icing on the table for Pokemon Go usage but far from necessary.

I'm someone who partakes in older brother of pogo, Ingress.

Pogo Landscape is pretty different since the interaction is hardly there etc, but for ingress, taking things out in the middle of nowhere where it's hard to get to is a heck of a task.

It is rare 4G goes further than 3G 850mhz. I personally carry in my every day backpack a MF910 hotspot (works across all bands) and an ommi attenna for these situations. (The stories as far as this can go get quite... intense..)Where i can get 4G over 3G, it is nice. Slightly better latency, On an edge case of signal far greater data consistency and rates

When you end up going further out, it gets... Very extreme.... and expensive..

Totally worth it, always an excitement out of doing the assumed impossible over satellite forcing someone else to trek all that way out.

@PhantomNVD will surely agree, i do some rather frustrating things to his faction with these no signal places..

MichaelNZ:

It has been my experience 2degrees rural coverage is lousy compared to Vodafone even testing with the same handset and location.

Purely off market size, it is somewhat to be expected that 2D doesn't have the best network everywhere.

Different networks tend to have their "good" area, where they have focused networks.

awhile back, it used to be spark for rural, Vodafone for City. 2D has some decent stuff down south.

Now days, Spark is catching up for city, Vodafone and Spark trade blows for rural. 2D i don't roll enough to accurately comment.

I will say there is a location up north i visit fairly often, where 2D is the only network that works out there.

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