USA Roaming

[dangermoose88]

Hi all - I’m having roaming issues in the USA, I’ve been here for about a week.

My iPhone isn’t able to stably connect to a local carrier. When I come off airplane mode, it will search for a network and does connect (and show 5G status) but it will only get 1 bar of signal. This lasts for about 30s (and mobile data will work as expected, with good speeds) but then it will drop to SOS mode and the data drops. If I switch airplane mode back on and off again the same thing happens, so my data roaming is technically working, but only in these 30s or so bursts.

No issues when using the phone on WiFi or hotspotting.

I have an iPhone 12 Pro on iOS 16.4 with the Roam Abroad Pass activated, and have tried the following to rectify:

• Powered the phone off and on.
• Updated to the latest iOS available.
• Checked all data and roaming settings are turned on and activated.
• Tried selecting specific roaming carriers as well as Automatic.
• Reset all network settings.
• Taken the SIM card out/in.
• Turned off my roaming spend cap.

If anyone has any ideas of what might be causing the issue I’d be very grateful, thank you!

[Jon_K]

Hi @dangermoose88 

Since you're able to connect temporarily it sounds like everything is set up on your account.

What other networks have you tried? Do they all go to SOS mode after 30 seconds?

Jon

[dangermoose88]

Hey @Jon_K 

Yep the same thing happens with whichever carrier I select - being on Automatic seems to always revert to AT&T, and selecting some it doesn’t even get past the SOS state!

Cheers

[Christopher_G]

Which Network Mode is your phone set to, @dangermoose88? Does changing it help?

Settings > Mobile Data Options > Voice & Data.

Chris

[dangermoose88]

Hey @Christopher_G 

I did try cycling through all the options in there too (Roaming: On/Off, Voice & Data: 4G, 5G Auto, 5G, and the Data Mode options) but no luck unfortunately! 

[Christopher_G]

OK, thanks for trying, @dangermoose88 

I'd recommend speaking to our technical support team so they can check everything from our side. I've seen people in a similar situation talk about using a VOiP service, such as Skype, to call us.

Chris

[step_hen]

I and my wife are in the US at the moment, and have had no problems, so it would appear not to be a wider problem affecting EE customers. We use iPhones and have travelled through Wisconsin, Illinois and Missouri, and have always had a good signal on AT and T.

[dangermoose88]

Thanks @Christopher_G - I tried calling customer support as you suggested and discovered that despite roaming being activated for Europe it wasn’t switched on for my account for the USA.

I’ll be back over there in a few weeks so hopefully it’ll work as expected! Thanks for your help nonetheless.

[James_B]

I'm glad the team were able to get to the bottom of it @dangermoose88 🙂

James