internet without wifi

  • 27 December 2018
  • 14 replies
  • 238 views
T

how do I access the internet when I am not on a wifi network?

14 replies

snn555
Rank
Userlevel 6

With most plans you have data unless you are on a call and text only plan. with data you can access the internet at any time without Wi-Fi. What sort of phone and plan do you have?

T

Samsung S8

I will have to look up my plan.

I know I have data. However, I cannot access the internet without wifi.

T

Samsung S8

Will have to look up my plan

J

You may be in a country that ’has coverage’ but ‘does not provide data’.  I’ve been in 9 countries in West Africa for a few weeks and seen plenty of signal bars, but am denied access to internet.  As far as my really extensive research goes there is no decent ‘coverage’ map that shows the different types of service.  Would like this to be made clear, instead of the marketing message of ‘service available in xx countries’.

tmo_lauren
Rank
Userlevel 5

Hey there!

Just checking in to see if you'd been able to check your plan, the country you're in and their internet options, and if you'd gotten everything resolved!

-Lauren

T

Nothing has been resolved.

Support has been useless

J

Hi Lauren - thanks for initiating a response. No luck on resolution. The TMob website coverage map does not let me check outside US. The destination inquiry tool says ‘no coverage’. However, the text msgs I received on landing in Gabon and Benin read ‘welcome to X! Your one plus feature gives you data at 2x the speeds of our one plan...’ etc. and looks just like the message that I receive in countries with coverage eg France.

How should I interpret this?

Thank you

D

For internet without wi-fi, make sure you have cellular/mobile data turned on (I have iPhone... not sure of terminology for Samsung phone, but concept should be the same).

J

Thank you for the suggestion. Yup, I have that turned on already. Also tried a couple of tricks that a helpful tech rep suggested:

1. Toggle ‘enable LTE’ on/off to see if phone could find a 3G connection that it had missed.

2. Turn phone off for at least 3 minutes. Gives it a change to ‘reset the connection tower (?)’ or something like that.

3. Also, if it is your first international trip you may need to dial #766# to enable international calling.

Thank you

tmo_amanda
Rank
Userlevel 5

Hey, @jameshdavis​! I can see where receiving those texts can be confusing when you're unable to connect to service in a specific country. I checked out the area of Gabon and found that if you connect to Airtel (where available), data is not provided on that service partner network. However, if you connect to Moov, you may be able to pick up enough signal to connect to data. To search coverage and device compatibility internationally, you can go here. Here's what I found when looking at coverage in Gabon (the shaded areas represent 3G coverage):

Please let me know if that answers your questions!

@tfoclear​, have you been able to connect to data while not connected to WiFi yet?

J

Hi Amanda - thanks for the reply. Yup, checked that map. Was in Libreville the whole time. A solid purple part of the map. Saw Airtel signal, did not pick up Moov. As far as I can find there is no mention of particular networks that may/may not work for data. Perhaps that could be included in the coverage map. I am sure that you can understand that this customer is confused by the T Mob coverage claims.

Ps at least I missed the coup there by a few days!

Thank you

tmo_amanda
Rank
Userlevel 5

That'd definitely be helpful info to know. Unfortunately, I don't think it's something we would attach to our coverage maps only because that information changes somewhat frequently. I'm wondering why you didn't see Moov. Perhaps it was due to the different frequencies but that's the only thing I can think of.

R

My WIFI works ok, but when I turn off the WIFI my internet is very. very slow ( 0.1KB/S).

I am not talking about living in different country. This is in the Denver suburbs.

I took my phone to 2 different stores. Both changed my SIM card, but that did not help any.

my sim card & mobile networks > APN is set to T-Mobile US / epic.Tmobile,com

I have also tried APN T-Mobile US/ Fast.T-Mobile.com, same result.

The Internet is awful.

Please help.

F
Userlevel 5
Badge +7

the APNs again just in case something is off a bit.

 

https://www.t-mobile.com/support/devices/not-sold-by-t-mobile/byod-t-mobile-data-and-apn-settings

 

however it would probably help if you knew how far away your closest tower is though.. is this only happening at your home? home and work? every place you go in town? same results out of town?

I like many others come onto this site for assistance and to help others. Marking a reply as helpful or correct helps others with like issues when they try to search the site for assistance. I do not work for Tmobile and my suggestions and or opinions are my own.

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