In Spain and 3G Internet will not work

[Anonymous]

I am currently away in Spain (Seville) for work, usually i keep data roaming switched off and just use wifi, but today I need to send some files with my phone.  I have O2 Travel, and I have switched data roaming on.

I currently have 3 bars of signal (3G) yet I am not able to open web pages, download emails or anything else which requires data.

What am I doing wrong?

[MI5]

2 things to check first.
Check and see if you have the 4g switch on in network settings - if it is, change it to 3g.
Secondly, look at your data apn. If it is idata.o2.co.uk change it to mobile.o2.co.uk

[Cleoriff]

Just to add..O2 do not have 4G roaming agreements in place in Spain, you will only get 3G when in that country. In fact, and I'm sure @MI5 will confirm, I dont think they have 4G anywhere in the EU?

[MI5]

Hence the reason for turning off 4g if selected on the handset.

[Cleoriff]

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@MI5 wrote:
Hence the reason for turning off 4g if selected on the handset.

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Slightly off topic but relevant to me as I travel to Spain a lot. I never alter my settings at all and never have a problem at all. I presume then I should only alter them if I have any difficulties?

[MI5]

I've never changed mine either but some phones on some networks don't like it. Not sure why it only effects some and not all though.

[madasaf1sh]

o2 have no 4G roaming agreements anywhere in the World..

We keep pressing the point, but they dont have any inclination to set them up, as yet, we will see in June when the EU rules change..

The reason you need to do it on some networks and not others is down to how the host network advertises networks, some advertise 3G first then offer 4G others advertise 4G, then 3G, then 2G, and some only advertise 2G..

This is a simplified explanation.

[gmarkj]

Could it be because some phones automatically "fall over" to the next available level (4G, H, 3G, etc)?

[MI5]

I dunno but it seems pretty random.

[Cleoriff]

Having said all that ..O2's data speeds when abroad are pretty grim. This isn't my experience as I refuse to use anything but WiFi...but I know Viridis had major problems when in France a week ago. So if this is the case, O2 really need to pick up their game if they want to compete with other networks....Otherwise everyone will be switching to EE or 3...