Need Recommendation - Preparing SIM Error & Dropped Data M8 AT&T

[jejagua]

I have get a persistent "Preparing SIM Card" error, dropped data and failed txt messages. I've seen some posts about this, but mainly on other carriers, not AT&T. The problem happens almost exclusively at my work location..and about a 1-2 mi radius so I suspect it has something to do with the tower. Appears independent of signal strength.

AT&T replaced the SIM, then AT&T replaced the phone, then HTC replaced the SIM tray. I tried the tape trick.

The problem doesn't make the data unusable, but definitely unreliable and frustrating.

What now? It's obviously not the phone. Some sort of cell site mismatch with the M8. ATT doesn't want to even discuss that possibility.

Need recommendations please.

 

[Rukbat]

Call AT&T tech support (forget the stores, even the DSCs). See if you can get someone, preferably a supervisor, in networking. Tell them that you have what you suspect is a defective tower. (Get an app that shows you the ID of the tower you're connected to and you'll probably see that the problem goes with the tower - move to another tower, even if you only move a few feet, and the problem stops. Then you can also tell them the ID of the tower causing the problem, making it a lot easier for them to fix.)

It's to their benefit to fix a small problem like this rather than waiting until the tower goes off-line completely, blacking out a large number of users.

Of course you could get a "I just get paid to read the script" drone and get nowhere. If you really want to spend a little effort, keep trying until you get to someone who actually cares about how the network is working. (There ARE people like that working for all carriers - just not enough of them.)