Free Roaming but not switching over fast enough. - AT&T, Rogers, Bell, Telus Samsung Galaxy S III

I have a samsung s3 and here in Eastern Canada, I'm with FIDO (use Rogers towers) and the coverage is not as good as Bell's. New rules allow each of them access to all the towers. This means me as a customer can now freely roam from one carrier's tower to the another. The only problem is that FIDO has setup the phone so that its network has priority even if it has one bar on 2g it won't switch over to Bell's towers unless I lose the signal completely. Is there a was to force the phone to switch over faster? Or is there a way to disable 2g and allow only 3G 4G and LTE?

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[Q] G2 on AT&T?

Hey guys, new to Android and T-Mobile. I got a G2 last week, and I live and work in kind of a fringe area for T-Mo coverage. AT&T has good coverage out here, but the G2 doesn't roam over to ATT, I can't even register on their system when I select it in the mobile networks settings. My question is- how can I set the phone to roam onto their system when I lose T-Mo coverage? (I have heard that T-Mo can roam to ATT on EDGE). Thanks!
As far as I know, the only way to use AT&T on the G2 would be to SIM unlock the phone and use an AT&T SIM with an AT&T account. The TMO SIM won't just allow you to roam because they don't have a reciprocal billing agreement --- though I am no expert on this.
I believe, though I could be wrong, that the G2 does not have the ability for 3G (UMTS) data on AT&T. As you stated, if you could connect to the network, Edge should work.
One solution would be to switch to an AT&T SIM and use the Samsung Vibrant, which has the ability to connect to one of the two AT&T 3G bands. Of course, if you want to use AT&T regularly, getting an AT&T phone would be a better solution. So, for you, unless you want to switch to AT&T, wifi might be your only solution.
Ugh! That is exactly what I was hoping I wouldn't read lol. Well, I do really want to stick with tmo, just wish my phone would auto roam to att when I lose the tmo signal. Thanks for the reply!
Sent from my G2 using XDA app
I asked around at work a bit, and there are cases where you can roam on AT&T's network. These cases exist in areas where T-Mobile has not, cannot, or will not build out a network. In these cases, they contract with AT&T to provide their customers with network access. Some phones will show roaming, but I think the software, at this point, has made it a seamless experience, and you don't even know you are attached to AT&T's network. For billing, purposes, if you have a national plan, you are not roaming.
This doesn't help you, but I wanted to clarify my blanket statement above.
Check out the coverage map (Select NO for Are you a Rep, then go to the Data Coverage Map):
compass(DOT)t-mobile(DOT)com
Unfortunately in your area of CA, there is no roaming partner.
The only roaming in CA is in some parts of N. CA up Hwy 1 and 101, towards the Oregon border, and in the 395 corridor.
I'm thinking of upgrading from my HTC Rhodium on ATT to a Desire Z (also on ATT). Is there anything I should be looking for to make sure it will play nice with the 3G network?
Thanks
nnvpears
nnvpears said:
I'm thinking of upgrading from my HTC Rhodium on ATT to a Desire Z (also on ATT). Is there anything I should be looking for to make sure it will play nice with the 3G network?
Thanks
nnvpears
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You'll need to buy the Canadian version of the DZ (from Bell Mobility).

[Q] Roaming Network as non-roaming

Hi,
I'm on 2degrees network in New Zealand, but in certain areas (including where I live), they use Vodafone's cell towers.
As a result, my Desire tells me I am Roaming. Cost wise, it's fine as it's technically not roaming but my phone thinks it is.
As a result, the phone has the R symbol next to signal strength, and also messes slightly with my data/network settings (data on roaming etc).
Is there anyway to tell the phone that this network is not roaming and to see it as 'home'?
Is that possible?
Cheers in advance
Rob

manual select available cellular networks?

hello,
can you guys pick up different signal carrier in your hd7?
i am using T-mobile HD7 and the signal is not stable in my place (i have few drop calls). the Verizon signal is much better and i can pick it up from this menu >start>setting>cellular>network selection>
I can force the phone using Verizon, but the problem is after the choosing, the cellphone did not show any signal bars. <most likely phone can not register in the network>. it is wired. any ideas?
tmobile phones cannot use cdma networks, different radios, different technologies.
can a AT&T or cellular network be used in this phone? t-mobile signal is so terrible in my place.
maopost said:
can a AT&T or cellular network be used in this phone? t-mobile signal is so terrible in my place.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes you can use at&t if you sim unlock your phone. T-mobile might do it for you or you can pay one of the web based companies that do it.
You won't have 3g though.
Why did you get a t-mobile phone if you don't have t-mobile reception???
nope. AT&T work off different network signal than the others do so you won't have much luck. and i'm not sure if the HD7 from t-mobile supports the band (network signal) that AT&T uses. so you could try but i highly doubt it.
t-mobile signal is not good in my place.
to be honest with you, I hate AT&T and verizon.

[Q] Possible Roaming Problem?

Hi All,
I live in Kansas where in a lot of places service can be poor or not existent. While visiting my family and my girlfriends family over Christmas, who live in two different areas in Southeast Kansas, where both phone and 4g/3g/1x data signal does not exist from Verizon. US Cellular is the main carrier for service in both areas with great coverage and I noticed that my new galaxy nexus did not automatically connect to the US Cellular network in either location for roaming. I was left with no connectivity at all for the entire weekend
My question is there a reason why my galaxy nexus did not automatically connect to the US Cellular network to roam?
Also is there a way to force my phone to connect to US Cellular when I am in these dead zones for Verizon?
Thanks in advance?
As a side note, I have the Data Roaming checked in the Mobile Network Settings and I have the System Select set to Automatic.
Well I broke down and called Verizon Wireless technical support today.
The tech that I spoke with checked the two areas that I go to and confirmed that Verizon is mostly non existent. He then went on to say that the phone should roam in both areas and he did not have any answer as to why it was not roaming.
His solution to my problem was to purchase a prepaid US Cellular phone and forward my calls to it when I am in these areas. I must admit that it is a solution, but what an asinine thing for a Verizon employee to tell a subscriber. He also stated that Verizon just needs to add more towers in the area, which I can almost guarantee will never happen.
So as of now I am still at a loss as to why my phone is not roaming in these areas.

Q: Why does my data constantly switch?

I'm on att and my nexus constantly goes from h to e to 3g and all around. It pisses me off. I called att and had a case opened because my phone was on a 3g plan and they can't change it to a 4g hspa + plan because my device is unknown. Is anyone else on att and had this? What did you do?
The phone should always switch back to UMTS (3G) when the data connection is "idle", and only switch to HSPA+ (H) when data is actively transferring. This is a power-saving feature of GSM because UMTS has a much lower power draw than HSPA+. Your phone should not be switching down to EDGE unless you're in a bad coverage area (0-1 bars of 3G, for example).
As far as AT&T not provisioning the plan for HSPA+ "4G", how did you start the account? If it was started with any other non-LTE smartphone, you should be provisioned for HSPA+ already. AT&T does do some weird provisioning and uses APNs often to restrict speeds, but unless you were previously on an LTE plan you should be provisioned just fine for the full speeds.
If you're constantly switching between EDGE and 3G but you're in a good signal area, you may have problems with your SIM. It may be easiest to go into a store to get the SIM replaced, and talk to someone to make sure its provisioned properly for HSPA+. I really hate that AT&T messes with this stuff, it makes it hard to move around the SIM into different devices, a huge feature of being on a GSM carrier.
Try the scotch tape trick, put 1 layer of tape on the non contact side of sim card. There have been issues with sims being too thin by less than .5mm and not making good connection.
If that doesn't work, get a new sim from any att store, it's free.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda app-developers app
martonikaj said:
The phone should always switch back to UMTS (3G) when the data connection is "idle", and only switch to HSPA+ (H) when data is actively transferring. This is a power-saving feature of GSM because UMTS has a much lower power draw than HSPA+. Your phone should not be switching down to EDGE unless you're in a bad coverage area (0-1 bars of 3G, for example).
As far as AT&T not provisioning the plan for HSPA+ "4G", how did you start the account? If it was started with any other non-LTE smartphone, you should be provisioned for HSPA+ already. AT&T does do some weird provisioning and uses APNs often to restrict speeds, but unless you were previously on an LTE plan you should be provisioned just fine for the full speeds.
If you're constantly switching between EDGE and 3G but you're in a good signal area, you may have problems with your SIM. It may be easiest to go into a store to get the SIM replaced, and talk to someone to make sure its provisioned properly for HSPA+. I really hate that AT&T messes with this stuff, it makes it hard to move around the SIM into different devices, a huge feature of being on a GSM carrier.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks so much for the help I'll head into a store and see what the issue really may be.
c5satellite2 said:
Try the scotch tape trick, put 1 layer of tape on the non contact side of sim card. There have been issues with sims being too thin by less than .5mm and not making good connection.
If that doesn't work, get a new sim from any att store, it's free.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Funny you said that its the first thing I tried

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