Phone shows "Emergency Calls only" after activation

[may1]

Hi there,

I purchased a sim card and activated it, I also received confirmation email, but the phone doesn't work, it displays "emergency calls only". Since I chose a new number, the chatbot said it should immediately work. Can you please help?

Thanks

[may1]

yeah, the model is KIW-TL00H

[may1]

This phone is from chinese market, thank you so much for clarifying the mystery!

[srlawren · Accepted solution]

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@may1 wrote:

Sorry, I meant Huawei Honor 5X

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@may1 thanks May, that helps.  But there are a few variations on the 5X.

Technology	GSM / HSPA / LTE
3G bands	HSDPA 900 / 2100
	HSDPA 850 / 1700(AWS) / 1900 / 2100 - USA
	HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100
	HSDPA 850 / 1900 / 2100 - Canada

If you happen to have the first one on the list, it is not compatible with Public Mobile.  If yours was from the Chinese or Indian market, it's probably that variant, and that fits with the symptoms you describe.  The ohter 3 howeever are fine, since they all feature the 850 MHz and 1900 MHz UMTS/W-CDMA frequencies required for use with Public Mobile (and Koodo, Telus, Bell, Virgin Mobile, Lucky Mobile).  

[Anonymous]

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@may1 wrote:

Sorry, I meant Huawei Honor 5X

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If you can find yet another deeper model designation like KIW-L21 or 23 or 24 then they look like they would work. Other than those 3...not.

[may1]

Sorry, I meant Huawei Honor 5X

[srlawren]

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@may1 wrote:

Hi there,

Thank you for your response. It is huawei honor 5G, it has never been used in Canada before, I checked the IMEI with Public mobile, it was okay. When I searched network provider, Public Mobile was not even there.

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@may1 I can't find any reference to an Honor model called 5G.  I see they have at least one 5G phone called the 9X (there may be others).  Is yours maybe called 9X?  Or something other than "5G"?  EDIT: can you see here for finding your model number please? https://consumer.huawei.com/ca/support/find-model/

I'm thinking since your SIM worked in another device that yours is in fact not compatible with Public Mobile.  Unfortunately, the IMEI checker on PM's page is not very accurate and often produces false positives.  I fear you may have fallen prey as well.

[ekkian]

have you tried restarting your phone?

[may1]

you probably are right, today I tried on a Sony Xperia phone and it worked.

[may1]

Yes, I did, the Public Mobile did not show up

[may1]

Hi there,

Thank you for your response. It is huawei honor 5G, it has never been used in Canada before, I checked the IMEI with Public mobile, it was okay. When I searched network provider, Public Mobile was not even there.

[srlawren]

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@may1 wrote:

It's huawei honor, I confirmed compatibility

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@may1 which one?  there are many Honor models.  Some of them are meant for overseas networks and are not compatible with Public Mobile.  I'm guessing this is your issue.  Is your phone imported from China/India/Europe, by chance?  If you've used it previously in Canada, was it with Rogers, Fido, or Chatr?  Rogers operates a 2G GSM network which may be what your phone was using (and the other two are owned and operated by Rogers, on their networks).

[mimmo]

@may1  have you tried doing a manual network search?  do any networks show up?  

[hairbag1]

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@may1 wrote:

I already reboot the phone a few times, and make sure the sim card was installed  properly. The phone is not a new phone, and I confirmed its compatibility with public mobile. I even tried the sim card on a different phone, it didn't work either.

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If all else fails, you'll have to contact a moderator for their help...

Click this to message them.

Please be patient as it could take up to 48 hours for a reply...but usually less.

Good luck

[Anonymous]

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@may1 wrote:

It's huawei honor, I confirmed compatibility

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The checker here is not very reliable. You could use willmyphonework.net and find your exact make/model and see what it says. Or reply back with the exact make/model and someone here can dig in to it.

There's a possibility with recent news that the checker here uses that site but have a look anyway.

[hairbag1]

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@may1 wrote:

Thank you for your reply, yes, the account status shows "active"

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You can try the Lost/Stolen remedy. Log into My Account / Plan and Addons / Lost-Stolen. SUSPEND service and log out for 5 minutes...log back in and RESUME service...cycle phone off/on.

Let us know if that works for you.

[may1]

It's huawei honor, I confirmed compatibility

[may1]

I already reboot the phone a few times, and make sure the sim card was installed  properly. The phone is not a new phone, and I confirmed its compatibility with public mobile. I even tried the sim card on a different phone, it didn't work either.

[Anonymous]

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@may1 wrote:

Thank you for your reply, yes, the account status shows "active"

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What make/model is the phone?

[may1]

Thank you for your reply, yes, the account status shows "active"

[hairbag1]

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@may1 wrote:

Hi there,

I purchased a sim card and activated it, I also received confirmation email, but the phone doesn't work, it displays "emergency calls only". Since I chose a new number, the chatbot said it should immediately work. Can you please help?

Thanks

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Cycle phone off / on. Take out sim and make sure it's properly seated. Is this a new phone or did you bring it from a different cell provider ?

[hairbag1]

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@may1 wrote:

Hi there,

I purchased a sim card and activated it, I also received confirmation email, but the phone doesn't work, it displays "emergency calls only". Since I chose a new number, the chatbot said it should immediately work. Can you please help?

Thanks

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Log into My Account and confirm that your service is ACTIVE.