Samsung Galaxy S3: Mobile Network State - Disconnected

[randun]

I have a Samsung Galaxy S3 running ICE 4.0.4. that's just over a week old.

Today, I was using Google Navigator for directions. It worked perfectly fine. At that point, Wi-Fi, GPS, & Mobile Data were all activated. I then finished my business at my destination & when I returned to my vehicle, the phone was picking up a wireless signal but after turning off Wi-Fi, I lost all connectivity.

I then went to Settings > More Settings > Mobile Network. The green check was selected for "Use packet data" I then backed out from here & went to About Device > Status. While Service State noted "In service", Mobile Network State noted "Disconnected".

I then went back to More Settings & clicked Access Point Names, & the APN was as it has always been, "AT&T PTA". I then reset the APN to default state, turned the phone off & on, & I still have no mobile network connectivity!

Ideas? Thanks.

[21stNow]

Are you still able to make and receive phone calls?  Have you tried reseating the SIM card?  This phone has the spring action in the SIM card slot;  this may make it easier for it to jiggle out of place.

The only other suggestion I have is to toggle Airplane Mode on/off to see if this helps.  Hopefully, you either get your signal back or someone else can chime in to help.

[randun]

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21stNow wrote:

Are you still able to make and receive phone calls?  Have you tried reseating the SIM card?  This phone has the spring action in the SIM card slot;  this may make it easier for it to jiggle out of place.

The only other suggestion I have is to toggle Airplane Mode on/off to see if this helps.  Hopefully, you either get your signal back or someone else can chime in to help.

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Thanks much for the suggestions. I can make & receive calls. I did take a look at the SIM card & it is seated firmly. Also tried toggling Airplane Mode & it had no effect.

I do believe that my SIM card has somehow become corrupted though. I read an article about AT&T's radio for the Galaxy S3. & its other newer models. They use HSPA+ & LTE.

The main point of the article was to point out that while HSPA+ delivers good and acceptable performance and is a bit more power conservative, but AT&T is forcing customers in LTE coverage areas to use LTE. The reason is that LTE is more efficient in handling data and causes less network strain. So, if you are concerned with battery life, & who isn't, they described a method that allows one to switch to HSPA+ with a small hit in speed.

It entails creating a new APN called "wap.cingular" (the standard on my old Captivate) either by downloading a LTE toggle app or manually doing it yourself.

Get this. My current APN is AT&T PTA & the radio is HSPA:II! When I created the new APN as above using "Test" as its name, I immediately saw the 4G icon on the notification bar & the HSPA had the + symbol! Go figure... Anyway, it definitely appears that my issue is going to need the intervention of Tech Support to sort things out.

[21stNow]

OK, sorry that I couldn't help more.  I hope this gets resolved for you quickly!

[randun]

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21stNow wrote:

OK, sorry that I couldn't help more.  I hope this gets resolved for you quickly!

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Hey, no worries! The issue is now resolved. Turns out that it wasn't a phone issue at all, but a case of my SIM card not matching what AT&T had entered into their system that affected my data plan!

[21stNow]

I'm glad that you got it resolved.  Yet another reason why people lose data service.

[larue.pf]

I ran into the same problem. I also had a Captivate and upgraded to the S3. When I called, they were able to resolve it because the data package associated with the Capitvate wasn't transferable to the S3, so they had to change it over. It didn't do anything to my plan or anything, so I guess it was a certain thing on their end. Then they needed to update my IMEI or SIM card number as well. But then I restarted the phone and it works just fine now.