Do I need to switch roaming on in order to receive text messages?

[LPhan]

Hi all, 

I am really confused with this situation hope someone can help me out here. I often travel abroad but I don't want to pay for roaming as I don't need it. The problem is that my EE sim doesn't have any reception while I am abroad even just to receive messages. Super important because so many apps use 2-factor authentication nowadays. I have never had this problem in the past when I used Three even though I didn't turn on data roaming either. 

So my question is, what is the issue I am facing here? How can I get signal for my phone without paying for roaming? 

Thanks,

[Straight]

SMS e.g. PIN codes 

[Michael_D]

Hi @Straight 

You would need to have roaming enabled to receive standard SMS messages or PIN codes by text. The roaming feature connects you to a local network when you are abroad, and without this you'd not have a network connection and would only be able to receive messages through 3rd party apps such as WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger if you have a WiFi connection. 

You can have the data roaming feature in the phone settings turned off, and still receive standard messages, as this would just block the data.

Michael

[Straight]

You say, “You would need to have roaming enabled to receive standard SMS messages or PIN codes by text.”

Then you say, “You can have the data roaming feature in the phone settings turned off, and still receive standard messages, as this would just block the data.”

These two statements contradict each other.  I was able to receive texts with roaming OFF while abroad, 

[Michael_D]

@Straight The data roaming and roaming settings are completely different. You will need to have roaming enabled on the account for any network connection for texts to work. If that is not enabled on the account, you won't connect to a network while abroad and won't receive standard texts.

I was referring to the data roaming as this is sometimes confused for roaming. This setting is set on the phone itself, not on your account as the roaming product is. If that is switched off in the phone settings it won't impact text usage. This means that if data roaming is switched off, but roaming is enabled on your account, you will be able to receive texts.

Michael

[Straight]

Isn’t “roaming” (not data roaming) enabled by default?  Would this be switched off by toggling “automatically select network” off in my phone settings?

[Michael_D]

Not necessarily @Straight 

On a pay as you go SIM, roaming is enabled automatically once the SIM is put into a phone and connects to the network in the UK.

For a pay monthly contract it may be automatically added when the contract starts but it is always best to check by texting ROAMING to 150 before travelling. 

Changing the network selection wouldn't have any impact on roaming being enabled or not. If it is enabled on your account, you'd be able to search for and connect to networks abroad. If it isn't enabled, you aren't able to connect.

Michael