Verizon Galaxy S8 4G not working on Samsung S8 Is it the phone or Verizon?

[gardengal4]

I am very bummed if its my phone. I love my phone and I hate change and I don't have extra money for a new phone!!

Last week I couldn't make any outgoing/incoming calls at all. After much troubleshooting and using wi-fi-calling as a workaround and getting no answers at Verizon store or chat or community, am hoping somebody here can steer me in the right direction.

I eventually got it to work (surprisingly by resetting my wi-fi router...even though that is not supposed to be related). However, the phone will only use CDMA. I found why in Settings/About/Status/SIM Card status. It shows Voice Network Type is CDMA. (data shows LTE). It obviously used to be LTE. I've had stellar 4g signal in this location for years.

Is Verizon messing with me or is my phone messing with Verizon?

The unanswered Verizon community thread with more troubleshooting detail is https://community.verizon.com/t5/4G-LTE-LTE-Advanced/can-t-make-receive-phone-calls/m-p/1221215#M17725

During my investigation of this problem, I read the CDMA is being disconnected(deprecated? phased out?) as of 12/31/2022. So I guess I can use CDMA until then hopefully. Not that I want to...

 

[Kizzy Catwoman]

It definitely sounds like a network issue if your data still shows LTE. I would ask Verizon for a new SIM card.

 

[B. Diddy]

Also, contact Verizon support and ask them if they have to reprovision your phone.

This phone was purchased directly from Verizon, correct?

 

[gardengal4]

Also, contact Verizon support and ask them if they have to reprovision your phone.

I'm not sure what that means. give me a new one? factory reset?

This phone was purchased directly from Verizon, correct?

yes, at the store.

Fwiw, I figured out why the 4g icon gets lit/unlit based on my wifi setting. There are actually two icons...one for data and one for voice. Never realized thats what was going on up in the right corner! When wifi is oFF, the 4g for data is lit. Voice icon goes away completely. When wifi is ON, the wifi icon is on representing data traffic and 4g is greyed out for voice.


I'll take a trip back to the store and see what they come up with. I'm sure they will just want to sell me a new phone. That's what they do! When I went there to inquire last week, they seemed clueless on why I couldn't make/receive calls. Just referred me to online Tech Support. (which was not much better!) I went at a quiet time of day. Maybe I got 2nd tier.

 

[joeldf]

I'm not sure what that means. give me a new one? factory reset?

Provisioning just means that Verizon has to reestablish the network connection between the SIM card in the phone and their cellular network. It's all back-end stuff so their network sees all the proper connections and capabilities of your phone. It may mean you simply have to re-boot your phone after they do their magic. But that doesn't change your phone in any way.

Verizon has been moving to VoLTE (Voice over LTE) for calls for some time and moving devices off CDMA. They're probably starting to shut off the transmitters in some places ahead of schedule instead of doing it all at one time. They don't want thousands of service calls happening all at once on New Year's Eve 2022.

Thing is, your S8 should have been on VoLTE all this time. According to Verizon, the affected Samsungs would be the S4 and prior phones. Maybe your S8 was just never provisioned for VoLTE for whatever reason.

Out of curiosity, was the SIM original to the phone from Verizon?

 

[B. Diddy]

Thanks to joeldf for that great explanation! If you're going back to the store, you can just ask the rep there if reprovisioning the phone would be worth trying.

 

[gardengal4]

Thanks for the explanation.

...Out of curiosity, was the SIM original to the phone from Verizon?

Probably it was swapped from my former phone. (Also Verizon - LG) Isn't that what they do? I can't actually remember the details of the purchase other than I was in panic mode because my other phone died badly and it was 1 hour before closing on New Year's Eve and they wouldn't be opening up til 1pm next day!

Is the SIM card reading a chip in the phone? Or is the key important info on the SIM card/chip itself? Someone mentioned the phone itself has this info integrated in it.

Vzw support finally responded to support thread. will see if they come up with something. I led them in the reprovisioning direction.

 

[joeldf]

Thanks for the explanation.



Probably it was swapped from my former phone. (Also Verizon - LG) Isn't that what they do? I can't actually remember the details of the purchase other than I was in panic mode because my other phone died badly and it was 1 hour before closing on New Year's Eve and they wouldn't be opening up til 1pm next day!

Is the SIM card reading a chip in the phone? Or is the key important info on the SIM card/chip itself? Someone mentioned the phone itself has this info integrated in it.

Vzw support finally responded to support thread. will see if they come up with something. I led them in the reprovisioning direction.

It's always best to get a new SIM with a new phone. That way, you get the latest tech with the network. The SIM has the chip, and is just the means by which the network connects to the phone. During the solely CDMA days, the phones were made specifically for the network they were used on. In the U.S., that was either Verizon or Sprint. No SIM cards needed, but the phones could not be used on any other network either.

LTE changed that as it's rooted in GSM which needs a SIM to work. When Verizon went with LTE for 4G (instead of WiMax, which Sprint briefly attempted at first) they had to use phones that were both CDMA capable for calls and LTE capable with a SIM card for data.

It may be that the SIM you have was made before Verizon's eventual decision to go with VoLTE. You may just need a new SIM. That shouldn't be a problem, and you can transfer the phone number if you wish.

 

[gardengal4]

Sounding better and better all the time.... Thank you! I plan to go to Verizon tomorrow. I will report back! Happy to be going there well informed! ...in case I have to guide the 1st tier help to a solution

 

[Mike Dee]

It's always best to get a new SIM with a new phone. That way, you get the latest tech with the network. The SIM has the chip, and is just the means by which the network connects to the phone. During the solely CDMA days, the phones were made specifically for the network they were used on. In the U.S., that was either Verizon or Sprint. No SIM cards needed, but the phones could not be used on any other network either.

LTE changed that as it's rooted in GSM which needs a SIM to work. When Verizon went with LTE for 4G (instead of WiMax, which Sprint briefly attempted at first) they had to use phones that were both CDMA capable for calls and LTE capable with a SIM card for data.

It may be that the SIM you have was made before Verizon's eventual decision to go with VoLTE. You may just need a new SIM. That shouldn't be a problem, and you can transfer the phone number if you wish.

I avoid a new SIM with a new phone because Verizon charges an activation fee. Been using the same SIM for a few years now until recently and no issues. Recently I decided to ask Verizon for a new SIM which they supply free of charge. You can get a new SIM each time by asking for it, but I avoid activation with a new purchase.

 

[gardengal4]

I didn't realize the activiation fee was tied to a SIM card. I went looking back on my paperwork to try to figure out if I got a new SIM card with new (2018) phone. There was no activation fee and my previous phone has no SIM card in it. However, I found the paperwork for that older phone too and it lists a different ICCID (SIM-ID) than the current phone's ICCID. So that's a little contradictory. But it is what it is.... we'll see what happens tomorrow. finger's crossed.

 

[joeldf]

I think it depends on if it's a new line. But I'm not up on Verizon's customer service or marketing.

 

[Mike Dee]

I think it depends on if it's a new line. But I'm not up on Verizon's customer service or marketing.

It doesn't matter if it's an old or new line. If you buy a Verizon branded phone you pay for an activation fee. The only way around it is if you use your old SIM or if you complain about the fee and admonish them because you're a long-time customer.

 

[mustang7757]

You try resetting network in settings? Also sometimes power off the device for 10 minutes helps with upgrades. ATT been sending messages like that

 

[gardengal4]

I'm back in business with LTE but sadly I don't have a clearcut answer to report! The rep at the store listened to my tale and changed the SIM card. He then placed a call and claimed it was fixed. I said "but the icon still flipped to 1x when you made the call". He dismissed that and said that's okay, that's the underlying Verizon network. I got back in my car and checked out SIM CARD STATUS / Voice Network type and it still said CDMA!!! Went back in the store and showed him there was no change. He wouldn't accept that that was not normal. I told him it was wrong. He had to verify it on a store display Verizon Samsung phone. "Oh yeah, that one says 4G/LTE". So we had to wait around for the "expert" guy to free up to ask. While we were waiting, another non-expert guy suggested "reset network settings", but me and first guy wanted to wait for the expert because I didn't really relish the thought of losing all my wifi passwords and bt pairings.

So expert guy looks at all the settings and found that Advanced Calling was OFF. Said it needs to be ON. How did it get oFF? . Why? when? No idea. But that was the magic. Whether or not the SIM CARD was involved is hard to tell. Probably not. Why I couldn't make calls last week is still a mystery. I recall seeing that setting when I was troubleshooting the complete lack of voice network and maybe I toggled it to try to resolve the initial problem. I can't remember for sure.

So thanks for all your help and maybe all these details will help someone in the future.

Now off to go see why my 5G wifi network has disappeared.... it's always something!

 

[gardengal4]

I'm back!!! The problem re-surfaced and I "fixed it". The way I fixed it may explain how it was fixed last time too. And maybe that will provide a clue as to the real problem.

When I couldn't make a call today, I now knew to turn on wifi-calling to make my call. Then after my call I turned it off and tried another call. I was hoping that just that toggle may have had a positive effect. It did! But not at first. First I got a question something like "if you are out of range of your mobile network, do you want to turn on wifi calling?" I said no. The call went thru. I have 4/5 bars. New calls go thru now without that question.

So that sequence may have occurred last go around too, but if I had a mis-step of half-toggling Advanced Calling that maybe threw a red herring into the fix. If I had shut off Advanced Calling by mistake the first time to experiment, that would mean that my inadvertent "fix" of turning off Wifi Calling got me able to make calls but only in CDMA due to mis-step. No mis-steps today.

Any new ideas with this new information?