Mobilicity - Chatr Roaming

[fruvous]

It is not exactly the same thing (or is it?) but if Wind is capable of cherry-picking towers for roaming or blocking roaming, why can't Rogers/Chatr handle zones and the "R"? As a (former) Wind subscriber, I can attest to the flawless roaming on Vancouver Island (no Wind signal) and the flawed implementation when I am in Vancouver with a weak Wind signal. Phones cannot connect for roaming data or dialing when there is a Wind signal, even if that signal is too weak to be useable. (That is in part why we left... if roaming on the fringes of the Home zone were allowed, our "Everywhere 45" would have given us coverage instead of repeated disconnects and uncompleted calls.)

It's because the roaming towers or non Wind/Freedom towers have a different MNC identifier which the phone picks up.

[tvisforme]

It's because the roaming towers or non Wind/Freedom towers have a different MNC identifier which the phone picks up.

Thanks, yes, the point I was making was that Wind's system is apparently able to differentiate between individual towers of the roaming network. If I connect to a Rogers tower in North Vancouver, I cannot place a roaming call. If I connect to a Rogers tower in Nanaimo - which would have the same MNC identifier, but there are no Wind towers available - roaming works properly. It seems unlikely that the phone would be able to make that distinction.

[fruvous]

Thanks, yes, the point I was making was that Wind's system is apparently able to differentiate between individual towers of the roaming network. If I connect to a Rogers tower in North Vancouver, I cannot place a roaming call. If I connect to a Rogers tower in Nanaimo - which would have the same MNC identifier, but there are no Wind towers available - roaming works properly. It seems unlikely that the phone would be able to make that distinction.

Carriers can allow or disallow access at the tower level. Take a look at intercarrier roaming, they only allow roaming on certain towers. Same issue within Wind's own coverage area. They are able to disable roaming on "partner networks" where they don't want you to connect.

Basically, they can say, any SIM with this MNC can only connect to these towers. Once again, this does not affect the roaming indicator, it only allows a connection to the tower or not.