ATT Roaming on Iwireless (IOWA)

[htech]

I was in Iowa today. I have an iphone and got pretty good coverage. I was in the Carrol area and had full bars. It said ATT on my phone. I had gotten a couple calls but when I went to place one it said that my phone does not allow outgoing calls. what's up with this? any know why? iWireless appears to be part of tmobile I think. I was stumped why the message was given from the carrier. are there no roaming agreements?

[Andy]

If your phone connected to iWireless, there has to be a roaming agreement in place. Not sure why it did not allow you to make calls though.

[Charlyee]

Originally Posted by htech

I was in Iowa today. I have an iphone and got pretty good coverage. I was in the Carrol area and had full bars. It said ATT on my phone. I had gotten a couple calls but when I went to place one it said that my phone does not allow outgoing calls. what's up with this? any know why? iWireless appears to be part of tmobile I think. I was stumped why the message was given from the carrier. are there no roaming agreements?

I am not sure why this would happen as Andy also said. I have been on Iwireless many times both in IA and in NC WI, and I have had no problems making calls. You are right IWireless is a T-Mobile associate but at&t does have roaming arrangement with them, unless something has changed within the last month.

[htech]

would this have anything to do with my iphone being on a pick your plan? not pay as you go but it's on a pick your plan. I'm trying out the coverage for a month or two before I sign a contract. I thought the pick your plan option allowed the same coverage with roaming. I know the pay as you go is limited to native ATT coverage.

[Charlyee]

Originally Posted by htech

would this have anything to do with my iphone being on a pick your plan? not pay as you go but it's on a pick your plan. I'm trying out the coverage for a month or two before I sign a contract. I thought the pick your plan option allowed the same coverage with roaming. I know the pay as you go is limited to native ATT coverage.

Yes you are absolutely correct, that's what the problem is. Although PYOP has some roaming arrangements as opposed to PAYG having none, it is still not as inclusive as the regular post pay plan.

[htech]

thanks so much for the reply. I have been trying to find a knowledgeable source. Looks like I'm off to ATT to sign a 2 year.

[Charlyee]

Originally Posted by htech

thanks so much for the reply. I have been trying to find a knowledgeable source. Looks like I'm off to ATT to sign a 2 year.

You are welcome & good luck to you. The one thing I would suggest (you probably have thought about it already ) is to check out the phone with the post pay plan in the same areas within your 30 day trial period, so just in case you still cannot roam with IWireless you can cancel it.

[Gonz]

I am on IWS at school with my AT&T Phone in Platteville WI. This happened to me on a couple occasions when I came back from home... I think it was probably a temporary thing, I assure you they do have an agreement. Haven't had much trouble since. Platteville is a HUGE roaming investment, since a huge number of students at the university have AT&T, and they have had the only fully operable GSM net out here for a couple years now. There was nothing before, USCC and Alltel are the two 800 providers. Einstein does have GSM out here now, not fully operable yet, but there is a signal.

IWS does not sell phones in WI, seems the net is for roaming revenue only....

[Andy]

Originally Posted by Gonz

I am on IWS at school with my AT&T Phone in Platteville WI. This happened to me on a couple occasions when I came back from home... I think it was probably a temporary thing, I assure you they do have an agreement. Haven't had much trouble since. Platteville is a HUGE roaming investment, since a huge number of students at the university have AT&T, and they have had the only fully operable GSM net out here for a couple years now. There was nothing before, USCC and Alltel are the two 800 providers. Einstein does have GSM out here now, not fully operable yet, but there is a signal.

IWS does not sell phones in WI, seems the net is for roaming revenue only....

So do you roam more than the AT&T roaming clause says you are allowed to then while at school? Are you not afraid of being kicked off?

[Gonz]

Originally Posted by Andy

So do you roam more than the AT&T roaming clause says you are allowed to then while at school? Are you not afraid of being kicked off?

Its interesting, I have 2000 Minutes. I did the math last year, have used up to about 6-700 minutes in months and have not been asked about it. Funny part is I still have an agent plan w/o a contract. You'd think I'd be the first person they'd go after considering I pay a cent and a quarter a minute for airtime. I even changed my billing address to school last year. They didn't really care. I also was using GAIT on Alltel and USCC for a while. Still, they didn't care. They dropped those roaming agreements now... No more GAIT...(Mabey because of me...?)

Other students have not really voiced problems being d/c'd. Its interesting. It'll be even more interesting seeing how my sis does in Eau Claire with USCC (on Alltel).

[Andy]

Originally Posted by Gonz

Its interesting, I have 2000 Minutes. I did the math last year, have used up to about 6-700 minutes in months and have not been asked about it. Funny part is I still have an agent plan w/o a contract. You'd think I'd be the first person they'd go after considering I pay a cent and a quarter a minute for airtime. I even changed my billing address to school last year. They didn't really care. I also was using GAIT on Alltel and USCC for a while. Still, they didn't care. They dropped those roaming agreements now... No more GAIT...(Mabey because of me...?)

Other students have not really voiced problems being d/c'd. Its interesting. It'll be even more interesting seeing how my sis does in Eau Claire with USCC (on Alltel).

Very interesting, thanks for explaining the situation to me. I wonder if they don't really care because you are on an Agent Plan and they are willing to bite the bullet because of that?
Or maybe their roaming agreement with IWireless is so good that they don't care about people roaming too much.

[Gonz]

Originally Posted by Andy

Very interesting, thanks for explaining the situation to me. I wonder if they don't really care because you are on an Agent Plan and they are willing to bite the bullet because of that?
Or maybe their roaming agreement with IWireless is so good that they don't care about people roaming too much.

I've thought mabey a combination of both...?

Anyway Andy, how have you been?

[htech]

Just an update I thought I would post. ATT got me switched over with no hassle. The rep really knew what they were doing. Got my gophone account balance moved over so I had a credit to start with and then the postpaid plan. I just went back to Iowa and I had coverage and no issues making or placing calls. Thanks again for the help.

Originally Posted by htech

I was in Iowa today. I have an iphone and got pretty good coverage. I was in the Carrol area and had full bars. It said ATT on my phone. I had gotten a couple calls but when I went to place one it said that my phone does not allow outgoing calls. what's up with this? any know why? iWireless appears to be part of tmobile I think. I was stumped why the message was given from the carrier. are there no roaming agreements?

[Charlyee]

Originally Posted by htech

Just an update I thought I would post. ATT got me switched over with no hassle. The rep really knew what they were doing. Got my gophone account balance moved over so I had a credit to start with and then the postpaid plan. I just went back to Iowa and I had coverage and no issues making or placing calls. Thanks again for the help.

Thanks for the update htech, I am glad everything got taken care of for you.