Roaming not working in San Francisco

CathrynMarcus · ‎07-05-2024

Not sure if this is the right forum - there wasn't one for roaming. Mine was set up for me by EE with the £25 add-on charge. I have a Samsung galaxy A12. Roaming is on. Nada. Been here 3 days now. Plenty of bars of signal most of the time when I'm out and about, though no 4G it would seem. Two networks seem available- tmobile and version- but the only time my phone works is when it has access to WiFi. Why? Is it the case that there is just rubbish coverage in San Francisco for the networks that EE customers can use? If so, why sell me the £25 add-on?

XRaySpeX · ‎07-05-2024

This is the correct forum covering roaming as its header suggests.

As you are on contract, did you activate roaming on your EE a/c before you left UK by texting ROAMING to 150? Having a roaming billing add-on doesn't of itself activate roaming on your a/c. Having roaming activated on your EE a/c, not just on your device, is crucial to using your contract SIM abroad.

Often just rebooting the phone is the simple remedy. Also try selecting a network manually rather than auto.

Otherwise you need to call CS to get your roaming activated. Try calling CS on the Freephone no. in my sig. on Skype over WiFi. It should be free.

If you think I helped please feel free to hit the "Thumbs Up" button below.

To phone EE CS: Dial Freephone +44 800 079 8586 - Option 1 for Mobile Phone & Mobile Broadband or Option 2 for Home Broadband & Home Phone

ISPs: 1999: Freeserve 48K Dial-Up => 2005: Wanadoo 1 Meg BB => 2007: Orange 2 Meg BB => 2008: Orange 8 Meg LLU => 2010: Orange 16 Meg LLU => 2011: Orange 20 Meg WBC => 2014: EE 20 Meg WBC => 2020: EE 40 Meg FTTC => 2022: EE 80 Meg FTTC (no landline number)

bristolian · ‎07-05-2024

@CathrynMarcus wrote:

Mine was set up for me by EE with the £25 add-on charge.

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.

On PAYG, this is auto-enabled once your phone is used in the UK first.
On pay-monthly, this needs to be enabled manually - usually by texting ROAMING to 150 before leaving the UK. Did you do this?

If you are on pay-monthly and 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.