Unable to active mobile network on UNLOCKED NOTE2

onlyforu

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Aug 18, 2014
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Dear all,

I'm new to this forum as well as troubleshooting android so kindly bear with me if anyone finds my questions as primitive.

One of my friends purchased Samsung note2 i317m unlocked in US and brought to India. Since unlocked mobiles work globally, I tried to configure the phone on local service providers in India but without much success. I spoke to my friend in US but he confirmed that the phone is unlocked and worked fine in US(he tested the phone with T-mobile sim and was working fine)

Upon general investigation, I found the below observations.

1) IMEI on Phone back panel and IMEI shown in the device(*#06#) are different. IMEI shown on the device contains an extra "/ 02". Websites like IMEIinfo and BadESN etc confirm both IMEIs are valid and the phone is neither blacklisted nor stolen. I also read that extra 02 in IMEI pertains to the software version and is not a bug really.

2) The phone displays a "no network available" icon (\O, with \ bisecting O) before and after inserting the SIM. However, I was successfully able to connect to WIFI(to a wifi router) and bluetooth(paired with other device) and pretty much other features of the phone too.

Can the experts kindly point to the exact problem with the device and any possible way outs?

Its great to be part of this group and looking forward to your kind responses. Please let me know in case any further info is required.

Regards
Only4u
 

UJ95x

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Aug 26, 2013
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Welcome to AC :)
If it is showing the no signal icon (the /0 like you said), that means there is no service available in your area. It's possible that the device doesn't support the specific bands being used in your are area of the country. WiFi and Bluetooth have nothing to do with cell signal, so those working have no effect on your phone connecting to your carrier. I'd take it into a carrier store and see if they can help you set it up or confirm whether or not the phone will work on their network.
 

onlyforu

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hi UJ95x,

Thanks for the reply. I tried with coupon of SIMs from vodafone and Idea(local network providers) which were working on my existing xperia phone and also with an active data plan. Since you mentioned,I crosschecked the bands of i317 and confirmed that, if not 4g or lTE, atleast the GSM bands (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz) are supported in India.

I spoke with the network providers but they asserted that the network in my location is fine since my xperia works like a charm.
Samsung guys did validate that the phone is unlocked and should work but couldnt comment on the workaround.

What do you think?
 

UJ95x

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hi UJ95x,

Thanks for the reply. I tried with coupon of SIMs from vodafone and Idea(local network providers) which were working on my existing xperia phone and also with an active data plan. Since you mentioned,I crosschecked the bands of i317 and confirmed that, if not 4g or lTE, atleast the GSM bands (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz) are supported in India.

I spoke with the network providers but they asserted that the network in my location is fine since my xperia works like a charm.
Samsung guys did validate that the phone is unlocked and should work but couldnt comment on the workaround.

What do you think?

Sorry for the late reply. I'm not sure what else you can try. You can go to the carrier store and ask for APNs for the network, but beyond that it's probably an issue with the device and not the network.

Sent from my Galaxy S4 running SlimKat 4.4.4
 

onlyforu

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hi UJ95x,
Not sure if you are still glued to this thread but just wanted to update you on this issue and seek your advise on the further course of action :)
Likewise androidcentral, I posted my query on few other forums like sammobile, androidforums etc. and in a nut shell have come to a conclusion that it is the crappy IMEI on the phone(*#06#) that is stopping the phone from connecting to a mobile network.I even got hold of US Samsung care with some difficulty, and got a confirmation that IMEI and S/N on the back panel of the phone are registered and clean.

Can you kindly throw some light on any quick and possible ways of retrieving the original IMEI on the phone? Experts from other forums have suggested to "try and check if an entire firmware re-installation would work" but being a novice, I'm a bit watchful.

P.S: Im aware that altering an IMEI is illegal but I guess retrieving it is not ;)
 

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