Phone falsely thinks it's roaming. Can't connect to 3G

Rowley Birkin QC

Hi all,

running a Samsung Galaxy S with Darkys ROM V8.0 on Three Ireland.

No problems up til now. Phone reckons that it is roaming despite the fact I am at home. I also cannot connect to a 3G network, only 2G for voice/text. This began Friday evening with absolutely no similar prior problems.

Travelled about 50km away from home on Saturday and phone connected to the 3 3G network flawlessly, got closer to home and lost the 3G signal again and reckoned it was roaming. I realise this sounds like a network problem but 3 are adamant it's not. Any ideas?

Thanks for reading.

griffdaddy

3 can be adamant all they want, it's definitely their fault. I have the same issue with my HTC Desire. I think it's when the phone switches to a vodafone mast that the problems begin and the phone starts to think it's roaming. I can't connect to the internet when this happens either, I hope they get it sorted sooner rather than later as the phone doesn't seem to switch out of roaming mode quickly and you can end up having to disconnect from the network and turn it on again when you know you're in a 3 area to get it to realise it's 'back home.'

Rowley Birkin QC

But even when switching it on and off I can't get 3G at my home location despite having absolutely perfect signal previously. It's a bit insane that the phone reckons a particular region of North Cork is a foreign country!

Was that the only fix you found? As in switching the phone on and off?

Cheers.

cgordonfreeman

I have that problem occasionally in cork city on 3. My solution is to go into Operator Selection in the mobile network settings page where my phone finds two '3' networks and I pick the top one. Worth a shot anyway.

griffdaddy

Rowley Birkin QC wrote: »

But even when switching it on and off I can't get 3G at my home location despite having absolutely perfect signal previously. It's a bit insane that the phone reckons a particular region of North Cork is a foreign country!

Was that the only fix you found? As in switching the phone on and off?

Cheers.

It switches back automatically sometimes, but other times it says it's roaming and the internet is slower despite the fact that I know i'm in a 3 3g area, for instance, Stephen's Green in Dublin. Do you have the option that says 'Data Roaming' turned on? Go to Settings->Wireless and Networks->Mobile networks->Data Roaming and turn it on. Sometimes in roaming I can get an internet connection, other times not. It's just another strange chapter in the cryptic book of 3. I also read somewhere, maybe here, that if you're roaming on one of the vodafone masts then your internet allowance isn't used and you're charged directly from your credit. How true that is I'm not sure as i've never noticed my cash credit being used.

srsly78

Roaming doesn't mean international, it means another carriers network. 3 don't have a 2g network, but they have a roaming agreement with Vodafone to use theirs. 3g is not available in some areas at all. Elsewhere the 3g signal is so weak it roams onto 2g.

The problem is that it does not switch back to 3g when available. This bug only happens with 3s network. Switch to a competitor if you want your smartphone to work properly. Meteor had problems earlier in 2010 but seems to be 100% for me since august.

bd250110

You need to select the phone to "Automatic" otherwise the handover does not occur correctly, according to Patrick from 3. The other issue is your non-stock ROM, not saying it is the issue, but it's not beyond the bounds of possibility.

You could also set the preference to 3G only. I know you can do this on the Desire, I assume also on the SGS. Although you may find you are out of coverage a little more frequently as you will have no 2G Vodafone back up. Your battery may also not last so long.

srsly78

bd250110 wrote: »

You need to select the phone to "Automatic" otherwise the handover does not occur correctly, according to Patrick from 3. The other issue is your non-stock ROM, not saying it is the issue, but it's not beyond the bounds of possibility.

You could also set the preference to 3G only. I know you can do this on the Desire, I assume also on the SGS. Although you may find you are out of coverage a little more frequently as you will have no 2G Vodafone back up. Your battery may also not last so long.

Setting this made no difference to me on 3 whatsoever. Switching networks fixed everything.

bassybekx

I know this is an old post and i'm replying for two reasons 1. anyone looking help i regards to this issue .. well its still ongoing lmao i drop in and out of signal all the time however if i lean my Samsung Galaxy S3 up against the window with wifi tethering on i get to use the internet sort of defeats the purpose when you have wifi at home though.

2. im running CW10.1 Carbon Nightly ROM and to be honest the only difference between it and Samsung OF JB 4.2.2 is that on JB 4.2 i get "g" instead of on Carbon i get "R" .. could anyone tell me however if when im nationally roaming on a vodafone mast not that the data worked anyway but will my credit be charge roaming charges .. i realise its not international but still roaming

so will i get charge???

Nolimits

No you won't, Three have an agreement with Vodafone to provide 2g coverage. I know this is really simple, but a friend of mine complained to me that he had the same problem, I realised what was wrong in about 2 minutes. Are you sure you don't have your phone set to only use 2g networks?

I have a Nexus, so I'm running stock, it might be a little different for you

Settings
wireless and networks, press more
Mobile Networks
See if the box is ticked for 2g networks only.

bassybekx

I just enabled "National Roaming" and it got rid of the "R" sybol and has given me a "G" so at least now I'm getting some sort of a connection.

Just have to be outside or set the phone at a window to get "3G", "H" or "H+"

Thought i'd include some screenshots incase they're helpful to anyone else and also just to show off my ROM

Nolimits

bassybekx wrote: »

I just enabled "National Roaming" and it got rid of the "R" sybol and has given me a "G" so at least now I'm getting some sort of a connection.

Just have to be outside or set the phone at a window to get "3G", "H" or "H+"

Thought i'd include some screenshots incase they're helpful to anyone else and also just to show off my ROM

Have you tried another Sim in there? Bit of a long shot but ya never know.

Also, when you search for Networks, do you get the option of two different 3 networks?

bassybekx

im the only one with a micro sim in the house everyone else has less enhanced phones ..

and no i dont even get 3 irl anymore its just vodafone o2 and meteor

fml

bassybekx

but my network on the status menu does say im on "Vodafone IE | 3"

Nolimits

bassybekx wrote: »

im the only one with a micro sim in the house everyone else has less enhanced phones ..

and no i dont even get 3 irl anymore its just vodafone o2 and meteor

fml

You know that code that you can put into your phone so it only accepts 3g connections, when I did that I somehow ****ed up my sim and needed a new one. Might be worth just going into a Three shop and saying you need a replacement Sim and give it a shot. Your current Sim wont stop working until your new one is ready.

bassybekx

might just do that .. now i have to find the nearest one #effort lol

Thanks

marcbrophy

I don't have 'National Roaming' in my settings
I had to turn on 'Data Roaming' instead to get a connection on 2G.

I'm new to 3, so I just thought that they had no data contract with VF and that's why I couldn't get a connection when the 3G network dropped.
Can't believe I forgot that switching networks in your home country is still considered roaming, and I had data roaming turned off! :pac:

bassybekx

marcbrophy wrote: »

I don't have 'National Roaming' in my settings
I had to turn on 'Data Roaming' instead to get a connection on 2G.

I'm new to 3, so I just thought that they had no data contract with VF and that's why I couldn't get a connection when the 3G network dropped.
Can't believe I forgot that switching networks in your home country is still considered roaming, and I had data roaming turned off! :pac:

I'm new myself I only got my sim from three on Monday

marcbrophy

bassybekx wrote: »

I'm new myself I only got my sim from three on Monday

You realised that it was a problem quicker than me then! :pac:

By the way, if you want to show off your ROM, there's a 'Post your screens' thread in this forum

bassybekx

marcbrophy wrote: »

You realised that it was a problem quicker than me then! :pac:

By the way, if you want to show off your ROM, there's a 'Post your screens' thread in this forum

just noticed the "R" and was like WTH lol

coolio i shall pop over there in a bit Thanks

lighthouse991

I know I have very poor 3G coverage from Three where I live, so every time I get home in the evening, my phone goes into 'R' roaming mode. But the only way to bring it out from this Roaming mode, is to manually select Three network from the list of networks when back in 3G covered area.

Why doesn't it switch back to Three automatically? Anything can be done at all to stop this from happening?