Data Roaming Quality in USA

[Anonymous]

I tried to use data while visiting the States 3 weeks ago, but there was almost zero data. With O2 Travel on and data roaming switched on in my device settings menu, I expected to be able to use my mobile apps and surf the Internet while in the US, but there was either no connection or it was very, very slow.

So during my visit, I chatted with an O2 customer support agent on-line, and he told me the connectivity might vary from region to region or there might be an issue with my device. He also advised me to change the network operator in the device network settings menu. I visited New York, New Jersey and California (both San Francisco and Los Angeles), and my data connection didn't improve at all no matter where I was. I also changed the network operator (set to AT&T to begin with) in the settings menu multiple times but it didn't help, either. Before and after my visit to the US, I made a stop-over in Stockholm and Amsterdam, and the mobile data worked just fine on my device (Samsung Galaxy S7). So, none of what he told me made sense and I ended up being charged £54.89 for the 11 days I was on O2 Travel while in the States.

I read a previous post about the data roaming quality in US, and I have an impression that this issue affects a lot of people. Is there anyone who actually had good data connection while visiting there? If you did, where in the States were you? What did you do? Unless some significant improvements are made to the quality of roaming data in the US, I recommend you to buy a local SIM card instead.

[MI5]

Data on o2 travel is severely throttled to 0.5mbps or less.
The restrictions have been lifted for EU travel, hence your better experience there.

[Anonymous]

Also I'm friends with few people in us and they day at and t is a crap network there the worsed by all 4 networks there

[jonsie]

We recommend that customers get their phone unlocked and take a Three sim for use in the US. I'm not sure of the details but @MI5 will be able to advise better on that. 

[Cleoriff]

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@liggerz87 wrote:
Also I'm friends with few people in us and they day at and t is a crap network there the worsed by all 4 networks there

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Bit of a sweeping statement @Anonymous? The USA is a massive place so I suspect it may be different dependent on where you are.. I have a friend who lives in Miami and he uses AT&T with no problems whatsoever. However, he cant get any type of signal with T.Mobile

[Anonymous]

I was in New York the week before last, I paid the data bolt on and the service was unusably slow. My work colleague was using 3 (three) and it just worked! plus it was included in his call plan.

[jonsie]

Many people on here recommend Three for roaming in the States.