Galaxy S3 "Emergency Calls Only"

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Jesz11

5 posts

Wannabe Geek

#112165 28-Nov-2012 13:34

Hi,

I have recently purchased an unlocked Galaxy s3, which the original provider was Telecom, (this is displayed on start up) Voderfone is my provider.

My SIM works fine 80% of the time, howeveer when Im in a low signal area the handset without warning will switch to Emergency calls only, and will only work once I have restarted the handset. I have had two new Micro sims but yet the problem keeps happering, so I guess its got to be an issue with the handset or settings of some sort.

Can anyone provide me with any cues on how to stop this happering or what I should do from here.

Thanks

mattwnz

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#724183 28-Nov-2012 13:39

Perhaps take it into a vodafone store and they can look at the settings.

freitasm

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#724184 28-Nov-2012 13:39

Is the handset running the original ROM or some other ROM? Was the radio modified any time before you bought it?

Jesz11

5 posts

Wannabe Geek

#724190 28-Nov-2012 13:49

Thanks for you quick replies.

Hi excuess my dumbness but not to sure what you mean by ROM. From what we understood the phone was brand new from Hitech Mobiles. Came with the plastic still on the screen and what seemed to be original packing.

There was no mention of anything having been changed other then the fact it had been unlocked. Im not sure where to take the phone to have it checked because it was/is a telecom phone but is running my Vodafone sim.

mattwnz

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#724191 28-Nov-2012 13:52

Jesz11:
Thanks for you quick replies.

Hi excuess my dumbness but not to sure what you mean by ROM. From what we understood the phone was brand new from Hitech Mobiles. Came with the plastic still on the screen and what seemed to be original packing.

There was no mention of anything having been changed other then the fact it had been unlocked. Im not sure where to take the phone to have it checked because it was/is a telecom phone but is running my Vodafone sim.

Are you sure it was unlocked? Does it actually show the telecom logo on the startup screen. I would have thought if it was unlocked, it wouldn't display any carriers logo. Mine doesn't display any carriers brnding and it is unlocked.

Jesz11

5 posts

Wannabe Geek

#724194 28-Nov-2012 14:01

Yeah it does actully show the Telecom logo on Start up, Restart etc. I only presume its unlocked because thats what they said and because I can send, recive calls and texts. it only seems to stop working when signal is low or none at all.

freitasm

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#724197 28-Nov-2012 14:07

This is interesting. No phone sold in New Zealand is locked anyway. It's quite possible some parallel importers would bring in imported devices then flash locally.

My worry is that it may have the wrong radio firmware loaded.

Very strange. In any case using a mobile from one operator in another network is cause for problems - there are network specific settings that can cause higher battery usage for starters...

Jesz11

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Wannabe Geek

#724203 28-Nov-2012 14:16

Thaks for all your help. Im going to send the phone back to the seller see what comes of this.

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sbiddle

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#724208 28-Nov-2012 14:28

It doesn't sound like there is anything wrong with your phone or SIM card. What you're seeing is perfectly normal.

"Emergency calls only" means your phone is outside your network coverage area and is camping on another networks for the purpose of making an emergency call if needed. This will happen to any phone on any of the 3 networks in NZ.

While your phone is camped on another network you will only be able to call 111. Your phone will move back to your home network when you re-enter their coverage area.

johnr

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#724225 28-Nov-2012 14:51

Does the same issue happen with SIM card in another handset in the same locations?

corksta

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#724242 28-Nov-2012 15:31

Check anyway that under Settings>More settings>Mobile networks, that 'Network mode' is set to 'GSM/WCDMA (Auto mode)'.

bagheera

539 posts

Ultimate Geek

#724246 28-Nov-2012 15:46

my s2 with vodafone rom on vodafone does this every so often too - only way to get it back onto the vodafone network is to reboot - after reboot it will have a full bar signal when i notice it in town. have track it down to when you go out of vodafone cover area, it sometime never re-finds vodafone again till a reboot, which is a pain as my trip too and from work has a dead vodafone area in it - happen to me about once every 2 weeks.

Jesz11

5 posts

Wannabe Geek

#724388 28-Nov-2012 21:08

Hi,

Thanks for all your replies. The mobile shop it was purchased from asked me to send it back for inspection.

S Biddle: I understand fully what you are saying, however what I don't understand is that occaionaly when I am out of Network range the handset will read "No Service" then once back in Network range will function 100% but 8 times out of 10 it will just suddenly switch to "Emergency Calls Only", by pass the "No Service", only seconds after I have just recived or sent a text from that very same spot.

John R: In regards to this happerning on other handsets. No it doesn't. I have my sim back in my old handset and it hasn't done it once and never did until I had the S3, hence why I think its a handset issue. Maybe these newer handsets don't have the same range as older ones.

Corksta: Thanks for that but I have already tried that.

Bagheera: Sound very similar to what is happerning with mine, the only difference is I can have 3-2 bars of signal, just send or receive a text then just switches over.

Thanks all for you feedback. If it turns out to just be a coverage thing then thats fine. I just want to make sure that this wasn't a faulty handset, and because it was a gift to me I need to follow it up so the buyer is satisfied that they wasn't ripped off.

:-)

sbiddle

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#724456 29-Nov-2012 06:03

Jesz11: S Biddle: I understand fully what you are saying, however what I don't understand is that occaionaly when I am out of Network range the handset will read "No Service" then once back in Network range will function 100% but 8 times out of 10 it will just suddenly switch to "Emergency Calls Only", by pass the "No Service", only seconds after I have just recived or sent a text from that very same spot.

A S3 should emergency call camp around 10 seconds after losing signal from the home network. Once your phone detects it's dropped the home network it will switch to no service with a circle with a slash through it and should emergency camp within 10 seconds or so to ensure you're able to make an emergency call if required.

Without going into any more detail I've in excess of 30 hours looking call camping on the VF network over the course of a few months with multiple handsets and can assure you that what you're describing with the phone emergency camping and then reconnecting to VF is perfectly normal. I actually found a good area for testing where I can walk 10m across a carpark and make this happen, walk back and it reconnects.

uglyb0b

335 posts

Ultimate Geek

#724767 29-Nov-2012 17:20

freitasm: This is interesting. No phone sold in New Zealand is locked anyway. It's quite possible some parallel importers would bring in imported devices then flash locally.

My worry is that it may have the wrong radio firmware loaded.

Very strange. In any case using a mobile from one operator in another network is cause for problems - there are network specific settings that can cause higher battery usage for starters...

I am thinking the same thing. I have had issues with hitech mobiles in the past, I would not recommend them to anyone.

Considering that when I sent my Nexus One back to them for service, after trying to claim that it wasn't faulty, they sent me back a "replacement" that was a blatantly second hand phone with dirt in the ports and rooted firmware. I wouldn't put it past them to flash imports with a local rom and not load the modem correctly.

Does it have I9300T under the battery or I9300? What shows up on the screen when you dial *#1234#