I can’t Send and Receive Calls in the US

[HrmlessNerd]

I am in Washington and I’ve purchased a roaming package. All calls normally fail. If by some chance they succeed, the person on the other end can’t hear me. I have switched my network to T-Mobile as some answers have suggested, but this does not solve it. I need to use messaging services on Data to make calls.

[darlicious]

@HrmlessNerd 

If you have further questions or need help understanding the cell mapper map I'm around.

[HrmlessNerd]

Thanks @darlicious 

[HrmlessNerd]

Great thank you

[darlicious]

@HrmlessNerd 

It appears your connection and/or call quality is so poor your calls are not long enough to get the glitch that occurs when you have 2 roaming add ons with a talk feature. If you manage to make a 2/3 minute call you will then hear 3 loud beeps and your call will disconnect. It's best if you do contact customer support to remove the extra roaming add on. Keep the one with data so you can use fongo for calling when you cannot connect to the 2G network.

Washington state has decent coverage in urban centre's but it's mountainous terrain makes it pretty much nonexistent between urban centre's unless you locate a 2G tower and stop within its coverage area and attempt a call. Not all 2G towers will carry bands compatible with your phone or will reach your phone within the defined coverage area. Use the cell mapper link in the update post of the following thread to locate your nearest 2G tower. Follow the instructions on how to select towers and filter results. Once you tap the map again to make the tower info disappear the tower coverage area will be shown according to each band.

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Get-Support/US-Roaming-Add-ons-Decommissioning-of-US-...

[DennyCrane]

Really? I tried TextNow while I was in California for a couple weeks, and I found the call quality to be so bad it was un-useable. And I was using a very solid home wifi 300/10. Fongo is better, and that says a lot. 

[softech]

@HrmlessNerd   this map give you some idea of T-Mobile 2G coverage.  But again, the 2G is old and unreliable, so, even it shows there is 2G, it might not work well

https://www.gsma.com/coverage/#466

We are expecting PM to enable VoLTE very soon.  When it is enabled, the roaming voice issue should be resolved

[HrmlessNerd]

Hey, thanks for your time @softech , I do appreciate it and just wish there was a better solution than VOIP. I think you must be right that it switches if it finds 2g. I have briefly gotten a voice on the other end depending on location, but I don’t think I’m heard on the other end. I’ll make do with what I got and I might pursue a ticket of some kind when I get back, but all this stuff is a hassle. It would be nice if at least the coverage map didn’t tell me I was good to go here assuming most people are working with semi-in-date technology

[esjliv]

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@HrmlessNerd wrote:

I’ve tried restarting the phone (IPhone XR). I can’t explicitly ask for a 2g network on this phone. It looks like I have more than one add on - 1000min, and two 15 day unlimited. I guess I threw money at it because it wasn’t working

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@HrmlessNerd - if you have two of the same Roaming addon listed in your account this could be causing service issues. So, you may need CSA help to get this sorted out.

­­­Public Mobile Representatives customer support­­­ agents (CSA) can be contacted by either two methods, found here:

https://www.publicmobile.ca/en/on/get-help/articles/contact-an-agent

Also, if you purchased the 1000min one in error, you could ask CSA to see if they could reverse that for your and add the cost of it to your available funds.

[HrmlessNerd]

I can see that I’ve already tried that one in the past for critical stuff when I was down a phone. The ads were aggravating and no one knows the contact number unless I mass broadcast which I don’t want to do

[softech]

@HrmlessNerd   Try TextNow.  It is one of the better choice with great sound.  

There is always a short ad after a call, but oh well, it is free

[HrmlessNerd]

I see. I have tried free VOIP services and found them to be mostly aggravating. I’d much rather pay to have reliable communication at the same number I’ve always had

[softech · Accepted solution]

@HrmlessNerd you don't need to explicitly pick 2G.  Your phone will switch to 2G.  In fact, you can make the calls briefly, so it did switch

I think it is an unstable 2G network issue.  Try testing in another location.  Again, you can use VoIP as workarounds

When you are back in Canada, you can open a ticket and PM likely will issue a partial or full refund depends on your experience

[HrmlessNerd]

I don’t think it does (iPhone XR)

[HrmlessNerd]

I’ve tried restarting the phone (IPhone XR). I can’t explicitly ask for a 2g network on this phone. It looks like I have more than one add on - 1000min, and two 15 day unlimited. I guess I threw money at it because it wasn’t working

[esjliv]

@HrmlessNerd - try restarting your phone. Are you connecting to the 2G T-Mobile network?

Also, is this your first Roaming addon you purchased or one that you purchased after another one expired?

[HALIMACS]

@HrmlessNerd 

Try manually connecting to a 2G network, if your device allows. Calling is very hit or miss in the states without this capability. 

Since the turn down of the 3G system in the US, the roaming in the US is really only reliable for data and messaging.

[softech]

@HrmlessNerd   Unfortunately, the voice is running on the old T-Mobile 2G network, unreliable

You can try again when you are in different area of the city.

or if you have wifi (and maybe Mobile data?) , download VoIP TextNow and make calls using that as a workaround