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Sim won’t connect when roaming

cwatki123
Tuning in

I have an iPhone SE (2nd Gen) and when visiting the Isle of Man two weeks ago my phone wouldn’t connect to any mobile network consistently. It appeared to connect very briefly to the local network (Manx Mobile) but then would disconnect after 5-10 seconds. In this time I was unable to make calls and texts didn’t come through. My partner’s phone (Pixel 3) which is also Virgin Mobile and on the same Virgin account connected straight away upon arrival and worked the whole time we were there. My partner’s sim also worked fine in my phone. 
I spoke to Virgin tech support and they took me through the troubleshooting (off and on, APN settings, reset network settings, sim in and out) and also checked my account was set up for roaming. The issue was not resolved. They ordered me a new sim which I switched to when I arrived home, and they insisted this would solve the problem. 

 

I am now in the Isle of Man again and I have the exact same problem (my phone won’t connect, partner’s phone will). We switched sims and once again, partner’s sim works in my phone fine, but mine doesn’t work in his - so obviously the issue is my sim/account and not the iPhone. Pics attached of what I see when it’s my sim in his phone (networks all show as forbidden) and when it’s his sim in his phone (all networks available). 

PLEASE someone help me! I was supposed to be working whilst here today and can’t because I can’t connect to a network. 

F84F56B2-ADD2-48DC-B76A-32C69D1DA9AE.jpeg

1B6F39E2-97FB-47A7-BE00-63BA7942112A.jpeg

 

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION

Accepted Solutions

enlli
Very Insightful Person
Very Insightful Person

This sometimes works with iPhones.

Settings -> mobile data -> SIM Applications (near bottom) -> tap "Roaming"  -> tap "Select Mode"

I found "automatic" is selected by default.

Tap manual -> then choose International 

You may have to restart the phone

On return set it back to National or Automatic

 

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10 REPLIES 10

enlli
Very Insightful Person
Very Insightful Person

This sometimes works with iPhones.

Settings -> mobile data -> SIM Applications (near bottom) -> tap "Roaming"  -> tap "Select Mode"

I found "automatic" is selected by default.

Tap manual -> then choose International 

You may have to restart the phone

On return set it back to National or Automatic

 

I'm a Very Insightful Person, I'm here to share knowledge, I don't work for Virgin Media. Learn more

Have I helped? Click Mark as Helpful Answer or use Kudos to say thanks

THANK YOU!!!

 

This works! I’ve no idea how or why, but it works. Bizarrely I didn’t have to change this setting for my partner’s sim to work in my iPhone. Very strange. 

enlli
Very Insightful Person
Very Insightful Person

It seems it's random whether the automatic setting works or not.

I'm a Very Insightful Person, I'm here to share knowledge, I don't work for Virgin Media. Learn more

Have I helped? Click Mark as Helpful Answer or use Kudos to say thanks

Hi cwatki123

 

Thanks for the update and glad to hear the roaming service is now working for you in the Isle Of Man.

 

You can find some helpful advice here regarding using your handset abroad and details on the potential charges for using your handset in the Isle of Man here once the page is open just select your contract type 🙂

 

Rob

Calroy
Joining in

My 5g sim card will only register on the network for a few seconds before losing signal. I've tried virgin and Vodafone networks and had settings resent but still not connecting

I'm so sorry to hear this @Calroy

 

Have you been able to try another handset with the SIM at all?

 

Does this happen in all locations or in just in particular?

 

Thank you

Happens in all locations but other virgin sims work in my phone

Hi Calroy

Thanks for coming back to us. 

I shall send you a PM to check this further as not been able to locate your account from the forum information.

Best

John_GS
Forum Team


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twen_angst
Tuning in

I was in Switzerland over the holidays, and I urgently needed to get in touch with someone, so I switched on my roaming, but the 4g didn't connect, so I couldn't get in touch online, and the sim card didn't connect either, so i couldn't even call or send a text message. However, I still paid £3.00 in roaming charges, even though it didn't actually work. Can you please sort this, as I don't think I should pay for a service I didn't actually get to use!

Thanks in advance for helping me resolve this