Roaming in Germany - Only 2G. No 4G available.

[#1]

Hello,

I'm currently in a period of business travel to Germany and on my personal phone with Plusnet I'm not able to get 4G data. Only "E" (i.e. 2G) is available. I've tried selecting different networks and I get the same problem.

This is quite disappointing as my work phone (on EE) works fine and I get full 4G. 

As PlusNet states Germany is "Roam like Home", why is there no 4G available for Plusnet customers, but there is for EE customers?

Any advice or information would be great!

Luke

[#2]

@LukeBrocks 

Probably because Plusnet is a budget option and doesn’t include the full range of services and frequency bands available to EE customers.

[#3]

Thanks for your post @LukeBrocks and welcome to our Community Forums.

I'm really sorry to see you can't get 4G while out in Germany. 

Unfortunately our suppliers wouldn't investigate partial signal loss abroad, if there was no service at all that'd be something we can look into though. I suspect this is down to the roaming agreements we have with providers in Germany.

[#4]

Hi,

I have the same problem with data roaming in the Czech Republic. I only get EDGE or GPRS. That is 2G data, like 20 years ago, completely unusable.

Please note that ALL mobile operators in both Germany and the Czech Republic switched off all 3G networks in these countries towards the end of 2021:

https://www.helmholz.de/en/3g-shutdown-in-germany

https://developingtelecoms.com/telecom-technology/data-centres-networks/12445-czech-mate-for-3g-as-o...

It appears the Plusnet agreement does NOT include the use of 4G in these countries. I travel to the Czech Republic quite often for several weeks at a time, I am not happy Plusnet is unable to provide a decent data service there. Notionally data roaming works but only on 2G (very slow, 20kbps maybe?). That was not made clear upfront that 4G data is not part of the deal.

This is not partial loss, it is 2G only. Calls and texts work fine on 2G, but the 2G data service (EDGE/GPRS) cannot be considered acceptable service nowadays.

I am unable to get any resolution from the Customer Service line (500), they have no idea what problem I am describing and have no way of passing it to a technical team. 

There are other people with the same problem: https://community.plus.net/t5/Mobile/2g-only-when-roaming/m-p/1830692

Are Plusnet management aware of this situation and are there any plans in place to address this? I feel that because Customer Service do not understand what customers complain about, it is not passed up the management chain to the attention of someone who can actually address it.

If it is the case the Plusnet agreement will not support 4G in some EU countries, I would like to be released from my 12 month contract as this is not what I signed up for.

Kind regards,

Zbynek

[#5]

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@ZK wrote:

If it is the case the Plusnet agreement will not support 4G in some EU countries, I would like to be released from my 12 month contract as this is not what I signed up for.

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I have had a quick look through the terms and conditions to see what the guaranteed coverage is that 'you signed up for.'

I can find no mention of guaranteed coverage, be it 2G, 3G or 4G at all, never mind overseas. Have I missed something?

[#6]

I'm looking for advice on this issue by someone from Plusnet please. Is it the case that Plusnet agreements with your roaming partners mean that I can only get 2G data in the Czech Republic (since there are no 3G networks anymore here and your agreements don't include 4G), or could this be an single user issue with my account/SIM that I should pursue with Customer Service?

It has been a week and my connection is consistently with "O2 CZ" on EDGE only, this is not an outage or coverage issue.

[#7]

I had the same problem in France but at least they still have 3g !

see also https://community.plus.net/t5/Mobile-Tech-Help/Unable-to-access-4G-services-whilst-roaming/td-p/1860...