4G not working overseas

[Richard_1969688]

I have just arrived in Spain. I have made the changes to the Mobile Data Network but I only have 3G. No issues with calls & texts. Is there anything else I can do?

[Chalkychap]

If you haven't done so @Richard_1969688, I'd recommend updating the APN value to "mob.asm.net" in the mobile data settings on your device.

See more online at https://smarty.co.uk/roaming-setup. 

[MSF]

Just a suggestion...Could it be that 3G is all that is available in that location?

I returned from Spain recently and had 4G with no problem in a busy area, but it was 3G in some out of the way places.

[TomLedran]

Does this need to be done before you travel? My wife and I are both on smarty but she is android and I am iPhone.. hers automatically changed to mob.ask.net

I’ve changed mine and still just getting the E . I can make phone calls but have no data and the WiFi at the hotel is terrible ! 

any help as fast as possible would be greatly appreciated !

[Michael_T]

I guess it depends where you are in Spain, as different locations vary, but I roamed in both Mallorca and in the Canary Islands this year.  I found that Movistar was the network my phone preferred to connect to most of the time, but this signal varied between 3G and 4G…3G more often.  
I soon learned that Orange was a better option, with 4G the majority of the time.  
I turned my phone from automatic to manual and then chose Orange…so if it is available then try manually selecting it, or try some of the others.

[JamesSa_1648092]

I’m in Germany, I’ve followed the instructions for abroad but the only speed I can get is E. I can’t get 3G or 4G. I’ve tried restarting my phone. I’ve got an iPhone. Is there anything else I can try?

[JamesSa_1648092]

I’ve got a similar issue in Germany I can only get E data speeds. Not 3G or 4G . I’ve updated the APN details as I wasn’t getting anything at all to begin with. I’ve tried restarting my phone. I’m on iOS iPhone. Is there anything else I need to do. I’m in Berlin so I should be able to get 4G or at least 3G without issue. 

[MSF]

@JamesSa_1648092 Instead of having your phone set to auto-network, you could try searching to see what networks are available and then try each in turn.

I suspect that when we roam in EU, the networks give preference to their own paying customers - quite rightly so really in my opinion.

[JamesSa_1648092]

Thank you, 

I tried Vodafone, O2_de, and deutsche telekom, they all only provided E data speeds. I suspect Smarty is getting shortchanged, or there may be an issue Smarty is not aware of? Anyway, for now I couldn’t recommend Smarty to anyone visiting Germany. However, I can easily get 3/4 G in France, Belgium and Netherlands. 

[JJP2]

 

De-prioritisation of foreign network users in favour of networks own customers is quite common - I had the same issue in Phoenix, USA earlier this year, but the eSIM I bought on “US Mobile”, an MVNO in the US, worked great.

FWIW, I always recommend buying either a local SIM or eSIM, or a specialist travel eSIM from the likes of Airalo, Holafly, and Sparks, who not only offer reasonably priced country specific eSIMs, they also offer Europe wide eSIMs which cover 30 odd countries. 

Sparks is a pretty good eSIM provider, their packages are reasonable, valid for 45 days, rather than the usual 30 days, and cover 39 countries 

[Andrew_239836]

I posted a topic about this a few months back. 3G on Movistar in Spain and the Canaries whilst using SMARTY sim. Friend with EE Sim connected to Movistar and had 4G consistently. You can do a manual network search and connect to Orange SP which seems to give 4G most of the time. It seems to me that there must be some quirks in the roaming agreement whereby SMARTY (and possibly 3?) sims are de-priorititised for 4G when using certain networks. 

[JamesSa_1648092]

Unfortunately, I tried all there available networks and they only provided E data speeds. Restarting the phone each time didn’t help. The networks were O2_de, Vodafone and deutsche telekom. Thanks for you help anyway, I’ve now left Germany and I’m getting a great connection again. 

[LeonsDev]

this is a iPhone issue, my brother has a pixel also on smarty and it works perfectly. We are in Germany and I'm only getting edge on every network

[LeonsDev]

This is an iPhone issue, I have a pixel on smarty which gets 4g and my iphone is on edge… horrible 

[JJP2RidesAgain]

From @Andrew_239836 in another thread :

https://community.smarty.co.uk/t5/chats-hacks/5g-on-orange-sp-in-spain/m-p/27944#M17716