Roaming - Tips for using your Virgin Mobile whilst abroad

[ModTeam]

Heading abroad with your Virgin Mobile? Don't sweat it! We've got you covered with these handy tips for getting up and running whilst away:

It's always best to check that you’re all set up to use your phone abroad before you leave, by simply logging into Your Account or calling +44 7458 333 789.

It’s also a good idea to check that there’s network coverage where you are. See Roaming Costs to check the coverage in the country you’re visiting.

If your phone doesn't connect to a network when you arrive, try turning the phone off and then back on again. Sounds simple, but it'll refresh the network signal on your phone and, more often than not, it does the trick. If that doesn't work, you can try a manual network search. Here's how:

• Go into Settings on your phone
• Now go to Phone Settings
• Then choose Network Selection
• Select Manual network selection instead of Automatic and let the phone search for available networks. This might take up to a minute
• Now you should have a list of networks you can use

If your phone has a removable battery and you are still stuck, try what we call a hard reboot. Just remove the battery from your phone without turning it off first, then wait about 20 minutes before putting it back in and switching the phone on.

This reboots your phone and it normally does the trick.

If that also doesn’t work, you may need to update a SIM setting on your phone before trying the network search again. Here’s how you do that:

Android

• Select Apps from the Home screen or swipe to access
• Select the Virgin SIM toolkit option. Depending on the SIM slot the SIM is in this may be ‘Virgin’ or ‘Virgin2’
• Select Roaming
• Select Select Mode
• Select Manual
• Select International

iPhone or iPad with a Physical SIM

• Select Settings from the Home Screen
• Select Mobile Data
• Select SIM Applications
• Select Roaming
• Select Select Mode
• Select Manual
• Select International

iPhone or iPad with an eSIM

• Select Settings from the Home Screen
• Select Mobile Data
• Select the Virgin data plan
• Select SIM Applications
• Select Roaming
• Select Select Mode
• Select Manual

• Select International

Once you return to the UK you’ll need to follow the steps above again but make sure you’ve set the both the Network and SIM Modes back to Automatic, otherwise your device may not reconnect to our network in the UK.

[radha1308]

I see SIM Toolkit but dont see anything as International in there 

Android

• Select Apps from the Home screen or swipe to access
• Select the Virgin SIM toolkit option. Depending on the SIM slot the SIM is in this may be ‘Virgin’ or ‘Virgin2’
• Select Roaming
• Select Select Mode
• Select Manual
• Select International

[enlli]

I don't have a Virgin SiM to try

What do you see when you open the SIM toolkit

[Manestream]

I am not very good with mobile phones but right now i am seeing them as just an expensive landline, since once you walk outside and a few steps out of range of your home internet (virginmedia wi-fi) for it it drops internet service and says no service no internet and becomes just a weighted brick in the pocket thats absolutly f-in worthless.

I have factory reset, ordered new sim cards, reset wi-fi/bluetooth options to no avail. I have wi-fi turned on, i have airplane mode turned off, i have roaming turned on. No matter what i have done it will just not work as soon as i go outside and away from my home internet. I can of course go to a pub and give all my details to their app which may (or maynot) allow me to use their internet but as soon as you leave bang a dead weight brick in thy pocket again.

Proving to me what i have always said, mobiles are just expensive dead weight pieces of crap. I had this with sony mobiles and now i have it all over agin with this Umidigi mobile. The samsung mobile actually did work but would go from 100% battery life to auto turn off for no battery left within 30 minutes and this is the problem with samsung phones their battery life stinks which is why i got a new one but man it makes me angry and peeved that the new phone now has the same issue as sony, i dont work away from home go back inside if you want to use me. f-in worthless junk.

Now i have been told to find APN setting but this is absolutly empty of anything, in fact something about this setting is not available for this user or something like that. I could try to set one up but would need to fill in all the question fields that i absolutly do not know the answers to on 99% so thats not an option to do. I thought roaming should pick up connection when your out fat chance.

Anyways is it Virginmobile, mobiles in general or just an excuse to make people spend more on worthless junk so they can remove landlines..... leave the landlines alone and running THEY **bleep** WORK!!!!!!!!! else i am going phoneless

[Robert_P]

Hello Manestream

Really sorry to hear you feel this way and for the problems experienced with your mobile. We appreciate you taking the time to raise this via the forums.

We can assure you we aren't removing landlines or the landline service, mobile phones are designed as a communication tool when you're away from home. The make and model of handset you have mentioned isn't familiar to myself, 

We have lots of help here where you can find the APN settings, you can also do a quick search on Google or any other search engine for these also. From searching it appears the handset operates on Android so please try these:

• Name: Virgin Internet.
• APN: goto.virginmobile.uk.
• Username: user.
• MMS Proxy: 193.30. 166.2.
• MMS Port: 8080.
• Authentication Type: PAP. If you're given a choice of APN types, select internet+mms, or if the keyboard appears, the * symbol.

Rob

[enlli]

I don't even have a landline, just broadband.

My mobile phone is far cheaper to use with unlimited calls and text. 

As for battery life, it lasts all day provided I don't spend hours on social media. I have a booster in my bag if needed.

(Oh, and I can filter spam calls much easier)

[Djjazzyjc]

How do you get it to work in the Isle of Man?  The two networks appears as forbidden so I can't connect to them and consequently I have no service.  I've tried two different handsets and have the same problem - admittedly one is Windows phone and the other Google Pixel 3a.  I suffered this problem both in September and also now in December during my subsequent visit.  Costs are published on the website so it should work.  The helpdesk tells me everything is set up right so they can't assist any more.  The local phone shop in the Isle of Man says a number of people have experienced similar problems and suggested I drop in to a high street store back in the UK.  Problem is, there are no longer any high street stores.  I see there are some archived threads for difficulties with Isle of Man roaming but I am only able to see the question without the answer as far as i can tell.  If I'm unable to get this sorted, this is going to be a deal breaker for me I'm afraid as I have family on the Isle of Man.

[enlli]

If you are in the IOM then you do have to set the SIM Toolkit Roaming away from Automatic.

[christophos]

Thanks - mine wouldn't connect to any mobile network abroad until I changed the SIM setting.  This is not in the roaming help on the main Virgin Mobile site - (https://www.virginmedia.com/help/virgin-mobile-roaming-troubleshooting and https://www.virginmedia.com/help/virgin-mobile-roaming-problems-when-abroad) so it would be really worth adding a link to it there - I also spent an hour and a half on text chat to support the other night to no avail, so it ought to be part of their troubleshooting for roaming.

[Djjazzyjc]

Don't seem to have an option to access the roaming toolkit on my phone.  I have however managed to access the phone settings on each handset where I select manual and this is when the two forbidden networks appear that I cannot connect to very much in the same vein as an earlier unresolved thread No mobile network in Isle of Man - Virgin Media Community - 4709133  I guess I am one of those unlucky people who has the version of the Virgin SIM that will never work for roaming in the isle of Man.  Many thanks for the other person who has made a suggestion but alas, this does not assist me for my particular circumstances.  I don't think it will work and that's that.