I've found that sometimes I have to manually choose a network rather than let it select a network automatically - I think it may choose the ?strongest signal but it isn't always one that has an agreement with tmo so it may not work. I wonder if this is the problem you had in France

I've got a somewhat-weird question. Have had a T-Mobile PAYG account for over 2 years now. Currently on a PAYG -by-the-day rate since I'm in Canada.

Will be going down by boat from San Diego to Chile and then back up to Peru before heading home. Total time from leaving San Diego to getting home is 35 days so I don't want to pay for 2 months.

Question 1.

If I select the unlimited text/talk plan with 0 data (basic $35/month plan), am I eligible for the unlimited int'l text and data?

Question 2.

Since my account has already been activated, can I switch my plan from PAYG to a simple monthly plan while say in Mexico?

No.

International 2g data and text is only included with $50 and higher simple choice plans. It's right there on the pricing page.

-David

I've had to do this as well, in my case I get no connection at all until I choose a network manually. I then always wait for the sms notification that I have free data.

As an aside, I have been looking for the list of foreign providers that Tmo has agreements with and I can't seem to find it. Does anyone have a link to it?

Perhaps we need a wiki of some sort about the best networks for TMobile wanderers.

I'm almost positive that Tmo did have a list of the foreign providers when simple global first started, but it seems to have disappeared. My friend stopped by a Tmo store in PHX a couple of days ago as he wanted to see if Tmo had coverage in San Felipe, Mexico. While the sales guy could confirm
that simple global would work there, he could not find out who the provider was.

I'm adding networks to the wiki above; those with edit capability please add as you see fit also or ask others to add for you

Enable LTE is likely the issue; likely it was getting a stalled LTE auth and didn't attempt an HSPA auth to the network. There are presently NO Intl LTE roaming agreement with T-Mobile so TURN THIS OFF for now. The Apple radio software may be skipping an attempt to auth a network if it fails on one network type.

This will be an excellent resource - thank you! ^ ^

LTE working in Germany
 

In Germany and on T-Mobile DE LTE is working. This isn't pubished by TMO US as being supported yet. I've heard others reporting LTE.

Please report if you test a network if it was HSPA/3G/4G or LTE. Ill reference in the wiki

You're getting LTE speeds in Germany on a U.S. T-Mobile SIM on their Simple Choice plan?

When I connected to T-mobile DE at MUC, it was not LTE speeds. I'm on a data-only 1 GB Simple Choice plan at $10 a month.

Maybe there was no LTE coverage at the airport?

Throttled LTE is still better than throttled HSPA. It significantly increases your chance of a high quality VOIP call.

NO; as DubaiStu says; Throttled LTE is VERY good as you are hitting the rated speeds and latency is lower. I did NOT buy a full speed package to see if PAID upgrade packages hit LTE rates or something lower.

NOTE: Only my iPad Mini was hitting LTE, my hotspot and my Nexus5 DO NOT have the LTE bands that TMO DE is using so they wouldn't find a network.

What are the rated speeds of throttled LTE?

What kind of paid upgrades are available? Or are you talking about getting a local SIM?

At MUC a few weeks ago, the speed on my iPad mini, which has European LTE
Bands, were slow on DE T-Mobile. Maybe they didn't have LTE coverage out at the airport.

Paid upgrades as follows:
Single day pass: $15 for 100MB (high speed data capped at 100MB)
7 day pass: $25 for 200MB (high speed data capped at 200MB)
14 day pass: $50 for 500MB (high speed data capped at 500MB)

Go to here (MUST connect directly on device to add package to without using WiFi from another provider. If using a T-Mobile hotspot connect to it via wifi and use browser on the other device to go to link:
http://t-mo.co/4G-Data

If you don't have a paid upgrade you will get 144Kb max regardless of network type (HSPA, UMTS or LTE) etc. Max speeds on paid packages may not hit local network speeds as data roaming on any carrier requires data to be tunneled from roaming network to home network. That backhaul link may hit performance limits. I do see 2-7Mb/sec on HSPA when roaming on T-Mobile Germany. I don't have a paid package on my LTE device so can't test that.

None of he above needs a local SIM