Terrible roaming experience in USA

Forums › 2degrees (including Slingshot, Orcon, Flip, Stuff Fibre, MyRepublic, 2talk and Vocus) › Terrible roaming experience in USA

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#2945458 22-Jul-2022 18:03

That is a question for the New Zealand Telcos

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Dochart

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#2945477 22-Jul-2022 20:25

I notice that some of the top tier plans in the USA include international roaming data for free. AT&T offer unlimited text, calls and full speed data in Canada, Mexico and Latin America included in their top tier plan. Cost about $85 USD a month for a single line but when you have 5 or more lines comes down to $50 USD. AT&T also set a cap to their roaming fee so it costs $10 per day and when it reaches to $100 you do not need to pay any more roaming fees for the rest of the billing month. Then you have T-Mobile that offers free international roaming data in most countries but it’s limited to 128kbps on their top tier plan.

Not sure why NZ Telcos don’t negotiate with international mobile providers to lower the cost of roaming or be able to include roaming free in the plan for certain countries with NZ top tier mobile plans.

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#2945478 22-Jul-2022 20:31

@Dochart This thread is not about US mobile plans it is about NZ customers roaming in the US and having poor service / coverage

nztim

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#2945479 22-Jul-2022 20:44

When was in the US may/june I had to force my phone onto tmobile to make calls

T-Mobile and AT&T have both shut down 3G however TMobile still has GSM (for data loggers)

GSM can be used for calls/txts - But thats going soon too

What is completely unacceptable is that the FCC lets them shut these networks down before VoLTE roaming is a thing, this is seriously a huge risk for 911 calls

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KiwiSurfer

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#2945492 22-Jul-2022 22:06

As a VFNZ customer when I roamed onto T-Mobile and AT&T using an iPhone 5s (IRRC) back in 2015 I had 4G/LTE coverage 99% of the time and the service was usable (although not as good as other countries I'd roamed to). I honestly don't recall seeing much 3G anywhere between Balitmore and Washington, D.C nor in and around Los Angeles.

The 3G shutdown should not have had any impact as I'm sure in places like LA mentioned above 4G coverage should be good enough especially with all the 3G being re-farmed to 4G. Most modern devices support the US bands including recent iPhones. People having trouble even roaming onto 4G/LTE with iPhones, I would suggest letting your carriers know.

Not strictly on topic, but I found this thread interesting cos I've just come back from New Caledonia where roaming using my 2degrees SIM simply wouldn't work despite New Caledonia being listed as a roaming destination (yes phone/text only but even that wouldn't work at all). I wonder if due to the lack of traffic there's not been anyone checking that systems are working correctly etc. I'm picturing someone somewhere looking at roaming stats and thinking "humm thats not much traffic, oh well I guess that's to be expected" not realizing there's actual issues with the systems. *shrugs*

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#2945505 22-Jul-2022 22:54

KiwiSurfer:
As a VFNZ customer when I roamed onto T-Mobile and AT&T using an iPhone 5s (IRRC) back in 2015 I had 4G/LTE coverage 99% of the time and the service was usable (although not as good as other countries I'd roamed to). I honestly don't recall seeing much 3G anywhere between Balitmore and Washington, D.C nor in and around Los Angeles.

The 3G shutdown should not have had any impact as I'm sure in places like LA mentioned above 4G coverage should be good enough especially with all the 3G being re-farmed to 4G. Most modern devices support the US bands including recent iPhones. People having trouble even roaming onto 4G/LTE with iPhones, I would suggest letting your carriers know.

Not strictly on topic, but I found this thread interesting cos I've just come back from New Caledonia where roaming using my 2degrees SIM simply wouldn't work despite New Caledonia being listed as a roaming destination (yes phone/text only but even that wouldn't work at all). I wonder if due to the lack of traffic there's not been anyone checking that systems are working correctly etc. I'm picturing someone somewhere looking at roaming stats and thinking "humm thats not much traffic, oh well I guess that's to be expected" not realizing there's actual issues with the systems. *shrugs*

When a phone call is placed without VoLTE enabled the signal between the handsetoo oooo and tower drops from 4G to 3G and TDM is used carry the call

With VoLTE when connected to 4G/5G it uses VOIP to carry the call the problem is not all handsets support VoLTE and there are currently no VoLTE roaming agreements

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KiwiSurfer

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#2945507 22-Jul-2022 22:59

nztim:

When a phone call is placed without VoLTE enabled the signal between the handsetoo oooo and tower drops from 4G to 3G and TDM is used carry the call

With VoLTE when connected to 4G/5G it uses VOIP to carry the call the problem is not all handsets support VoLTE and there are currently no VoLTE roaming agreements

OP said "Roaming hardly works. Barely get 3G and probably 80% of the time no internet connection" suggesting that it's not just voice calls that's problematic but the overall roaming experience including both voice and data. But yes you're right VoLTE roaming is needed. Not an ideal situation indeed.

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#2945511 22-Jul-2022 23:43

KiwiSurfer:
nztim:

When a phone call is placed without VoLTE enabled the signal between the handsetoo oooo and tower drops from 4G to 3G and TDM is used carry the call

With VoLTE when connected to 4G/5G it uses VOIP to carry the call the problem is not all handsets support VoLTE and there are currently no VoLTE roaming agreements

OP said "Roaming hardly works. Barely get 3G and probably 80% of the time no internet connection" suggesting that it's not just voice calls that's problematic but the overall roaming experience including both voice and data. But yes you're right VoLTE roaming is needed. Not an ideal situation indeed.

I only had issues with data outside the major cities no different to issues with data countryside here in NZ

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jonherries

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#2945530 23-Jul-2022 08:31

quickymart:
I wonder if Spark's roaming experience is impacted in the same way?

Tautoko everything here. We went through LAX and SFO in April/May. Was terrible on both Voda and Spark on iphone 11 and 12 respectively. Had to use the airport wifi to get a reasonable service.

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johno1234

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#2945560 23-Jul-2022 12:05

So… is there a solution?

Going to Honolulu next month and I really need my phone and data to work (iPhone 11 and spark) Will it? Or do I need to do something else, like get a local prepay SIM?

nztim

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#2945561 23-Jul-2022 12:10

johno1234: So… is there a solution?

Going to Honolulu next month and I really need my phone and data to work (iPhone 11 and spark) Will it? Or do I need to do something else, like get a local prepay SIM?

Data will be no problem (including phone calls over apps), regular phone calls could be a problem (including 911)

Not sure if Spark roam on T-Mobile who still have a GSM network running

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johno1234

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#2945580 23-Jul-2022 14:27

nztim:
johno1234: So… is there a solution?

Going to Honolulu next month and I really need my phone and data to work (iPhone 11 and spark) Will it? Or do I need to do something else, like get a local prepay SIM?

Data will be no problem (including phone calls over apps), regular phone calls could be a problem (including 911)

Not sure if Spark roam on T-Mobile who still have a GSM network running

I can get by with Teams and Whatsapp 👍

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#2946077 24-Jul-2022 22:05

tchart: Thanks everyone. Yes it was truely shocking. I’ve had edge, 3G and very minimal 4G. No 5G at all.

But mostly no internet. I’ve had to rely on offline maps - however managed to get lost in Palm Springs when outside the downloaded area.

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stw

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#2946161 25-Jul-2022 11:40

T Mobile Prepay eSim are another good option

https://www.t-mobile.com/support/plans-features/t-mobile-esim-app

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#2946167 25-Jul-2022 12:03

stw:
T Mobile Prepay eSim are another good option

https://www.t-mobile.com/support/plans-features/t-mobile-esim-app

@stw how is eSIM a good option when the issue is US networks are turning off 3G when this is required for Voice calls? This thread is about New Zealand customers roaming in the US

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