Galaxy S3 usually fails to call out, and incoming calls often go straight to voicemail

[D_C_]

Hello, when I typed my IMEI into Public Mobile's IMEI-checker, the result was positive. But well over half of the calls that I attempt fail (i.e., no actual ringing occurs... the call just completely fails after close to a minute of waiting) no matter where I am, and over half of the calls sent my way go directly to voicemail (if I'm even that lucky).

So I asked the Walmart saleswoman, who at first added an APN setting. No luck. So then she suggested plugging my Public Mobile SIM card into another phone to see if that might help. Well I just did so (using a friend's phone), and the SIM card works fine -- calls can be made with ease.  So does this mean that the Galaxy S3 is, in fact, not _fully_ supported by Public Mobile?

P.S.: When signing me up to the Public Mobile service, that same Walmart saleswoman didn't see any field where she could type in the account number of the phone service provider (Primus Canada) who had possession of my phone number and who was asked to port said phone number to Public Mobile. Could this be part of the problem?

P.P.S.:  I took out the SIM card and re-inserted it, but the problems persist.

[Anonymous]

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@D_C_ wrote:

When incoming calls don't get through to me, they either:

1) go straight to Public Mobile's voicemail

...or ...

2) don't even ring, according to the callers (i.e., the callers don't even get through to my Public Mobile voicemail).

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 @D_C_:

If you haven't wiped your phone yet or said screw it and moved on anyway :)...

What about any call blocking or do not disturb options?

Or the call forwarding options? Maybe it's set to all calls or something.

Your dialer should be able to show those options.

Or these dial codes will show them as well.

[srlawren]

@D_C_ at this point you might want to try a factory reset.  I know, it's PITA.  Make sure you back up anything you want to keep that isn't already backed up or synced to a cloud-based service before you reset, of course.

[D_C_]

When incoming calls don't get through to me, they either:

1) go straight to Public Mobile's voicemail

...or ...

2) don't even ring, according to the callers (i.e., the callers don't even get through to my Public Mobile voicemail).

[computergeek541]

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@D_C_ wrote:

Hello, when I typed my IMEI into Public Mobile's IMEI-checker, the result was positive. But well over half of the calls that I attempt fail (i.e., no actual ringing occurs... the call just completely fails after close to a minute of waiting) no matter where I am, and over half of the calls sent my way go directly to voicemail (if I'm even that lucky).

So I asked the Walmart saleswoman, who at first added an APN setting. No luck. So then she suggested plugging my Public Mobile SIM card into another phone to see if that might help.

---

You're having call problems and the salesperson played with APN settings?  That's terrible!  APN settings have absolutely nothing to do with phone calls. Those settings only allow you to use cellular data, and nothing else.

Calls often (but not always) going straight to vociemail can be one of only 3 things:  weak signal in your area, a temporary issue within Public Mobile's back end or activation/provissioning issue, or a device with either a faulty or poorer quality antenna than some other phone models.

If by chance, all calls are going to voicemail, is it the voicemail of your old carrier?  If it is, keep using your old carrier's service until you can get things sorted out.

[D_C_]

Years ago, it was used with Bell.  There were never any problems back then.

[srlawren]

@D_C_ who did you use the S3 with previously?

[Dunkman]

@D_C_

Sorry I have iphone so not as familiar with Samsung....  

It might be more drastic, but you can try a factory reset.....

[D_C_]

I tried the friend's Koodo SIM card in my Galaxy S3 and then I scanned for networks, choosing the Koodo one.  Without playing around with APN settings, I then dialed a phone number, but the exact same problem occurred.  

My Galaxy S3 does not appear to have a network reset option; the only relevant options that It appears to have in the "Mobile Neworks" settings area are "Access Point Names" and "Network Operators."  That second option simply (and slowly!) scans for networks.  I've seen the network reset feature on other phones, but my device is Android 4.4.2. and as such _appears_ to lack that feature.  But I'd love to be proven wrong.

[Dunkman]

@D_C_

Sorry, looking at your initial post....  you stated that when you put the SIM card into your friend's phone, everything worked, so it  should not be a public mobile service issue (ie. incomplete port). 

It is a likely hardware issue.  Can you put your friend's SIM into the S3 to see whether that would work?  If another company SIM card works fine in your S3, then the set up is not correct.  If it does not work, maybe something is wrong with the S3.  

Might want to try a network reset.  

[D_C_]

Say, if my landline phone number got stuck during porting to my Galaxy S3, then why did my Public Mobile SIM card work perfectly once inserted into a friend's Galaxy S6?

[D_C_]

When I entered my phone's information into https://willmyphonework.net, it tells me that the Galaxy S3 has full compatibility with the 3G network, and partial 4G LTE compatibility (i.e., Band17-700MHz, Band4-AWS).  

Yes, the Primus phone number was a landline number, but that port was (supposed to be??) done three weeks ago.  What do you mean by landline ports being incomplete/stuck?  And how might one:  1) find out about a port's status; and 2) unstick a port?  Do I really have to deal with Primus again?  (I migrated away from them with good reason.)

[Dunkman]

@D_C_

You can check the website:

https://willmyphonework.net/ 

to see if your model of S3 does work with Public Mobile.  

Did you have a landline with Primus?  If so, the port may not be complete or stuck.  Landlines can take up to few days to port over....