Unable to connect to mobile network from abroad

[mic79]

We've been abroad (in Brazil) since March, but since August one of our 2 Fido mobile phone Sim-cards was unable to make a connection to one of the Brazilian carriers (Vivo/Oi/Claro/Tim), making it impossible to receive SMS or phone calls, which results in being unable to receive confirmation messages sent by SMS. The other Fido Sim was still working fine. Tried the failing Sim card in 3 different devices, all with the same results. The Fido Sim card is recognized by the device, but unable to connect to a carrier.

Already got in contact with support by phone, and after following all their instructions and still having no working connection they said they would check further on their end, gave me a support ticket and informed me they would get back to me by email. Then I got an SMS on my still working Sim, informing hey couldn't find any issue and informing me that if the issue still persists, to get in contact by phone again...

That was also the last time my 2nd Sim card still worked, because now that one also stopped connecting.

Can you please take this problem seriously and fix it?!

[FidoPhilippe]

Hey @mic79! Philippe here. I hope you're doing well.

I'll be happy to help you with this, please answer the following:

Can you tell us what troubleshooting you have done so far to fix this?

Are all your devices OS up-to-date?

Do you get an error message trying to connect or does your phones say ''no connection''?

Let us know or you can find our various contact methods here for support.

[mic79]

Hi Philippe,

Thanks for offering to assist.

While at first only one of the 2 Fido Sim cards had stopped making a connection, we were able to eliminate the possibility of any issue with the OS, Device or Brazilian network operators, being that the working Sim worked in any of the 3 devices, while the not-working Sim didn't work in any of them.

The failing Fido Sim card is recognized by the Device/OS as "Fido", it shows the list of possible Brazilian network operators to connect to, but isn't able to connect to any of the carriers, no matter the network type. The only error given is "No service. Selected network (72410) unavailable." The code seems to be specific for each of the network operators.

Now after a few months both Fido Sim cards are giving he same error.

[Cawtau]

Hello Mic79,

  Welcome to the community!

  The first thing that came to mind was that there might have been a roaming block on your one SIM card. However, since your second SIM no longer works, I'm now curious as to whether there is a maximum amount of roaming that can occur before the service gets blocked.

  Generally, roaming is only meant on a temporary basis. With the roaming agreements between the Canadian providers, the majority of usage needs to be on one's home network. I would expect there might be similar limitations when roaming between Countries. I have always warned people searching out US providers for permanent roaming in Canada that the service might get blocked. Obviously, the various agreements might differ depending on the Countries involved.

  Since you've been in Brazil for such a long time, it's possible those mobile providers would rather you pay them for using their services rather than you paying Fido.

  You might consider contacting customer services to see if they can determine whether the Brazilian providers might have blocked roaming access on those SIMs. Alternatively, you might consider sending @FidoSolutions a PM. Once they verify some information, they'll also be able to access your accounts.

Just a thought... Hope this helps 😀

Cheers

[mic79]

Hi Cawtau,

Thanks for the information.

Please take into consideration that I already called Fido support before, I got redirected to technical support and was informed they would look into it and then a few days later they closed the ticket informing me they couldn't find any issue...

Clearly I have no choice but to call them again. Fido's support process needs some work...

[Cawtau]

Hello again,

  I understood that you had already contacted Fido technical support and that they couldn't find any issues on their end. That's why I suggested contacting Fido to see if they can find out if there are any issues on Brazil's end. You could contact the Brazil mobile providers yourself to ask whether the limit the amount of roaming. However, I don't think they'll be able to provide you with an answer. The two providers might be able to discern more information between themselves rather than you asking front-line customer service representatives.

Hope this helps 😀

Cheers