Why is my phone only connecting to Edge instead of 3g/4g?

[AC Question]

Why is my phone only connecting to Edge instead of 3g/4g

I have an HTC One M8 that is serviced by AT&T. I pay for 30 GB of data per month on our family plan. This includes 4g LTE service. Currently I only have 6GB used this month so I am not throttled.

I have had this phone for 2 years now and have never had a problem connecting to 4G at work and home. Today suddenly my phone is only connecting to E (edge).

I have tried manually entering the APN settings listed for 4g AT&T service. I have then restored it to defaults. I have tried restarting my phone numerous times.

Mobile Data has "Standard Data" checked, "Enhanced 4g LTE services" checked... and there are no more options.

All options in "Network Operators" are greyed out so I can't change those options to search for networks.

Tech Support just wants me to factory reset my phone but I have over 1200 photos on here of pets and family that I do not want to lose. Is there anything else I can do?

 

[Laura Knotek]

Does anyone else have the same problem with a different phone in the same location?

Is it possible that AT&T is servicing a tower, and the problem is the network not your device?

 

[HTCOneUser9131]

Sorry for the change in names but it logged me out of "Guest" so I had to make a name and register.

It appears that AT&T was servicing a tower. No one I knew was having issues and no one on my plan was having issues but they are mostly far away from where I am currently. My work and home are within a mile of each other so it makes sense that this area was out all at once.

My service came back on for 5 minutes and then went back off... making me realize its not my phone now. I was worried.

I will just wait to see if service comes back I guess, unless anyone else has any ideas.

 

[Laura Knotek]

Welcome to Android Central.

There's nothing you can do if AT&T is servicing the towers. You'll just have to wait for service to be restored. You might want to contact their customer service and ask for a reduction on your bill for however many days your service is out. But there's nothing you can do with your phone, since it's a problem on their end.