I was recently in Ireland travelling around quite a bit. I had my phone in airplane mode while on the ferry, switched off airplane mode after we left the ferry, and switched on roaming. Despite messages suggesting that I was connected to IdMobile in Ireland, I spent 10 days with no mobile data, unable to send or receive SMS or WhatsApp messages, or browse the internet. Fortunately I was with my daughters (both of whom are with IdMobile) who were able to do the day to day planning while we were away, and by tethering my phone to one of theirs I was able to send and receive emails.
I restarted my phone, toggled aircraft mode and roaming several times while in Ireland but no mobile data connection until we were back in Wales. On two occasions I successfully connected to private WiFi networks. My phone is a 4G Motorola and roaming worked perfectly when in France 3 years ago. I’m now worried in case the same thing happens on my next solo trip. Can anyone explain why this happened?