topic Re: US roaming in Get Support

US roaming

SusieQ — Wed, 05 Jan 2022 14:29:54 GMT

Hello all,

I am located in Vancouver, B.C. and travel to Seattle occasionally. I usually purchase a US SIM card for unlimited talk, text and data in the states, therefore I do not need the US roaming add on. However, I was just wondering if I would be able to receive phone calls in the states without the add on?
Thanks!

Re: US roaming

srlawren — Fri, 14 Feb 2020 00:40:44 GMT

@SusieQ it depends who you ask! The official answer is: no. incoming calls will go directly to your voicemail box if you do not have the US Roaming Talk add-on active.

HOWEVER, some users (e.g. @Anonymous) have mentioned that they are able to receive calls in the USA without the aforementioned add-on. Your mileage may vary, but you could always try.

Re: US roaming

gblackma — Fri, 14 Feb 2020 00:45:02 GMT

@SusieQ No, but if you add Textnow, and use wifi, you can receive calls in the US

@SusieQ wrote:
Hello all,
I am located in Vancouver, B.C. and travel to Seattle occasionally. I usually purchase a US SIM card for unlimited talk, text and data in the states, therefore I do not need the US roaming add on. However, I was just wondering if I would be able to receive phone calls in the states without the add on?
Thanks!

Re: US roaming

geopublic — Fri, 14 Feb 2020 00:54:54 GMT

@SusieQ wrote:
Hello all,
I am located in Vancouver, B.C. and travel to Seattle occasionally. I usually purchase a US SIM card for unlimited talk, text and data in the states, therefore I do not need the US roaming add on. However, I was just wondering if I would be able to receive phone calls in the states without the add on?
Thanks!

@SusieQ The answer is yes (unofficial and can change at any time). If your phone supports two sims that would be ideal. Otherwise test it when you are down there and report back.

Re: US roaming

Anonymous — Fri, 14 Feb 2020 19:27:13 GMT

I like the way you talk @SusieQ asking the questions.

Strange, unofficial things happen around here. Try things out and see what happens.

Always remember that there are no extra charges here.

Re: US roaming

SusieQ — Sat, 15 Feb 2020 09:15:07 GMT

Thanks for the replies everyone!

If and when I am down there, I'll test it and let you guys know.

Re: US roaming

SusieQ — Tue, 03 Mar 2020 08:13:24 GMT

Just came back from Seattle. I tried calling my phone twice with my US number and it didn't go through 😞 .

Re: US roaming

srlawren — Tue, 03 Mar 2020 18:20:10 GMT

@SusieQ wrote:
Just came back from Seattle. I tried calling my phone twice with my US number and it didn't go through 😞 .

@SusieQ did it go directly to your voicemail outgoing greeting?

@Anonymous maybe PM fixed this loophole? I know you've been able to receive calls in the US in the past without a US Roaming Talk add-on....

Re: US roaming

SusieQ — Tue, 03 Mar 2020 18:46:25 GMT

It was beeping, didn't even ring.

Re: US roaming

srlawren — Tue, 03 Mar 2020 19:15:13 GMT

@SusieQ wrote:
It was beeping, didn't even ring.

@SusieQ That's......odd. It should have gone to your voicemail

Re: US roaming

Anonymous — Tue, 03 Mar 2020 19:36:02 GMT

@SusieQ wrote:
It was beeping, didn't even ring.

Does your US phone have Canada-calling? Did you dial 1 in front of your 10 digits? Was your PM phone on and not in airplane mode and not blocking your number? Did you have any roaming add-ons? Even still active from before?

Maybe they did close that up @srlawren.

Re: US roaming

Nezgar — Tue, 03 Mar 2020 19:43:07 GMT

@SusieQ wrote:
It was beeping, didn't even ring.

Thanks for this info. It confirms what I suspected in a previous post, that without a roaming add-on, ALL call forwarding, including conditionals to voicemail, will not work once your phone has registered to a US network, until your phone again registers on the PM network in Canada.

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Plans-Add-Ons/Testers-needed-Conditional-Call-Forwarding-while-in-USA-with-no/m-p/507203/highlight/true#M65650

The only way to ensure you continue to receive voicemails while in the USA would be to keep the phone in airplane mode, or remove the SIM entirely until return to Canada. But that presents a conundrum, as you then will not be able to receive incoming texts, which do work without a roaming add-on...

Re: US roaming

Anonymous — Tue, 03 Mar 2020 19:47:18 GMT

@Nezgar

I don't think SusieQ mentioned voicemail. If you're sitting there with your phone on and call it from another phone...the phone should ring. Assuming the loophole is still open.

Re: US roaming

Nezgar — Tue, 03 Mar 2020 19:50:28 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Nezgar
I don't think SusieQ mentioned voicemail. If you're sitting there with your phone on and call it from another phone...the phone should ring. Assuming the loophole is still open.

And if the loophole is closed, and forwarding is broken, you'll just get a fast-busy instead of your voicemail, which is what it seems SuzieQ described.

Re: US roaming

Anonymous — Tue, 03 Mar 2020 19:53:04 GMT

@Nezgar wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@Nezgar
I don't think SusieQ mentioned voicemail. If you're sitting there with your phone on and call it from another phone...the phone should ring. Assuming the loophole is still open.
And if the loophole is closed, and forwarding is broken, you'll just get a fast-busy instead of your voicemail, which is what it seems SuzieQ described.

I'm not ready to concede 🙂 Need more facts.

Re: US roaming

srlawren — Tue, 03 Mar 2020 20:01:52 GMT

@Nezgar wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@Nezgar
I don't think SusieQ mentioned voicemail. If you're sitting there with your phone on and call it from another phone...the phone should ring. Assuming the loophole is still open.
And if the loophole is closed, and forwarding is broken, you'll just get a fast-busy instead of your voicemail, which is what it seems SuzieQ described.

@Nezgar forwarding is done at the network level. If PM couldn't deliver the call you via the roaming partner network, it would be forwarded to your voicemail, would it not?

Re: US roaming

Nezgar — Tue, 03 Mar 2020 20:08:08 GMT

@srlawren wrote:
@Nezgar forwarding is done at the network level. If PM couldn't deliver the call you via the roaming partner network, it would be forwarded to your voicemail, would it not?

You would think so... But it has been previously confirmed that unconditional call forwarding breaks if your phone is registered to a US network without a USA roaming add-on. Now I'm just trying to confirm if conditional forwards (which by default is your voicemail) also break without a USA roaming add-on.

Re: US roaming

SusieQ — Tue, 03 Mar 2020 22:00:06 GMT

I don't think I have my voicemail set up yet as I've only been using PM for 2+ weeks. Just wanted to try it out before switching from Fido.

Re: US roaming

SusieQ — Wed, 04 Mar 2020 01:37:45 GMT

Yes I dialed 1 in front of the area code and no it wasn't in airplane mode. I didn't purchase roaming add on.

My US phone was working as I was able to call all the other numbers.