Calls work. No Data. Cannot edit/add APN. "Automatically select network" fail.

[davidlikesbikes]

Hi friends.

I have a Asus Zenfone 4 Max (ASUS X00ID purchased in Taiwan), running Android 8.1.0 "Oreo", ZenUI Launcher 5.0.1.44_18-7-0_1

I ran a factory reset on my phone (attempt to fix camera issues) and now my network mobile data fails to connect, although calls, sms/texting, and wifi work. This was not an issue before the factory reset. 

Automatically select network shows "Public Mobile" in greyed out text. If I try to select from the list of networks "Public Mobile 3G" appears, but also fails to connect.

I searched around and it seems this is an ongoing issue regarding Android 8.1.0 removing APN editing/manual add function. In March, when I began using Public Mobile, I remember having to manually input the APN. Similar problem now, but without the ability to manually add the APN as per these instructions https://apn-canada.gishan.net/en/apn/public-mobile

Will Public Mobile fix their "auto add" function, or allow their SIM cards the ability to bypass Androids APN restrictions? I read people have had success inputing a Freedom Mobile SIM to bypass the manual add block, or downgrading their Android version.... Is there a better way to fix this issue. Or am I having other APN issues? Does Public Mobile have new SIM cards that fix this issue?

Please help! Thanks in advance 🙂

[softech]

@Batman20   honest, data works only on 3G and not LTE should not happen.  

However, telecom are not upgrading their network to 5G and hence some area might have issue with LTE during the upgrade.  Issue should be resolved a week or two.  Try testing your phone with LTE in other area

Another possible reason for your LTE issue is that your phone lacks the band used on PM LTE network.  What brand and model is your phone?   Let us know and maybe we can tell if this is the cause.  If so, you might want to upgrade your phone for better connectivity.  

[Batman20]

I had the same issue my data not working, just calls and texts functional after upgrading to a new 8.1 Android phone. I wasn't able to update the APN, however changing to only use 3g data allowed me to use my data. Easy fix if anyone is having issues updating their APN settings.

[sdmel]

at least you found a soln. i am guessing you temp used another carrier sim card ?

[sdmel]

this is very dissapointing. i was very happy with Public until now and so it seems i have to find another carrier that my new phone can work with that has a more complete APN carrier database

[sdmel]

100 percent sure. the sim works in my old blackberry

[Lieux]

Are you sure @sdmel @that you still have data in your account?

[sdmel]

yikes ... that sounds awful. i have same issue. i can talk, i can send sms, but no mobile data. also have no way to edit the apn

[Durhamajp]

I totally agree it is an 8.1 issue. But, PM needs to get onto Google and get the problem fixed. This has been going on far too long

[Anonymous]

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@Durhamajp wrote:

I am having the exact same issues. I have tried everything. I have reset my phone 2 times. I am told it is the Google oreo 8.1 that has taken the feature of adding APN. Which in a sense has taken PM out of the picture. PM doesn't have the APN in their sim like most other carriers

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Well...you have not tried everything.

I was with Telus before. Yes the owner of this place. When I switched over to here it all changed. I got everything it needed. Automatically. This is an 8.1 issue. Yes it affects PM but it's still on Android.

[Durhamajp]

I am having the exact same issues. I have tried everything. I have reset my phone 2 times. I am told it is the Google oreo 8.1 that has taken the feature of adding APN. Which in a sense has taken PM out of the picture. PM doesn't have the APN in their sim like most other carriers

[davidlikesbikes]

Hey all,

Just an update to my situation. I ended up finding a SIM card that allowed me to edit the APN on my phone. I rebooted my phone with the Public Mobile SIM and finally able to get my data to work.

[Anonymous]

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@NewZQ wrote:

I can not find the apk link 😄

Edit: But this seems interesting.

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It's post #12.

Your link was something I linked to earlier and also the thread that will13am linked to included similar steps.

[NewZQ]

I can not find the apk link 😄

Edit: But this seems interesting.

[will13am]

I am going to revive this thread.  I found an RFD member who wrote a script to bring back the add APN function.  Download the apk and side load it.  Follow the instructions as discussed in the thread.

https://forums.redflagdeals.com/solved-fido-apn-miui-10-cant-add-apn-2239645/

[will13am]

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@srlawren wrote:

@computergeek541 agreed--can confirm I can edit APNs to my heart's content on my OnePlus 5T running 8.1.0 (on OxygenOS 5.1.x)

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We talked about this before.  There were certain versions of oreo for certain devices that had the APN editing locked down.  This never affected the OP devices.  We have the perfect storm here; Asus did not supply a proper apnconf.xml file and APN editing is locked down.  The essential phone had the APN lock down for some time as well until the September edition of security update restored functionality.  During the lock down phase, there was no issues using the Public Mobile service because th apnconf.xml was not defficient. 

[Dunkman]

Thanks for the update.  That is frustrating.  Keep us updated.  Your situation may help others in the future.  Good luck.  Hopefully, the Freedom mobile sim "trick" will work.

[davidlikesbikes]

@will13am and rest of replies, thanks for confirming what I suspected was the problem I'm experiencing. I'm pretty upset and frustrated, but it's good to know I'm not the only one having this issue.

As mentioned in my other reply. I will try inserting a Freedom Mobile SIM to "trick" my phone into allowing me to edit the APN.... or I'll just switch back to Koodo.

Technology eh... 

[davidlikesbikes]

I was reluctant to take on the responsibilty and leg work to solve this problem. But I finally caved and followed the instructions in your links.

My home internet isn't very fast, so I tried downloading the Command Line Tool file rather than the full Android Studio Bundle (ASB) onto my laptop. After remembering I'm not great with computers, I ended up downloading the full file anyways (took about an hour).

I searched online to figure out how to enter "developer mode" on my Zenphone and how to open the Android Debug Bridge (ADB) shell tool on my laptap. I connected my phone to my laptop and realized my ancient laptop, running Vista, can't open ASB.

Pretty frustrated about this whole thing.

I"ll try visiting a Freedom Mobile location next.  Trying this solution found in another thread about this same issue.

This is pretty much my last resort before I accept the various offers from Koodo to switch my service from PM.

[srlawren]

@computergeek541 agreed--can confirm I can edit APNs to my heart's content on my OnePlus 5T running 8.1.0 (on OxygenOS 5.1.x)

[computergeek541]

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@NewZQ wrote:

As far as i know, android 8.1+ does not allow users to edit apn. it is stupid.. i know

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I fully realize that there are some phones running Android 8.1 that do not allow APN edits or APN additions, but that doesn't include all phones running 8.1.

Whether or not you can edit or add depends on the specific sofware that the phone maker has put onto the phone.  I played around with a Moto x4 that had Android 8.1 and it allowed users to add new APNs. 

Refusing to allow users to edit existing APNs has been going go long before Android 8.1 on many phones.  However, it is starting with 8.1 (and only 8.1) where a bunch of different phone models (specifically those using software identical or similar to stock Android) didn't allow customers to add a new one either.

[NewZQ]

As far as i know, android 8.1+ does not allow users to edit apn. it is stupid.. i know

[will13am]

@davidlikesbikes, the APN settings don't reside in the SIM card.  They are in a database in the phone.  The phone uses the SIM card to determine possible matching APN settings.  The APN editing function gives the user the freedom to make their own APN settings should those residing in the phone database don't have a good match.  Along the way Google decided to disable APN editing in android oreo at the suggestion from carriers.  That has since been restored.   I suspect what could have happened is you were using a manually created APN that was created prior to the APN editing lockdown.  The factory reset wipes the /data partition containing this user created APN and now you are stuck with the stock database residing in the system partition.  This is a bit of a guess on my part.  If I am right, your phone will not be usable for data.  There's nothing that Public Mobile can do to help.  If I were to point a finger, it would be at Asus.  It's absolutely ludicrous that they push out a phone with an inadequate and incomplete APN database.

[Anonymous]

Found this procedure.

And one of Dunkman's link here.

[mimmo]

I vaguely remember something about putting a different carriers sim in and that might allow you to edit Apn.   Again not sure it was same situation, but it might jog someone else's memory.

[Dunkman]

Here is an interesting thread with people with similar issues.  Not sure whether you read it already.

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Phones-Hardware/Android-8-1-APN-settings/td-p/241715

[Anonymous]

What about these settings?

Make that the actual post.

[davidlikesbikes]

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Yep, I tried that. Think I spent over an hour trying a variety of sequences, restarts/slot swaps, safe modes, old SIMs etc.... trying to brute force a solution to a goofy problem.

[Anonymous]

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@davidlikesbikes wrote:

Hi friends.

I have a Asus Zenfone 4 Max (ASUS X00ID purchased in Taiwan), running Android 8.1.0 "Oreo", ZenUI Launcher 5.0.1.44_18-7-0_1

I ran a factory reset on my phone (attempt to fix camera issues) and now my network mobile data fails to connect, although calls, sms/texting, and wifi work. This was not an issue before the factory reset. 

Automatically select network shows "Public Mobile" in greyed out text. If I try to select from the list of networks "Public Mobile 3G" appears, but also fails to connect.

I searched around and it seems this is an ongoing issue regarding Android 8.1.0 removing APN editing/manual add function. In March, when I began using Public Mobile, I remember having to manually input the APN. Similar problem now, but without the ability to manually add the APN as per these instructions https://apn-canada.gishan.net/en/apn/public-mobile

Will Public Mobile fix their "auto add" function, or allow their SIM cards the ability to bypass Androids APN restrictions? I read people have had success inputing a Freedom Mobile SIM to bypass the manual add block, or downgrading their Android version.... Is there a better way to fix this issue. Or am I having other APN issues? Does Public Mobile have new SIM cards that fix this issue?

Please help! Thanks in advance 🙂

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Throwin' ideas around...it's dual SIM...try the other slot maybe....is there a setting to tell it to use one of the SIM's for particular services? Remove SIM, restart, maybe be able to edit then.

[davidlikesbikes]

I should also mention that I put the Public Mobile SIM into my old Iphone 4 and the data/3g works fine on that phone.