No signal...and, how to call without 3G

[sushifor5]

Hi all,

I have had my Optimus V for 5 days and everything was working OK as far as connectivity (making calls, web, etc...not on wifi, just the regular 3G). Today I turned on the phone and there was no signal...just an x in the signal box. All day...no signal. I called virgin mobile when I could later in the day and the gal told me to take the battery out for 10 min and then try it. I did that...the signal came back for a few minutes and then was gone again.

I've been reading online and it seems this is something that happens with these phones? Is this something that could have happened b/c of an app I downloaded from the android market?

Is this something that will happen regularly and I'll need to take the battery out for 10 minutes every time it happens? Doing "airplane" mode isn't working for me.

Do i need a new phone? Would rooting the phone fix this problem?

Also, this may be a dumb question, but how do I make a call without a 3G signal? If there is an x in my signal bars in notification bar at top of screen, I'm assuming I have no signal at all. But I saw some stuff while reading online about making calls without 3G and I didn't know there was any other option but 3g....

Any thoughts and input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

 

[koopakid08]

Your phone seems defective to me. You should call virgin and ask for a new one.

3g and phone calls are 2 completely different things. 3g is your data service and is not used for phone calls at all.


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- Sent from my LG Optimus V using Tapatalk

 

[crux]

This might help you:

go to the phone app, and type in *#*#4636#*#* on the dial pad, this will bring you to the testing screen. From there go to phone information and press the option key>select radio band. It will say it has to close blah blah. Close it and go back to phone information and scroll down to where you see "Set preferred network type" and select CDMA only. That menu will close but bring up "Set preferred network type" again and select CDMA auto (prl). Close it and in a few minutes you should (hopefully) have a 3G connection again. And no, 3G is not needed to make phone calls or text.

Other users have reported problems of losing signal, so this fix might help. Howeber take note that it is only temporary. Everytime you shutdown/restart your phpne you will need to do this fix again. And if this doesn't work i would call VM and ask for a new phone before rooting & trying custom ROMs

Sent from my VM670

 

[sushifor5]

Thanks for the help.

I tried what you suggested, crux, and it seems to have worked...I suddenly have a signal again. Do I need to do this every time I lose a signal? What is this all about? Thanks!

 

[lance1955]

If you root you void warranty. Sound like either a bad phone or a service issue on there end.
But be advised everything they are going to tell you is pull the battery out, wait 10 mins. Or they will tell you something else that does nothing. Trust me I went down that road with them. They CAN fix it in 2 seconds if you get the right person on the phone. And if they tell you they call you back. HA
Sounds like a jacked phone. You can also try *18 as it does a softreset on the 3G and CDMA side.

 

[crux]

Thanks for the help.

I tried what you suggested, crux, and it seems to have worked...I suddenly have a signal again. Do I need to do this every time I lose a signal? What is this all about? Thanks!

Nope you don't need to do it every time you lose signal, only when you after you restart your phone.

Evidently the 3G problems are caused by an incorrect network type value that is set by default, though it actually displays the correct value. also known around here as the "time without signal" bug. I didn't even know about this issue until browsing these forums, but since implementing this fix my signal has been getting much better reception. The custom ROMs bumblebee and harmonia fix the 3G problem, but be warned: as another person said, rooting and installing custom ROMs will void your warranty. So, it's up to you. There are excellent guides on these forums if you're interested. I have the bumblebee ROM running on my optimus and it's been fantastic.

There is an app called Anycut that you can use to create a shortcut to the testing screen (after installed it's under activity>testing).

 

[Prince_Poppycock]

I have run into this same problem with my phone. I have had it for over a month (purchased at best buy) and when i woke up this morning i haven't had any phone signal. I tried the battery pull for 10 minutes and it worked temporarily but now it is back to no signal again. Any other suggestions? Thanks for an help!

 

[Vishwar]

I have run into this same problem with my phone. I have had it for over a month (purchased at best buy) and when i woke up this morning i haven't had any phone signal. I tried the battery pull for 10 minutes and it worked temporarily but now it is back to no signal again. Any other suggestions? Thanks for an help!

Did you read any of the posts?

 

[Prince_Poppycock]

Yes i read and tried all the suggestions. They didn't work, that is why i posted. I now have a slight signal but i can't send sms or make any calls. Under phone status it says that my mobile network is disconnected

ETA: Virgin Mobile finally got in contact with me and let me know that there is an outage in my area. So hopefully that's the problem. I am sure it is, because it's the first time in over a month that i have been with them that this has happened.

 

[kab91]

I tried the above info and I still have no signal no matter where I go and its hardly picking up wifi anywhere. Its been doing this for the past week and nothing I do seems to fix the problem. Ive had the phone for almost a year and I have only ever had one major issue with it that required a total phone reset.