Issues with receiving calls from certain carriers

[akcard]

Tried using search and couldn't find anything that fit the same problem I've encountered these last few months.

I've been with Public Mobile for years on the unlimited international text, unlimited provincial talk, 12 gb data promotional plan. I'm in AB and have a Samsung Galaxy Note 9.

Recently, I have started having issues where certain callers (Shaw, TD, some of my friends/colleagues) call my number, get a few rings, then it goes to voicemail. The problem is, I don't get any of those rings on my side then only see the missed call if they leave a voicemail. I stood side-by-side with one of my colleagues last week and he tried calling my phone, no ring on my side and nothing in the call log but he left a short voicemail and the voicemail popped up on my phone instantly. I tried calling him and it worked perfectly fine as expected.

I've tried resetting my phone, turning off do not disturb, turned off my caller ID/spam protection but still can't receive these calls. Not sure if there's anything on my end that I've missed, if there's something wrong with my phone, or if I need a CSR from Public Mobile to look into my account.

Thanks!

[darlicious]

@akcard 

It's always good to have a spare sim card or two lying around especially now that they are much harder to acquire on short notice.

[akcard]

Thanks @darlicious!

I'll keep that in mind as I work forward with the CSR. Hopefully it's as easy of a fix as throwing my sim in another compatible phone and making/receiving a few calls but I'll also set up to have myself covered if it is a failing sim card situation. 

[darlicious]

@akcard 

Your 3G signal is decent no cause for concern. You can call out no problem. And you can recieve some calls. Which provider is your friend with? Or is it possible the only callers that get thru are with pm/koodo/telus? If your friend cant call you in a one area can you recieve any calls? Toggle airplane mode on/off and see if that makes a difference?

I suspect it's one if two types of provisioning issues. Either a network type where the fix is to put the sim card in another phone or if you have a dual sim phone the other sim slot. Reboot and make a call. Then power off put your sim back in your phone and Reboot. Make a call and then have someone call you.

Or its a sim card provisioning issue. There is a troubleshooting list but since a couple of them are a little onerous you might as well reach out to customer support and get them to do an account reset and reprovisioning of the sim card to your account. That should fix it.

But this can also be a sign of a failing sim card so you might want to order a spare sim card. ( I think they are still $5 from pm.) Or ask the CSA to send you a free replacement. That way if the issue returns over the next few weeks you will already have a replacement card on hand or at least on the way. (Pm shipping can be 3 days or 3 weeks!!) Recent changes have made sim cards much harder to purchase as they are only available at corporate telus and koodo retail locations and a minimum $10+tax.

[akcard]

Thanks @esjliv 

I checked my blocked numbers and call forwarding and no weird settings there. The friend who calls me does get a ring tone before forwarding to voicemail so I don't think I have him set as blocked/auto-forwarded.

I unfortunately don't have another phone to test my SIM in. I've reached out to CSA to see if there's something on their side they can see otherwise I'll try to track down a phone to test my SIM in.

Thanks!

[esjliv]

@akcard  -can you try your sim card into another phone and see if the same thing happens, if so that perhaps inquire about it with CSA.

But if only happening on your phone, check in the calling app settings to see if you have selected to accept calls from those only on your contact list.

If so, and these are the people that are going directly to voicemail add them to your list, or turn that setting off.

Things to check on your device settings:

Public Mobile Representatives customer support agents (CSA) can be contacted, by either two methods, to check with them if all other suggestions and troubleshooting is not helping:

https://www.publicmobile.ca/en/on/get-help/articles/contact-an-agent

[akcard]

Will do @hTideGnow!

Thanks for all of your help. 

[hTideGnow]

Hey @akcard   track the exact time he called you today

open ticket with PM CS agent and provide them the time your friend called you today and the phone number

let see if CS agent and find out anything

at : https://publicmobile.ca/chatbot. Follow this to get to ticket open screen quicker:

start by typing : Contact CS Agent
then Click "Contact Us"
then Click "Other"
finally Click "Click here to submit a ticket"
you will then direct to another page to open ticket.

After ticket is submitted, make sure to check your Community Inbox(top right corner envelope icon) periodically for response from PM's CS Agent

If you have problems submitting a ticket, you can also send a private message to the CS Agent (but this can take longer):
https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/notes/composepage/note-to-user-id/22437

[Timer]

@akcard 

after you set to WCDMA only do you do rebooting device, if no then do it and check it out,

also do you have other device you can insert your SIM card to check it out.

if still have same issue contact support team by private message CS_Agent  let them check your account.

[akcard]

Hi @hTideGnow 

This friend was able to call me in January of 2022 but as of June, has not been able to dial through to me at all. Not in any part of the city and even in multiple cities. I will have to wait until tomorrow to try the WCDMA only mode with my friend down in the south part of the city when I'm down there but we've tried standing physically next to each other and can see his phone dialing my phone but nothing popping up on my phone. Texts work though.

[hTideGnow]

HI @akcard   is this friends always unable to reach you or just since recently?  did you try to test the phone in another area?

[akcard]

Hi @hTideGnow 

My friend just tried to call me with the phone set at WCDMA only and had no luck, a few rings then voicemail picked up. I have his voicemail notification and was able to send/receive texts from him with this setting on my phone. 

[akcard]

Thanks @hTideGnow!

I've set my phone to WCDMA only, the 4G symbol shows up in the upper right corner of my phone but I'm just waiting for my friend to call me when he gets a moment at work to see if it works or not. I'll report back once they get a break in their day to try calling me on whether or not it worked. I'll leave it in WCDMA mode for a while and see what happens. I'll also try calling/receiving from my wife's phone, even though I normally don't have any issues with her number calling me.

Thanks for your help!

[hTideGnow]

HI @akcard 

this is how it can be done:

From a Home screen, swipe up or down from the center of the display to access the apps screen.
These instructions only apply to Standard Mode and the default Home screen layout .
Navigate: Settings Settings icon,  Connections ->Mobile networks.
Tap Network mode.
Select the appropriate setting, 3G Only should be one of them (some called it WCDMA only or HSPA Only)

[akcard]

Thanks @darlicious!

I've set my Note 9 to WCDMA only so my Mobile network is HSPA. My signal strength is -91 dBm 30 asu.

For your questions:

1) No issues with outgoing calls at all

2) The inability to receive calls happens everywhere at any time, on both ends of the city and various times of day

3) I'm in north Calgary

4) I don't remember any sort of renewal event happening around the time of this issue, it just showed up randomly a few months ago.

[darlicious]

@akcard 

It's likely to do with your 3G network connectivity.

1. Do you have any issues with outgoing calling?
2. Is it in a couple of particular locations or can happen at any time anywhere?
3. What is your approximate location?
4. Did this start to occur after renewal?

Check your 3G signal strength. Settings>>About phone>>Sim card status>>signal strength ? dBm Make sure you set your network to 3G only then check your signal strength. Report back.

[akcard]

Thanks @hTideGnow!

I've never tried phone network type to 3G only. I'll look to see how to enable this on my Note 9 and then see if I can get my friends to try calling me after that. This only started a few months ago, prior to that I was been able to receive calls from these numbers without any changes in my settings.

For friends who can not reach me, it was suddenly they couldn't call me and haven't been able to since with it now going straight to VM every time we try. 

[hTideGnow]

HI @akcard   This is something that might take time to troubleshoot, It could be a problem on PM side or on the caller side.  

did you try to change your phone network type to 3G Only?  some phones call it WCDMA only or HSPA Only .  Try it and see if it helps

and for those friends who cannot reach you , was that only occasionally? or they have not been able to reach you for sometime and only going to VM?