U.S. Roaming doesn’t work well

[none3265]

I have been traveling visiting Chicago for the last 7 days now and I have to say that the US roaming is not reliable with Public Mobile.

For about half of the time, my phone connects well to T-Mobile, stays connected and provides good service. Inexplicably however, for the other half of the time it will connect for only about a minute, disconnect for about a minute and then reconnect again only for another minute. This cycle lasts for quite awhile and this is when there is a strong signal.

It is clear that something is wrong here. When I was roaming in the past when Bell was my provider it was a seamless transition when I crossed the border and there was solid connectivity all throughout the US. If Public Mobile is to offer us a Ro

[darlicious]

@none3265 

I wonder if this has anything go do with previously connecting thru Bell? Did you ever reboot your phone, toggle airplane mode on/off reset your network settings during the time the U S Roaming add on was active?

It can't hurt to contact customer support and share your experience using the US Roaming add on bundle. Perhaps they will be aware of an issue in the area you were in? See if they will be willingly issue a credit for your subpar service as a matter of goodwill on the part of pm. User feedback helps improve the service in the long run.

To contact customer support : Submit a support ticket via SIMon the chat bot Click here 

Or if you cannot submit a ticket via SIMon then Click here   ....for additional member supplied info.

[dust2dust]

Public Mobile can't possibly guarantee performance when connected to roaming networks. But the US is in this transition phase. Canada will be too in three years.

I would agree with you on talk to some extent but they do plaster warnings all over the purchase and add-on pages. But data and text SHOULD still work on either roaming partner.

[none3265]

As I mentioned, I could not select any network other than T-Mobile. just as Bell has a Roaming partner, it would appear that my sim card was locking me to that network.

This was not an issue of my phone trying to switch carriers as it was only T-Mobile that it attempted to connect to. I would get kicked off of T-Mobile repeatedly for hours before it would then inexplicably start to work for hours. Again, signal strength was not an issue as I had full bars and I was often in exactly the same location where it would work one day and not the next.

Unfortunately one of the disconnect cycles occured during my drive home. It was very annoying to need to stop and use free Wifi Signals at restaurants along to way every time I altered my GPS or to use my ArriveCan APP. Internet service is very important and this is an issue that needs to be looked into. If PM is to sell a service, it should be provided. If the issue is with T-Mobile, it should be addressed there and their system would no doubt have the log files as to why I was continuously booted off the system. Otherwise this service should not be sold by PM.

[dust2dust]

The Public sim card would not be locked. I have found that scanning for networks can take some time.

[none3265]

Tried 3G, same issue.

T-Moblie was the only carrier that could be seen from my phone. i suspect the Sim card is locked to that carrier.

[none3265]

So, T-Mobile was the only one that could be selected. I believe the sim card was locked to the provider. Despite being downtown Chicago while would no doubt have many providers, Manually selecting a carrier would not list any available and 'Automatic' would immediately connect to T-Mobile.

The connection was fine. Full bars. I have a BV9900 and the fact is it would work flawlessly for a day and then spend the next day in a constant disconnect and reconnect cycle. It really appears to be authentication of some sort. For whatever reason, sometimes T-Mobile would let me on the network and other times it would not.

[darlicious]

@none3265 

As per @hTideGnow post if you don't manually select the network when coverage and signal strength crossover your phone will switch back and forth seeking the best signal. The signal strength you see on your phone unless you are in tbe middle of voice call is the 4G LTE network not the the 3G network that you are using for voice calls.

Bell's US Roaming partner is at&t so no possibility of your phone's autoconnect setting searching for another network. This is why you must manually choose your roaming network. Considering the most you pay with pm is $20/10 days unless you need a lot of data compared to Bell's cost per day of $10 going to $12/day in July to roam like home you have a comparable cost of convenience of between $100 to $120 plus your bell plan or $20 plus your pm DIY service and plan cost.

To contact customer support : Submit a support ticket via SIMon the chat bot Click here 

Or if you cannot submit a ticket via SIMon then Click here   ....for additional member supplied info.

[hTideGnow]

Hey @Yummy  , you asked that before and @darlicious answered you before, too  LoL

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Get-Support/USA-roaming-add-ons/m-p/794839/highlight/...

and seems like you know the 3G effect on voice in your much earlier post

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Get-Support/Traveling/m-p/821091/highlight/true#M5504...

[hTideGnow]

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@Yummy wrote:

You are saying only voice will be affected with 3G going away?

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HI @Yummy   Yes

PM is using ONLY 3G for voice and using LTE for text and data and notification.

The roaming agreement is the same.  Although some members here suspected we might be able to use VoLTE in US when roaming, but this is not confirmed

So, in short, Yes, we won't get voice roaming when 3G is fully decommissioned. 

[darlicious]

@Yummy 

Yes. Until pm is granted voLTE calling by telus the decommissioning of the 3G network in the US will only affect pm voice calls. Using a voip provider with a US Roaming data add on will solve the voice calls issue with the exception that you can't send and recieve with your pm phone number.

To contact customer support : Submit a support ticket via SIMon the chat bot Click here 

Or if you cannot submit a ticket via SIMon then Click here   ....for additional member supplied info.

[Yummy]

You are saying only voice will be affected with 3G going away?

[hTideGnow]

If it is about data, the 3G decommission would not be the cause

[Yummy]

Issue could be with US shutting down 3G.

Did you try to connect with AT&T?

You mentioned 'in the past...Bell'; that was in the Past when 3G was fully functional.

Nothing PM can do about and we will see what they will offer (if anything) when 3G is gone completely.

[hTideGnow]

HI @none3265   did you let the Network selection use "Automatic" or you manually select T-Mobile?

try to Manually select T-Mobile if you have not done it yet.  if still not good, try to manually select AT&T

Please note with AT&T already in the process of shutting down 3G, you might not receive voice call (not sure if your roaming include voice)

But for Roaming, it is not really PM fault if the connection is not good, it is either TMobile (or AT&T) and a question if your device is compatible with enough bands.  What phone you got?