Cell phone help

plowboy
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9/17/2020 3:47pm
Be patient. I'll try to be brief and succinct.

Had an old T-mobile Samsung 5S. I live rural so no cell signal at all. No problem...I use my WiFi and text, call, use the internet with no problems. One morning I wake up and the phone says, "Emergency Calls Only". No longer texts, no calls in or out, but internet is fine. It is connected to my WiFi with strong signal. I took this phone on vacation from KS to CA and it connected to hotel WiFi for calls/texting just fine. As soon as I pulled into my driveway and it connected to my home WiFi..."Emergency Calls Only". Dead again.

I bought a new android phone. As soon as I get home and hook up to my WiFi..."Emergency Calls Only".

T-mobile says it's my WiFi...my internet provider says it's T-mobile.

My wife has an old Samsung NOTE...it works fine. My son has Sprint and his Android hooks up and works fine.

I've tried the "forget WiFi and reset" no luck.

I have no skills but I can follow directions. Anyone have a clue? I'll gladly pay for a successful resolution.

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SEE ARE125
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9/17/2020 3:53pm Edited Date/Time 9/17/2020 3:54pm
Go somewhere like a hotel or McDonalds and connect to their guest WiFi and try it. If it works, it’s your WiFi; if it doesn’t, it’s T-Mobile.
plowboy
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9/17/2020 3:56pm
SEE ARE125 wrote:
Go somewhere like a hotel or McDonalds and connect to their guest WiFi and try it. If it works, it’s your WiFi; if it doesn’t, it’s...
Go somewhere like a hotel or McDonalds and connect to their guest WiFi and try it. If it works, it’s your WiFi; if it doesn’t, it’s T-Mobile.
Yep, did that and it works with my old phone and the new one. My internet provider swears they can't block a certain phone. My wife and son use our WiFi just fine.
9/17/2020 3:59pm
Since it is only happening in the one area, I would say that it is a poor connection from your wireless carrier. It's trying to pick up a weak signal and can't so it is going to default to Emergency Calls Only. Here are some possible solutions, but like I said, that it is only happening in one area seems to point the finger in one direction.

https://appuals.com/fix-android-emergency-calls-only-and-no-service/
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SEE ARE125
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9/17/2020 4:03pm Edited Date/Time 9/17/2020 4:05pm
SEE ARE125 wrote:
Go somewhere like a hotel or McDonalds and connect to their guest WiFi and try it. If it works, it’s your WiFi; if it doesn’t, it’s...
Go somewhere like a hotel or McDonalds and connect to their guest WiFi and try it. If it works, it’s your WiFi; if it doesn’t, it’s T-Mobile.
plowboy wrote:
Yep, did that and it works with my old phone and the new one. My internet provider swears they can't block a certain phone. My wife...
Yep, did that and it works with my old phone and the new one. My internet provider swears they can't block a certain phone. My wife and son use our WiFi just fine.
Definitely sounds like it could be something on your home network. As a temporary fix, can your wife or son use their phone as a hotspot and you tether off of that? Basically you’ll piggyback off them and use their phone to gain access to the WiFi. I’m an Apple guy, otherwise I could walk you through the settings on how to do it.

The Shop

plowboy
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9/17/2020 4:14pm
SEE ARE125 wrote:
Go somewhere like a hotel or McDonalds and connect to their guest WiFi and try it. If it works, it’s your WiFi; if it doesn’t, it’s...
Go somewhere like a hotel or McDonalds and connect to their guest WiFi and try it. If it works, it’s your WiFi; if it doesn’t, it’s T-Mobile.
plowboy wrote:
Yep, did that and it works with my old phone and the new one. My internet provider swears they can't block a certain phone. My wife...
Yep, did that and it works with my old phone and the new one. My internet provider swears they can't block a certain phone. My wife and son use our WiFi just fine.
SEE ARE125 wrote:
Definitely sounds like it could be something on your home network. As a temporary fix, can your wife or son use their phone as a hotspot...
Definitely sounds like it could be something on your home network. As a temporary fix, can your wife or son use their phone as a hotspot and you tether off of that? Basically you’ll piggyback off them and use their phone to gain access to the WiFi. I’m an Apple guy, otherwise I could walk you through the settings on how to do it.
Thanks. Ill try to figure that out.
plowboy
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9/17/2020 4:25pm
I tried a couple of those suggestions. I'll work through the others. When I try to make a call it says, "cell service not available. Connect to wireless to complete calls". My phone says that I AM connected with a strong signal. So frustrating.
TXDirt
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9/17/2020 4:26pm
Try taking out your SIM card and leave it out and connect to your WiFi.

Also try taking your SIM card out and putting it in another phone. See if you have same issue.

It’s all about ruling things out one by one....

What kind of WiFi device do you have?
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plowboy
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9/17/2020 4:37pm
TXDirt wrote:
Try taking out your SIM card and leave it out and connect to your WiFi. Also try taking your SIM card out and putting it in...
Try taking out your SIM card and leave it out and connect to your WiFi.

Also try taking your SIM card out and putting it in another phone. See if you have same issue.

It’s all about ruling things out one by one....

What kind of WiFi device do you have?
In no particular order:

My device is a black box with blinky green lights. (Seriously, do you mean brand/model?)

The SIM card in my new phone is too small to fit in my old 5S so not interchangeable.

I guess my biggest question is why did my old phone stop working and the new phone not work in exactly the same way? They both indicate they are connected to my WiFi with a strong signal but will not use it for texts or calls but do let me surf the internet with no problems (e-mail is flawless).
plowboy
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9/17/2020 4:50pm
Like I said, everyone else in the house has no problems. Nothing changed for them. I have a new phone with a new SIM card. Only the phone number didn't change. Could this be a hack/virus attached/targeted to my number?
-MAVERICK-
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Ontario CA
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9/17/2020 5:16pm
TXDirt wrote:
Try taking out your SIM card and leave it out and connect to your WiFi. Also try taking your SIM card out and putting it in...
Try taking out your SIM card and leave it out and connect to your WiFi.

Also try taking your SIM card out and putting it in another phone. See if you have same issue.

It’s all about ruling things out one by one....

What kind of WiFi device do you have?
This.

I've had issues with my Android before and all I did was take the SIM out, restart the phone, put the SIM back in, restart again, and the issues were fixed.

Worth a try.
TXDirt
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9/17/2020 5:26pm
Just googling and it’s a common issue especially with Samsung Android phones.
plowboy
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9/17/2020 5:52pm
TXDirt wrote:
Try taking out your SIM card and leave it out and connect to your WiFi. Also try taking your SIM card out and putting it in...
Try taking out your SIM card and leave it out and connect to your WiFi.

Also try taking your SIM card out and putting it in another phone. See if you have same issue.

It’s all about ruling things out one by one....

What kind of WiFi device do you have?
-MAVERICK- wrote:
This. I've had issues with my Android before and all I did was take the SIM out, restart the phone, put the SIM back in, restart...
This.

I've had issues with my Android before and all I did was take the SIM out, restart the phone, put the SIM back in, restart again, and the issues were fixed.

Worth a try.
No luck. Still says "Emergency Calls Only...Connect to wireless network to complete calls". And it still shows I'm connected to WiFi with strong signal.
plowboy
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9/17/2020 5:53pm
TXDirt wrote:
Just googling and it’s a common issue especially with Samsung Android phones.
Yeah, I saw that but there was no answer to my problem.
Deja New
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AU
9/17/2020 6:08pm
There can be multiple issues here.

1. Your sim in defective
This would cause it to no longer support WiFi calling.
2. Your ISP or Phone provider doesn’t want you to use WiFi calling and has it switched off.
3. The baseband in the phone is on its way out...
Dial *#06# and see if the phone shows it’s IMEI
4. Your router has issues I know of certain brands that will not work with specific phones. You will get some internet functions but not all.
5. You software is out of date so WiFi calling is no longer supported.
6. You could be here all day and never get it to work Sad
FLmxer
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9/17/2020 6:28pm
I would see if your router settings are set to limit that connection.
TXDirt
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9/17/2020 6:35pm
Another thing to try: Go buy another WiFi device. Like Google WiFi, or Nest, or Asus, etc.

Plug that in and set it up. They usually take only a few minutes. Connect to it. See what happens.

If you order it off Amazon you can return it easily.

You could always completely reset your WiFi device and reset it up. Or just get a new device that probably has some additional traffic management stuff built in.

I like the google WiFi pods. You can get a 4 pack at Costco. You can literally blanket your house I’m WiFi.

There is something strange happening between your phone and your WiFi network and it’s hard to say which one is the issue since you have had two phones with the same problem.

Sometimes you just gotta reset the whole damn thing.... phone and WiFi device.
plowboy
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9/18/2020 2:22am
Thanks fellas. I'll go through all your suggestions (slowly...lol).
TXDirt
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9/18/2020 2:24am
Since it is only happening in the one area, I would say that it is a poor connection from your wireless carrier. It's trying to pick...
Since it is only happening in the one area, I would say that it is a poor connection from your wireless carrier. It's trying to pick up a weak signal and can't so it is going to default to Emergency Calls Only. Here are some possible solutions, but like I said, that it is only happening in one area seems to point the finger in one direction.

https://appuals.com/fix-android-emergency-calls-only-and-no-service/
Plowboy, did you try every step in the link here above?

I went down many rabbit holes and more and more I feel the issue is your phone.

One thing to note is that every cell phone, whether it has a SIM card or not, whether it has a cell phone plan or not, every mobile phone is able to connect to any and all carriers to make a 911 call.

So even though you may have no T-mobile signal, your phone still is connecting to whatever is available to be able to make a 911 call. Could be connecting to Sprint, ATT, Verizon, a local carrier, etc.

That link has about 12 steps to try. So wondering if you tried them all? Some are pretty involved.

Also, the issue could be a corrupt app, corrupt IMIE, corrupt cache folder, corrupt memory, etc etc.

The best thing to try is resetting the phone to factory default. Wipe it completely clean.

Also, you can permanently put your phone in Emergency Calls Only mode by pressing a certain key combination. This is usually done accidentally....

I just wonder what is the commonality that you have had the same problem with two different phones (two different SIM cards??).

Is it an app?
Accidentally pressed a key combo putting the phone in some specific call state?

Could be any number of things really.

If it were me, I’m resetting phone to factory default and starting there. You could waste hours troubleshooting it. Best to start with a fresh base and go from there.
plowboy
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Norwich, KS US
9/18/2020 2:44am
I haven't done anything much yet. I have no knowledge of these Damn things which makes it time consuming. Spent the evening rattle canning a new fender for the sons truck (don't ask...lol). Replacing that and new headlights will eat up tomorrow morning...then I can get started on my own to-do list. The phone problem is on the list but not at the top. It never ends...lol.
Deja New
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9/18/2020 4:22am
I should have added, Make sure WiFi calling is Stil turned on Smile

Settings....advanced calling... WiFi calling

Or

Settings... more network setting... WiFi calling

If it’s on toggle it off and back on the restart you phone.
SEE ARE125
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9/18/2020 4:33am Edited Date/Time 9/18/2020 4:42am
Deja New wrote:
I should have added, Make sure WiFi calling is Stil turned on :) Settings....advanced calling... WiFi calling Or Settings... more network setting... WiFi calling If it’s...
I should have added, Make sure WiFi calling is Stil turned on Smile

Settings....advanced calling... WiFi calling

Or

Settings... more network setting... WiFi calling

If it’s on toggle it off and back on the restart you phone.
I thought about that, too. It would also explain why the new phone isn’t working because WiFi calling is usually off by default, and it explains his ability to browse the internet but not make calls. HOWEVER.... in the 3rd post down, he said he’s left his house and connected to a different WiFi network and both phones started working again? That’s why I was thinking it’s an issue with his home network. But at the same time, he can connect to his home network and browse the web, just can’t make calls... It’s an odd situation.
Deja New
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9/18/2020 4:37am
Deja New wrote:
I should have added, Make sure WiFi calling is Stil turned on :) Settings....advanced calling... WiFi calling Or Settings... more network setting... WiFi calling If it’s...
I should have added, Make sure WiFi calling is Stil turned on Smile

Settings....advanced calling... WiFi calling

Or

Settings... more network setting... WiFi calling

If it’s on toggle it off and back on the restart you phone.
SEE ARE125 wrote:
I thought about that, too. It would also explain why the new phone isn’t working because WiFi calling is usually off by default, and it explains...
I thought about that, too. It would also explain why the new phone isn’t working because WiFi calling is usually off by default, and it explains his ability to browse the internet but not make calls. HOWEVER.... in the 3rd post down, he said he’s left his house and connected to a different WiFi network and both phones started working again? That’s why I was thinking it’s an issue with his home network. But at the same time, he can connect to his home network and browse the web, just can’t make calls... It’s an odd situation.
I think it’s his router settings but hard to say could also be his isp
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