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T Mobile Global data coverage

Old Oct 23, 2013, 2:25 pm
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
Last edit by: diburning
This is a user-maintained wiki FlyerTalkers with at least 90 posts and 90 days of membership may modify and update this information.
Please edit available network carriers or LTE networks if you find the information below is out of date.

Effective August 1st, 2018 :OPTIONAL high speed data roaming for international (non Canada/Mexico) has changed to be $5 USD per day for up to 512MB of high speed data per day. This also includes unlimited inbound and outbound calls avoiding the 25c a min call charge. You can add this via 611 or this link: https://my.t-mobile.com/odf/DataPass:ALL - It is labeled as "24 Hour Global Pass". If that link doesn't works go to "Manage Data & Add Ons" in plan settings at http://my.t-mobile.com . A pass covers ANY countries in the given validity period - NOT just one country. So if you travel within multiple countries in the 24 hour period you get a max of 512MB of high speed data and unlimited calling across ALL countries prior to pass expiration. This is OPTIONAL and is not required, free 128Kb/sec or 256Kb/sec speeds are provided for users who don't pay for this extra data pack.

Effective July 15th, 2018: Calling rates for inbound and outbound calls were raised to 25c a min from the prior 20c a min when roaming internationally. You can buy a per Intl High Speed day pass for 512MB of high speed data that also includes calling at no cost during the validity of the pass.


Effective Feb 17, 2017: T-Mobile has bumped up speeds to 256Kb/sec for T-Mobile One users - this was FREE for a promotional period and required you to edit the lines with this plan to add the free or higher tier paid "T-Mobile One Plus" line item. The free line item is "T-Mobile One Plus promo" which will allow that line to be 256kb/sec and will also give 10GB of LTE North America hotspot tethering - The change can be done at my.t-mobile.com under plan for T-Mobile One customers or through 611. With the promotional period ended you can add the base $5 T-Mobile One Plus item to get 256Kb/sec

SUMMARY: T-Mobile USA on Simple Choice or newer plans (such as Select Choice) or T-Mobile One that list "Free International Roaming included" allow for free data and SMS in 210+ countries. Data and SMS is FREE; voice calls; inbound or outbound to any of the 210+ countries while roaming are 25 cents a min. Free data is NOT offered on T-Mobile essentials users outside of Canada/Mexico while SMS and 25c a min calls are still offered.

Canada and Mexico include FREE high speed roaming (HSPA or LTE full speed) as long as you are on the Simple Choice North America plan or a T-Mobile One plan. A monthly cap of 5GB for International High speed data in Canada and Mexico is now present - data will slow to lower speeds with no overage charges. Users on T-Mobile One Plus International are exempt from this 5GB cap.

You must be on a Postpaid plan, Prepay is NOT eligible nor is MetroPCS

NOTE: Devices with fully FREE data (e.g. 200MB free for tablets) and not on an additional plan are NOT eligible - switch those devices to a supported plan PRIOR to travel or you will be charged per MB fees.

WARNING: Highly suggest going to: https://my.t-mobile.com/profile.html (or login to my.t-mobile.com select profile), go to blocking and ensure "Block charge international roaming" is set to ON - keep "Ensure Block International Roaming" is set to OFF otherwise roaming will not work even in free data countries. This will ensure in countries where you are close to another country border that may NOT be part of free data roaming you will never be charged for data by ending up roaming on the adjacent country network if your phone is set to Automatic on networks.

WARNING FOR HIGH SPEED ADD ON $5 DATA PASS: Ensure you know your end date/time and heed the SMS warnings sent. You will be liable for 25c a min per call inbound or outbound if the pass expires and you do not activate another pass. Ensure you purchase another daily pass before making phone calls. As of Early August 2018, there was no method to purchase multiple days in a row.


T-Mobile FAQ:
http://support.t-mobile.com/docs/DOC-9455

Checklist for Roaming - follow this prior to leaving!:
http://support.t-mobile.com/docs/DOC-2182

Performance:
Speeds are throttled to 128Kb/sec on all supported plans, except for T-Mobile One Plus Add on (includes the Promo Feb 2017 T-Mobile One update with free One Plus Promo) which is 256Kb/sec. Connecting to the best network type possible will ensure you hitting these speeds limits (e.g. LTE). Performance is subject to the roaming carrier networks condition (is it congested or not) and how good the back-haul from the roaming carrier back to T-Mobile is. Reminder that T-Mobile Essentials users will have NO access to free data.

Filtering:
Your connection is terminated back to the US, so anything that works on T-Mobile US will continue to work. Example: China filters social media and Google services, using these services through your T-Mobile line won't experience this networking filtering. Local services in the country you are in MAY identify you as being in the US - any services that do IP geolocation will see that you are in the US.

Optional High Speed On Demand Data Passes with unlimited calling
If you want performance that is beyond the 128Kb/sec (or 256Kb/sec on T-Mobile One Plus Add ons) then a PAID optional high speed data pass removes the throttling performance limit. Effective Aug 2018 this pass is a $5 PER day for 512MB of high speed data (per day) and unlimited calling to allowed countries, waiving the 25c per min charge for inbound or outbound calls. To add, go to: https://my.t-mobile.com/odf/DataPass:ALL and add the "24 Hour Global Pass". If that link doesn't work add at http://my-t-mobile.com under Plan, "Manage Data & Add Ons" More information: http://support.t-mobile.com/docs/DOC-7261 NOTE: As of Early August 2018 you can only purchase one day at a time, so be cautious on expiration (Notified via SMS) to add another day pass to avoid getting charged 25c per phone call. A pass covers ANY countries in the given validity period - NOT just one country. So if you travel within multiple countries in the 24 hour period you get a max of 512MB of high speed data and unlimited calling across ALL countries prior to pass expiration.

Country search:
https://www.t-mobile.com/coverage/roaming

Country List at time of July 2018 update:
https://support.t-mobile.com/docs/DOC-37944

NOTE: there is no T-Mobile provided list of specific network roaming partners; you can call 611 and ask for a roaming specialist/tech and they can tell you per country roaming partners - we are attempting to capture working or problematic networks in this Wiki below also

Need Support while traveling? Read the hints below FIRST; then if support is needed call direct intl support for T-Mobile USA: +1-505-998-3793 [FREE CALL WHILE ROAMING] or if you cannot get Voice access use Skype or another service to dial.


Hints

#1 HINT: You MUST have Data roaming turned on - You will only see foreign networks on the network list - you will NOT see T-Mobile. Manually pick the networks from the list further below if you don't automatically connect.

- You do NOT have to pay for a high speed data package. 128Kb/sec (or 256Kb/sec on T-Mobile One Plus Add on) FREE throttled data is inclusive on all eligible postpaid plans

- High speed un-throttled data is also FREE for Canada and Mexico if you are on a Simple Choice North America plan or a T-Mobile One plan for up to 5GB of data per month (T-Mobile One Plus Intl users are not subject to the 5GB cap) . If you are not on these specific plans but on a legacy Simple Choice plan you will get standard 128Kb/sec FREE.

- For paid high speed packages, You can schedule WHEN optional high speed paid packages start (immediate or a time/date you set).

- On some accounts, High speed on demand data passes will will not be listed on my.t-mobile.com - under plans, "Manage Data & Add Ons". You can also contact customer care at 611 to add a data pass.

- If you purchase a package on phone or hotspot and are about to expire you can purchase ANOTHER one if you want and even though it will say "starts when your existing package date ends" it will IMMEDIATE activate it when you run out of data. Example You pay for 200Mb for one week and will eat into 200Mb, you can buy a package ANYTIME and it will future date it as being effective ONLY when the existing package date ends. HOWEVER once the existing package data amount is used up it will IMMEDIATE activate the paid pending package.

- On Demand Mifi WILL not roam at ALL if no package has ever been provisioned. Use the free data on your smartphone (or use another device with WiFi) and log into http://my.t-mobile.com Once logged in go to https://my-tmobile.com/Plan/Plans.as...vid=changeplan View plan for hotspot and and change plan, under Data Tab when viewing change plan add a package; once you confirm and submit (ENSURE before you submit you are adding to correct line!) you will get a confirmation. It was about 5 mins and then hotspot was able to connect to network.

- On demand Mifi WILL STOP working at end of time period NOT at end of data usage. So if you pick 500MB package which is 2 weeks expiration, it will actually STOP full speed at 500MB and revert to a 64Kb/sec speed till expiration; this ONLY applies to packages purchased on on demand hotspots. If you purchase a package for a smartphone you will revert to standard 128kb/sec

- Hotspots with On Demand will lose network access at end of paid period even if it reverted to lower hotspot only speed of 64kb/sec. So top up before you lose network.

- Legacy data match for tablets or hotspots (no longer offered but still allowed for current users) support 128Kb/sec on tablets and hotspots. If your data match plan details show match with North America added in the description then you get high speed in Canada and Mexico that uses your data match limit (up to 5GB) - after than you revert to 128Kb/sec. T-Mobile One Tablet will provide 128Kb/sec by default, if a T-Mobile One Plus add on is on that Tablet line (Including the free Feb 2017 One Plus Promo) speeds will be 256Kb/sec

- You can check current usage on any paid packages my viewing on the T-Mobile Application for Android or iOS or going to My T-Mobile website and filtering data usage on the line for International Data Roaming.

- When using a T-Mobile supported international data roaming plan on an iOS device internationally (in a nation on the 'free' list), you need to turn on Data Roaming on the iPhone/iPad Settings.

Troubleshooting

- If finding no networks when in new country, go to Airplane Mode - then back off Airplane mode and try again. If this fails to work FULLY power off phone and power back on. You may need to do a manual scan of networks on your device and pick one of the KNOWN networks below in the country list.

- If still not connecting to a network do ONE more phone reboot and attempt again.

- If you do connect to a network but are failing to get data, dial in your phone dialer #RON# (or try #ROF# FIRST then try #RON#). #RON# will turn intl roaming data on, #ROF# will turn it off. Sometimes cycling will cause a network to work.

- If connected to a network for Voice/SMS but still not getting data, set phone to Airplane mode ; wait till device is actually in airplane mode (15 sec or so); then take device off Airplane mode.

- If failing to get GSM/Voice/SMS services but you have data and phone shows "Emergency Calls Only" but data is working suggestion is to switch phone to 2G and connect to a network where you get data and voice/SMS. Once connected to that network switch phone back to 3G/Auto or LTE (or similar setting) and this may correct the issue. (Your mileage may vary)

- Try to change your APN to fast.t-mobile.com per the following guide, as an alternate you can try a temporary switch to epc.t-mobile.com - more details for APN change further below

- If none of these work, dial TMO Intl support +1-505-998-3793 (from another phone or Skype) and ask for "International Roaming Support" (make sure that is who they connect you to by asking the agent if they can help on a roaming support issue) - have them check your account is properly setup and eligible for International Roaming.

To set the Access Point Name (APN) and turn on data settings, follow these steps:

Note: These settings are automatically set to the correct values with the Carrier Update when a T-Mobile SIM is inserted.
  1. From the main menu, tap Settings
  2. Tap Cellular.
  3. Check that Cellular Data is turned on.
  4. Tap Cellular Data Network.
    Important: If this setting does not appear on the device, the device is not unlocked. Refer customer to previous carrier.
  5. Enter the following information under the Cellular Data section:
    APN: fast.t-mobile.com
    Username: <Leave Blank>
    Password: <Leave Blank>
  6. Enter the following information under the LTE Setup (Optional) section:
    APN: <Leave Blank>
    Username: <Leave Blank>
    Password: <Leave Blank>
  7. Enter the following information under the MMS section:
    APN: fast.t-mobile.com
    Username: <Leave Blank>
    Password: <Leave Blank>
    MMSC: http://mms.msg.eng.t-mobile.com/mms/wapenc
    MMS Proxy: <Leave Blank>
    MMS Max Message Size: 1048576
    MMS UA Prof URL: http://www.apple.com/mms/uaprof.rdf
  8. Enter the following information under the Personal Hotspot section:
    APN: pcweb.tmobile.com
    Username: <Leave Blank>
    Password: <Leave Blank>
  9. Press the Home button to save the APN and exit to the main screen.
  10. Turn the device off and back on.

Countries with reported working networks supporting data
You can call support # below to ask for other networks. PLEASE share which networks works so we can always keep the Wiki up to date. Leave any comments with performance/quality to the "Problem Carriers section"

NOTE: If you have issues connecting turn off "Enable LTE" or LTE and do 3G/HSPA(4G) only. If you are still having issues to get data but can get voice dial Intl support +1-505-998-3793 (FREE CALL while roaming). If you cannot get any service, use another phone or Skype to dial this number.

Africa
Egypt: Vodafone, Elitsalat, Mobinil
Mauritius: EMTEL
South Africa: MTN, Vodacom, Telkom

Americas
Argentina: Movistar, Claro
Aruba: Digicel (May display as 363 02)
Bahamas: BTC
Barbados: Digicel
Bermuda: Digicel
Brazil: Tim, Vivo
Canada: Bell, Rogers (Some Provinces only), Telus, Freedom Mobile (former WIND), Videotron [HIGH SPEED INCLUDED ON SIMPLE CHOICE NORTH AMERICA]
Cayman Islands: Digicel
Chile: Movistar
Colombia: Telefonica Mobiles Colombia, Movistar
Costa Rica: Movistar, Claro
Dominican Republic: Claro, Orange, Viva
Ecuador: Claro, Movistar
El Salvador: Digicel, Movistar
Guatemala: Movistar
Honduras: Tigo
Jamaica: Digicel, Lime
Mxico: Movistar, Telcel [HIGH SPEED INCLUDED ON SIMPLE CHOICE NORTH AMERICA]
Martinique: Digicel
Nicaragua: Mobinil, Movistar
Panama: Claro, Digicel
Per: Movistar
St Kitts and Nevis: Digicel
St Lucia: Digicel
Sint Maarten (NL): Chippie (UTS)
Saint Martin (FR): Digicel
Turks and Caicos: Digicel
US Virgin Islands: Innovative (counts toward domestic roaming allowance)
Venezuela: Movistar

Asia Pacific
Australia: Telstra, Vodafone AU, OPTUS
Cambodia: CamGSM, Cellcard, Smart
China: China Mobile, China Unicom
Guam: Guam Telecom (Guam is considered outside the U.S. by T-Mobile)
Hong Kong: Smartone, Three
India: Airtel (Most Metro areas/regions), Vodafone
Indonesia (Bali): Indosat, Telkomsel
Japan: DOCOMO, Softbank
Macau: CTM, Three, Smartone
Malaysia: MAXIS
New Zealand: Vodafone, Spark NZ (no 2G), 2Degrees
Pakistan: Pak Telecom Mobile Limited (Ufone), Pakistan Mobile Company Limited (PMCL) (aka Mobilink), Telenor Pakistan, Warid Telecom
Philippines: Globe, SMART
Singapore: Starhub
South Korea: SKT, KT, Olleh
Sri Lanka: Mobitel
Taiwan: Taiwan Mobile
Thailand: AIS, DTAC
Vietnam: Viettel

Europe
Austria: Three, A1, T-Mobile Austria
Belgium: Orange (Mobistar), Proximus
Bulgaria: Telenor BG LTE is primary, saw A1 on 2g and Mtel on LTE very briefly
Czech Republic: Radiomobile/T-Mobile CZ, Vodafone CZ, O2
Denmark: 3 DK, Telenor DK
Faroe Islands: Foroya Tele
Finland: Elisa
France: Bouygues, Free, Orange, SFR
Germany: T-Mobile DE/Telekom.de, EPLUS
Greece: Cosmote
Hungary: T-Mobile
Iceland: Nova (LTE, better in cities), Siminn (3G only, better for rural)
Ireland: Vodafone, Three, Meteor
Italy: TIM, Wind, Vodafone IT
Luxembourg: Tango
Netherlands: KPN, T-Mobile, Vodafone
Norway: Telenor
Poland: T-Mobile
Portugal: MEO, NOS
Romania: Orange, Telekom, Vodafone
Russia: MTS Global
Spain: Movistar, Vodafone ES, Orange
Sweden: 3 SE
Switzerland: Orange, Swisscom
Turkey: Vodafone
UK: EE, Three, Vodafone
Ukraine: KYIVSTAR, MTS

Middle East/Near East
Bahrain: Viva / Batelco
Israel: Partner
Kuwait: Zain
Qatar: Ooredoo
UAE: Etisalat, du

LTE verified carriers:
MUST have a device supporting global LTE bands
- Argentina: Movistar
- Australia: Telstra (requires Band 3 / Band 28 device), OPTUS (5G)
- Bahamas: BTC
- Bahrain: Batelco
- Belgium: Proximus
- Canada: Bell, Rogers, Telus
- Chile: Movistar
- China: China Mobile (TD-LTE in some regions needs appropriate device or in some regions as LTE Band 3), China Unicom
- Colombia: Movistar
- Costa Rica: Movistar
- France: Orange, SFR
- Germany: T-Mobile DE/Telekom.de
- Guatemala: Movistar
- Hong Kong: Smartone
- Ireland: Vodafone
- Italy: TIM
- Japan: Docomo, Softbank
- Luxembourg: Tango
- Malaysia: MAXIS
- Mexico: Movistar
- Netherlands: T-Mobile NL, Vodafone
- Norway: Telenor
- Sinagapore: Starhub
- Sint Maarten (NL): Chippie (UTS)
- Spain: Orange
- Taiwan: Taiwan Mobile
- Thailand: AIS, DTAC
- UAE: du
- UK: EE, Vodafone (see footnote - NOT everywhere)

Problem carriers and LTE support notes
(Do not list carriers where you cannot get basic voice service)
- Argentina: Movistar (reports of poor performance), Claro (seemed much better, but difficult to gain initial connect/registration)
- Bermuda: Reports of getting UMTS (non HSPA 3G) only
- Canada: Wind performance seems better than other Canadian carriers (Your mileage may vary)
- China: China Mobile is 2G only unless you have a device supporting TD-SCDMA (3G) or TD-LTE Band 39/40/41. China Unicom roaming returned in April 2017
- Faroe Islands: Vodafone (Voice/SMS only, NO data service)
- Germany: Vodafone Germany (Voice/SMS only, NO data service in some regions)
- Hong Kong: Smartone, had to switch to 2G get access to network THEN switched phone back to 3G/Automatic if had problems getting access to network. Three: Reports of no longer working and only Smartone working
- Mauritius: Reports of issues connecting to Emtel sometimes - YMMV
- New Zealand: 2Degrees (limited coverage w/ reports of not working at all)
- Singapore: M1, SMS MAY require manually entering M1's SMSC +6596845999 if SMS doesn't work
- South Korea: SKT may require LTE to be disabled or conneciton may not be authenticated. Olleh/KT require multiple attempts to connect to network.
- UK: EE LTE roaming returned 1/21/17 - Reports of Vodafone LTE roaming in select parts of the UK only (not happening everywhere seems to be coverage challenged areas of EE only)
- Vietnam: Viettel
Print Wikipost

T Mobile Global data coverage

Old Nov 5, 2014, 3:46 pm
  #616  
 
Join Date: Nov 2002
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iPhone 6 Plus problem or T-Mobile problem?

Our former iPhone 5s and our new 6 Plus have generally worked very well in quite a variety of places in Europe and Asia.

I've noticed a number of times that after it's been dormant for awhile, or if it's switching from Wifi to cell towers, that it stops working completely.

It's only when I shut the phone off completely and reboot/restart it that the data works again. I don't recall whether we had the problem with the 5S so I'm wondering if it's a T-Mobile problem, an iPhone glitch, or something else.

It happened as recently as yesterday when we were up in British Columbia Canada.

Is there anything else I should be doing?

I'm subscribed to this thread and follow it (along with an iPhone thread) so I apologize if this question has been asked and answered already.
Fredd is offline  
Old Nov 5, 2014, 5:11 pm
  #617  
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Posts: 125
Originally Posted by donho00
I have Tmobile and it is sketchy.

In Peru, it offered 4g services(no LTE)and used it alot. infact I uploaded over 100pics to FB on the International Data. No additional charge

But In the Phillipines, it didnt work. Free SMS texting worked, but NOT Roaming Data
In Thailand, it didnt work, Free text, but no data
In Singapore, it did work 4g, no LTE
In Japan, it didnt work
In the Dominican Republic, it didnt work, only text

I think on certain networks, you need to add or change the APN. But unfortunately, I do not know how.
You need to change networks sometimes, don't change your apn, which can be done manually. I used both AIS and DTAC in Thailand and they worked fine. Usually the data available, unless you purchase a high speed packet, will be 2g. Checkout the wiki up top, it's full of great info.
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Old Nov 6, 2014, 3:30 am
  #618  
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To do the manual roam "trick" and I have to do this with my work phone regularly, you try to connect to a network that you know your mobile network does not partner with and get it refused, then connect to the network that you know your mobile network partners with. It seems to work in most cases for me on an Android. Good luck.
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Old Nov 6, 2014, 7:20 am
  #619  
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Does changing to Simple Choice require a new SIM?

Mrs. Milepig just changed over her plan so we're on a single family simple choice plan (saving ~$50 per month for better plans) and when we went into the store - too complex to do over the phone - they said she didn't need a new SIM (Samsung Galaxy 4) but I'm sure. I've read that a new SIM was required for Simple Choice. Was the store correct? - We're about to leave on an INTL trip and so the global coverage will be important.
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Old Nov 6, 2014, 9:42 am
  #620  
 
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Atlanta, GA USA
Posts: 267
T-mobile international data roaming

We are new to T-mobile and have an international trip coming up. Would like to seek advise from those more experienced. Countries: Scotland, Taiwan, Korea (Seoul), and Japan (Tokyo and Hokkaido)

We have "Simple Choice Family Plan: Unlimited Talk + Text"

From reading through the thread, it seems like sometimes, we will actually connect to a speed higher than 2G, even through on T-mobile's site, it says we only get 2G for free. How to make sure that we don't get charged for international data roaming? Speed is not important, just would like to have connectivity to use for checking email and occasional web browsing.

Thanks in advance
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Old Nov 6, 2014, 9:50 am
  #621  
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Originally Posted by jsy9999
We are new to T-mobile and have an international trip coming up. Would like to seek advise from those more experienced. Countries: Scotland, Taiwan, Korea (Seoul), and Japan (Tokyo and Hokkaido)

We have "Simple Choice Family Plan: Unlimited Talk + Text"

From reading through the thread, it seems like sometimes, we will actually connect to a speed higher than 2G, even through on T-mobile's site, it says we only get 2G for free. How to make sure that we don't get charged for international data roaming? Speed is not important, just would like to have connectivity to use for checking email and occasional web browsing.

Thanks in advance
Don't worry. Sometimes you get a higher speed, but think of it as a little bonus, you won't be charged.
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Old Nov 6, 2014, 10:29 am
  #622  
 
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Originally Posted by jsy9999
We are new to T-mobile and have an international trip coming up. Would like to seek advise from those more experienced. Countries: Scotland, Taiwan, Korea (Seoul), and Japan (Tokyo and Hokkaido)
Make sure to enable Data Roaming on your phone. When I reset the network settings on my iPhone 5s, the Data Roaming resets to disabled.
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Old Nov 6, 2014, 4:22 pm
  #623  
 
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I just finished a called with the tech line at Tmobile. They submitted a ticket because they said there is NO additional settings or APN adjustments.
She claimed it should send you a SMS when you enter the country saying free International Roaming and SMS and .20 calls(I do recieve these SMS messages) and then it just works.

So the ticket is troubleshooting why my phone was not working in those countries. She said she would call me back on Tuesday.

and by the way, they DO offer free high end wireless routers. No deposit was needed and they are shipping one free Overnight delivery.

I asked why and they said to push wifi calling. Actually a smart move for Tmobile. It frees up cell towers with more people using wifi calling. and will make people use less data. but the rep said the router should be faster then my cisco N router. and its free!
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Old Nov 6, 2014, 4:23 pm
  #624  
 
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In Peru, I was able to get 4g and 3g most of the time. No LTE
donho00 is offline  
Old Nov 7, 2014, 1:56 am
  #625  
 
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In Qatar on Ooredoo network 3G Coverage without any problems...
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Old Nov 7, 2014, 3:51 pm
  #626  
 
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Originally Posted by milepig
Does changing to Simple Choice require a new SIM?

Mrs. Milepig just changed over her plan so we're on a single family simple choice plan (saving ~$50 per month for better plans) and when we went into the store - too complex to do over the phone - they said she didn't need a new SIM (Samsung Galaxy 4) but I'm sure. I've read that a new SIM was required for Simple Choice. Was the store correct? - We're about to leave on an INTL trip and so the global coverage will be important.
I was on the $30 Web Only/Walmart plan and switched to Simple Choice over the phone and no SIM swap was needed. It was a little complicated as I had a balance that I had to move over to She Who Must Be Obeyed's PAYG account.
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Old Nov 7, 2014, 4:45 pm
  #627  
 
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in HK last week, sometimes 4g sometimes 2g. Sometimes I restarted my phone and it would connect to 4g, then drop to 2g after a while. Nevertheless, its one of the great "innovations" this century, free data roaming, if you ask me. That combined with wifi calling makes traveling abroad easy peasy.

Thanks tmobile!!
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Old Nov 7, 2014, 5:38 pm
  #628  
 
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Originally Posted by Fredd
I've noticed a number of times that after it's been dormant for awhile, or if it's switching from Wifi to cell towers, that it stops working completely.

It's only when I shut the phone off completely and reboot/restart it that the data works again. I don't recall whether we had the problem with the 5S so I'm wondering if it's a T-Mobile problem, an iPhone glitch, or something else.
More indactive of the network you are on than TMO. In networks where I've seen this I've prior had local SIM's that had similar behavior on some devices. (e.g. Radio Firmware on the phone should retry/reset the data connection or radio).

Suggest is go to Airplane mode and back - this will do a radio refresh.

Originally Posted by jsy9999
From reading through the thread, it seems like sometimes, we will actually connect to a speed higher than 2G, even through on T-mobile's site, it says we only get 2G for free. How to make sure that we don't get charged for international data roaming? Speed is not important, just would like to have connectivity to use for checking email and occasional web browsing.
If you are using service in one of the supported countries here: http://www.t-mobile.com/cell-phone-p...countries.html

You will NEVER be charged for data. It's capped at 128KB per second data so if you roam on the 2G network or 3G or 4G (limited) you have zero chance to ever get charged. 2G speeds means 128KB/sec - it doesn't mean you only use 2G networks. Connect to the appropriate network. We do in the wiki track known working networks, but before you leave you can call roaming support (see wiki for DIRECT number) and ask which networks to use in the countries you are travelling if we missed any. Again NO charges in any of the countries linked above and ZERO chance you will be charged regardless of network you are on or if it's 2G, 3G or limited networks that support LTE. You won't be able to connect to an unsupported network so no chance to make a mistake

Originally Posted by davidviolin
in HK last week, sometimes 4g sometimes 2g. Sometimes I restarted my phone and it would connect to 4g, then drop to 2g after a while. Nevertheless, its one of the great "innovations" this century, free data roaming, if you ask me. That combined with wifi calling makes traveling abroad easy peasy.
Notice this on some networks; suggest is to set phone to WCDMA only. Easily doable on Android devices in service menu (please note the WIKI references this). Difficult across iOS devices as only possible with Jailbroken devices

Last edited by NickP 1K; Nov 7, 2014 at 5:47 pm
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Old Nov 7, 2014, 7:14 pm
  #629  
 
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: CGK/KOA
Programs: AA ExPlat HH Diamond
Posts: 1,680
I'm an expat living in Jakarta. Just discovered this plan on my last trip home to US. I had always kept a tmoblie sim with a US # to use on my trips back, but just did pay as you go. This has been a GAME CHANGER for me. Has worked well in home country, Malaysia, Singapore, HK, and Thailand. No more messing with local sims! Thank you, tmobile
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Old Nov 7, 2014, 7:17 pm
  #630  
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Los Angeles
Programs: Thai
Posts: 397
This free data worked great on my recent trip to Thailand, Japan and Bali. The speed in Bali and japan seemed a bit faster than Thailand, but it was always plenty fast for checking email,Facebook or even using google maps navigation. This is a no brainer for anyone that travels overseas frequently.
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