Trip to China - cell phone
 

Can someone help an idiot?

I have a cell phone with a Verizon MVNO that does not have international roaming. In the past when I have gone to China, I picked up a local SIM card in China to cover cell coverage while I am there. How can I forward my phone to that number/receive calls on my US cell phone number while I am there?

If I decide to go with a second phone on T-Mobile, can I just forward my primary to the Tmo number?

Thanks!

Go with the TMO option. Forwarding from domestic MVNO to TMO is local call.

Or better yet, change your voicemail to ask them to text you on your TMO number. Then you can decide how to continue conversation.

Or simply use this option: get a Piranha Mobile sim card. They provide a US and a UK number on the same sim (plus, with your request, they can set a different clid - caller id - for outgoing calls). You forward your calls to this US number and can roam worldwide with better costs.

FYI, in China T-Mo iPhones will have issues with LTE access. Due to T-Mo's roaming agreements, they roam in China on LTE bands not supported by T-Mo's iPhones. You will be better off buying an unlocked (sim Free) iPhone Model from the Apple Store, or their Verizon version. THEN pop in the T-Mo sim.

Seems to depend on which iPhone you have?

On iPhone 7, the set of supported LTE bands is identical between the two USA models.
On iPhone 6s, the set of supported LTE bands is also identical among the models, EXCEPT that the AT&T model supports one extra band that's seemingly not relevant in China (band 30, 2300MHz).

iPhone SE, iPhone 6, and earlier might have some relevant differences though.

https://www.apple.com/iphone/LTE/

So I can setup my iPhone (6 plus) to the Piranha US number, then swap out the SIM card with the Piranha one and calls will still forward?

Basically you forward all your incoming calls to the Piranha Us number, then switch off the phone, take the sim and swap it with the Piranha and travel with this setup. By the way maximum flexibility would be obtained using a dual sim phone. And don't forget that whenever you go, you always need an international backup sim. The Piranha can be your primary, another for backup can be an Estonian one like the excellent Airbalticcard.

Unfortunately not quite:
The A1784 isn't as good as the A1661 Model it seems


https://www.frequencycheck.com/carri...&commit=Search

https://www.techwalls.com/iphone-7-p...l-differences/

You're correct but aren't folks just complicating matters for OP. Just forward calls to TMO account, whether you get LTE or not isn't relevant for voicemail?

IMHO :)

The info on the frequencycheck site contradicts the info on both Apple's site and the techwalls article. I trust Apple and techwall.

The OP was talking about LTE bands. Those are identical between the 2 iPhone 7 Plus models you cited. The difference between them is that one of the models supports CDMA and TD-SCDMA. I agree that this could impact roaming experience in China, and Apple's own web site says as much.

OP, what kind of phone are you using?

I'm using an iPhone 6 plus

The Verizon IPhone 7plus model supports all the 3 Chinese networks with 4G. The issue with a T-Mobile card in China is that the speeds are throttled; Google Fi is better as the speed restriction is not as great. Most phones support China Unicom networks so if you can buy a China Unicom card that is the best option. China Mobile Hong Kong cards are also good if you need Google, etc. and do not have a working proxy or VPN on your phone

Hit an interesting problem with my phone in China:

China Unicom SIM in a Moto G4+. Incoming calls are fine. Incoming texts are fine. Data is fine. Outgoing calls are failing because every number I have wished to call started with either a 0 or a 1 and my phone is confused. I have had no occasion to try an outgoing text but I suspect the problem also applies.

Any ideas?

The phone app's "assisted dialing" feature is disabled, it's set up wrong, or it's confused by the way phone numbers are entered in the phone. To see whether assisted dialing is enabled:

Phone/Menu (the three horizontal dots at the top right)/Settings/Calls/Assisted dialing.

If the feature is already enabled, you may need to select "China" as the Reference country. Remember to reset is to your home country when you get home!

This certainly makes sense (the numbers it has munched on are not legal US numbers even if you ignore the wrong length), but I find no "Assisted dialing" option.

And I can rule out how numbers are entered in the phone--these were new numbers, keypad dialing, not from the contacts.