topic Re: Can’t make calls whilst in USA in Network

Can’t make calls whilst in USA

vickilewis626 — Fri, 22 Jul 2022 11:40:32 GMT

Hi we’re in the USA on holiday and tried to call home. The call keeps failing and says Number not recognised.
Data roaming and texting working as normal.

I have checked and it says international roaming is activated.

Any idea?

Re: Can’t make calls whilst in USA

Ayshea — Fri, 22 Jul 2022 12:39:19 GMT

I am having a similar issue I brought the 16gb data sim and keep getting a message that I do not have enough credit for this call even though I have unlimited calls

edit- for anyone else with my issue, just found out the unlimited calls seem to only be to uk numbers

Re: Can’t make calls whilst in USA

PeteG — Sat, 23 Jul 2022 17:39:55 GMT

Hey, Vicki.

I'm sorry to hear you're having issues making calls while in the USA.

It's possible that you're having issues due to the 3G service being switched off in the USA on some networks. Calls can be made over the 4G network, but not all devices support that yet.

If you head over here you can check the compatibility for your device. If your device isn't on the list, you might not be able to make normal phone calls while there. You can still make calls using 3rd party services though, like What's App,

I hope this helps.

Pete.

Re: Can’t make calls whilst in USA

JonathanB — Mon, 25 Jul 2022 10:10:44 GMT

Hi Ayshea,

That's correct. Your allowances work as they would in the UK, so calling a local US number is chargeable. Check the rates for roaming in the USA here. Hope this helps.

JonathanB

Re: Can’t make calls whilst in USA

JonathanB — Mon, 25 Jul 2022 10:13:56 GMT

Hi vickilewis626,

Going by the fact that texts and data are working, it sounds like roaming is active on the account. I'd check that you are dialling in international format as this may be stopping the call. For a UK number drop the 0 and use +44, so a mobile will begin +447.

Let me know if that helps.

JonathanB

Re: Can’t make calls whilst in USA

zzz — Fri, 29 Jul 2022 06:13:24 GMT

Having the same problem. Strangely partner has no problems (also on three, calling uk, using correct dialling code, 4g etc)

Re: Can’t make calls whilst in USA

zzz — Fri, 29 Jul 2022 11:55:54 GMT

I went to chat today - switched network manually (it was automatically connected to at&t but they told me to try t-mobile). Managed to make a call.

Re: Can’t make calls whilst in USA

JonathanB — Fri, 29 Jul 2022 12:25:01 GMT

Hey zzz,

Thanks so much for sharing this, this solution may help other customers in the future.

We generally recommend using automatic network selection, but manual selection helps when roaming, if for example, a local network is experiencing some sort of fault.

Remember to switch back to automatic when you get home.

JonathanB

Re: Can’t make calls whilst in USA

Bisto — Sat, 20 Aug 2022 17:59:10 GMT

Worked on T-mobile for 15 days of 18 day holiday - then unable to register on T-mobile network? Support team could not fix it, so unable to make calls for the rest of my holiday. AT&T data was great, but unable to make calls. Support said to use verizon too, but that also failed? AT&T seems the best for just data

Re: Can’t make calls whilst in USA

JonathanB — Mon, 22 Aug 2022 09:00:21 GMT

Hi Bisto,

I'm sorry to hear that you were struggling to stay connected on your recent trip. Perhaps this could relate to the 3G switch off activities taking place across the USA?

I'd check if your phone supports calls over 4G (many slightly older handsets only support data over 4G), you may also need to check this is on in the settings. Usually the option will be called "4G supervoice", "VOLTE", or "voice over 4G".

Hope this helps.
JonathanB

Re: Can’t make calls whilst in USA

harness68 — Mon, 26 Sep 2022 18:41:04 GMT

I have found that if you are using a Huawei phone, these are banned from the AT&T network and thus prevent you from making or receiving calls or messages

Re: Can’t make calls whilst in USA

harness68 — Mon, 26 Sep 2022 18:42:42 GMT

I would love to know how to do this. "switched network manually"

Re: Can’t make calls whilst in USA

JonathanB — Tue, 27 Sep 2022 11:55:16 GMT

Hi @harness68,

Happy to help. This can vary a bit from phone to phone, and software version to software version.

Usually in settings, you'll have an option for carrier, connections, or network, and in one of these screens there's an option for network selection, which defaults to automatic.

When you take it off automatic, you'll be able to select which network to connect to. This will only give emergency calls in the UK, but whilst roaming you can test all available networks to find which one works best.

If you're still struggling to find these options, please let me know what model of phone you have and I'll check for more detailed instructions.

Hope this helps 🙂
JonathanB