EE roaming pass hardly worked in usa

[PJ68]

Purchased £25 roaming pass for trip to usa.  Signal was useless and kept dropping. Checked settings etc. No joy. Phone connected to tmobile.  Samsung A12. Tmobile is supposedly strongest signal according to signal maps.  Didn't work in las vegas or Los Angeles where surely it should.  I have a usa tmobile phone that works fine.  My daughters Vodafone worked fine and roaming was free.   It connected to atandt network which didn't even show up if I switched off autoselect.   Given that ee own tmobile why was this so bad. Something to do with roaming?

[XRaySpeX]

@PJ68 : EE do not own T-Mobile USA. They were formed from a merger with T-Mobile UK.

Did you activate roaming on your EE a/c before you left UK by texting ROAMING to 150?

[bristolian]

Your issue appears to be with the network service in the USA, rather than the billing add-on itself. I'm a little puzzled by your statement of a particular operator not showing up on a manual search - this would normally mean, by definition, that the network in question is not available there. A problem connecting to it would manifest differently.

Was your issue that you were not able to connect to local networks? That's a classic symptom of the (free) roaming facility not being enabled.

[Tracy7979]

I am currently in the USA and was having similar problems, although I could use data I wasn't able to make or receive calls I kept getting a message of no mobile network available yet it was showing signal on my phone, I contacted EE through Facebook messenger and they resolved the issue, my problem was that although I had roaming set up it wasn't full roaming so didn't cover the USA, issue is now resolved and using my phone without problem 

[PJ68]

Yes I texted and went through the instructions with a fine toothcomb.  First assumption being I'd missed something. 

It would connect sporadically.   There were times I'd get 4g then it would drop.

Setting auto select off would get a much reduced list of available networks compared with my daughters Vodafone.  In the end I just gave up and used either WiFi or my daughter enabled hotspot.  That won't always be an option.  If I can't fix this I'll just use the usa phone as a hotspot.   Obviously not as good but holidays are to enjoy, not problem solve ee issues. 

BTW  I'm a software architect by trade so not a complete novice.

[bristolian]

Did you receive a welcome text message on first arrival abroad? That is good evidence that you have a mobile network connection and thus roaming is enabled.

Regardless of any billing add-on, your ability to get coverage abroad (which calls, texts & mobile data rely on) is dependent on roaming being activated - which allows your phone to connect to foreign networks.

If you now find yourself abroad without having enabled roaming, your only recourse will be to contact CS to request it activated. You can either contact +44 7953 966150 from another working phone, or +44 800 0798586 using a web-calling app such as Skype over WiFi.

[Tracy7979]

I know have it sorted but no I didn't get a welcome text, I presumed because my data was working that it was OK, but I contacted customer services via Facebook and they sorted it out

Sent from Outlook for Android<>

[Tracy7979]

I worked for EE for 12 years and dint even think that although I had used my phone abroad before such as Europe and Turkey that I would need to set up full roaming for usa, I was just going to use my data side and not bother but thankfully a quick message via Facebook got it sorted out

Sent from Outlook for Android<>

[PJ68]

Yes received text on arrival 

Hi from EE. While you're in The United States of America thanks to your Roaming Pass you can use your plan minutes, texts and data allowances at no extra cost.

Calls to countries outside the EU (not including the UK) are £1.54 per min and texts 76p each. Other charges are the same as when you're in the UK.

For the best network coverage your handset must automatically select a network. To do this, choose your phone from: http://ee.co.uk/help/phones-and-device next select 'Connectivity' then 'Selecting Network'.

Call +447953966250 for Customer Services & 112 in case of emergency. Have a good trip!

And the reminder to cancel when I got back.

Signal icon 4G and level had R indicating roaming.

[PJ68]

What's full roaming?  I'd sent roaming usa text as instructed in guides plus all the phone settings