Data roaming abroad not working with voip calling eg FaceTime/WhatsApp calling

[Amby]

Hi I’m currently in Australia and having a strange issue with my roaming sim. Data seems to be working fine, but I just can’t make calls out or receive them from my phone, I’ve tried with multiple iPhones and all have the same issue, but this works with a local sim/connected to wifi. I might have change a setting to disable this but can’t see where if I have. 

I’ve contacted support who say as the data is working fine it’s an issue with my phone/services wondering if anyone has seen similar?

[JonathanB]

Hi @Amby,

This sounds super frustrating, I'll do my best to help.

I had a check into this, and Australia has already "sunset" 3G on many of their networks, and I suspect this could be why data works but your calls aren't, if your phone is trying to make calls over 3G instead of 4G.

There's two things that may help here.

Check your Settings for Cellular Data, and make sure that 4G or LTE (Whichever appears) is set to "Voice & Data" as it may be on "Data only".

If this is already enabled, or doesn't seem to make a difference, try going to Settings, then Carrier, and switching automatic off in there. After a short delay you should see names of all networks with coverage. This will let you select which network to use, so that you can test if calls do work when connecting to a different local network's signal.

If you do try this 2nd suggestion, make sure to switch carrier back to automatic when you return to the UK.

Let me know if this helps,
JonathanB