Why are SMS's arriving hours after SIM removal?

[pbb72]

SMS's are arriving hours after SIM removal

I am trying to trouble-shoot my wife's LG G2. She is not able to send or receive SMS messages, and not able to send or receive mail using the GMail app.

She has no problem going online to visit webpages, either through WiFi or 3G. There are also no error messages with regard to wrong passwords (which shouldn't apply to SMS messages anyway). The phone has also been restarted a few times.

We've removed her SIM card so that she can use a backup phone for the time being. And now while I am trying investigate her phone, slowly SMS messages are starting to drop in. This is 24 hours after removing the SIM card.

How can this be possible? (By the way, the GMail app still doesn't send or receive any mail.)

 

[B. Diddy]

Re: SMS's are arriving hours after SIM removal

Welcome to Android Central! Which carrier? Have you discussed this issue with them?

 

[pbb72]

Re: SMS's are arriving hours after SIM removal

A European carrier, NetCom. Wouldn't the fact that SMS's are delivered while the SIM-card is not inserted, mean that the problem is not related to the carrier?

 

[B. Diddy]

Re: SMS's are arriving hours after SIM removal

Since it's a GSM network, the phone needs a SIM to be connected to the network (as opposed to a CDMA network, which is why I asked about the carrier--CDMA is only in the US). So the phone shouldn't be receiving texts without a SIM card in. I'm not sure if the problem is with the SIM itself (in which case you should ask NetCom for a replacement card), or with the phone (for example, perhaps there's some software issue causing big delays in processing and actually notifying you of the incoming text). Since a SIM issue is always a possibility (and easy to test), that's why I still think it's worth asking the carrier.

 

[pbb72]

Re: SMS's are arriving hours after SIM removal

I did not know CDMA works like that

The SIM card is now in a backup phone, and she is sending and receiving texts on that phone without problem.

I think I will do a factory reset of the troublesome phone first, before trying to get in contact with the carrier. (Getting a new SIM takes quite a few days here.)

 

[pbb72]

Re: SMS's are arriving hours after SIM removal

Update: the battery dies overnight, the phone does not survive on battery for 6 hours. Before the SMS problems, it would easily survive for 24 hours on battery. So if this is related then I would think it is a software problem. I will try to figure out which process is using so much battery.

 

[B. Diddy]

Re: SMS's are arriving hours after SIM removal

I'd actually start to suspect a hardware problem, for this unusual SMS problem to arise, and then for the battery to die so quickly. The best way to troubleshoot the software is to boot into Safe Mode, which will disable all 3rd party apps: https://support.t-mobile.com/docs/DOC-11127. If it persists in Safe Mode, then it's either a firmware problem (difficult to solve unless you root the phone and reflash the stock ROM) or a hardware problem (which is obviously even harder to solve).

CDMA phones in the US only require the SIM for LTE data. Voice signal and data up to 3G can be used without a SIM (at least on older phones).

 

[pbb72]

Re: SMS's are arriving hours after SIM removal

I've tried booting in safe mode, and am still having the same problems.

I also tried a different SIM card, from a different carrier, and that also gives the same problems, with SMSes taking anywhere from 30 mins to several hours both to deliver and to be received. (When using other phones, we're not having those problems.)

As I mentioned before, the GMail app also doesn't seem to want to send or receive, but not I also noticed that the Google Play Store app just shows a white screen. I can open the profile panel by swiping in from the left, but the main store page is just a blank white screen.

 

[pbb72]

Re: SMS's are arriving hours after SIM removal

It looks like I found the solution! Under app settings, I cleared the data and cache for both the Google Play Store and Google Play Services. And within seconds, various SMS messages, emails, Facebook messages, Instagrams, and whatever I can think off, start rolling in.

Is all of that going through Google???

 

[B. Diddy]

Re: SMS's are arriving hours after SIM removal

Glad you figured it out! Google Play Services is pretty broad in its reach, but I can't really give a detailed answer as to why that worked.