Total shot in the dark here, but, I'm nearly out of options with my stupid overpriced phone and tech support is no place to turn so: anyone here have experience working in depth with mobile networking (Verizon's network in particular would be ideal) AND fairly extensive experience with android OS (Samsung's modifications, in particular)? I'm having a nightmare of an issue with connectivity that has happened with two different carriers who both use Verizon's network: Visible and US Mobile.
The issue: My SIM card manager screen shows recognition of my phone number on my s22 Ultra while at home (no 5G coverage) but NOT recognition of the carrier. That field shows up as Unknown. When I dial *#*#4636#*#* to access Testing -> Phone Information, the "Current Network" field is blank. This means I get *no* voice, SMS, or data while at home. However, when I'm driving down a major highway or in a city and coverage is good, the SIM card manager screen recognizes the mobile network and I can call/text/access the internet. This issue with recognizing the carrier also means I can't enable Wi-Fi calling while at home so I have zero cell service at home, even though I get between 1 and 4 "bars" showing for the network nearly all day and night.
What's been tried already (all of them more than once):
- power cycling the phone (obviously) along with toggling airplane mode and mobile data
- pulling out the SIM, putting in a different carrier's SIM, and then re-inserting the current SIM
- resetting the network settings
- updating the APNs per the carrier's instructions and with their parameters (including using a "side loaded" app that actually registered the changes instead of the addapn app they recommended that didn't change the APN profiles though their tech support said that didn't matter
) (also involved was turning off data roaming, setting preferred network type to LTE only, turning on wifi but off mobile data, etc.)
- factory resetting the phone, including wiping the cache partition
- consideration of writing a blog post entitled "lasciate ogni speranza voi ch'entrate"
- taking the phone into a Samsung authorized repair facility to have the hardware associated with the SIM port evaluated (they found no issues)
I have reached the infinite loop phase with tech support at both Visible and US Mobile - you know the one where they just keep regurgitating the same internal documentation and customer service lines claiming that it'll fix your issue or that your issue must be fixed even though you've already tried that particular troubleshooting three times and still have the same problem? Then they pass you around to co-workers like you're the town bicycle because no one actually has a solution? Yeah. I have achieved that with two different companies.
Other noteworthy points:
- the phone *isn't* locked to a carrier
- eSIM has been tried on it: one data-only successfully, one for voice, sms, and data unsuccessfully
- I do get some 3g or 4g service at home as I get between 1 and 4 bars
- it's not rooted or otherwise warranty voided
I've been on this merry-go-round since the 19th (it's currently the 29th), spending several hours every day trying to just have this cell phone work as a cell phone. I've spent at least 3 hours every day dealing with this issue, including one fun experience of the authorized repair shop claiming I never even dropped the phone off with them so I must have misplaced it and it's not their problem - they don't have it, I never even went into the store
. That's not relevant to the technical issues, but, it explains why I feel soul-crushing defeat and vaguely dead inside with regards to this problem.
Please, does anyone have any insight or anywhere they can point me to maybe start getting some resolution? It's been checked out as not a hardware issue and also not a configuration issue... do I have the only phone in history whose malfunction is literally just magic? I'm not an expert by any means but I'm also not technologically illiterate, either. My next step will be to go into an AT&T store and cross my fingers that moving from a CDMA backbone network to a GSM backbone network actually resolves my issue but I have a haunting shadow in my mind that it will not and I'll just be up s#it creek without a paddle with an overpriced phone-shaped tablet and stuck using my cracked s8 to call and text. :/
Please, any advice or help would be so very appreciated.
If you made it this far, thank you for reading my novella.
The issue: My SIM card manager screen shows recognition of my phone number on my s22 Ultra while at home (no 5G coverage) but NOT recognition of the carrier. That field shows up as Unknown. When I dial *#*#4636#*#* to access Testing -> Phone Information, the "Current Network" field is blank. This means I get *no* voice, SMS, or data while at home. However, when I'm driving down a major highway or in a city and coverage is good, the SIM card manager screen recognizes the mobile network and I can call/text/access the internet. This issue with recognizing the carrier also means I can't enable Wi-Fi calling while at home so I have zero cell service at home, even though I get between 1 and 4 "bars" showing for the network nearly all day and night.
What's been tried already (all of them more than once):
- power cycling the phone (obviously) along with toggling airplane mode and mobile data
- pulling out the SIM, putting in a different carrier's SIM, and then re-inserting the current SIM
- resetting the network settings
- updating the APNs per the carrier's instructions and with their parameters (including using a "side loaded" app that actually registered the changes instead of the addapn app they recommended that didn't change the APN profiles though their tech support said that didn't matter
) (also involved was turning off data roaming, setting preferred network type to LTE only, turning on wifi but off mobile data, etc.)- factory resetting the phone, including wiping the cache partition
- consideration of writing a blog post entitled "lasciate ogni speranza voi ch'entrate"
- taking the phone into a Samsung authorized repair facility to have the hardware associated with the SIM port evaluated (they found no issues)
I have reached the infinite loop phase with tech support at both Visible and US Mobile - you know the one where they just keep regurgitating the same internal documentation and customer service lines claiming that it'll fix your issue or that your issue must be fixed even though you've already tried that particular troubleshooting three times and still have the same problem? Then they pass you around to co-workers like you're the town bicycle because no one actually has a solution? Yeah. I have achieved that with two different companies.
Other noteworthy points:
- the phone *isn't* locked to a carrier
- eSIM has been tried on it: one data-only successfully, one for voice, sms, and data unsuccessfully
- I do get some 3g or 4g service at home as I get between 1 and 4 bars
- it's not rooted or otherwise warranty voided
I've been on this merry-go-round since the 19th (it's currently the 29th), spending several hours every day trying to just have this cell phone work as a cell phone. I've spent at least 3 hours every day dealing with this issue, including one fun experience of the authorized repair shop claiming I never even dropped the phone off with them so I must have misplaced it and it's not their problem - they don't have it, I never even went into the store
. That's not relevant to the technical issues, but, it explains why I feel soul-crushing defeat and vaguely dead inside with regards to this problem. Please, does anyone have any insight or anywhere they can point me to maybe start getting some resolution? It's been checked out as not a hardware issue and also not a configuration issue... do I have the only phone in history whose malfunction is literally just magic? I'm not an expert by any means but I'm also not technologically illiterate, either. My next step will be to go into an AT&T store and cross my fingers that moving from a CDMA backbone network to a GSM backbone network actually resolves my issue but I have a haunting shadow in my mind that it will not and I'll just be up s#it creek without a paddle with an overpriced phone-shaped tablet and stuck using my cracked s8 to call and text. :/
Please, any advice or help would be so very appreciated.
If you made it this far, thank you for reading my novella.
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram