Can't send or receive international text messages.

[Panamax]

Samsung Galaxy phone on Tesco mobile. I recently ported my number from Sky mobile to Tesco. I can phone international numbers but can neither send nor receive international texts. They show as sent and charged on my account but never arrive. Tesco support have not dealt with it despite chats and phone conversations. The phone has been reset, network reset, SIM put back in etc.

Any suggestions?

[skyebear]

Panamax said:

Samsung Galaxy phone on Tesco mobile. I recently ported my number from Sky mobile to Tesco. I can phone international numbers but can neither send nor receive international texts. They show as sent and charged on my account but never arrive. Tesco support have not dealt with it despite chats and phone conversations. The phone has been reset, network reset, SIM put back in etc.

Any suggestions?

I was going to suggest changing access point from auto to manual (Tesco) but you may have tried that as part of network reset.

Have you tried forcing the phone to use 3G or 4G?

Or check if your message app is using RCS. Try SMS. Or vice versa.

[the-norseman]

Another question would be why? in this day and age there is plenty of ways of sending messages other than by "text"

[Panamax]

skyebear said:

Or check if your message app is using RCS. Try SMS. Or vice versa.

I've been looking at that. I usually use SMS and have just tried RCS but still no joy. It's really most odd.

[Panamax]

skyebear said:

I was going to suggest changing access point from auto to manual (Tesco) but you may have tried that as part of network reset.

The APN is correctly set as Tesco

[jeremyc]

Google search AI results said:

The Tesco Mobile UK SMS message centre number (SMSC) is
[phone] (or 07785014317). If you are having issues sending text messages, check your phone’s message settings to ensure this number is configured correctly, usually found in the Advanced or SMS settings menu.

SMSC Number: [phone]
Alternative/Older Number: [phone] (can be tried if the main one fails)

How to update on Android:

Open your Messaging app.
Go to Settings > More Settings > Text Messages > Message Centre Number.
Enter [phone].

How to update on iPhone:

Open the Phone app.
Dial *#5005*7672# to view your current SMSC.
Dial **5005*7672*[phone]# to update the number.

[jeremyc]

Are you able to send domestic market (I assume UK) SMS successfully?

[Panamax]

My problem is only with international texts, not domestic.

My SMSC is a different number which comes up as O2 when googled. O2 provide the Tesco mobile platform so I assume it's correct. If it was wrong I'd surely not be able to text at all rather than just having problems with international?

[Steve_H80]

the-norseman said:

Another question would be why? in this day and age there is plenty of ways of sending messages other than by "text"

Because message systems use the data network, there are still a lot of places that might have a phone signal but no data.

[jeremyc]

Panamax said:

My problem is only with international texts, not domestic.

My SMSC is a different number which comes up as O2 when googled. O2 provide the Tesco mobile platform so I assume it's correct. If it was wrong I'd surely not be able to text at all rather than just having problems with international?

O2 is also the provider for Sky Mobile, so it could be that the SMSC is still set to that for Sky.

I guess it's possible that the Sky SMSC setup doesn't allow international texts for Tesco subscribers.

It could be worth noting the current SMSC number and changing to the Tesco one: worst case you'll only have to change it back.

[skyebear]

Have you tried turning data roaming on? Don't see why it would work but who knows...

If you put in an alternative or second SIM will that work? Maybe the best solution is to port your number to a nother network.

[Panamax]

jeremyc said:

O2 is also the provider for Sky Mobile, so it could be that the SMSC is still set to that for Sky.

That's an interesting point, and I'll have a closer look tomorrow.

Yes, I have tried the data roaming settings already.