Question

T-mobile needs to fix the data issue with Canada

  • 2 December 2021
  • 45 replies
  • 4491 views

Considering multiple users are experiencing exactly the same issue with data roaming in Canada currently, can we please hear from T-mobile exactly what they are doing about this?


45 replies

Userlevel 7
Badge +11

Canadian carriers have the same bands/frequencies that the US does - for the most part.

I had +200Mbps in NB/NS and ~75Mbps in PEI.  Similarly, in NE Ontario, +200Mbps on Bell and ~120Mbps on Rogers.

What T-Mobile plan are you on ?

I know that since I’m on an old plan, I get 5GB of high speed … and used it in a week while up there.

I was having this same issue and was able to resolve it by turning on LTE. On iOS this was in Settings > Cellular > Cellular data options > Voice & data > select LTE. Hope this helps someone. 

I’m getting an alert from Bell asking my to “Sign on to network” every time I try to use the data there. Everything else works fine-- roaming is activated, and I called T-Mobile and nothing worked. My plan should cover data in Canada as well. I’m using a Redmi Note 10 5g.

Userlevel 7
Badge +15

I am currently in Toronto, Canada and have no issues using 5G on Telus or Bell with my T-Mobile SIM.  Canada only offers 5G in a handful of cities so having 3G and 4G/LTE enabled will help when traveling outside of Canada’s 5 largest cities.  

Userlevel 7
Badge +11

Try scanning for carriers, and ensure that your device has ‘Data Roaming’ Enabled (not just from the carrier side).  One the east coast, it was 4G LTE / 4G on Bell/Telus.  I couldn’t register with Rogers (my AT&T work phone worked on Rogers 5G)

I'm in upstate ny and all I can get is roaming on Canadian cell towers.  Not cool!

Userlevel 7
Badge +16

turn your roaming off? do you normally have a connection in that area or has it always been a roaming issue?

Userlevel 7
Badge +11

I'm in upstate ny and all I can get is roaming on Canadian cell towers.  Not cool!

During one trip upstate, I ended up with a lot of At&t and Bell roaming over T-Mobile.  Manual network selection can keep you from roaming, but may end up with "No Service" more often

Userlevel 7
Badge +15

People spending money for iPhones/Androids/Phone plans don’t need to be checking about all kinds of compatibility. We’re not phone/data specialists.

 

Roaming was on. Full bars. It works everywhere I’ve ever been on the planet - except Vancouver area. I’m sorry but the data speeds can’t be that typically slow in Canada. You can’t even load an app to pay by phone to park on the street. We had to connect to Wi-Fi every time we wanted to park at a meter. Nobody’s phone we were with worked.

Some phone apps for parking and city services will not work with international numbers.  This is an app restriction, nothing to do with roaming.  Had this very issue in Richmond, VA when trying to pay for parking through their app at the Richmond Convention Center.  I had my Canadian SIM selected and payment would never go through.  As soon as I switched it to my T-Mobile SIM.  It worked the first time.  Using my T-Mobile SIM in Toronto for Canadian apps also results in similar issues.  It’s solely an app restriction and it’s common.  Even Little Caesar’s won’t allow me to order a pizza in Canada if my T-Mobile SIM is selected.  

Sadly as a former metro by T-Mobile and still current customer for phone and WiFi love it not just Canada my iPhone 12 has so many problems I literally can’t use a physical sim at after my original sim had a burned thumb print on it 

Userlevel 7
Badge +11

I used it last summer - iPhone 12, 2x iPhone 13 and a Samsung S21.  It stayed on LTE (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, PEI), and have used it for years in BC, Ontario and parts of Quebec.  It was primarily Bell/Telus/Videotron.  It took an act of congress to get Rogers roaming working.

AT&T roams on Rogers LTE/5G quite well.  Service was similar.  Bell/Telus have a bigger footprint in the east.  Rogers still has better in NW Ontario, and service is similar in the West.

Badge

I’ve been having problems with this issue myself. I have a factory unlocked Samsung A716U1. My phone works flawlessly when in the US, but as soon as I cross the border into Canada, I get no signal and cannot call out or text. However, if I’m connected to a wifi network, I turn on Wifi Calling and my phone works as intended. I don’t understand it and it’s frustrating.

Userlevel 7
Badge +15

I’ve been having problems with this issue myself. I have a factory unlocked Samsung A716U1. My phone works flawlessly when in the US, but as soon as I cross the border into Canada, I get no signal and cannot call out or text. However, if I’m connected to a wifi network, I turn on Wifi Calling and my phone works as intended. I don’t understand it and it’s frustrating.

That sounds like you don't have roaming turned on in your devices Settings.  Roaming must be enabled if you want to have service when leaving the US.

Badge

I’ve been having problems with this issue myself. I have a factory unlocked Samsung A716U1. My phone works flawlessly when in the US, but as soon as I cross the border into Canada, I get no signal and cannot call out or text. However, if I’m connected to a wifi network, I turn on Wifi Calling and my phone works as intended. I don’t understand it and it’s frustrating.

That sounds like you don't have roaming turned on in your devices Settings.  Roaming must be enabled if you want to have service when leaving the US.

I have data roaming turned on though. Is there another setting I need to make sure is turned on as well? 

Userlevel 7
Badge +15

I’ve been having problems with this issue myself. I have a factory unlocked Samsung A716U1. My phone works flawlessly when in the US, but as soon as I cross the border into Canada, I get no signal and cannot call out or text. However, if I’m connected to a wifi network, I turn on Wifi Calling and my phone works as intended. I don’t understand it and it’s frustrating.

That sounds like you don't have roaming turned on in your devices Settings.  Roaming must be enabled if you want to have service when leaving the US.

I have data roaming turned on though. Is there another setting I need to make sure is turned on as well? 

Contact Customer Care at 611 or reach out to T-Mobile by sending them a DM on Facebook or Twitter to make sure international roaming is enabled on your line. 

Depending on the device you are using.  Canada's roaming partner, Bell/Telus, have a pretty basic network that primarily uses b/n66.  S20 FE's specifically have an issue with Telus due to some poorly deployed technology.  Have you tried manually selecting Bell when roaming in Canada?  That option offers some towers with b/n 7 and 29 connectivity in limited areas.  British Columbia is mostly b/n66 where Ontario has all 3 in cities like Toronto.

Userlevel 7
Badge +11

That might depend on the plan you’re on.  Older plans like Simple Choice where capped to ~256kbps.

I’m not sure about prepaid, but it may have similar issues.

iPhones are pretty much generic - especially for North America.

I haven’t had issues - except when I first used T-Mobile - and that was because I didn’t enable data roaming - back in 2015.  I’ve typically hit ~200-300Mbps on LTE in Canada, so no … Canada doesn’t have a performance issue.  Typically you should be on Bell/Telus in most places.  Rogers isn’t (or wasn’t ) the easiest to connect to.

I'm in Canada right now and have not had data work once. I've been through three+ calls now with T-Mobile support and nothing has worked. This is hours of my vacation wasted because T-Mobile has been unable to provide a promised service. I have a Galaxy S23, roaming is turned on, I've reset my network, they've tried several things behind the scenes. I'm giving up and going to try to get my money back.

Userlevel 7
Badge +15

I'm in Canada right now and have not had data work once. I've been through three+ calls now with T-Mobile support and nothing has worked. This is hours of my vacation wasted because T-Mobile has been unable to provide a promised service. I have a Galaxy S23, roaming is turned on, I've reset my network, they've tried several things behind the scenes. I'm giving up and going to try to get my money back.

I am in Canada right now too.  Everything is working fine here in Toronto and has been while I was in Cobourg, Oshawa, and Peterborough over the weekend.  

For those using Asian market devices, like Redmi.  Those devices might not be permitted on Bell or Telus due to their aggressive policies in not allowing what they deem as grey market devices to operate properly on their networks, restricting them to 3G.  My s23 Ultra has been solid every time I have come up here to Canada.

I'm in Canada right now and have not had data work once. I've been through three+ calls now with T-Mobile support and nothing has worked. This is hours of my vacation wasted because T-Mobile has been unable to provide a promised service. I have a Galaxy S23, roaming is turned on, I've reset my network, they've tried several things behind the scenes. I'm giving up and going to try to get my money back.

I am in Canada right now too.  Everything is working fine here in Toronto and has been while I was in Cobourg, Oshawa, and Peterborough over the weekend.  

For those using Asian market devices, like Redmi.  Those devices might not be permitted on Bell or Telus due to their aggressive policies in not allowing what they deem as grey market devices to operate properly on their networks, restricting them to 3G.  My s23 Ultra has been solid every time I have come up here to Canada.

It is genuinely weird to comment that you don't have a problem every time someone else does. 

Userlevel 7
Badge +15

I'm in Canada right now and have not had data work once. I've been through three+ calls now with T-Mobile support and nothing has worked. This is hours of my vacation wasted because T-Mobile has been unable to provide a promised service. I have a Galaxy S23, roaming is turned on, I've reset my network, they've tried several things behind the scenes. I'm giving up and going to try to get my money back.

I am in Canada right now too.  Everything is working fine here in Toronto and has been while I was in Cobourg, Oshawa, and Peterborough over the weekend.  

For those using Asian market devices, like Redmi.  Those devices might not be permitted on Bell or Telus due to their aggressive policies in not allowing what they deem as grey market devices to operate properly on their networks, restricting them to 3G.  My s23 Ultra has been solid every time I have come up here to Canada.

It is genuinely weird to comment that you don't have a problem every time someone else does. 

I come back and forth to Canada a lot.  A big chunk of my family is here.  If there were issues.  I should be experiencing them.  My device is a T-Mobile USA purchased device.  I also maintain a Canadian number and SIM with Rogers Canada in the same s23Uktra as an eSIM. 

Anyone having issues needs to be a little more informative on where they are experiencing them.  What device and model you are using.  Do you have data doing enabled on your device?  Is your line permitted to roam internationally?  If you go over your high speed data allowance, the data speeds will be reduced to basically unusable speeds, which some might interpret as their data not working.  

I am a very tech savvy person but those things mentioned above are all pretty straight forward.  I also know about the Bell/Telus grey market device policy because I was a Telus customer when they went to that b/s and deprovisioned my OnePlus 8T+ 5G from working on anything other than 3G.  After being told why by a senior network engineer for the company  I took that line back to Rogers.  

Reply