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Home » Travel Technology » Verizon Disappoints Big Time In Israel
Travel Technology

Verizon Disappoints Big Time In Israel

Matthew Klint Posted onJanuary 17, 2020January 19, 2020 16 Comments

Verizon Service Israel

Since I made the switch from T-Mobile from Verizon, I’ve been paying more for mobile phone and data service but have enjoyed relatively smooth access…until my trip to Israel last week.

Verizon Service In Israel

Put simply, data connectivity was horribly inconsistent and generally did not work for the entire week, no matter where I was in the country (Jerusalem, Nazareth, Galilee, Tel Aviv). Oddly, the only place it seemed to work well was when we visited a friend in Netanya, a coastal city just north of Tel Aviv.

Over and over I could not access data: no email, no web browsing, no iMessage or WhatsApp. I restarted the phone several times.

Meanwhile, my wife has maintained her T-Mobile account and experienced no trouble on the free data plan.

Here’s the even more interesting thing: we were both roaming on Cellcom. We both showed “LTE” and had 3-4 bars in most places.

I called Verizon and the service was reset, but that made no difference: sometimes it worked sluggishly, most of the time it did not work at all…except in Netanya.

This cannot be a phone issue. I have an iPhone 11 Pro Max and my wife has an iPhone 7…don’t tell me that Cellcom cannot handle a new phone. Furthermore, the data went back to working perfectly the moment we returned to Switzerland. It also functioned perfectly in France, Germany, and Portugal as I journeyed home.

CONCLUSION

Experiencing compromised service within the thick stone walls of the old city of Jerusalem was one thing, but horrific service the entire trip was something I was not expecting and was beyond frustrating.

For other readers who have Verizon, did you experience similar issues in Israel?

> Read More: I Just Divorced T-Mobile

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About Author

Matthew Klint

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let's Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel.

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16 Comments

  1. Hadar Reply
    January 17, 2020 at 8:38 am

    For sure it isn’t a phone issue.
    I’m in Israel on Cellcom network and let works fine

  2. Mo Reply
    January 17, 2020 at 8:40 am

    Having the same issue whenever traveling to Israel has nothing to do with your phone. Verizon is horrible there. Very limited service. I’m currently in Rio de jenero Verizon works fine here

  3. DaninMCI Reply
    January 17, 2020 at 9:03 am

    As an ex-Verizon customer I found the same issues in Israel. I run a small tour company and take small private groups to Israel so it’s critical. Since switching to Google Fi I’ve had no issues there.

    • AR Reply
      January 17, 2020 at 9:30 am

      That was gonna be my suggestion: GoogleFi. Every time someone who travels a lot mentions terrible coverage I get on my soapbox about Fi. I’ve had it since 2015 and can’t imagine going back to a contract with AT&T. I’m not even a paid shill. Just super super happy with it.

  4. Jeff Reply
    January 17, 2020 at 9:29 am

    You also have the wrong LTE bands on your phone. Your wife’s iPhone 7 is the world phone. Your iPhone XS is the US version. It doesn’t have all of the same bands as the 7 does so it won’t work as well. One reason why I still have a 7.

    • mallthus Reply
      January 17, 2020 at 10:18 am

      This is partly correct (but is unlikely to be part of the issue). Like past iPhones, the XS Max comes in a variety of models, but unlike earlier iPhones, none of them is truly a “global” phone.

      If yours is an A1921, which is the default US XS Max, then it has band 71, which is T-Mobile’s new unique band for rural service in the US, but it doesn’t have bands 11, 21, and 28, which are common in East Asia.

      There are Japan and China unique versions, but European users (and I’d assume Israelis as well) get the A2101, which has band 28, but not 71.

      Cellcom uses only one band, 3, for LTE service in Israel, which both you and your wife’s phones have (in fact, all GSM phones have band 3), so that’s not the issue, which means it’s clearly on the carrier side. Honestly, given that your XS Max has two SIMs, if you’re not already running your Verizon connection from the eSIM, you should totally do that and then, given the amount of time you’re in Germany, I’d run a physical German SIM in the SIM slot so that you’re not necessarily dependent on Verizon’s international services in places where that doesn’t work as well. ‍♂️

      • Matthew Reply
        January 17, 2020 at 12:43 pm

        Wow, I greatly appreciate this detailed explanation. It’s really helpful. My phone is an A1921.

      • SgFm Reply
        January 17, 2020 at 1:25 pm

        I second the recommendation on the second SIM for the XS Max. My Verizon SIM is the eSIM and the Google Fi SIM is the physical one. Once I got Google Fi back on line again, for international use (see my other comment to this post), it’s been nice not having to play with those damned little SIM chips.

  5. Dov Reply
    January 17, 2020 at 9:34 am

    When i visited Israel I just bought a prepaid cellcom sim on ebay. Allot cheaper than verizon horrible international option

  6. SgFm Reply
    January 17, 2020 at 10:59 am

    Google Fi worked well for me in Israel a couple of years ago. I’ve been using a Google Fi data only SIM since 2016, linked to my partner’s Google Fi account. I was a huge fan until last year when we got to Bermuda and found out for the first time that if you don’t turn on the service before you leave US soil each time you leave, it won’t work! This had not been my experience in all my many previous trips using the SIM card internationally. Next time I traveled was to Qatar, unfortunately right after I had been forced to have a factory reset done on my XS Max by Apple, because of some sort of software corruption. The default setting to allow “data roaming” is turned off and I didn’t realize it until I’d left the US. I spent 4 weeks in 7 countries either relying on my partner’s phone service, or when solo, turning on Verizon on an as needed basis at $10/day. For the record, I had no service on Reunion with Verizon, but fortunately at least the Fi data SIM in my iPad worked!

    Fast forward to this month where I have been traveling in Spain, France and Italy. When I arrived in Spain again it did not work! I had called Fi the day before I departed the US and was assured that all was good for this trip, since I had been able to use it successfully in the US. Clearly not true, as I quickly discovered when I landed in BCN. I spent hours on the phone with multiple support people at Google Fi. Nothing worked. Eventually several of the front line reps that I spoke to would kick it up to “support”. It was only after this happened 3 different times that I finally got an email with detailed instructions that FINALLY turned on my service. Conservatively over 3 international trip in the last 9 months, I have been on the phone with Fi support 12+ hours. Google Fi is great, until it isn’t!!

  7. Mark Reply
    January 17, 2020 at 3:16 pm

    Did you try manually changing carriers in the settings? Sometimes that does the trick

  8. Mark Reply
    January 17, 2020 at 3:20 pm

    Also… on my last few trips, I’ve been paying for the T-mobile international pass ($5/day or $35/10 days or $50/30 days). In all countries I’ve visited, the roaming LTE speeds have been FAR faster than T-mobiles domestic networks in US cities.

  9. derek Reply
    January 17, 2020 at 7:54 pm

    I had a problem in Israel, too! The pay phone connection was so lousy. One could barely hear anything. Try a different phone. Same thing. Both parties had to YELL. This was Tel Aviv calling Jerusalem. That was in the days cell phones just started being used a lot so I didn’t bring a cell phone.

    Now, I’m thinking of not bringing a cell phone outside of the US because some official guard may force me to reveal Twitter or Instagram accounts. Instead, I’ll bring an Amazon Fire tablet that I use for reading books and light internet use.

  10. John D Narvaez Reply
    January 18, 2020 at 12:26 am

    When you travel to Overseas you are no longer Verizon. Why do you say Verizon? You cannot blame Verizon when In Israel you use a local carrier. Verizon or any carrier cannot guarantee service if they do not have a tower there. At that point you as a customer are roaming (using a different carrier’s service) which means if they are spotty then your service will to.

    • Matthew Reply
      January 18, 2020 at 9:43 am

      I can certainly blame Verizon when my wife (T-Mobile) and I are roaming on the same network and her service is far better than mine.

      • William Reply
        January 18, 2020 at 1:27 pm

        Did you get an actual ticket. VzW has a network group dedicated to dealing with international service. Resetting your profile is usually just the first trouble shooting step. I would also say call in for an ERT. You are paying more for a service, make sure you get what you pay for.

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