Visiting US

[macmedal]

I am currently visiting the US in the Chicago area. I have turned off Data Roaming and Push services and have only been using wifi when I can for free. So far so good as I have not used any mobile data which I want to avoid.

However I have noticed even though my 3G is turned on I do not get a 3G. More out of interest as it really doesn't affect me but would I get 3G if I turned on the data roaming. I am with O2 in the UK and it seems AT&T is my roaming provider in the Chicago area.

 

[skubish]

I am currently visiting the US in the Chicago area. I have turned off Data Roaming and Push services and have only been using wifi when I can for free. So far so god as I have not used any mobile data which I want to avoid.

However I have noticed even though my 3G is turned on I do not get a 3G. More out of interest as it really doesn't affect me but would I get 3G if I turned on the data roaming. I am with O2 in the UK and it seems AT&T is my roaming provider in the Chicago area.

Not sure but it is probably because data roaming is turned off. AT&T is the only provide in the US that has 3G on the frequencies that the iPhone supports.

 

[sjorge]

I've noticed too that when I turn of data roaming I don't get 3G nor EDGE.

 

[stomer]

I was recently in California and I noticed that 3G and EDGE are off as long as you have Data Roaming Off. Turn Data Roaming on and then 3G and Edge will become available.

 

[Rybold]

I live in California, but I was on vacation in Chicago in August, and the coverage there is spotty in some areas. In most areas, I had 4-5 bars of 3G (before the 2.1 update), but in some spots I had almost a dead-zone.

I agree with the others ... I would experiment with turning the "data roaming" on and off, and see what happens.

 

[macmedal]

I found myself on T Mobile for most of yesterday but I am now back on AT&T roaming. I switched on Data Roaming and immediately 3G was activated so turning data roaming off disables 3G.

 

[macmedal]

I have found that whilst on T Mobile roaming the iphone is continuously crashing. I have had no problem when it uses AT&T but as soon as it switches to T Mobile and I try and use any services i.e text, ipod or applications the phone crashes. Very frustrating especially as I seem to be in a in a T Mobile area for a few days (Rockford IL).

 

[sparkyms]

Data roaming will not "disable 3G".
You will still connect to 3G enabled towers for increased call-quality, it's just the iPhone will not accept a data down/uplink for transfer.
Although, if you're not using Data, I would just recommend turning off 3G for better battery life.