DS Forums

 
 

Urgent: Galaxy S2, No Service Issue


Reply
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old 29-07-2013, 13:23
Abomination
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: London or Valencia
Posts: 5,735

Hi, I'll keep this as simple as I can whilst getting across as much detail as I can. I'd be grateful if anyone knew what I had to do...

- I've got an unlocked Samsung Galaxy S2. Have had it for just over 18 months.

- About four months ago, my phone fell out of a hole in my bag and the screen was smashed. I spent £150 getting it repaired and it worked fine after.

- I have been on Virgin Mobile since I got the phone. Their recent surge in charges meant I decided to change to Giffgaff. By odd coincidence, the Virgin SIM seemed to just stop working on the day I ordered my new SIM card, and I've been without phone/text for the past ten days or so. It simply read (No Service) on the screen.

- Received my new Giffgaff SIM card today and activated it/topped it up, and as it turns out the phone still says No Service. Now I'm worried that it's the phone that's the problem.

- Tried a soft reset of the phone and had no luck. Tried a hard reset, and restored factory settings. Had a hard time getting the phone back from Japanese into English again, but it still reads No Service. Trying for ages I still got nothing - except I now know how to write 'No Service' in Japanese very fluently. -_-

- For reference everything else is working fine. The camera, the Wifi connection, the GPS, the music and video playback. I just can't text or call.


Would really like some more information or help...of any kind. Anything else I can try, or is my phone basically knackered? I bought it from Amazon (and had an 18 month warranty that annoyingly expired a month ago) and so none of the phone retailers will even look at it - Currys, Carphone Warehouse, PC World... they say it's not their problem when it comes to these things.
Am getting very worried now. I'm applying for work and have probably missed a dozen interviews thanks to this issue. I have lost untold money in top up's I can't access, and am not in a position to really afford a new phone either. Any advice would be amazing!
Abomination is offline Follow this poster on Twitter   Reply With Quote
Please sign in or register to remove this advertisement.
Old 29-07-2013, 15:43
artnada
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2000
Posts: 9,397
"No service" usually means the phone has been "blocked", as in when it is reported stolen/lost. The provider puts a block on the phone, and often the sim to prevent unauthorised use..

As the phone stopped working on Virgin first, I'd give them a call and see why your Sim stopped working.

Secondly, get in touch with Giffgaff, via their forums support and see if it's their end that has caused it, although, I doubt it.

Thirdly, where did you buy the phone? If it was "2nd hand" there is a small possibility that the original owner is skint, needs some money, suddenly remembered he sold an S2 18 months before, then reported it lost/stolen to claim on insurance and get a new S2. Unlikely, but possible.
artnada is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 29-07-2013, 15:54
Abomination
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: London or Valencia
Posts: 5,735
"No service" usually means the phone has been "blocked", as in when it is reported stolen/lost. The provider puts a block on the phone, and often the sim to prevent unauthorised use..

As the phone stopped working on Virgin first, I'd give them a call and see why your Sim stopped working.

Secondly, get in touch with Giffgaff, via their forums support and see if it's their end that has caused it, although, I doubt it.

Thirdly, where did you buy the phone? If it was "2nd hand" there is a small possibility that the original owner is skint, needs some money, suddenly remembered he sold an S2 18 months before, then reported it lost/stolen to claim on insurance and get a new S2. Unlikely, but possible.
Thanks for the response;

I'll try to contact Virgin tomorrow...frustratingly I have no access to a landline either right now as I'm in the middle of a moving process too... these things always happen all at once.

I bought the phone from Amazon, for which I still have records and receipts for. It was brand new and unlocked at purchase, and the seller uses the site for bulk sales. They have a very good reputation on there, and get plenty of buyers too.
Abomination is offline Follow this poster on Twitter   Reply With Quote
Old 29-07-2013, 16:33
artnada
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2000
Posts: 9,397
Another thing, try doing a full factory reset.

1. Choose Settings > Privacy > Factory data reset.

2. Check the Format USB storage option if you wish to erase data such as music and photos from the device. (Not required)

3. Select Reset phone > Erase everything.
artnada is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 29-07-2013, 16:35
Anika Hanson
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: UK
Posts: 14,219
Just another thing to note, Samsung offer a 2 year guarantee with all their devices. As you bought yours brand new you should be able to claim under that guarantee if you have no luck with virgin, giff gaff and amazon. You would contract Samsung direct.
Anika Hanson is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 29-07-2013, 16:42
Abomination
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: London or Valencia
Posts: 5,735
Another thing, try doing a full factory reset.

1. Choose Settings > Privacy > Factory data reset.

2. Check the Format USB storage option if you wish to erase data such as music and photos from the device. (Not required)

3. Select Reset phone > Erase everything.
I've done two factory resets today, to no avail. The phone was wiped, but the problem persisted. I've checked both my Virgin and Giffgaff SIM cards in other phones and they seem to work fine. Could this be a problem with the SIM Card tray in the phone? I really hoped I could sort this problem myself given my lack of access to a landline, but it's looking ever less likely. First phone I've ever had problems with, and it's making up for lost time.


Just another thing to note, Samsung offer a 2 year guarantee with all their devices. As you bought yours brand new you should be able to claim under that guarantee if you have no luck with virgin, giff gaff and amazon. You would contract Samsung direct.
Thanks for this It could come in very helpful
Abomination is offline Follow this poster on Twitter   Reply With Quote
Old 29-07-2013, 17:08
coachtrip_fan99
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2009
Posts: 2,127
The obvious thing to do would be to test your sim card in a friends known working handset. It will have to be either unlocked or on o2 to work with a giffgaff sim.

Or if that's not possible, try a different sim card in your phone

A giffgaff sim should find a network and show signal strength, even if it has not been activated yet.

If all else fails, get to asda and get a £10 phone so that you can at least get job interviews, and get some contact with the outside world

If the phone turns out to be faulty and Samsung will have to repair it, then it will take a while and you don't want to be phoneless for that long , potentially missing out on job interviews etc
coachtrip_fan99 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 13-02-2014, 13:18
kelzo
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2014
Posts: 1
This is exactly what has just happened to me, did you ever get your phone sorted?
kelzo is offline   Reply With Quote
 
Reply




 
Forum Jump


All times are GMT. The time now is 11:06.