Currently overseas - no signal at all since arriving 10 days ago

[Brugaled]

Hey all, having a bit of difficulty and I guess the forums seem like the last place I can get in touch with someone without having access to regular cellular/phone functionality.

I'm overseas in Argentina, and here for a couple of months. Since landing on 11th Jan I haven't had any signal whatsoever on my EE SIM. I have an E sim which i use for overseas data so I haven't really minded much as I rarely use text messages or calls and have normal access to whatsapp/maps/browsing etc.

However I need to log in to a service which only lets me authenticate through SMS message so I decided to start looking into what I can do to restore my EE service to receive incoming texts, however the only options I have for contacting EE are using phone or SMS so stuck in a bit of a chicken/egg situation.

Is there some way to speak to customer service about getting my roaming activated to at least receive messages?

Ty in advance!

[bristolian]

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.

Have you used your phone abroad previously, did you receive a welcome text message on first arrival abroad? These are good evidence of roaming being enabled if so. In these cases, manually cycling through all available local networks often resolves issues - toggling flight mode can have the same effect.

If not...On PAYG, roaming 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 9566000 using a web-calling app such as Skype over WiFi.

[XRaySpeX]

Are you on contract or PAYG? Had you used that SIM for making calls or texts in UK before you left to go abroad?

If 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 if you are on contract 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.