iPhone - how to configure preferred mobile networks

NFH

My Orange SIM card contains an editable list of 20 mobile networks (listed below). If I put my SIM card in an old phone, I can edit this list by adding and removing mobile networks. Mobile phones (including iPhones) read this list from the SIM and connect in order of preference to the highest available network in the list. This is particularly useful when roaming in border regions, for example Spain and Gibraltar (no VAT in the latter), and Cyprus and Northern Cyprus (EEA rates in the former). How do I edit this list on my iPhone? It's a bit annoying to have to put the SIM in an old phone to do this, particularly since it's not a one-off task as the list is occasionally overwritten by SIM updates.

Here's the unedited list from my Orange SIM (country code or MCC followed by MNC):

• F01
• E03
• CH03
• BEL10
• PL03
• 226-10
• 231-01
• IRL02
• 310-41
• D07
• 230-01
• P03
• A03
• H30
• NL16
• I10
• 219-10
• GR01
• TR01
• CN00

It seems that Orange adds networks that it owns in order to reduce its own costs (but not the end-prices paid by the customer).

NFH

Also on this subject, I tried setting T-Mobile UK as my first preferred network so that my iPhone logs on to T-Mobile UK in preference to Orange UK. However, I believe that one's home network (i.e. Orange) always takes preference over the preferred network list, so it doesn't have any effect. I wanted to do this because I get faster data speeds on T-Mobile than on Orange and because T-Mobile is much less prone to dropping calls in the places where I use my phone the most. Does anyone have another way of achieving this?

Buzby

It made sense in the old days of 2G, but not now. Phones will connect to the best signal regardless, and pay no attention to this list.

NFH

Buzby wrote: »

It made sense in the old days of 2G, but not now. Phones will connect to the best signal regardless, and pay no attention to this list.

No, you're mistaken. I roam quite often in multiple countries, and my iPhone most definitely connects in preference to the above networks, most of which are Orange with a small number of T-Mobile. It connects to other networks only when the preferred networks are out of range. Why do you believe that modern phones ignore the preferred network list on the SIM, and what do you believe the relevance is of 2G vs 3G?