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Global roaming - which networks are available abroad on UK sims roaming abroad, main networks only.

AbsolutelyRidiculous

ULTIMATE Member
I thought I would start this thread as networks are usually quite vague about what networks you can roam on abroad.

Please feel free to post:

  • UK Network (please, no MVNOs)
  • UK Network Plan (e.g. Three Complete, o2 Ultimate etc)
  • If your plan does not include inclusive roaming, please say whether you bought an add on/bolt on and if so which one, how much you paid, what was included in it.
  • Where you travelled, e.g. USA, California,
  • When. e.g May 2025
  • What network did your device roam on to?
  • 3G/4G/5G?
  • Was it usable, what speeds did you achieve?
  • Did everyday apps like WhatsApp, FaceTime, Signal (audio/video) work if so was it good enough or not?
  • Were you able to select manual network selection?
  • If yes what networks could you have roamed on to and if you tried any do share the above information.
  • If you used a VPN (e.g. for streaming) what was the data quality like?
  • Any other relevant information.
Perhaps in due course we could create a Google Spreadsheet with the data to help other travellers.

Perhaps a separate thread would be useful for data eSims like BNE, FlexiRoam etc.
 
I'll give my roaming 2 cents here.
  • Three & MVNOs (all the same)
  • SMARTY 120GB plan
  • Inclusive 12GB EU Roam
  • Menorca, Balerics, Spain
  • August 2023
  • Connected to Movistar, Orange and Xfera YOIGO
  • All 4G, but 5G now available on Movistar as confirmed by a friend recently
  • Absolutely usable, 170mbps download 60ms ping on Orange 4G+ and 200 download 49ms ping on Movistar 4G+
  • Yes manual selection was doable minus Vodafone ES
  • Didn't need a VPN for Sky Go as had a tunneled UK IP, all worked great
And now another
  • Three & MVNOs
  • iD Mobile 150GB plan
  • Inclusive 30GB EU Roam
  • Disneyland Paris, Chessy, France
  • February 2024
  • Connected to Bouygues, Free, SFR and Orange F (All 4 networks)
  • All 5G bar Orange F
  • SFR was worst for speed, Bouygues worked best in busy areas and also had great ping. Free was over capacity. Orange 4G+ was good for 4G+ but didn't use it very much. Bouygues provided 350mbps download, 50mbps upload and 27ms ping
  • Manual selection was doable for all.
And finally
  • Vodafone & MVNOs (again, all the same as far as am aware - especially in the EU)
  • Lebara 30GB plan
  • Inclusive 30GB Roaming
  • Menorca, Balerics, Spain
  • August 2022
  • Connected to Vodafone ES
  • 4G+ only
  • The network was simply unusable for how over capacity it was.
  • 1mbps either way, 350ms ping mid day. Come evening even 3G phone calls weren't happening at all.
  • Manual selection was not possible
  • Vodafone sponsored roaming was why and it was a real issue here. This has been my worst roaming experience so far - wish I had just paid for Three Go Roam instead of being a cheapskate.
 
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No offence but I already post in the main roaming thread after my trips. Is there any point in having another?

I'm also not sure the point in restricting to main networks either. MVNOs may use their host's agreements (eg all Vodafone or Three MVNOs afaik) or they may use their own/another sponsor (eg Sky (Orange), Spusu (Tele2?), Lyca (Tele2?)) I can't chime in for any with that restriction as I have only ever roamed with MVNOs (except a short 1 month stint on Three earlier this year to go to Jersey) lol.
 
No offence but I already post in the main roaming thread after my trips. Is there any point in having another?

I'm also not sure the point in restricting to main networks either. MVNOs may use their host's agreements (eg all Vodafone or Three MVNOs afaik) or they may use their own/another sponsor (eg Sky (Orange), Spusu (Tele2?), Lyca (Tele2?)) I can't chime in for any as I only use MVNOs lol.
Should we just create something on GitHub or something like that?

Keeps it more organised for everyone, even if it is just Markdown documents (e.g. could have it in a format of full-providers/gb/[provider name].md for regular SIMs and data-providers/[provider name].md for data eSIMs).

The existing thread can be difficult to browse and we can all contribute then 😁
 
In Crete now. My iPad on 3 and my wife’s phone on IDmobile are connecting to Nova.

I know you aren’t interested (others might be) but my phone on Lebara is connected to VF-Gr. It always defaults to the local VF flavour wherever I am in Europe.
 
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Should we just create something on GitHub or something like that?

Keeps it more organised for everyone, even if it is just Markdown documents (e.g. could have it in a format of full-providers/gb/[provider name].md for regular SIMs and data-providers/[provider name].md for data eSIMs).

The existing thread can be difficult to browse and we can all contribute then 😁
Doubt it'll go anywhere but quickly created something, just more organised if this all goes anywhere

 
No offence but I already post in the main roaming thread after my trips. Is there any point in having another?

I'm also not sure the point in restricting to main networks either. MVNOs may use their host's agreements (eg all Vodafone or Three MVNOs afaik) or they may use their own/another sponsor (eg Sky (Orange), Spusu (Tele2?), Lyca (Tele2?)) I can't chime in for any with that restriction as I have only ever roamed with MVNOs (except a short 1 month stint on Three earlier this year to go to Jersey) lol.
Not offended at all.
GitHub seems like a plan but I’m not clever enough for that.
 
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