Roaming? Check your mobile phone settings

1. Check out foreign operators and their charges

Use our tool to see which operators are recommended in the country that you are visiting. You will immediately see if they provide GPRS, 3G or 4G. It is best to do this before leaving. Indeed, some countries do not have active mobile operators, or operators only provide a partial service (e.g. just GPRS or just calls without mobile internet). Using our tool you can also check out standard charges at your destination.

2. Know the difference between manual and automatic network selection 

Using automatic network selection, your smartphone connects automatically to the best local network. If this is a 4G network it can take a moment before you are able to make a call: as it is impossible to call in 4G, your device first needs to connect to a 2G or 3G network. Do not hang up, as you then risk losing the network completely. If you have no connection just restart your smartphone. If you frequently lose the connection it is better to select a network manually. 

You have opted for manual network selection? In that case you will always call and surf on the same network until you lose the connection in areas without coverage. In that case you will need to select a new network or restart your smartphone.

3. Select ‘Send as an SMS’ if you are using iMessage

The iPhone and iPad include an iMessage app which allows you to send your SMS messages via the internet. The only thing is, without a data connection you will not receive any SMS messages. To avoid this, go to the Message option in settings and select ‘Send as an SMS’. Your messages will then be sent as an SMS whenever iMessage cannot be accessed. An alternative is to deactivate iMessage.

4. Deactivate ‘EU Internet’ on Apple devices

The iPhone and iPad have an option called ‘EU Internet’. This only appears when the Mobile network > ‘Dataroaming’ is activated in settings. Watch out: ‘EU Internet’ requires a special subscription and therefore does not work. If the option is activated anyway then it will block the standard data services provided by Orange and its roaming partners abroad. This is why you should deactivate ‘EU Internet’.

5. Deactivate ‘Data Sense’ on Nokia and Microsoft

Nokia and Microsoft devices offer ‘Data Sense’. This app compresses mobile data sent via the internet. When roaming, Data Sense prevents the other applications from working properly e.g. you will not receive messages sent by Orange regarding your data use nor an alert to recharge your phone. You can risk losing your mobile data connection at any time. We therefore recommend that you deactivate Data Sense when roaming.