US Roaming

[Fanwar14]

I recently purchased the extra data and roaming services when i was travelling to the states.  However, i was not able to get service there during my entire trip, unless i logged in to wifi at the hotel.  

I am not sure if i needed to do something in order to activate the US roaming.  

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. 

[Fanwar14]

thank you for all your help. 

last question - is 250MB enough to use GPS for six hours (x2)? 

[srlawren]

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@Fanwar14 wrote:

So I purchase the add-on a few days ahead of time, then what do i do when i cross into the states? Can I just connect to T-mobile without a plan with them? 

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@Fanwar14 be careful how early you buy it.  As noted, the clock starts ticking on your 9.X days right away.

In terms of experience when you get the USA, unfortunately "it depends".  Many peoeple don't have to do anything at all and it just works.  Two things you can check ahead of time are that your phone is set for automatic network selection (aka you dind't manually select the Public Mobile network in the past) and that you have romaing enabled on the phone (typically called Data while roaming or Roaming Data or something similar). 

If the phone doesn't "just work" after entering the USA, there are a couple of things you can try.  A simple restart of the phone often fixes all that ails.  If that doesn't work, try going back into the network selection settings and turning off automatic selection, and manually choosing either AT&T or T-Mobile from the list (it may take quite some time to search, so be patient).  

[Fanwar14]

So I purchase the add-on a few days ahead of time, then what do i do when i cross into the states? Can I just connect to T-mobile without a plan with them? 

[srlawren]

@ute1978 @Fanwar14 I mean, every network has some dead spots and areas of weaker coverage, even in major population centres.  But to have neither available for extended durations of time/space in most places in the USA would be pretty unlikely.

[ute1978]

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@Fanwar14 wrote:

is there a possibility that there might be no partner network available? 

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Yes, that possibility exists, but only if you were in the middle of nowhere in the wild.

You said you were in a hotel so that means civilization and therefore a good chance there was a US network available.

[Fanwar14]

is there a possibility that there might be no partner network available? 

[srlawren]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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If one has ones phone set to auto will it see either us network and say "Oh I can connect to that. And look I can roam it too" and connect itself?

Or does one still need to select either?

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@Anonymous yes to both questions!  Most phones will automatically connect to either AT&T or T-Mobile.  However, some for whatever reason don't.  In that case, you need to manually pick one of those two networks.  

[Anonymous]

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@will13am wrote: 

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The Public Mobile network is only available in Canada.  All roaming usage involves being able to connect to a roaming partner's network. 

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If one has ones phone set to auto will it see either us network and say "Oh I can connect to that. And look I can roam it too" and connect itself?

Or does one still need to select either?

[will13am]

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@Fanwar14 wrote:

No, i wasn't aware I needed to connect to another partner network.  

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The Public Mobile network is only available in Canada.  All roaming usage involves being able to connect to a roaming partner's network. 

[Fanwar14]

No, i wasn't aware I needed to connect to another partner network.  

[RobertQc]

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@Fanwar14 wrote:

I recently purchased the extra data and roaming services when i was travelling to the states.  However, i was not able to get service there during my entire trip, unless i logged in to wifi at the hotel.  

I am not sure if i needed to do something in order to activate the US roaming.  

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. 

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You need to make sure your phone has "ROAMING" settings turned to on, on your phone.

In my experience when you click enable roaming on your phone, the phone gives you a warning. "ARE YOU ABSOLUTELY SURE YOU WANT TO DO THIS YOU MAY INCUR MASSIVE CHARGES."  Pretty sure all phones have roaming disabled by default for this reason.

[will13am]

With the US add-ons, you need to connect to the roaming partner networks (AT&T, T-Mobile) in order to use the service.  If data is purchased, roaming data needs to be enabled.  Were you able to connect to the roaming partner networks?  Some customers have issues with add-on purchasing which is a 2 step process.  In some cases, the add-ons were not properly purchased.  Without additional information, it is hard to say what exactly impeded your usage in the US.