Does US roaming actually work now?

[DinoWPG99]

Last summer (2023), I was in the US with the US Roaming add-on and all I could do was text (after manually selecting T-Mobile). Calling and data did not work.

I've come to learn that US networks stopped supporting 3G/HSPA service in 2022. My PM plan was (and still is) a 3G plan. So, I presume the 3G plan was the reason why I had crappy coverage. 

I see now that the available PM plans are all 4G or 5G. If I change to a new 4G or 5G subscription plan, then purchase one of the US Roaming Add-ons, will that resolve the issues I had last summer? i.e., will I actually be able to use Talk, Text, and Data like the add-on says?

If it matters, I have an LG Velvet 5G (originally from the AT&T network).

[Phil_Adelphus]

@Ty12  So if I am understanding correctly, if I have the canada - US plan, all I need to do is enable roaming and it will work without being charged the roaming fees

Yes, data and texting should work but voice calls probably won't since your phone is not on PM's VoLTE list.  If it doesn't you'd need to connect to T-Mobile's 2G where still available or use a free voip app (which would have a different phone number of course).  

[colleeno]

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@Ty12 wrote:

So if I am understanding correctly, if I have the canada - US plan, all I need to do is enable roaming and it will work without being charged the roaming fees?

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Yes, but if your phone is connecting automatically to Verizon it won’t work. T-Mobile and AT&T are PM’s roaming partners. 5G will work with T-Mobile but not with AT&T so it is suggested to change your phone settings to 4G/LTE. Also check that your phone is on PM’s VoLTE whitelist to be able to use voice because there is no 3G at all in the US.

(VoLTE list is at the end of the article.)

https://www.publicmobile.ca/en/on/get-help/articles/volte

[Ty12]

So if I am understanding correctly, if I have the canada - US plan, all I need to do is enable roaming and it will work without being charged the roaming fees?

[Phil_Adelphus]

@DinoWPG99 I see now that the available PM plans are all 4G or 5G. If I change to a new 4G or 5G subscription plan, then purchase one of the US Roaming Add-ons, will that resolve the issues I had last summer?

Most of the plans currently available for existing subscribers to switch to are Canada-US plans that don't need a roaming add on to work in the USA, it's all included in the plan (unless you are thinking of the $19 for 1GB that's not advertised and for existing customers only).  Even though a non VoLTE phone is problematic for voice, texting and data should work. Data would enable use of a voip app for voice calls, like TextNow or Fongo for if/where T-Mobile's 2G is not available (it's gradually being shut down too).

[DennyCrane]

Your 3G plan has/had nothing to do with it. While it is true that the US shut their 3G networks down, even though you have a 3G plan you can still access the 4G and 5G networks. The 3G plan is just your max speed on any of those networks.

You need to make sure you enable data roaming in your device settings. And because AT&T 5G doesn't work, it's best to set your phone to 4G preferred vs 5G. And if you don't automatically connect to either T-Mobile or AT&T, you'll need to connect manually (some iPhones connect to Verizon every now and again, which won't work). If you do all this you should be fine for text and data (and should have been fine last time as well).

For phone calls however, you need to have a compatible device per Public Mobile's VoLTE whitelist. This is because the US shut their 3G networks down (as you noted), so you need VoLTE to be able to make phone calls on the 4G or 5G networks. If your phone isn't on the list, you probably won't be able to connect phone calls. The only workaround is if you can find a T-Mobile 2G connection.

https://www.publicmobile.ca/en/on/get-help/articles/volte

[Phil_Adelphus]

@DinoWPG99  There are no LG phones on PM's VoLTE whitelist so you likely will still need to use T-Mobile's 2G for voice calls where it still exists.  The problem is not the 3G plan but the lack of VoLTE.  There was some question a while back that a phone being whitelisted for VoLTE on a US carrier would override its not being whitelisted by PM but someone posted recently that their phone on the US carrier's whitelist but not on PM's did not work for voice calls.  

[DinoWPG99]

@softco - Thanks for the quick response. That's great news! I was reluctantly shopping other providers and not impressed at the price hike for bloated data plans that I know I won't use.

I've checked the AT&T and T-Mobile compatibility checks and it looks like I'm good to go! Heck, I better be go to go with AT&T since the phone was originally an unlocked AT&T phone. 😆

[softech · Accepted solution]

@DinoWPG99 

the US roaming actually works now.  PM now have both T-Mobile and AT&T as the roaming partner

For better success, you might want to disable 5G and stay with 4G/LTE

Voice could still be harder to get if you don't have a PM's whitelisted VoLTE device.  If it is VoLTE whitelisted, you can just use T-Mobile or AT&T 4G/LTE network for voice on LTE.   If not, you will have to use T-Mobile's 2G network, which can be harder to connect depends on your area