Pixel 5A Verizon cannot receive (some) texts!?

[reb0957]

I received a Pixel 5A yesterday for my wife. I had hell getting it to be able to send text messages.
I was on the phone with Verizon tech support for over 90 minutes. The only thing Verizon could do that helped is set the phone to CDMA less.
The other thing I had to do was get into her Google account and manually verify phone.

After Verizon set the phone to CDMA less, I could receive texts from non Android phones or Android phones that were not running chat features.

 

[mustang7757]

Verizon CDMA why did they try to CDMA less?

 

[B. Diddy]

Was RCS turned on for her previous phone? If so, I would swap the SIM back into the old phone, turn off RCS, then swap the SIM back to the 5a, and turn on RCS on that phone.

https://www.howtogeek.com/701714/ps...Features” menu,new device without any worries.

 

[reb0957]

Verizon CDMA why did they try to CDMA less?

I was told this is the first CDMA less phone ever built that can work on Verizon. Also, read that on Reddit.

 

[reb0957]

Was RCS turned on for her previous phone? If so, I would swap the SIM back into the old phone, turn off RCS, then swap the SIM back to the 5a, and turn on RCS on that phone.

https://www.howtogeek.com/701714/ps...Features” menu,new device without any worries.

Yes, it was turned on and that didn't show up on any search. My immediate family all have pixels. pixel XL just got retired last night. Currently we have a 3 XL, 3A XL, and 5A. Was hoping to grab a 5 new on sale but google didn't build extra. The 3XL will be replaced by a 6 soon.

If someone else runs into this problem, they have a couple things they can try now.
Thanks

 

[mustang7757]

I was told this is the first CDMA less phone ever built that can work on Verizon. Also, read that on Reddit.

How did they set it to CDMA less ? Can you get it back on to CDMA?

 

[reb0957]

How did they set it to CDMA less ? Can you get it back on to CDMA?

Level 2 tech support

 

[mustang7757]

Level 2 tech support

Im not sure why they would turn CDMA off when they use that , but you can try resetting the message app by clearing its data and force stop it , to do so long press the app then tap info>scroll to storage

 

[reb0957]

Im not sure why they would turn CDMA off when they use that , but you can try resetting the message app by clearing its data and force stop it , to do so long press the app then tap info>scroll to storage

I am not into all the antenna tech. I found a similar answer in multiple places.

 

[mustang7757]

I am not into all the antenna tech. I found a similar answer in multiple places.View attachment 336638

Thanks , I didn't know myself.

 

[mustang7757]

Give the reset to message app like I mentioned before see if that helps

 

[Lunkman23]

I had this problem. As suggested above, I too forgot to disable RCS and therefore couldn't receive texts, but could send them. Swapping the sim back didn't work for me, but when I called Verizon and told support exactly what happened (forgot to disable RCS), the guy on the phone was able to fix it in about 20 seconds- he miraculously knew exactly what to do. I was immediately able to receive texts, and it took maybe 8hrs for chat features/RCS to kick on. (I was coming from a Pixel 3a.)

Good luck.

 

[mustang7757]

I had this problem. As suggested above, I too forgot to disable RCS and therefore couldn't receive texts, but could send them. Swapping the sim back didn't work for me, but when I called Verizon and told support exactly what happened (forgot to disable RCS), the guy on the phone was able to fix it in about 20 seconds- he miraculously knew exactly what to do. I was immediately able to receive texts, and it took maybe 8hrs for chat features/RCS to kick on. (I was coming from a Pixel 3a.)

Good luck.

You think they did any provisioning?

 

[Lunkman23]

I don't know- that's pretty technical (for me) and I didn't ask how it was fixed,I just knew what caused the problem.

I should also mention that before calling, I did find something through Verizon's website where I could break/reset RCS for my mobile number, but to do so they were sending me texts that I couldn't receive. They ultimately appeared on my 3a but by the time I figured that out, the verification codes expired, and you can only receive 3 per 24hr period, so I wound up calling.

 

[mustang7757]

I don't know- that's pretty technical (for me) and I didn't ask how it was fixed,I just knew what caused the problem.

I should also mention that before calling, I did find something through Verizon's website where I could break/reset RCS for my mobile number, but to do so they were sending me texts that I couldn't receive. They ultimately appeared on my 3a but by the time I figured that out, the verification codes expired, and you can only receive 3 per 24hr period, so I wound up calling.

Thanks for your help.

 

[J Dubbs]

I had this problem. As suggested above, I too forgot to disable RCS and therefore couldn't receive texts, but could send them. Swapping the sim back didn't work for me, but when I called Verizon and told support exactly what happened (forgot to disable RCS), the guy on the phone was able to fix it in about 20 seconds- he miraculously knew exactly what to do. I was immediately able to receive texts, and it took maybe 8hrs for chat features/RCS to kick on. (I was coming from a Pixel 3a.)

Good luck.

That's interesting....I'm on AT&T, and I just recently retired my pixel 1 for a pixel 3XL, and I didn't realize I needed to turn RCS off on the pixel 1 before I swapped the sim into the 3, and RCS auto set up and was working perfectly by the time I had the 3 set up.

 

[vzwuser76]

I had the same problem with a bad outcome. I wasn't getting texts for a little over a week. I didn't realize it because I haven't been getting many texts anyway but my sister came out for Labor Day and when she arrived asked if I got her text saying they were going to be a bit late, which I hadn't.

So I read up on the issue and most were saying you had to do 2 things. Have Verizon tier 2 tech support set the line to CDMA less and get a 5G capable sim card (didn't realize there was a difference). So they were going to send me a sim card and the tech started to change my line to CDMA less. I was talking to him and all of the sudden the call disconnected. I went to call him back and I can't make calls.

So I called Verizon from my land line and the 2nd tier 2 tech support person said you're supposed to get the card activated and installed before you have them change the line to CDMA less, otherwise your phone can no longer connect to the network. She said the 1st tech should've known that. So she got a sim card coming to me and said it should be here by Thursday. Unfortunately they didn't send it 2 day FedEx like usual, opting for USPS first class which will get here Saturday. I switched to WiFi calling which is fine at home (except there's a LOT of audio dropping out and sometimes it's like the WiFi calling doesn't recognize my WiFi network) but I can't use it outside of my home or any buildings with WiFi. Just a huge PITA.

Also, this wasn't the first phone without CDMA on Verizon. In 2015 there was an HTC phone that was LTE only, the HTC One A9. I looked at it but at the time there was less LTE coverage in my location than there is now so it wasn't an option.

 

[ras47]

If your last phone was an iPhone it is important to sign out of iCloud to disable iMessage.

 

[Chuck Finley69]

For the record, the Pixel 5a IMEIs when run in the VZW system shows the phone as non-compatible and can’t be officially activated or supported in the VZW system. I’m aware of steps to jump through hoops but I was attempting to just test 5G network compared with Google Fi coverage including 5G or AT&T coverage “real 5G” so not something I want to waste time doing. Just thought I’d post in thread for posterity.

 

[reb0957]

For the record, the Pixel 5a IMEIs when run in the VZW system shows the phone as non-compatible and can’t be officially activated or supported in the VZW system. I’m aware of steps to jump through hoops but I was attempting to just test 5G network compared with Google Fi coverage including 5G or AT&T coverage “real 5G” so not something I want to waste time doing. Just thought I’d post in thread for posterity.

The issue is chat features. You need to turn that off on old phone first.