topic Re: Phone has no service when at home, why?! in Get Support

Phone has no service when at home, why?!

Fearful_Llama — Wed, 05 Jan 2022 15:02:01 GMT

Hi there,

I bought my son a second hand Samsung s7 edge yesterday, we took his public mobile sim card from his old phone and put into the s7. However, it says there's no network connection, when we are home. When we go in town, his phone works fine. He can call, text and use the internet. So why does it not work when we are home? I don't understand. My phone is with public mobile also, and it works perfectly fine at home. His sim card is active and it worked on his old phone, but for some reason it won't connect to network when we are home. I've tried the APN settings, resetting, turn on/off etc.

Please any suggestions is greatly appreciated!

Re: Phone has no service when at home, why?!

gblackma — Sun, 22 Mar 2020 02:42:37 GMT

@Fearful_Llama try switching the two SIMS. This should tell us if its a network or individual phone setting problem. Thanks.

Re: Phone has no service when at home, why?!

Lar — Sun, 22 Mar 2020 02:43:27 GMT

@Fearful_Llama I'm wondering since you bought the phone second hand if an antenna connection is broken inside, thus it works in town maybe closer to a tower. Cheers

Re: Phone has no service when at home, why?!

Fearful_Llama — Sun, 22 Mar 2020 02:44:18 GMT

Re: Phone has no service when at home, why?!

Fearful_Llama — Sun, 22 Mar 2020 02:45:22 GMT

When I put my sim card in the s7 it says same thing, no service

Re: Phone has no service when at home, why?!

popping — Sun, 22 Mar 2020 02:45:50 GMT

@Fearful_Llama wrote:
Hi there,

I bought my son a second hand Samsung s7 edge yesterday, we took his public mobile sim card from his old phone and put into the s7. However, it says there's no network connection, when we are home. When we go in town, his phone works fine. He can call, text and use the internet. So why does it not work when we are home? I don't understand. My phone is with public mobile also, and it works perfectly fine at home. His sim card is active and it worked on his old phone, but for some reason it won't connect to network when we are home. I've tried the APN settings, resetting, turn on/off etc.

Please any suggestions is greatly appreciated!

The second hand s7 edge may have an antenna issue. It works fine in an area with strong signal and does not work well in an weak area. His old phone at home works well means that the second hand s7 phone is the problem.

Re: Phone has no service when at home, why?!

Fearful_Llama — Sun, 22 Mar 2020 02:47:02 GMT

That would make sense I guess, is there a way to confirm if it's the antenna or something else?

Re: Phone has no service when at home, why?!

popping — Sun, 22 Mar 2020 02:48:57 GMT

@Fearful_Llama wrote:
When I put my sim card in the s7 it says same thing, no service

Where did you purchase your s7?

Good luck if it is a private sales.

If you purchased the S7 from a store, you may get your money back or get a replacement.

Re: Phone has no service when at home, why?!

popping — Sun, 22 Mar 2020 02:52:06 GMT

@Fearful_Llama wrote:
That would make sense I guess, is there a way to confirm if it's the antenna or something else?

Your son's SIM card is working in his old phone. Therefore, it is not PM issue.

You tested two SIM cards with this phone.

Therefore, it is the hardware problem with the s7.

Re: Phone has no service when at home, why?!

CannonFodder — Sun, 22 Mar 2020 02:59:45 GMT

@Fearful_Llama Without doing a little looking, is there any chance that S7 is a variant from another region, which could POSSIBLY mean it doesn't have the required bands to connect reliably, while further from town? Can you check on which particular model of S7 that is, and post it here..... although I'd lean towards the antenna problem, the variant just MIGHT be the issue.

Re: Phone has no service when at home, why?!

will13am — Sun, 22 Mar 2020 03:01:03 GMT

Another vote for defective phone here. Once an activated SIM is proven to work on any phone, that means there is nothing wrong with that account. SIM cards are super robust and are not nearly as likely to fail as a phone. Since the phone works in some areas and not others, that is evidence of a reception problem. It is probably why the phone was sold in the first place.

Re: Phone has no service when at home, why?!

Anonymous — Sun, 22 Mar 2020 03:50:25 GMT

@Fearful_Llama

How about looking at what networks are being connected to. On my S7 (not Edge) it's under Settings/Mobile networks/Network mode.

See what options are there and set it to things having LTE and/or WCDMA and/or UMTS or even 4G and/or 3G.

Re: Phone has no service when at home, why?!

LurganIeUk — Sun, 22 Mar 2020 04:06:30 GMT

@Fearful_Llama

Try this

Try this Or another iFixit

I have repaired numerous iPhones and the antenna is a wire with a tricky connect to phone. If someone has replaced battery or screen they may have not put it back together properly. If you are handy, I highly recommend iFixit. Go slow and step by step.

Re: Phone has no service when at home, why?!

darlicious — Sun, 22 Mar 2020 05:04:14 GMT

@Fearful_Llama If you are fix it type person or you have a friend or family member that possesses the patience and DIY abilities then the antenna repair is relatively cheap and straightforward process. If it boggles the mind or you fear damaging the phone further your friendly neighborhood mobile repair person can probably do it for under $50 or cheaper if offered cash. Chances are your son might know a fellow student who can do it in their sleep. In the meantime for service at home put the SIM in the old phone.

Re: Phone has no service when at home, why?!

sheytoon — Sun, 22 Mar 2020 12:28:47 GMT

As others have suggested, it's most likely a hardware issue.

One last suggestion you can try is to verify the right bands are enabled. They should be enabled by default. Dial *#2263# and check WCDMA 850 and WCDMA 1900 are enabled. For LTE, check the following are enabled: 2,4,5,7,12,13,17.