S4 i9505 no network connection

[Writa]

Hi all. I'm not even sure if I'm in the right thread but here goes....
I purchased a s4 i9505 from Hong Kong. Network and region unlocked. I live in Australia.
Received it. Everything works except it will not read my sim card. I search for my network carrier and nothing. It just keeps searching.
Took it to a Samsung shop. They won't touch it because it's not from Australia. Took it to my carrier. One guy reset my network settings and it WORKED. It read my sim. Could make phone calls. Could read my mobile data. Internet access.
For all of 5 minutes. Then it turned itself off. Restarted. And was back where it was before. Wouldn't read sim, network. .. etc.
It's brand new. Hado the issue since I opened it. Has never been able to connect to any networks.
I have tried different sims, factory reset, even spoken to samsung online support (which was a waste of time).
Tryed the troubleshooting from what Google searches come up with. Everything I can think of.
I'm not real tech savy so I'm really stumped what to try next.
Is this a software issue due to being Asian software and not Australian maybe? Or a hardware issue? I don't know.
I have bought phones from Asia before and they have worked fine here.

Anyone PLEEEEEEASE HELP!?!?

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! It's possible the SIM reader on that device is faulty. How long ago did you buy it? If it was pretty recent, can you contact them for a refund?

 

[Writa]

I only received it Monday. That was a thought I also had about the sim reader but I guess you can only find out if it gets opened up...
I'd prefer not to send it back due to this being my 3rd s4 I will have had to send back due to 3 different issues all from 3 different suppliers.

 

[B. Diddy]

The only other thing I can suggest is to clean the SIM reader contacts with a cotton swab dipped in some rubbing alcohol.

 

[Writa]

OK it's not my sim because I can access all my contacts. It's just not picking up any networks or carriers.

 

[B. Diddy]

Your contacts are saved to the SIM? Contacts aren't commonly saved there any more -- it's usually to the local Phone account (which isn't the same as the SIM), your Google account, or your Samsung account.

 

[Writa]

Ahh OK. That would make sense as to why they show up then..