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Is there any way I can reliably receive SMS or MMS message sent to my home-country telephone number while I am overseas but simultaneously prevent the possibility that I will be charged for data-roaming or, inadvertently, voice-roaming (is that the correct expression?)

I have a dual-SIM phone, so I have the possibility of purchasing a local SIM for calls, but also retaining my home-country SIM as a way of identifying the phone as being associated with my home-country number.

Is there some clever trick that one can do with "WiFi calling" ? ... something I only heard of for the first time yesterday.

Superficially related to this question, Ensuring 2-FA while travelling, but more general and not solvable in the same way.

CrimsonDark
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Without narrowing this down to a specific country, or even a specific provider, the answer is 'no'.

What you can do is get a number that works, wherever you are, and to get these SMSs on that number.

Skype used to offer this service, but as MS is cancelling Skype in the next few weeks, reliable alternatives are scarce.

Google Voice, which provides similar functionality, is available in 14 countries.

FWIW, I used to have Skype exactly for this, and switched to a combination of Twilio and Telfon. This mostly works, though I had to provide an American address for the number porting, and have found that not all SMSs arrive.

MastaBaba
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For SMS, I'm not aware of any operators that charge roaming fees for receiving them. There may be exceptions but this would be quite unusual. (Charging roaming fees for sending them, on the other hand, is standard.)

MMS, on the other hand, requires using a data connection to download any attachments like pictures, so you will be charged data roaming fees for them. If you block data roaming, you will not be charged but will also be unable to see attachments; you may be able to download them over Wifi, but I wouldn't count on it. Then again, MMS roaming is horrifically flaky at the best of times so I wouldn't count on it, period.

Note that MMS is rapidly become obsolete as phone manufacturers and operators adopt its successor RCS. RCS also uses data roaming, but it's more likely to work over Wifi than MMS.

Wifi calling will not help you for SMS/MMS. If you do get a local SIM, in any modern dual-SIM phone it's possible to set it to primary for data and disable data roaming for your secondary (home) SIM, this way SMS can still get through but you'll avoid bill surprises.

I would still strongly recommend something like Signal or, if you must, Whatsapp for all your messaging needs.

Disclaimer: I used to work in telco messaging but left the industry years ago.

lambshaanxy
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