topic Re: Suddenly getting no service error in Get Support

Suddenly getting no service error

ptonks — Wed, 05 Jan 2022 20:45:06 GMT

Hi PM community,

My phone was working fine when all of a sudden I started seeing "No service" pop up on my iPhone.

My bill is paid and I topped up the amount in my account just to rule that out.

Things I've tried :

Airplane mode on/off a bunch of times

Manual Public Mobile network selection

Turning the phone off/on many times

Removing and re-inserting the sim card

Tried putting the sim card into a different phone and still had no service available.

Wondering if I'll need a new one?

Thanks in advance.

Re: Suddenly getting no service error

Jb456 — Wed, 02 Sep 2020 05:53:32 GMT

Is the phone purchased second hand?

Also log into your self serve account and click change sim card.Green arrow on picture.

See if the 4 last digits match the 4 digits on your sim card. If they don't you may have been sim jacked and should immediately use the lost stolen feature then start changing all passwords tied to your phone.

Re: Suddenly getting no service error

darlicious — Wed, 02 Sep 2020 06:01:52 GMT

@ptonks

As @Jb456 said report phone lost, change your password to your self serve account then start changing all the other ones while your on hold to speak with your financial institution. Just say fraud when you call in and have them disable your online banking first.

Once you've locked down your bank, credit cards, changed passwords etc....then contact the moderators....type in simjacked as the subject and then human and follow the prompts to submit a ticket. Keep an eye on the envelope icon next to your avatar at the top right corner of your screen for a little number to pop up indicating a message from the moderators. Responding promptly to messages will speed up service times.

Re: Suddenly getting no service error

Korth — Wed, 02 Sep 2020 06:14:00 GMT

I assume this lack of phone signal is everywhere, not just near or inside one building?

Phone itself could also be at fault. Elderly weak battery might be too weak to transmit. Broken antenna hardware. Messed up software.

You can try the phone in other times and places, if you haven't already. Confirm it has good battery charge. Do a full restart on the software. Try testing the SIM card in another (unlocked) phone to make sure it isn't malfunctioning. Try testing another (active) SIM card in your phone to see if it makes any difference.

Re: Suddenly getting no service error

computergeek541 — Wed, 02 Sep 2020 06:14:39 GMT

@Korth wrote:
Try testing another SIM card in your phone to see if it makes any difference.

@ptonks already tried that and the service still didn't work. It's possible that the spare phone isn't compatible, but assuming it was, that would point to a problem with the actual Public Mobile service.

Re: Suddenly getting no service error

Korth — Wed, 02 Sep 2020 06:17:40 GMT

The next logical step is Self-Serve. Login to confirm it's not suspension of service or some other account-related issue.

And maybe ... just because I wanna stubbornly insist it could be a hardware thing ... try scrubbing the SIM card with some electrical contact cleaner, lol.

Re: Suddenly getting no service error

4star60 — Wed, 02 Sep 2020 08:25:31 GMT

Don't know where you are but could be service is legitimately down for a few hours. Happened to me a couple of days ago. Signal was gone for most of the afternoon where it is usually good. Heard after that guys were pulling cable in a nearby neighbourhood. The crew was with a company purchased by Telus. They were pulling and splicing and probably shut the system down while doing it. A bit annoying but that's life.

Re: Suddenly getting no service error

ptonks — Wed, 02 Sep 2020 15:28:48 GMT

Unfortunately, you are 100% correct... sim got jacked.

Thanks for the quick reply - I regret going to bed before checking the message.

I'll contact the mods and change all my passwords.

How do I prevent this in the future?

Re: Suddenly getting no service error

kb_mv — Wed, 02 Sep 2020 15:32:28 GMT

@ptonks wrote:
Unfortunately, you are 100% correct... sim got jacked.

Thanks for the quick reply - I regret going to bed before checking the message.

I'll contact the mods and change all my passwords.

How do I prevent this in the future?

@ptonks Have a read here, some things to think about...

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Using-Your-Service/pretty-sure-i-got-hacked/m-p/585072#M119723

Re: Suddenly getting no service error

darlicious — Wed, 02 Sep 2020 19:57:35 GMT

@ptonks

I'm sorry this happened to you....seems all too common. In your case versus a ported out phone number a very strong password is your best defense. Search sim jacking here and read the threads/posts on the subject to tighten the security of your personal info and related emails and passwords.

Re: Suddenly getting no service error

Korth — Thu, 03 Sep 2020 03:57:51 GMT

@ptonks wrote:
How do I prevent this in the future?

You make sure that nobody else ever gets physical access the SIM card or its unique SIM ID number (along with relevant personal and account-related information).

For maximum security, only buy SIM cards directly from the source: Public Mobile itself. Not from retailers. Not from online vendors. Certainly not from ebay or craigslist. The idea is to minimize any chance of other people copying the unique SIM card number.

Don't leave your phone in places where others can access it without your knowledge (like on a charger at work or school, etc). Don't lend it to people you don't know and trust. Even if you lend it to people you trust, understand that you may not trust everybody they trust in turn.

I go so far as to scrub off the number printed on the SIM card. And, of course, I always screenlock my phone with a PIN/passcode key which I don't share (and change anytime I suspect it might have been observed or compromised be people I don't trust) - and I use any additional security codes or layers the software has built in, so (without PIN/passcode key) settings can't be changed and contacts can't be edited and device data (like the IMEI and SIM ID) can't be seen.

Most victims of SIM jacking are those who purchased too-good-to-be-true cheap SIM cards and/or who allowed others to setup everything for them instead of doing it themselves. You shouldn't have to submit any personal information (beyond perhaps your phone number and your provided email address) to anyone other than Public Mobile itself. You should be wary if retailers/vendors entice you with an extra $10 or $20 because it typically means they're using you as a referral - which means their professional ethics (along with the opinions of their customers and of Public Mobile) are already questionable.

Once a SIM card has been compromised it can be hijacked (a technical form of identity theft/fraud). Most criminals will probably strike as soon as they can. But they could wait indefinitely, a compromised SIM card will remain vulnerable as long as you keep using it, possibly for many years and across multiple devices. It's just a risk or a problem which I don't personally think is worth buying, especially since "full" price is just ten bucks.