topic Re: US Roaming Oddities in Get Support

US Roaming Oddities

kav2001c — Tue, 04 Jan 2022 18:50:46 GMT

Well finally got a chance to see what happens while in USA after the new roaming features announced. Couple very strange things (& some that definately require improvement).

After crossing border, phone jumped on to T-Mobile (surprised since I had assumed AT&T would be roaming partner)

They sent me a txt message telling me "welcome to USA, you can get a US roaming add on for as low as $10 for 10 days" (? I don't know about anyone else, but I never saw a $10 plan anywhere?)

First issue- Inaccurate prices quoted

Second issue - Reqiures internet access to add the add-on, otherwise no way to get it

Third issue - Based on time stamp of txt, I was in USA over 7 minutes before this message was even sent (probably closer to 10 minutes, but I am using 7 as official since that is based on a receipt time to txt time and I was nowhere close to border then)

I only planned to buy a few things so was not really worried about radio silence

But the odd thing was as I drove further away from the border, my phone came to life WITH NO ROAMING PLAN

I next received an email from someone 53 minutes after I crossed border and had driven quite far with a message my phone was not working and to call them back

Then 2 text messages from friends popped through at 68 minutes after crossing border

At this point I was quite puzzled and tried to send a txt back, which showed message actually sent on my phone and person said they recieved it (?)

I instantly received a response from Public saying your current plan does not include roaming to update my plan visit self serve

*edit - I also checked my self serve use and both txt are listed in history

Fourth issue - both incoming & outgoing txt are working (?) but system is prompting me to go online (with no data) to add a roaming plan

Oh and despite no data at all (I tried web browser) somehow BBM messenger was able to sneak through as well

Re: US Roaming Oddities

Someone_here — Tue, 06 Jun 2017 17:46:48 GMT

Quite interesting...

Maybe if you buy the add-on then calls will work but not sms? 😉

Re: US Roaming Oddities

Luddite — Tue, 06 Jun 2017 17:54:16 GMT

@kav2001c Which USA plan did you purchase? As it happens, there is a data only plan for $10.

When you login to self serve, what US Roaming plan is showing?

As far as getting a plan while in the US is concerned, it is true you must use wifi and *611 does not yet function from there.

Re: US Roaming Oddities

srlawren — Tue, 06 Jun 2017 18:31:42 GMT

@kav2001c a lot of this is as expected. It takes time to get the text to you since it takes a little bit of time to transition from Bellus towers as your drive further from the border, and conceivably a little time for the handoff to register and so on. Also: receiving inbound texts is normal, as is inability to reply without a roaming add-on that includes texting. As for phone calls and email, that's a bit odd indeed. Must be a glitch! Fortunately PM being prepaid you can't possibly be dinged for overages.

Re: US Roaming Oddities

stonechucker — Tue, 06 Jun 2017 19:29:39 GMT

If your WiFi was active, would it be possible you recieved the email via a data over WiFi connection? I don't fool around with settings, but I'm sure there's a configuration out there that would allow for auto-connection to WiFi if open.

I only ventured over the boarder once since the roaming became available... and I felt I didn't require it for the duration of my trip.

Re: US Roaming Oddities

imm1304 — Tue, 06 Jun 2017 20:17:03 GMT

Adding to the conversation above, its not a surprise to connect with T-mobile. Both AT&T and T-Mobile are US roaming partners of PM as announced since launch.

If you prefer AT&T, you can manually select it and it should stick.

Re: US Roaming Oddities

srlawren — Tue, 06 Jun 2017 21:04:24 GMT

Thanks @imm1304, I meant to mention that too.

@stonechucker I know what you mean. I actually am now using a hybrid approach to my US roaming. I went down to Bellingham for the day on Saturday, and I went back to using Roam Mobility for the day. I don't anticipate going again within the 10 days, so the PM offerings weren't a great value for this particular excursion. But for $5+tax I was able to pick up 24 hours of service from Roam, making use of the SIM that's been sitting unused for a while in my 2nd SIM slot. (I used to use Roam exclusively, before PM offered up their add-ons.). I think this is the appraoch I will stick with, a hybrid. If I'm only going for a day or two, I'll just usr Roam and forward my calls to Fongo before leaving Canada. For longer trips I'll use PM.

Re: US Roaming Oddities

kav2001c — Tue, 06 Jun 2017 23:04:07 GMT

@Luddite didnt purchase any plan

Thats why I am surprised as both data and txt worked (even if unreliably) while in US

Re: US Roaming Oddities

kav2001c — Tue, 06 Jun 2017 23:05:25 GMT

@stonechucker no I disabled WiFi (been attempting to use up my 12 GB lol) months ago

Plus it saves battery

Re: US Roaming Oddities

will13am — Tue, 06 Jun 2017 23:09:24 GMT

I guess there is free roaming in the US until the loophole is patched?

Re: US Roaming Oddities

kav2001c — Tue, 06 Jun 2017 23:10:55 GMT

@will13am I am totally assuming data is a bug

But do we have free incoming txt?

Public did have it way back in CDMA days which is why I am curious if anyone else has tried?

We have heard many times its alot of work to patch up the old Public systems

Re: US Roaming Oddities

imm1304 — Wed, 07 Jun 2017 00:43:42 GMT

@srlawren has confirmed on his visit to the US that the incoming sms continue to work in the states.

Re: US Roaming Oddities

srlawren — Wed, 07 Jun 2017 00:53:59 GMT

@imm1304 yes, my travel companion [fellow PM customer] on a couple of trips has elected not to purchase the roaming add-ons, and was successfully receiving texts during the visit. The first time was not too long after the roaming packs were introduced, and the more recent time was this past Saturday.

Re: US Roaming Oddities

will13am — Wed, 07 Jun 2017 01:04:09 GMT

@kav2001c wrote:
@will13am I am totally assuming data is a bug
But do we have free incoming txt?

Public did have it way back in CDMA days which is why I am curious if anyone else has tried?

We have heard many times its alot of work to patch up the old Public systems

To be honest, I don't have any data points to share on roaming. I stick to the say as I do mantra; I always buy local when travelling.