Data roaming

Mileymoo · 10-12-2012, 10:54

Hi just got myself a shiney new Samsung S3 and i'm trying to get to grips with it. i'm a bit of a techno idiot so i may have many questions too ask over the next few weeks

Anyway first question, do i need to set data roaming on or off?. I thought i had to keep it on but i get a huge warning saying it's going to cost me a fortune

jabbamk1 · 10-12-2012, 11:00

Data roaming is only used when you're abroad.
When you're abroad you don't get access to any of your inclusive allowances, your inclusive allowances are only valid in the UK.

So you pay per min/text/mb when abroad. If you leave data roaming on when abroad you'll pay ridiculous rates just to access the internet or use a satnav, or download/update an app. Just go to google and see the amount of people who get a bill shock after coming back from holiday after leaving data roaming on. It can be upwards of £1000. especially when you get charged something ridiculous like £1 per Mb.

So turn data roaming off if you plan to go abroad. The setting will not affect you when you're in the Uk though..

Enjoy your new phone!

grumpyoldbat · 10-12-2012, 11:04

If you're not going abroad, the only people in the UK who need to worry about data roaming are people in Northern Ireland who live near the border with Southern Ireland. If you do, you should definitely switch data roaming to off to avoid it accidently connecting to a network in the South.

Mileymoo · 10-12-2012, 11:05

Ok thanks for your help

tdenson · 10-12-2012, 13:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by jabbamk1

get a bill shock after coming back from holiday after leaving data roaming on. It can be upwards of £1000. especially when you get charged something ridiculous like £1 per Mb.

And the rest - more like £7 per Mb most of the world, £3 Europe.

Mileymoo · 10-12-2012, 13:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by tdenson

And the rest - more like £7 per Mb most of the world, £3 Europe.

eeeekkkkkk

jabbamk1 · 10-12-2012, 14:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by tdenson

And the rest - more like £7 per Mb most of the world, £3 Europe.

bloody hell, is it really that high now?

Lets take for example the average user who may use 1GB per month in the UK. Average cost of say £30 per month. If they go abroad and use data roaming to use 1GB it'll cost over £7000. Wow...

Thankfully some networks do packages for data roaming but you only get something like 50mb and have to pay at least £10 if i remember correctly, better than £7000 but still high cost.

Best bet is to get a local sim when you're over there. Then you just pay local rates.

tdenson · 10-12-2012, 14:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by jabbamk1

bloody hell, is it really that high now?

Lets take for example the average user who may use 1GB per month in the UK. Average cost of say £30 per month. If they go abroad and use data roaming to use 1GB it'll cost over £7000. Wow...

Thankfully some networks do packages for data roaming but you only get something like 50mb and have to pay at least £10 if i remember correctly, better than £7000 but still high cost.

Best bet is to get a local sim when you're over there. Then you just pay local rates.

I was in Australia last month and used 7GB (with local SIM cards I hasten to add). Roaming costs there are £7 per MB - I look upon it as having saved myself £49,000

Yes, there are roaming packages, the most common are for Europe e.g. Orange charge £3 per day to get 30Mb which is not too bad, covers most things other than streaming stuff.
However, beware of Orange because they claim to alert you when you get close to the daily quota but in practice they don't (as I have discovered empirically on two occasions this year) and the thing that some people don't appreciate is that the EU regulatory maximum charge of 50 Euros gets waived as soon as you sign up for a roaming package which means as soon as you go over the 30MB you are paying £3 per Mb with no cap thereafter.

Tomo1971 · 11-12-2012, 21:10

The ironic thing is, as all the networks in the UK are part of larger companies, chances are, when you roam, you could well use a subsidiary of your home network and many phones have a priority list of roaming networks so your phone will try to roam onto them first.

So, even though its the same parent company, they still have the cheek to charge so much!!

tdenson · 11-12-2012, 22:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tomo1971

The ironic thing is, as all the networks in the UK are part of larger companies, chances are, when you roam, you could well use a subsidiary of your home network and many phones have a priority list of roaming networks so your phone will try to roam onto them first.

So, even though its the same parent company, they still have the cheek to charge so much!!

I suppose one can take the view that if the network providers didn't rake in the profit from these extras they would just charge extra on ordinary services which would hit us all.

jabbamk1 · 13-12-2012, 09:40

Does anyone remember "Three like home" Basically you could roam on any Three network worldwide and not pay roaming charges. They stopped it a while back here but i know that italian customers still have it i think, so anytime a Three Italy customer roams on another Three network they get much cheaper rates

tdenson · 13-12-2012, 10:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by jabbamk1

Does anyone remember "Three like home" Basically you could roam on any Three network worldwide and not pay roaming charges. They stopped it a while back here but i know that italian customers still have it i think, so anytime a Three Italy customer roams on another Three network they get much cheaper rates

The whole roaming thing is a rip off, but then we have much worse problems closer to home. For example, how many users are aware that typical PAYG costs per minute for an 0845 number are 12p, but for an 0844 it's 40p. The whole dialling codes thing needs far more transparency.

exterra · 13-12-2012, 10:47

I think 3 Uk have the best roaming deal at the moment with their Europass - it's something like £5 a day for unlimited data in Europe excluding tethering,

jabbamk1 · 13-12-2012, 11:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by exterra

I think 3 Uk have the best roaming deal at the moment with their Europass - it's something like £5 a day for unlimited data in Europe excluding tethering,

I think it's terrible and overpriced.

£5 a day is £35 for a week of data access. Calls are still charged at standard rate, as are texts. So sure it's cheaper but it's still nothing i'm prepared to pay.

I'd get a local sim card with cheap intl calls and/or use Skype or something rather than pay that much (but thats just me)

10-12-2012, 10:54	#1
Mileymoo Forum Member Join Date: Nov 2011 Posts: 100	Data roaming Hi just got myself a shiney new Samsung S3 and i'm trying to get to grips with it. i'm a bit of a techno idiot so i may have many questions too ask over the next few weeks Anyway first question, do i need to set data roaming on or off?. I thought i had to keep it on but i get a huge warning saying it's going to cost me a fortune

10-12-2012, 11:00	#2
jabbamk1 Forum Member Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: London, UK Posts: 8,759	Data roaming is only used when you're abroad. When you're abroad you don't get access to any of your inclusive allowances, your inclusive allowances are only valid in the UK. So you pay per min/text/mb when abroad. If you leave data roaming on when abroad you'll pay ridiculous rates just to access the internet or use a satnav, or download/update an app. Just go to google and see the amount of people who get a bill shock after coming back from holiday after leaving data roaming on. It can be upwards of £1000. especially when you get charged something ridiculous like £1 per Mb. So turn data roaming off if you plan to go abroad. The setting will not affect you when you're in the Uk though.. Enjoy your new phone!

10-12-2012, 11:04	#3
grumpyoldbat Forum Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 3,636	If you're not going abroad, the only people in the UK who need to worry about data roaming are people in Northern Ireland who live near the border with Southern Ireland. If you do, you should definitely switch data roaming to off to avoid it accidently connecting to a network in the South.

10-12-2012, 11:05	#4
Mileymoo Forum Member Join Date: Nov 2011 Posts: 100	Ok thanks for your help

10-12-2012, 13:21	#5
tdenson Forum Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 4,214	Quote: Originally Posted by jabbamk1 get a bill shock after coming back from holiday after leaving data roaming on. It can be upwards of £1000. especially when you get charged something ridiculous like £1 per Mb. And the rest - more like £7 per Mb most of the world, £3 Europe.

10-12-2012, 13:42	#6
Mileymoo Forum Member Join Date: Nov 2011 Posts: 100	Quote: Originally Posted by tdenson And the rest - more like £7 per Mb most of the world, £3 Europe. eeeekkkkkk

10-12-2012, 14:11	#7
jabbamk1 Forum Member Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: London, UK Posts: 8,759	Quote: Originally Posted by tdenson And the rest - more like £7 per Mb most of the world, £3 Europe. bloody hell, is it really that high now? Lets take for example the average user who may use 1GB per month in the UK. Average cost of say £30 per month. If they go abroad and use data roaming to use 1GB it'll cost over £7000. Wow... Thankfully some networks do packages for data roaming but you only get something like 50mb and have to pay at least £10 if i remember correctly, better than £7000 but still high cost. Best bet is to get a local sim when you're over there. Then you just pay local rates.

10-12-2012, 14:39	#8
tdenson Forum Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 4,214	Quote: Originally Posted by jabbamk1 bloody hell, is it really that high now? Lets take for example the average user who may use 1GB per month in the UK. Average cost of say £30 per month. If they go abroad and use data roaming to use 1GB it'll cost over £7000. Wow... Thankfully some networks do packages for data roaming but you only get something like 50mb and have to pay at least £10 if i remember correctly, better than £7000 but still high cost. Best bet is to get a local sim when you're over there. Then you just pay local rates. I was in Australia last month and used 7GB (with local SIM cards I hasten to add). Roaming costs there are £7 per MB - I look upon it as having saved myself £49,000 Yes, there are roaming packages, the most common are for Europe e.g. Orange charge £3 per day to get 30Mb which is not too bad, covers most things other than streaming stuff. However, beware of Orange because they claim to alert you when you get close to the daily quota but in practice they don't (as I have discovered empirically on two occasions this year) and the thing that some people don't appreciate is that the EU regulatory maximum charge of 50 Euros gets waived as soon as you sign up for a roaming package which means as soon as you go over the 30MB you are paying £3 per Mb with no cap thereafter.

11-12-2012, 21:10	#9
Tomo1971 Forum Member Join Date: Nov 2012 Posts: 23	The ironic thing is, as all the networks in the UK are part of larger companies, chances are, when you roam, you could well use a subsidiary of your home network and many phones have a priority list of roaming networks so your phone will try to roam onto them first. So, even though its the same parent company, they still have the cheek to charge so much!!

11-12-2012, 22:27	#10
tdenson Forum Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 4,214	Quote: Originally Posted by Tomo1971 The ironic thing is, as all the networks in the UK are part of larger companies, chances are, when you roam, you could well use a subsidiary of your home network and many phones have a priority list of roaming networks so your phone will try to roam onto them first. So, even though its the same parent company, they still have the cheek to charge so much!! I suppose one can take the view that if the network providers didn't rake in the profit from these extras they would just charge extra on ordinary services which would hit us all.

13-12-2012, 09:40	#11
jabbamk1 Forum Member Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: London, UK Posts: 8,759	Does anyone remember "Three like home" Basically you could roam on any Three network worldwide and not pay roaming charges. They stopped it a while back here but i know that italian customers still have it i think, so anytime a Three Italy customer roams on another Three network they get much cheaper rates

13-12-2012, 10:02	#12
tdenson Forum Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 4,214	Quote: Originally Posted by jabbamk1 Does anyone remember "Three like home" Basically you could roam on any Three network worldwide and not pay roaming charges. They stopped it a while back here but i know that italian customers still have it i think, so anytime a Three Italy customer roams on another Three network they get much cheaper rates The whole roaming thing is a rip off, but then we have much worse problems closer to home. For example, how many users are aware that typical PAYG costs per minute for an 0845 number are 12p, but for an 0844 it's 40p. The whole dialling codes thing needs far more transparency.

13-12-2012, 10:47	#13
exterra Forum Member Join Date: Oct 2012 Posts: 116	I think 3 Uk have the best roaming deal at the moment with their Europass - it's something like £5 a day for unlimited data in Europe excluding tethering,

13-12-2012, 11:10	#14
jabbamk1 Forum Member Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: London, UK Posts: 8,759	Quote: Originally Posted by exterra I think 3 Uk have the best roaming deal at the moment with their Europass - it's something like £5 a day for unlimited data in Europe excluding tethering, I think it's terrible and overpriced. £5 a day is £35 for a week of data access. Calls are still charged at standard rate, as are texts. So sure it's cheaper but it's still nothing i'm prepared to pay. I'd get a local sim card with cheap intl calls and/or use Skype or something rather than pay that much (but thats just me)

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