Weird connection issues on certain cell towers?

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deanfourie

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#284190 6-Apr-2021 13:38

Hey guys!

My friend recently purchased a new Galaxy S8 and when at home, she struggles to make and receive calls.

People caling her go straight to voicemail, or the cal just fails to connect at all, some will randomly go through. We have nailed this down to be the case mainly when at home.

When away from home all seems to work fine.

Could this be related directly to the cell tower they are registered on and what could cause this? Could it be that the handset does not support the correct bands.

Not super proficiant in my wireless communications so reaching out here for some.help.

Cheers!

frankv

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#2687184 6-Apr-2021 13:42

How far is her home from the nearest cell tower belonging to Spark/Vodafone (depending on who her cell provider is)? Is it line of sight, or are there hills or buildings in the way?

Oblivian

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#2687194 6-Apr-2021 13:52

This is where we find if they're remote and a victim of an RCG..

This app can show you the connected tower ID and near neighbour. Which can help work out the tower location (if it's in the dbase) visually too.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.wilysis.cellinfolite&hl=en&gl=US

deanfourie

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#2687196 6-Apr-2021 13:56

Sorry I should also have mentioned they have another flatmate on Vodafone with a iPhone and issues.

She is rural.

Cheers

deanfourie

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#2687200 6-Apr-2021 14:01

My main concern being an IMSI catcher.

wellygary

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#2687249 6-Apr-2021 14:07

frankv:

How far is her home from the nearest cell tower belonging to Spark/Vodafone (depending on who her cell provider is)? Is it line of sight, or are there hills or buildings in the way?

Could be as simple as a poor coverage location, Do other users on other networks have the same issues when they are at your place?

What's the data speed like when she is at home with the phone?

But as others have said, could be RCG.....

deanfourie

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#2687251 6-Apr-2021 14:11

Could you please explain what RCG is?

No body else in the same place has the problem, including myself who has a Galaxy S10

New World

Shop on-line at New World now for your groceries (affiliate link).

Oblivian

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#2687252 6-Apr-2021 14:11

Where abouts.

May want to check this out. https://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=42&topicid=279748

Not saying it is, but if they are on the fringe. And get 4G data just fine. They may be stuck with the need for VoLTE

And if you mean concerns with the App stealing phone details. Well. Nothing bad's happened to my devices that have run it for a number of years. It even helped get some data to work out a coverage issue nearby :)

deanfourie

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#2687263 6-Apr-2021 14:35

Ok so I think this may be something to do with voLTE, as I always see my phone connected to voLTE but she has no option to enable voLTE in settings.

Is voLTE a band or handware specification propriatry to New Zealand? Will the S8 have voLTE capabilities?

Cheers

Oblivian

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#2687266 6-Apr-2021 14:43

Then you are likely on a RCG with standard tower fallback that they're hitting.. sometimes

It's a specific setting for each provider. Contained in the device firmware and updated OTA for NZ provider designated handsets

And if you are on the wrong network that the device was provided for (sim swapped from original seller network), or imported. It will likely miss the VoLTE settings and not attach to the network with it enabled.

It's basically Voice over data - VOIP. Those towers only provide data, so no capability to use it, no voice calls.

If you swap SIMs out between networks if you have VF/Spark/2D at hand, you could possibly find one lights up and identifies which ones enable the toggle-ment (aka who sold the handset)

deanfourie

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#2687268 6-Apr-2021 14:49

Oblivian:
Then you are likely on a RCG with standard tower fallback that they're hitting.. sometimes

It's a specific setting for each provider. Contained in the device firmware and updated OTA for NZ provider designated handsets

And if you are on the wrong network that the device was provided for (sim swapped from original seller network), or imported. It will likely miss the VoLTE settings and not attach to the network with it enabled.

It's basically Voice over data - VOIP. Those towers only provide data, so no capability to use it, no voice calls.

If you swap SIMs out between networks if you have VF/Spark/2D at hand, you could possibly find one lights up and identifies which ones enable the toggle-ment (aka who sold the handset)

Yup this is exactly what it is. Awesome wasnt educated on voLTE.

This explains the exact behaviour experienced. This was a refurbed handset bought with some custom chinese ROM on it. Ill install the stock samsung ROM and then see if I can get the OTA update.

See how I go.

Thanks guys and girls!

deanfourie

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#2687269 6-Apr-2021 14:50

With the current ROM there are many options in the settings menus that are missing, one is to enable voLTE