Data roaming switched off, yet still roaming

[iPhone3gs]

Hi, I have the iPhone 3GS on Orange, and recently got it unlocked from Orange. I am going abroad in July, and it seems that many people have been charged ridiculous amounts whilst data roaming abroad! Some people deny even using the internet and yet have been charged! This worries me alot.

Luckily the hotel I am staying in, has free wifi available, which is what I intend to do use.

However, I just tested my iPhone out. I switched off Data Roaming, 3G, Location Services, Push Data and wi-fi, as people have said to do before you go abroad, so you dont get charged for data roaming. However I STILL received new messages from Facebook and received new gmails

What is going on here?

Thanks.
x

 

[New Start Neil]

Sounds like you were using 3G....

 

[iPhone3gs]

Sorry I forgot to say, I have 3G switched off too under Settings.

 

[New Start Neil]

Sorry I forgot to say, I have 3G switched off too under Settings.

So it's using GPRS or Edge, it's got nothing to do with data roaming.

 

[iPhone3gs]

Which is costing me £0 now, but when I'm abroad, will the GPRS/Edge cost me if Facebook sends me a Push message? :O If so, how do I switch GPRS/Edge off?

Thanks.

 

[New Start Neil]

Which is costing me £0 now, but when I'm abroad, will the GPRS/Edge cost me if Facebook sends me a Push message? :O If so, how do I switch GPRS/Edge off?

Thanks.

You'll be fine if data roaming is off.

 

[simon69c]

Under Settings > General > Network

Ensure Data Roaming is set to "Off"

That's all you need to do - no cellular data (3G/Edge/GPRS) will be permitted while you are roaming with that switch enabled, only wifi.

You can't test it while you are still in the UK as the iPhone knows when it's roaming and the switch is only in effect when that is the case.

Turning off 3G simply forces the iPhone to use 2G (i.e. Edge/GPRS) instead while it is on your home network.

iOS 4 has a new option to disable cellular data altogether - which is basically doing what the data roaming switch does, but even when not roaming as well. iOS 4 will be available on Monday via iTunes if you want to upgrade to it (you will need to be on iTunes 9.2).

 

[StuBFrost]

Data roaming is when you are not on your home network. If you are testing in the UK you are still on your home network so the setting won't do anything.

 

[iPhone3gs]

Sorry to sound so thick, lol, But I dont quite understand what you mean by I cant test it in the UK??? I have switched off Data Roaming now, so why does it STILL send me Push messages/costing me? Its OFF, so why does it? Im confused.

 

[New Start Neil]

Sorry to sound so thick, lol, But I dont quite understand what you mean by I cant test it in the UK??? I have switched off Data Roaming now, so why does it STILL send me Push messages/costing me? Its OFF, so why does it? Im confused.

Because turning it off in the UK actually doesn't do anything-because you are in the UK and not roaming........

 

[iPhone3gs]

Ah ha, so Data Roaming means 3G/GPRS/Edge data usage outside of your country. Thanks I get it now. So how do I disable using data in the UK, if I wanted to?

 

[choddo2006]

Ah ha, so Data Roaming means 3G/GPRS/Edge data usage outside of your country. Thanks I get it now. So how do I disable using data in the UK, if I wanted to?

ok now we know the meaning of the word roaming - to roam, we roam, they roam, he roams etc...

The only way to completely turn off data in the UK is to put it into airplane mode afaik.

 

[ma1234]

Ah ha, so Data Roaming means 3G/GPRS/Edge data usage outside of your country. Thanks I get it now. So how do I disable using data in the UK, if I wanted to?

You can't switch it off as such but if you can access the Cellular Data Network settings in Settings - General - Network you can blank and/or change the APN and the phone can't access data.

 

[IanSeward]

Hi, I have the iPhone 3GS on Orange, and recently got it unlocked from Orange. I am going abroad in July, and it seems that many people have been charged ridiculous amounts whilst data roaming abroad! Some people deny even using the internet and yet have been charged! This worries me alot.

Luckily the hotel I am staying in, has free wifi available, which is what I intend to do use.

However, I just tested my iPhone out. I switched off Data Roaming, 3G, Location Services, Push Data and wi-fi, as people have said to do before you go abroad, so you dont get charged for data roaming. However I STILL received new messages from Facebook and received new gmails

What is going on here?

Thanks.
x

I would have a look at my posts in the Iphone Data thread started by Katie.

I have it in writing from O2 that they can charge for WiFi data if you are roaming. At £6/mb you can soon run up a large bill.

 

[iPhone3gs]

How come no one has suggested I just get a free PAYG simcard, insert that and use that abroad? As there is no credits on it, it means I wont get charged any charges. Is that the best suggestion do you think? Thanks.

 

[choddo2006]

How come no one has suggested I just get a free PAYG simcard, insert that and use that abroad? As there is no credits on it, it means I wont get charged any charges. Is that the best suggestion do you think? Thanks.

Er, I dunno, maybe because they've already told you turning data roaming off will work without all the hassle of messing around with that???

As for o2 being able to charge for wifi abroad, that's total nonsense. How would they even know? Whoever provides the hotspot certainly can though if they want to.

 

[trailer]

How come no one has suggested I just get a free PAYG simcard, insert that and use that abroad? As there is no credits on it, it means I wont get charged any charges. Is that the best suggestion do you think? Thanks.

That's OK if your phone isn't locked to a provider. I have an unlocked 2G iPhone which I take away with me and buy a local SIM card. I turn off my 3GS except to check it once every now and then.

As to data usage I asked 02 about this a while ago and got told the only sure way is to delete the APN entry.

 

[sparkysparkster]

O2 do not charge you fgor using WI FI as it is nothing to with them at all.
I went to USA recently and used lots of wi fi and will continue to do so. Of course 3g roaming is a totally different idea as most of you know about

 

[IanSeward]

Er, I dunno, maybe because they've already told you turning data roaming off will work without all the hassle of messing around with that???

As for o2 being able to charge for wifi abroad, that's total nonsense. How would they even know? Whoever provides the hotspot certainly can though if they want to.

You are quite correct but that is what they did to me. I have now had a refund - so what gives?

The scam is this, and I think scam could be the appropriate word!

When you are using wireless, having carefully turned off data roaming as advised by Apple / O2, if your wireless connection drops for a moment your Iphone silently switches on data roaming and uses your O2 connection.

Now how many people have been caught by this scam? If I had been doing a mixture of WiFi and O2 roaming then I would never have realised.

A sceptical person might think that this was a little sweetener built into the Iphone to give the anointed telecom provider (Iphone was until recently only available on O2) a profit boost

I believe the new Iphone 4 no longer has this "feature" and turning off data actually turns it off and it cannot silently be switched back on.

 

[trailer]

There are three failsafe ways not to incur roaming data charges:

1. Enable Airplane mode. You can still turn the WiFi on in this mode.
2. Delete the APN and turn notifications off.
3. Turn the phone off altogether.

 

[peterjcat]

When you are using wireless, having carefully turned off data roaming as advised by Apple / O2, if your wireless connection drops for a moment your Iphone silently switches on data roaming and uses your O2 connection.

Do you have technical evidence for this or are you just inferring that this is what's happened? I've taken many trips overseas and used local WiFi without being charged a cent for data roaming -- unless I've turned data roaming on.

It's true that if you're in your home country and your iPhone goes to sleep the WiFi will shut off while the cellular connection is maintained -- and that this is different in iOS 4. But if you're off your home network and data roaming is turned off, then this should not happen and there is very little evidence that it ever does happen.

I would be inclined to blame a simple billing error, and am glad you got it sorted out.

 

[IanSeward]

Do you have technical evidence for this or are you just inferring that this is what's happened? I've taken many trips overseas and used local WiFi without being charged a cent for data roaming -- unless I've turned data roaming on.

It's true that if you're in your home country and your iPhone goes to sleep the WiFi will shut off while the cellular connection is maintained -- and that this is different in iOS 4. But if you're off your home network and data roaming is turned off, then this should not happen and there is very little evidence that it ever does happen.

I would be inclined to blame a simple billing error, and am glad you got it sorted out.

I spend up to 9 months abroad and am quite familiar with roaming charges.

It was not a billing error and I have that in writing from O2. My phone had downloaded 5mb as the bill said - I had downloaded 5mb on the cellular network.

In discussions over the phone an O2 "person" did admit the phone silently switches over to cellular if the WiFi drops. I was hoping to get O2 to admit this in writing but after confirming that it was possible to charge me for WiFi (a lie), which I challenged, they then refunded my money.

So no simple billing error - an Apple scam me thinks which, had I done a mixture of cellular and WiFi, I would not have been aware of the charge.

 

[peterjcat]

Personally I wouldn't take what O2 says as any kind of evidence, as it's probably a first-line response from someone who doesn't really know what they're talking about. You already said that they had claimed in writing that they could charge for WiFi data, which is wrong; so I don't know how you can believe the next thing they happen to say in writing.

Yes, the phone switches over to cellular if WiFi drops out, but not when data roaming is turned off. If it wasn't a billing error then it might have been a software error or even user error, but it's certainly not the norm -- millions of people use a mixture of cellular and WiFi while they're roaming, and if it were persistent behaviour then I'm sure we'd hear a lot more about it.

I don't believe for a second it's an Apple scam -- there are plenty of scams involved in international telecommunications but this isn't one of them!

 

[IanSeward]

Yes, the phone switches over to cellular if WiFi drops out, but not when data roaming is turned off. If it wasn't a billing error then it might have been a software error or even user error, but it's certainly not the norm -- millions of people use a mixture of cellular and WiFi while they're roaming, and if it were persistent behaviour then I'm sure we'd hear a lot more about it.
!

Well, I had data roaming turned off and it did switch to cellular - FACT.

The only reason I knew there was a problem was that I had used the phone at all prior to using WiFi and had taken the precaution of setting the statistics back to zero prior to leaving home. I was carrying the Iphone for back up and Ipod usage and using another phone with Chinese sim.

You state that the the Iphone cannot switch to cellular with data roaming turned off - how do you know? I have inadvertently carried out an experiment which proved it can!

Your point about other people, well as I have said before if you do a mixture of cell and WiFi how could you possibly tell?

It also only happens when the WiFi signal drops, if it does not drop then no problem. It is these aspects which make the scam so hard to detect.

O2 paid up when I challenged them because they did not want the scam highlighted. They could see from my cell records that I had not had my phone on the cellular network at all except for the data traffic. Also the WiFi access was in the office so no WiFi access point problems were involved.

I have not searched yet (so many sites are blocked in China) but my son in law says he has found posts from other people claiming the same has happened to them.

Next time you are abroad test it out and then come back with some facts and not simply state that the Iphone cannot switch to cellular when data roaming is off.

 

[IanSeward]

Yes, the phone switches over to cellular if WiFi drops out, but not when data roaming is turned off. If it wasn't a billing error then it might have been a software error or even user error, but it's certainly not the norm -- millions of people use a mixture of cellular and WiFi while they're roaming, and if it were persistent behaviour then I'm sure we'd hear a lot more about it.

I don't believe for a second it's an Apple scam -- there are plenty of scams involved in international telecommunications but this isn't one of them!

See this thread and I think you may change your mind!
Apple - Support - Discussions - iPhone 3G still accessed data roaming ...

O2 know about this and will refund you money if you challenge them the reaon is to quote someone else:

Just did a bit of research and contacted Ofcom. They told me I need to get it in writing from O2 that they believe the charges are legitimate, and then I can go to the ombudsman - Oftel if necessary.


One post below from the URL above:
Re: iPhone 3G still accessed data roaming when it was turned off in Egypt. Why?
Posted: Jan 9, 2010 3:12 AM in response to: jonrelger
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Very interested to see that someone else has had the same problem.

Travelling abroad in December, I bought a data roaming bolt-on from O2 but kept data roaming switched OFF until I absolutely needed it. A few days later, the iPhone showed that a few tens of kB had been transferred. Very strange.

Interestingly, when my bill arrived from O2, I'd been charged for the trickle of data, rather than including it in my roaming package. Curiously, the bill shows the "source" of the data as "idata.o2.co" (ie a nonsense address, missing the .uk at the end), whilst all my deliberate roaming, later in my trip, shows "idata.o2.co.uk".

It gets worse though. I used an airport wifi service to download my email without eating into my roaming package. When the airport wifi connection dropped, the iPhone automatically failed over to the cellphone network and downloaded several weeks of email all in one go. Data Roaming was still set to OFF. This absolutely should not be possible. This time around, my bill does show the full "idata.o2.co.uk" as the source. But it still shoudln't have happened.

The very same thing happened again yesterday while travelling abroad - wifi was lost and the iPhone failed over to the cellphone network and started data roaming, even though Data Roaming was set to OFF and has been for nearly a week.

On both these occasions, I was definitely trying to access the internet, and was using either Mail or Safari to do so. However I was doing it by wifi, and both times data roaming was OFF.

I've brought this to O2's attention. But is anybody seeing this on any other networks? And is there any official word on what's going on?