Wrong carrier

[Alexus]

I am obviously with telus but my carrier keeps changing to AT&T and I've tried everything to change it and nothing will work!

[xl]

Some thoughts...
-do you have a Telus SIM inserted?
-are you in a Telus coverage area?
-are you near the US border?
-is your phone set to manual carrier selection? Or auto?
-what is the make and model of your phone?

[NFtoBC]

I'll echo the comments of @xl about being near the US border and connecting to ATT. I experienced similar in White Rock, and at a number of places along Hwy 3. I've set my iPhone to connect only to Telus to prevent this when travelling. If you share the model of the phone with the Neighbourhood, I expect one of us can provide exact steps to address this.

Note: some locations (e.g. parts of Lake Koocanusa) have no Telus signal to switch to, even if you do set your phone to Telus only.

[Nighthawk]

The American cell towers are putting out a signal far stronger than what Canadian towers put out. Even from across the bay in White Rock, or Langley or anywhere relatively close to the US border you'll likely switch to the stronger signal unless your phone is set to only Telus as @NFtoBC mentioned. I only wish the Canadian carriers would increase their signal strength to similar levels (assuming the CRTC allows it).

[nasty]

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@Nighthawk wrote:

I only wish the Canadian carriers would increase their signal strength to similar levels (assuming the CRTC allows it).

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The somewhat reliable rumor is that Canada purposely mandates a weaker border signal on the Canadian side to not tick off the U.S subscribers who will complain louder of constant shifts to a Canadian carrier.  Proper aiming(side to side. up and down) of cellular tower antennas would help, but really requires putting the towers on the border to aim back into their own country. Kind of hard to do when the Pacific Ocean and Great lakes is covering the border with a few hundred feet of water. Signal bounce on the water is a neat happening.

White Rock troubles for Rogers customers. Data/text roaming is a cash cow. Less than ideal default settings on phones that allow carrier roaming and the end user never bothers to learn their phone's settings before putting it into service. On the White Rock hillside a couple of decades ago, voice roaming was no extra charges, if I remember correctly. The decision to charge roaming was based on which exact U.S. antenna you roamed on to(aim north. aim south).

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bogus-cellphone-roaming-charges-irk-border-residents-...

Victoria roaming to U.S.

http://www.timescolonist.com/news/local/u-s-cellphone-roaming-charges-invade-victoria-waterfront-1.7...

Point Roberts complaints of being in the stone age for U.S. coverage.

http://www.cellreception.com/coverage/wa/point-roberts/page1.html

The European Union still is working at destroying roaming fee's. Too many bribes being accepted by North American politicians to let that happen here.

http://www.economist.com/blogs/babbage/2012/08/mobile-roaming

[xray]

An article appearing today:
Cell users near U.S. border can face roaming charges due to interference: group

A consumer advocacy group says wireless customers living near the border are at risk of accidental roaming charges due to interference from U.S. carrier signals.

Bruce Cran, president of the Consumers' Association of Canada, said it's a national problem that affects every cellphone provider in the country.

[nasty]

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@xray wrote:

An article appearing today:
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/cell-users-near-u-border-face-roaming-charges-185152915.html

A consumer advocacy group says wireless customers living near the border are at risk of accidental roaming charges due to interference from U.S. carrier signals.

Bruce Cran, president of the Consumers' Association of Canada, said it's a national problem that affects every cellphone provider in the country.

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I do like the Sasktel response. 'Not our problem!'. 

With the portable Internet in that case, making a tinfoil directional dish to house the unit, helps to ensure a stronger signal is focused towards the tower in Canada.

[A Saskatchewan woman says her mobile Internet hot-spot device, called a Mi-Fi, has incurred international roaming charges, even though it hasn't left her property near Alameda, a community not far from the U.S. border with North Dakota.] 

[NightWing-Robin]

Wrong Carrier, Right Post! NF2BC made us see, Go Manual or Go Roam!

[NFtoBC]

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@NightWing-Robin wrote:

Wrong Carrier, Right Post! NF2BC made us see, Go Manual or Go Roam!

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@NightWing-Robin 

V E R Y Punny! 

[NightWing-Robin]

@NFtoBC I try! I try! The Riddler had some influence on me... but don't tell him that!