S5 Data issues

[SenTerLaneAve]

For about a month now I've been getting this notification on my galaxy S5:

"You have lost data connectivity because you left your home network with data roaming turned off"

Now mind you, I live on Guam, haven't left the island, and it happens at random times of the day or night. Doesnt matter if I am at home, on the road, at work, the mall. My roaming is always off, I don't need it on adding extra charges to my account, and I'm not in a different country anyway.

I tried to turn on my Location, thinking it'll remind my phone I haven't left, but it didn't work.

[FONT=Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Last night I reset my network settings, after removing and re-inserting my SIM card, and still to no avail.

I went to my provider today to try and upgrade, but they are all out of Samsung phones at the moment. So I am stuck with this ongoing issue.

If anyone has an answer or idea of what the cause is and a possible solution, it would be greatly appreciated. [/FONT]

 

[Hadron]

The obvious interpretation of the message is that you have lost contact with your home network but the phone can see other networks that it is allowed to connect to. If you have local roaming there (i.e. roaming between other providers in your home country) or you are within range of a foreign network (which only seems possible if there is special provision for one of the US bases there) then all this means is that you have lost contact with your home network. What it doesn't tell us is why.

It could be a fault in your phone. It could be a fault in your SIM (they can develop faults, I've had it happen twice in the last decade). It could be that your provider is making some changes to their network that affect your coverage (anything from a problem with one basestation to them changing how they use some bands). It might be worth speaking to them and seeing whether there is anything changed on their side before buying a new phone, or asking them to replace your SIM (SIMs do develop faults and that can cause a loss of connection, though in my experience it usually means a total loss of connection). But I'm afraid this is all just guesswork and speculation.

 

[SenTerLaneAve]

The obvious interpretation of the message is that you have lost contact with your home network but the phone can see other networks that it is allowed to connect to. If you have local roaming there (i.e. roaming between other providers in your home country) or you are within range of a foreign network (which only seems possible if there is special provision for one of the US bases there) then all this means is that you have lost contact with your home network. What it doesn't tell us is why.

It could be a fault in your phone. It could be a fault in your SIM (they can develop faults, I've had it happen twice in the last decade). It could be that your provider is making some changes to their network that affect your coverage (anything from a problem with one basestation to them changing how they use some bands). It might be worth speaking to them and seeing whether there is anything changed on their side before buying a new phone, or asking them to replace your SIM (SIMs do develop faults and that can cause a loss of connection, though in my experience it usually means a total loss of connection). But I'm afraid this is all just guesswork and speculation.

Thank you for the insight! This helps knowing if it is the SIM it's an easier solution over buying a new phone, or even thinking there is a hack issue (which is what my provider was suggesting) I'll definitely see tech support and see about getting a new SIM. Thanks again!

 

[ocnbrze]

Thank you for the insight! This helps knowing if it is the SIM it's an easier solution over buying a new phone, or even thinking there is a hack issue (which is what my provider was suggesting) I'll definitely see tech support and see about getting a new SIM. Thanks again!

keep us posted if the new sim cards helped or not.

 

[Hadron]

Thank you for the insight! This helps knowing if it is the SIM it's an easier solution over buying a new phone, or even thinking there is a hack issue (which is what my provider was suggesting) I'll definitely see tech support and see about getting a new SIM. Thanks again!

We get a lot of people here who assume that any anomaly or anything they don't understand means that they have been hacked or infected with malware, when 19 times out of 20 it's something else (often there's nothing wrong at all, they just don't understand how these little pocket computers work). I suspect that the "support" person with your provider didn't know and just started guessing. In all honesty there is no reason at all why "hacking" would produce what you describe, and it's a lot rarer than popular media would have you think.

 

[SenTerLaneAve]

We get a lot of people here who assume that any anomaly or anything they don't understand means that they have been hacked or infected with malware, when 19 times out of 20 it's something else (often there's nothing wrong at all, they just don't understand how these little pocket computers work). I suspect that the "support" person with your provider didn't know and just started guessing. In all honesty there is no reason at all why "hacking" would produce what you describe, and it's a lot rarer than popular media would have you think.

Ok, I just replaced my SIM card an hour ago. Came back home switched to Wifi, and 30mis later got the same notification on my phone. I guess it wasn't the SIM card? Good to note, the person I met with today also didn't know why my phone is doing this. Seems to be a new issue to them.
Any other solutions?

 

[SenTerLaneAve]

Ok, I just replaced my SIM card an hour ago. Came back home switched to Wifi, and 30mis later got the same notification on my phone. I guess it wasn't the SIM card? Good to note, the person I met with today also didn't know why my phone is doing this. Seems to be a new issue to them.
Any other solutions?

Also, should I just keep my roaming on? The girl at my provider said I won't get charged unless I do leave my area. Or is it because my phone is old?

 

[Hadron]

I can't answer on roaming, because I don't know whether you have domestic roaming there and what the tariff structure is if you do (I'm in the UK, and have never been to Guam).

 

[SenTerLaneAve]

Ok, so after a week of changing my SIM, there hasn't been an issue (fingers crossed lol) it does still take a few longer secondso to switch back from WIFI to Data, but at least it isn't disappearing. Thanks everyone for your help and advice! I'll update if anything goes wrong.