Cell cervice dropping

[R2D2s_bff]

I've been with Public Mobile for three and half years and have been using a OnePlus One since the summer of 2018. Last week I traveled to the United States and didn't purchase any add-ons that would provide service. As such, I left the phone in airplane mode the entire time I was there but did use Wi-Fi. I arrived home on Thursday night, and on service came back normal. Problems started on Saturday afternoon when I tried making a phone call. My phone showed having service, but when I pressed "call" the service dropped and a message popped up saying that I need to turn off airplane mode or re-enter service area. A couple of minutes later service came back, but when trying to make a phone call the same result happened. Yesterday, I tried the same thing only with sending a text message and got the same result. The phone showed I had service, I typed a message, and when I pressed "send" service dropped. After a few moments it came back, and when I tried to send a message throughout the evening it continued to have the same result. I backed up the phone, reset it, and now it just stays in "no service" mode. When I search for networks it doesn't show any being available. I've restarted the phone a number of times, removed the SIM card and waited for a minute before re-inserting and turning phone back on, etc.

In summary: the phone had service one day and stopped having service the next without there being any changes to settings or changing apps, downloading anything, etc.

Any help is much appreciated. Thanks.

[will13am]

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@RobertQc wrote:

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@will13am wrote:

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Robert, it is not too wise to suggest adding tape to a SIM card.  I can see it now, the card will go in nicely and will never come out again. 

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@will13am 

I have heard many people talk about it and report success, never any horror stories. But as always YMMV

"Try putting a small piece of scotch tape on the back of the Sim card. I went through three new Sim cards and this fixed it."

"A few people have reported fewer SMS and reboot issues after padding the SIM card with tape. A couple of pieces of tape are enough to keep the SIM card in tighter contact with the phone."

"Place three small pieces of scotch tape on the area of the SIM card that doesn’t have metal contacts. Don’t cover the SIM card completely. The tape should not be bigger. Place the tape back in the tray and place it back in the iPhone. The tape should make the SIM card thicker, which may help to fix the problem."

"In some cases there is a design flaw on the sim card tray causing the sim card contacts to touch the metal tray causing a short circuit. As a result, the phone stops recognizing the sim. This can sometimes be fixed by placing a small amount of tape on the sim card as pictured below."

"A cheap and unique method many have tried is adding some paper or even tape to get a tighter fit. That usually makes the SIM card fit nice and tight and resolves the problem."

"Rooted in the notion that improper SIM contact can result in a weak signal, we've now received reports that attaching a small piece of scotch tape to the outer side of the iPhone's SIM card (the side that does not have metal contacts) can result in a surprising boost."

"You can also add a small piece of card or one or more layers of tape at the other side of the SIM card without gold contacts and then insert it again. "

And, on another note I have heard of people using tape to remove a stuck sim card 😉 "Inserted sim card without the special slider" - "Dad managed to get his SIM card stuck in the same way; I managed to get it out for him with a piece of scotch tape." lol.

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Generally, SIM cards are places with contact side down on the SIM tray.  I fail to see how tape matters.  I stand by my suggestion to install lineage OS.

[RobertQc]

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@will13am wrote:

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Robert, it is not too wise to suggest adding tape to a SIM card.  I can see it now, the card will go in nicely and will never come out again. 

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@will13am 

I have heard many people talk about it and report success, never any horror stories. But as always YMMV

"Try putting a small piece of scotch tape on the back of the Sim card. I went through three new Sim cards and this fixed it."

"A few people have reported fewer SMS and reboot issues after padding the SIM card with tape. A couple of pieces of tape are enough to keep the SIM card in tighter contact with the phone."

"Place three small pieces of scotch tape on the area of the SIM card that doesn’t have metal contacts. Don’t cover the SIM card completely. The tape should not be bigger. Place the tape back in the tray and place it back in the iPhone. The tape should make the SIM card thicker, which may help to fix the problem."

"In some cases there is a design flaw on the sim card tray causing the sim card contacts to touch the metal tray causing a short circuit. As a result, the phone stops recognizing the sim. This can sometimes be fixed by placing a small amount of tape on the sim card as pictured below."

"A cheap and unique method many have tried is adding some paper or even tape to get a tighter fit. That usually makes the SIM card fit nice and tight and resolves the problem."

"Rooted in the notion that improper SIM contact can result in a weak signal, we've now received reports that attaching a small piece of scotch tape to the outer side of the iPhone's SIM card (the side that does not have metal contacts) can result in a surprising boost."

"You can also add a small piece of card or one or more layers of tape at the other side of the SIM card without gold contacts and then insert it again. "

And, on another note I have heard of people using tape to remove a stuck sim card 😉 "Inserted sim card without the special slider" - "Dad managed to get his SIM card stuck in the same way; I managed to get it out for him with a piece of scotch tape." lol.

[will13am]

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@RobertQc wrote:

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@R2D2s_bff wrote:

@sheytoon @will13am @steff12321 @karmask @RobertQc I tried everything each person suggested short of downloading an antivirus software. Nothing seemed to work. My phone would switch between having service and not, but mostly not. 

When I got home I pit the SIM card in an old phone and it worked normally. I could make calls, etc. I put it back in my OnePlus and it didn't show there being any service, bit when I got on WiFi I got service again just a few seconds later. I turned WiFi off, and service dropped right away. I turned it back on and service came back. 

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone has offered. If anybody has any ideas why the phone woukdbhave cell service when WiFi is on I'd love yo hear them.

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@R2D2s_bffSince you did a factory reset and you tried your sim in another phone I think its pretty likely something is wrong with your phone or maybe contacts in the sim card. I would take your sim card out and stick a small piece of tape on the side without pins to make it a little thicker and blow into your sim slot / use rubbing alcohol and try to clean the pins very gently and the sim card.

Might as well at this point try to update the modem software and your rom to a new version of andriod or even a 3rd party rom as @will13am  has suggested. Not sure if that will help but no reason not to try. It sounds to me like most likely its a hardware issue. Phones go through an incredible amount of stress day in and day out and can literally develop a problem when there are billions of different possible hardware issues, such as lose / cracked solder point on the antenna.

Going forward I am not sure what else to suggest other than being open to the possibility of replacing the phone. Years ago I had a xperia that was flakey one minute it would work and one minute it would not. Sometimes I would miss calls, miss texts, go offline and never figured it out but attributed it to a hardware failure of some kind.

If you really feel like playing around you can get your multimeter, signal generator, oscilloscope and frequency counter to try to actually diagnose your hardware but for what a device is worth its not worth it imo.

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Robert, it is not too wise to suggest adding tape to a SIM card.  I can see it now, the card will go in nicely and will never come out again.  Unless the SIM card is being swapped nightly, there is no reason for either the SIM card or the SIM tray to wear out.  I do a lot SIM swaps (pretty much on a monthly basis because Telus refuses to release the essential OTA in a timely manner) and all I see are "skid marks" on the SIM card from the wear.  Otherwise, it still works perfectly.  I know of nobody who is harder on their phone than wifie.  The LeEco she used for about 15 months is bent slightly with delamination of the digitizer and screen layers showing.  Every bit of hardware on that phone still works except the finger print reader.  

Going back on topic, I google searched and found this on the oneplus forum.  This is for a different model, but sounds like the same issue.  It is firmware.

https://forums.oneplus.com/threads/mobile-data-does-not-work-after-i-turn-off-wifi.632381/

[will13am]

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@R2D2s_bff wrote:

@sheytoon @will13am @steff12321 @karmask @RobertQc I tried everything each person suggested short of downloading an antivirus software. Nothing seemed to work. My phone would switch between having service and not, but mostly not. 

When I got home I pit the SIM card in an old phone and it worked normally. I could make calls, etc. I put it back in my OnePlus and it didn't show there being any service, bit when I got on WiFi I got service again just a few seconds later. I turned WiFi off, and service dropped right away. I turned it back on and service came back. 

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone has offered. If anybody has any ideas why the phone woukdbhave cell service when WiFi is on I'd love yo hear them.

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Sounds like software to me.  Toggle one thing on and something else works.  Toggle it off and the other thing goes off too.  Hardware faults don't behave that way.

[Metal1967]

@RobertQc 

Sounds like a job for a dremmil...😀

[RobertQc]

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@R2D2s_bff wrote:

@sheytoon @will13am @steff12321 @karmask @RobertQc I tried everything each person suggested short of downloading an antivirus software. Nothing seemed to work. My phone would switch between having service and not, but mostly not. 

When I got home I pit the SIM card in an old phone and it worked normally. I could make calls, etc. I put it back in my OnePlus and it didn't show there being any service, bit when I got on WiFi I got service again just a few seconds later. I turned WiFi off, and service dropped right away. I turned it back on and service came back. 

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone has offered. If anybody has any ideas why the phone woukdbhave cell service when WiFi is on I'd love yo hear them.

---

@R2D2s_bffSince you did a factory reset and you tried your sim in another phone I think its pretty likely something is wrong with your phone or maybe contacts in the sim card. I would take your sim card out and stick a small piece of tape on the side without pins to make it a little thicker and blow into your sim slot / use rubbing alcohol and try to clean the pins very gently and the sim card.

Might as well at this point try to update the modem software and your rom to a new version of andriod or even a 3rd party rom as @will13am  has suggested. Not sure if that will help but no reason not to try. It sounds to me like most likely its a hardware issue. Phones go through an incredible amount of stress day in and day out and can literally develop a problem when there are billions of different possible hardware issues, such as lose / cracked solder point on the antenna.

Going forward I am not sure what else to suggest other than being open to the possibility of replacing the phone. Years ago I had a xperia that was flakey one minute it would work and one minute it would not. Sometimes I would miss calls, miss texts, go offline and never figured it out but attributed it to a hardware failure of some kind.

If you really feel like playing around you can get your multimeter, signal generator, oscilloscope and frequency counter to try to actually diagnose your hardware but for what a device is worth its not worth it imo.

[R2D2s_bff]

@sheytoon @will13am @steff12321 @karmask @RobertQc I tried everything each person suggested short of downloading an antivirus software. Nothing seemed to work. My phone would switch between having service and not, but mostly not. 

When I got home I pit the SIM card in an old phone and it worked normally. I could make calls, etc. I put it back in my OnePlus and it didn't show there being any service, bit when I got on WiFi I got service again just a few seconds later. I turned WiFi off, and service dropped right away. I turned it back on and service came back. 

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone has offered. If anybody has any ideas why the phone woukdbhave cell service when WiFi is on I'd love yo hear them.

[will13am]

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@R2D2s_bff wrote:

@RobertQc Excellent. That'd stink having an eternal virus.

After doing the reset I have Lollipop on my phone now. I'm considering putting a newer version on the phone later this week, but only if the phone gets back up to having service again.

Also, around mid-December the Messages app did an update and it prevents my phone from going into sleep mode. If I don't manually force stop the program it will drain a 100% charged battery fully in about three hours, even if I have the phone screen off and it sitting on a desk. But that's an issue for another day.

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@R2D2s_bff, this weekend I took my one plus one out of the shoe box and installed lineage OS 16.0 (android Pie 9.0).  In spite of the age, the phone is still really snappy and good on power.  The new iterations of android have really improved the wakelock situation and power wastage.  The last time I used the phone in earnest was on android 7.1.  I think your problem is running such an antiquated OS.  While many apps are backwards compatible, I don't think it is an ideal situation running an outdated OS that is 4 iterations old and known to be full of security holes and very inefficient.  It would be like running window XP on a PC.  With respect to concerns about infected apps, play protect should offer adequate protection for apps originating from the play store. 

I know that third party roms are not for everyone.  Anyway, I bought the one plus one for the ability to run third party roms.  For the entire useful life of the phone, I was running an up to date OS.  To this day, the phone continues to be supported by fresh OS updates.  I would strongly suggest an attempt to install lineage OS on the phone.  It would alleviate all the bugs and security holes and put new life into the old hardware.  If you are interested in running lineage OS on the phone, we can continue the discussion outside of this thread. 

[sheytoon]

@R2D2s_bff, using your SIM in another phone is definitely your best bet in isolating the issue.

Another thing you can try in the meantime is to force the phone to 3G only. Can you see any networks or attach properly?

[steff12321]

@karmask Save your $$$ and read this article: https://www.techadvisor.co.uk/how-to/google-android/antivirus-android-3668607/

[karmask]

Curious about Norton Security?  Go to the Norton.com official website to learn about it. We use it on all our devides ( PC's, tablets, phones).

There is an article on preventing or removing malware from Android on AVG.com  They sell  AVG AntiVirus for Android  ..an excerpt from the article, about malware removal, is below:

"What to do if your Android phone is already infected?

\/        \/           \/           \/           \/            \/             \/

If you suspect your phone already has malware on it, then don't panic. All hope is not lost. There are ways you can isolate and even get rid of it. It's simpler than it sounds. In fact, we've got a  ready just for you. Go check it out." The link is:    https://www.avg.com/en/signal/android-app-safety

Just some suggestions. Of course they aren't free.

[RobertQc]

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@R2D2s_bff wrote:

@RobertQc Excellent. That'd stink having an eternal virus.

After doing the reset I have Lollipop on my phone now. I'm considering putting a newer version on the phone later this week, but only if the phone gets back up to having service again.

Also, around mid-December the Messages app did an update and it prevents my phone from going into sleep mode. If I don't manually force stop the program it will drain a 100% charged battery fully in about three hours, even if I have the phone screen off and it sitting on a desk. But that's an issue for another day.

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@R2D2s_bff  Before I did anything else I would test out the sim in another phone then know how to proceed as it may just be an account issue.

About your 3 hour battery, I would suggest for keeping things organized to create a separate post for that issue when you are ready. No need to also worry about that if you may upgrade from lollipop that could solve the issue.

[R2D2s_bff]

@RobertQc Excellent. That'd stink having an eternal virus.

After doing the reset I have Lollipop on my phone now. I'm considering putting a newer version on the phone later this week, but only if the phone gets back up to having service again.

Also, around mid-December the Messages app did an update and it prevents my phone from going into sleep mode. If I don't manually force stop the program it will drain a 100% charged battery fully in about three hours, even if I have the phone screen off and it sitting on a desk. But that's an issue for another day.

[steff12321]

@R2D2s_bff Self Serve -> Plan and Add-Ons -> Lost/Stolen Phone

Turn it on, toggle airplane mode on/off, and then turn it back off, toggling airplane mode again. 

I don't think it's possible to get a virus without downloading some sketchy cracked APKs from unknown sources, much less "being on public wifi"

Good luck!

[RobertQc]

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@R2D2s_bff wrote:

@RobertQc Good idea to put SIM card in another phone to see if it has service. I'll do that with another phone later today.

I did do a full factory reset. If the phone had a virus before the reset would it still be on there after the reset?

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@R2D2s_bff  I seriously doubt you have a virus unless you went out of your way to install things you should not. It would have to be one heck of a virus to be able to bury itself in your stock rom so it was re-installed during a factory reset. I don't even know how it would be possible unless you have a rooted phone giving 3rd party apps permission.

[R2D2s_bff]

@steff12321 Thank you for the suggestion. I only download through the Play store.

I went into my account but don't see a "lost/stolen" option. Where is it at?

[R2D2s_bff]

@thechunkyknot Thanks for the suggestion, and I'm glad that worked for you.

I did try taking the SIM card out, waiting a minute, then putting it back in. Only tried that once, and when it came up with there still being no service I moved on to another troubleshooting method.

[R2D2s_bff]

@RobertQc Good idea to put SIM card in another phone to see if it has service. I'll do that with another phone later today.

I did do a full factory reset. If the phone had a virus before the reset would it still be on there after the reset?

[RobertQc]

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@karmask wrote:

EEKS, that shoulds more like a virus got into your phone, maybe being on public wifi in the states? Do you have a seecurity program on your phone ? I use Norton, very protective of such things.

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@karmaskPlease, go on. Give me more details of how norton is very protective of such things.

[thechunkyknot]

have you tried taking your sim card ut and putting it back in. I had the same problem and that worked for me.

[steff12321]

Doesn't sound like a virus. You shouldn't be getting viruses on your phone if you install all apps from the Play Store, only if you download APKs online. 

Try the lost/stolen mode as this refreshes your SIM's registration on the network. Hopefully that will fix it. 

[RobertQc]

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@RobertQc wrote:

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I backed up the phone, reset it

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@R2D2s_bff  As in a full factory reset?

[karmask]

EEKS, that shoulds more like a virus got into your phone, maybe being on public wifi in the states? Do you have a seecurity program on your phone ? I use Norton, very protective of such things.

[RobertQc]

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@R2D2s_bff wrote:

@RobertQc thank you for the suggestion. I've turned airplane mode on and off again a number of times but to no avail.

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@R2D2s_bff  Log into your self serve, is the account still active? If you take your sim card and put it into another phone does your service work on that phone?

I know its unlikely,  but always check your imei number here when having a problem https://www.devicecheck.ca/check-status-device-canada/

[geopublic]

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@R2D2s_bff wrote:

I've been with Public Mobile for three and half years and have been using a OnePlus One since the summer of 2018. Last week I traveled to the United States and didn't purchase any add-ons that would provide service. As such, I left the phone in airplane mode the entire time I was there but did use Wi-Fi. I arrived home on Thursday night, and on service came back normal. Problems started on Saturday afternoon when I tried making a phone call. My phone showed having service, but when I pressed "call" the service dropped and a message popped up saying that I need to turn off airplane mode or re-enter service area. A couple of minutes later service came back, but when trying to make a phone call the same result happened. Yesterday, I tried the same thing only with sending a text message and got the same result. The phone showed I had service, I typed a message, and when I pressed "send" service dropped. After a few moments it came back, and when I tried to send a message throughout the evening it continued to have the same result. I backed up the phone, reset it, and now it just stays in "no service" mode. When I search for networks it doesn't show any being available. I've restarted the phone a number of times, removed the SIM card and waited for a minute before re-inserting and turning phone back on, etc.

In summary: the phone had service one day and stopped having service the next without there being any changes to settings or changing apps, downloading anything, etc.

Any help is much appreciated. Thanks.

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Try the lost/stolen trick to see if it clears things up:

1. Login to your self-serve account.
2. Report your phone lost/stolen using Plan and Add-Ons -->Lost/Stolen Phone
3. Logoff
4. Wait 5 minutes and login again
5. Report your phone found.
6. Re-start you phone 

[R2D2s_bff]

@RobertQc thank you for the suggestion. I've turned airplane mode on and off again a number of times but to no avail.

[RobertQc]

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@R2D2s_bff wrote:

I've been with Public Mobile for three and half years and have been using a OnePlus One since the summer of 2018. Last week I traveled to the United States and didn't purchase any add-ons that would provide service. As such, I left the phone in airplane mode the entire time I was there but did use Wi-Fi. I arrived home on Thursday night, and on service came back normal. Problems started on Saturday afternoon when I tried making a phone call. My phone showed having service, but when I pressed "call" the service dropped and a message popped up saying that I need to turn off airplane mode or re-enter service area. A couple of minutes later service came back, but when trying to make a phone call the same result happened. Yesterday, I tried the same thing only with sending a text message and got the same result. The phone showed I had service, I typed a message, and when I pressed "send" service dropped. After a few moments it came back, and when I tried to send a message throughout the evening it continued to have the same result. I backed up the phone, reset it, and now it just stays in "no service" mode. When I search for networks it doesn't show any being available. I've restarted the phone a number of times, removed the SIM card and waited for a minute before re-inserting and turning phone back on, etc.

In summary: the phone had service one day and stopped having service the next without there being any changes to settings or changing apps, downloading anything, etc.

Any help is much appreciated. Thanks.

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@R2D2s_bff You mentioned a few things that you tried, did you try turning air plane mode back ON, then OFF again? Sometimes it needs to be toggled again.

[steff12321]

Try turning lost/stolen mode on/off through self serve