To think she's in the UK

[Courtney555]

Anyone who has a bit of tech knowledge greatly appreciated here....

My friend is abroad. Been there since Weds due back tomorrow morning. I've called her mobile a couple of times, got the international dial tone, as per normal.

Today, called at lunch. International tone still. She's told me again she's flying back in the morning. I called her just now to double check flight time and it's ringing with a standard UK ringtone like the phone is in the UK?

Does this mean she's in the UK now? She's a really good long term friend with no reason at all to fib. There's literally no reason why she'd tell me she was back tomorrow morning instead of tonight (it's like 14hrs difference) so can this happen by accident? Google is not helping.

I know she's on EE. Could the phone have picked up a UK network out there (Cyprus) and that's why the dial tone has changed this evening.

I hope this is a common occurrence with phones, I'm just a bit "hmmmmm" because since it's rung like it's in the UK she hasn't read my WhatsApps or returned the call.

Please tell me you've had experience of this to put my mind at ease. I know it's really none of my business at the end of the day, but I'd like to know if she could still be legitimately out there and it's just the phone playing silly buggers.

Thank you in advance...

Was it a copy of a restraining order with your name on you saw at her house?

It's probably her that is the something you saw at her house op. Crawling around in the dark below window level, hoping you don't foil her devious plan to go back to the airport in the morning so you can pick her up and take her home again. That's the most logical conclusion to leap to based on the change in ringtone.

Has she managed to get her GPS tracker off?

You're being illogical. She isn't secretly killing 24 hours in an airport so you can go and get her tomorrow.

@TrainspottingWelsh 😂

This has all gone predictably 'New Mumsnet'. 14 years ago, this was a different space. I know this enrages newer users, but- back then, OPs like this would have been far more likely to have been answered in good faith. Not with sneery goadery.

No one can answer a straight question with a straight answer any more, can they?

The tone you're all talking about is called the Ringback Tone, and it's generated by the final exchange. So yes it would generally indicate if a mobile was in the UK or abroad.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ringback_tone

However as all modern telephony equipment is capable of producing all the different ringback tones, you can't escape the possibility that the final exchange is configured with the wrong ringback tone for that region; unlikely but possible. You've also got to consider there may be some sort of forwarding service which could mean the ringback tone is being generated somewhere short of the final exchange.

The ringback tone is therefore reliable, but couldn't be used as absolute proof.

forums.digitalspy.com/discussion/1260440/dial-tone-when-ringing-mobile-abroad/p2

And you think tomorrow she's going to drive to the airport to pretend to arrive home so her parents / you can pick her up?

Don't be daft

What I'd presume is that she's landed in London and then fancied going out for the night, or gone on a date perhaps, staying in London for the night then acting like she's only just arrived back when she wakes up tomorrow, and saying something like she's popped into the city can I pick her up from there.

Which again, is her choice. But I'm not finding someone to have DS for 5hrs round trip to pick her up if she's chosen to hide that she's already here tonight.

I'm not going to question her out on it. It's not worth ruining a friendship, she's obviously choosing not to tell me if she has come back early and that's fine. But if there's no way she can still be abroad, I'm not being an 11th hour taxi tomorrow.

Yep she's back, she's sneaked home and not told you as she doesn't want to see you today and then she's going to sneak back to the airport tomorrow, leave her car there and get you to drive her home and then go back and get her car later. That sounds really likely. Or maybe she just isn't back yet and you are being ridiculous. If I was this friend I'd be so angry if I saw this post suggesting I was lying because of a dialling tone!

If you are picking her up, she’ll let you know when, surely. If she’s already in the country, chances are she’s already been picked up.

This is very over the top, I have to say.

Sound like someone is having issue with a boyfriend or husband (or wife), not a "friend".

People are so rude.

OP purely asked about ringtone. Not for you to dissect her relationship or accuse her of being a stalker. And if people read properly they'd see her friend rang her twice asking for favours. She returned the call twice - once so she could facilitate the favour.

Yes the ringtone can ring as both. It depends how the network is picking up the call.

Why would she do all of that?

And why would you care if she went on a date? Just say no sorry, you didn’t give me enough notice to pick you up. Why would she fake going back to the airport? She wouldn’t, this is a mad hypothesis

No one can answer a straight question with a straight answer any more, can they?

The Op asked a Google-able question and included abundant odd details to go with their question.

Could it be that she is connected to WiFi as opposed to a network?

I'm crying with laughter now at this thread. There's a woman on holiday somewhere, who has no idea that hundreds of strangers are discussing her dial tone on an Internet forum.
😅

Very judgy thread as usual. She only asked a question. Leave her alone!

I’ve had uk dialling tone abroad - especially if on WiFi
Eg DP and I were away together not in UK
If I rang him to arrange to meet - we have different interests so often do stuff separately whilst away sometimes I got abroad tone sometimes not

It's not worth ruining a friendship

It can't be that good a friendship if you genuinely believe it's possible she would get you to arrange childcare and drive for five hours just so she can put on some weird performance to conceal her return from holiday being a day earlier than advised.

You have quite the imagination.

A 5 hour round trip to pick up someone from the airport? She can sort herself out surely.

OP might be a stalker ex boyfriend trying to keep tabs on where she is, that’s why everyone is suspicious. What friend would honestly ring you up on holiday just to see what ring tone they got so they could ponder where you are, and then make up hypothetical dates you’d gone on.

You sound like a stalker -- totally over-invested in this and creepy.

Yes, a UK mobile can ring with a UK tone while abroad. I have no idea why, but I had to ring my own UK mobile while abroad (brought my work phone and my personal phone, then lent my personal phone to the family member who was with me) and the ring tone varied between "weird-sounding" international ring-tone and "normal-sounding" UK ring tone although we were abroad the whole time.

To be honest though I think you need help. Your response to this is so far from normal. If you don't trust your friend and secretly suspect that they are inventing elaborate lies about their location, for goodness' sake, back off and leave it.

It gets even more bizarre...
You seriously think she's landed and gone out for the night, or on a date?
I think her dancing on a nightclub dancefloor, or turning up to meet a date with holiday luggage might look weird.

Don't trains run from London to your area OP?