Develop Bugs

[Q] Are any other N7 2013 LTE users having issues with specific carrier SIM cards?

Hi all,
While back in the USA, I was lucky enough to get a new Nexus 7 (2103) 32GB LTE model which shipped with a T-Mobile micro SIM card good for prepaid data access plans. However, I live in the Netherlands and when I tried to use my Nexus with a micro SIM from my provider Vodafone, it was not able to properly list the mobile network operators.
I opened a technical support incident with Google Play services who lead me through several diagnostic steps which included verifying that the tablet is not SIM or carrier locked, it properly recognizes the available networks with other carriers SIM cards (worked with T-Mobile USA, Telecom DE, MTN NG, Rogers CA) it also can list the mobile networks with no SIM in the device. But when a Vodafone SIM is added, it simply doesn't recognize any network operators. It's not a matter of APN settings, as we have verified these are correct, but the problem occurs at a very early level in preventing the mobile networks from being listed.
I believe this to be somehow related to the SIM card/middleware used to communicate with the SIM to the hardware. I see this behavior with the LTE Factory Image JLS36C as well as the Cyanogen Mod 10.2 unofficial deb builds.
Are there any other LTE users that are having a similar problem? Without mobile network access, my LTE model is effectively a WiFi only model and I'd really like to get this fixed.

buckofive said:
While back in the USA, I was lucky enough to get a new Nexus 7 (2103) 32GB LTE model which shipped with a T-Mobile micro SIM card good for prepaid data access plans. However, I live in the Netherlands and when I tried to use my Nexus with a micro SIM from my provider Vodafone, it was not able to properly list the mobile network operators.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As has been posted quite a few times already, the US and Europe use different channels for LTE. So a US N7 will not work with all European providers and vice versa. Most probably Vodafone uses one of the LTE channels not supported on the US N7. So you have two choices:
1. Find a different provider that uses the channels supported by the US N7.
2. Replace your current US N7 with an European N7 model.

Guhrasoh said:
As has been posted quite a few times already, the US and Europe use different channels for LTE. So a US N7 will not work with all European providers and vice versa. Most probably Vodafone uses one of the LTE channels not supported on the US N7. So you have two choices:
1. Find a different provider that uses the channels supported by the US N7.
2. Replace your current US N7 with an European N7 model.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
While the US and Europe do have some variance in LTE bands - we confirmed that the bands used by Vodafone NL are as listed below:
Nexus 7 (2013) Tech Specs (LTE)
Network
North America and Japan:
GSM: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
HSPA+: 850/900/1900/2100/AWS (1700/2100) MHz (Bands: 1/2/4/5/8)
LTE: 700/850/1700/1800/1900/2100 MHZ (Bands: 1/2/3/4/5/13/17)
Rest of World:
GSM: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
HSPA+: 850/900/1900/2100/AWS (1700/2100) MHz (Bands: 1/2/4/5/8)
LTE: 800/850/1700/1800/1900/2100/2600 MHz (Bands: 1/2/3/4/5/7/20)
Wireless
Dual-band Wi-Fi (2.4G/5G) 802.11 a/b/g/n
We confirmed that Vodafone NL use 4G data enabled in a combination of the 800MHz and 1800MHz bands which are listed as supported.
The fact that my N7 can connect to other mobile networks in Europe with other carrier SIM cards also disproves the need to get a "European" model to connect to a network. There clearly is a problem with the Vodafone SIM and the NA Nexus, but simply blaming it on the channel or bands is not correct. Addittionally, even if the LTE connection is not possible 3G connection via HSPA+ or 2G GSM connection should be possible. The same Vodafone SIM worked with my N7 2013 3G model, which was also from NA, so it is clearly not an issue with the bands & channels.

Have you tried manually changing your prefered network type in testing menu *#*#4636#*#*
Since there is no dialler on N7 deb, I use https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.freespirit.hms&hl=en
From tablet info submenu, u can also use settings button (3 dots) to manually select radio band

Raverbunny said:
Have you tried manually changing your prefered network type in testing menu *#*#4636#*#*
Since there is no dialler on N7 deb, I use https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.freespirit.hms&hl=en
From tablet info submenu, u can also use settings button (3 dots) to manually select radio band
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Thanks for the tips regarding the Hidden Menus application. I've installed it and set the GSM/UMTS band to EURO Band (GSM-900/DCS-1800/WCDMA-IMT-2000) but still not had any luck detecting mobile networks with the Vodafone SIM inserted. After removing the SIM and restarting, performing the same operation to search for available networks shows the four network operators in this region. I'm currently in Germany and in this area it shows
E-Plus
o2- de
Telekom.de
Vodafone.de
If I replace the Vodafone NL sim and try the same operation again, Settings | Mobile Networks | Network Operators - it searches for only a second or two (compared to the 15 or so it takes with no SIM installed) then does not show any networks.
All signs point to the issue being with the SIM chip OS or incompatability of the SIM chip profiles with the Nexus 7 (2013) LTE model. I didn't have any issues with this and my Nexus 7 (2012) 3G version.
In another strange hardware related issue, I have noticed that the Nexus 7 (2013) uses a different NFC stack and does not recognize all of the NFC tags that the 2012 model recognizes. A co-worker with the 2013 Wifi only version ordered some NFC tiles but they don't work with either his or my 2013 model, but work with the 2012 model. Very curious if this is somehow related to the issue that I see with the SIM card problem I am having.
Any other ideas?

Did you find a solution?
buckofive said:
Thanks for the tips regarding the Hidden Menus application. I've installed it and set the GSM/UMTS band to EURO Band (GSM-900/DCS-1800/WCDMA-IMT-2000) but still not had any luck detecting mobile networks with the Vodafone SIM inserted. After removing the SIM and restarting, performing the same operation to search for available networks shows the four network operators in this region. I'm currently in Germany and in this area it shows
E-Plus
o2- de
Telekom.de
Vodafone.de
If I replace the Vodafone NL sim and try the same operation again, Settings | Mobile Networks | Network Operators - it searches for only a second or two (compared to the 15 or so it takes with no SIM installed) then does not show any networks.
All signs point to the issue being with the SIM chip OS or incompatability of the SIM chip profiles with the Nexus 7 (2013) LTE model. I didn't have any issues with this and my Nexus 7 (2012) 3G version.
In another strange hardware related issue, I have noticed that the Nexus 7 (2013) uses a different NFC stack and does not recognize all of the NFC tags that the 2012 model recognizes. A co-worker with the 2013 Wifi only version ordered some NFC tiles but they don't work with either his or my 2013 model, but work with the 2012 model. Very curious if this is somehow related to the issue that I see with the SIM card problem I am having.
Any other ideas?
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Click to collapse
Hello All,
Apologies for the opportunistic first post but I only "discovered" this forum today.
I am facing the same issue as buckofive and was wondering whether anyone has ever found a solution?
Thank you.

ricmartins said:
Hello All,
Apologies for the opportunistic first post but I only "discovered" this forum today.
I am facing the same issue as buckofive and was wondering whether anyone has ever found a solution?
Thank you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately, I have not been successful in getting this resolved. I've visited Vodafone several times, but none of their in store personnel have been able to give me any other answer than "it doesn't work" and we also see this with North American Nexus 5 handsets. I've done some addditional testing with other MNO SIM cards with American, Dutch, and German T-mobile SIMs and they work flawlessly and with 4G LTE speed, so it isn't a question of network or band.
The issue is definitely related to the SIM card OS and version. However, Vodafone have been unable to tell me what the SIM vendor is and what the chip operating system is.

Vodafone promised a solution
I have AGAIN asked Vodafone for help and they promised me a solution. I have my doubts ad will post an update next week once i hear back from them.
buckofive said:
Unfortunately, I have not been successful in getting this resolved. I've visited Vodafone several times, but none of their in store personnel have been able to give me any other answer than "it doesn't work" and we also see this with North American Nexus 5 handsets. I've done some addditional testing with other MNO SIM cards with American, Dutch, and German T-mobile SIMs and they work flawlessly and with 4G LTE speed, so it isn't a question of network or band.
The issue is definitely related to the SIM card OS and version. However, Vodafone have been unable to tell me what the SIM vendor is and what the chip operating system is.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

ricmartins said:
I have AGAIN asked Vodafone for help and they promised me a solution. I have my doubts ad will post an update next week once i hear back from them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you hear anything back from Vodafone? They have simply told me they don't support the device and explain that it is due to a North American device, which is simply not true. I've tested with T-Mobile data card from The Netherlands and also from Telekom in Germany and the Nexus 7 2013 gets 40+ Mbps download speeds on those networks. So the issue is clearly related to the Vodafone SIM cards, but no one has been able to give me any insight as to what card OS they are using, so it is very hard to troublehsoot the problem any further.
Two big thumbs down for Vodafone service & support!

Any news on this problem yet? I have exactly the same problem, I can use a KPN sim but my Vodafone sim simply won't work in my US Nexus 7. This sucks, I upgraded to a multisim Red Super subscription to be able to use my new tablet anywhere without having to tether.
I made sure to check which bands the US Nexus supports and figured in a worst case scenario I would simply use 3G instead of 4G. But it won't connect to 3G either

Sorontar said:
Any news on this problem yet? I have exactly the same problem, I can use a KPN sim but my Vodafone sim simply won't work in my US Nexus 7. This sucks, I upgraded to a multisim Red Super subscription to be able to use my new tablet anywhere without having to tether.
I made sure to check which bands the US Nexus supports and figured in a worst case scenario I would simply use 3G instead of 4G. But it won't connect to 3G either
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the issue as well. openend a ticket with Vodafone and directed them to this thread. unfortunately they were thus far also not able to solve it yet. hopefully something will happen, as otherwise I will need to drop Vodafone....
I also tested it with a KPN sim which worked perfectly. two Vodafone sims and a duo sim all had the same issue. Real strange thing is that with the KPN sim I was able to see the Vodafone network. But on the Vodafone sim I wasn't able to see any network. They assured my it was not a 4G only sim card, thus it was also strange the nexus did not pick a 2G or 3G network. In the settings though I could not change the 4G perferred setting to either 2G or 3G. it immediately reverted back to the 4G setting....
All in all, no realy help yet, only confirmation of what is being seen above.

pwvandeursen said:
I have the issue as well. openend a ticket with Vodafone and directed them to this thread. unfortunately they were thus far also not able to solve it yet. hopefully something will happen, as otherwise I will need to drop Vodafone....
I also tested it with a KPN sim which worked perfectly. two Vodafone sims and a duo sim all had the same issue. Real strange thing is that with the KPN sim I was able to see the Vodafone network. But on the Vodafone sim I wasn't able to see any network. They assured my it was not a 4G only sim card, thus it was also strange the nexus did not pick a 2G or 3G network. In the settings though I could not change the 4G perferred setting to either 2G or 3G. it immediately reverted back to the 4G setting....
All in all, no realy help yet, only confirmation of what is being seen above.
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Click to collapse
I wouldn't hold your breath waiting on the response from Vodafone. I've had a ticket open for months with them, and it supposedly has been escalated. I've inquired in person with the so called "specialists" and they simply say it doesn't work with their SIMs. Yet nobody can tell me anything about the SIM, like manufacturer card OS, etc. It is really frustrating to hear this as I work with smart card and SIM middleware developers and if we had a bit to work with we might be able to fix the problem on our own.
I was at the end of my rope and extreme frustrated with them and wanted to cancel my contract, but they said that despite me paying for months of service that I haven't been able to use, that I would have to pay the remaining duration of my contract before I could switch to T-Mobile, which I think is total crap.

dual sim same problem with vodafone NL
I have the same issue. I use a dual sim from Vodafone in my Nexus 5 and Nexus 7. The Nexus 5 does not show these problems, but the 7 does. When I buy prepay mobile data abroad (Europe, Asia, US, Australia), the Nexus 7 2013 C works great with e.g. Orange, t-Mobile, Vodafone etc. But as my cellular subscription is a corporate one, at home I have to stick to wifi, for almost 2 years now! (I bought the 7 in Australia about 2 years ago). And yes exchanging sims between the devices does not make a difference. The combination vodafone NL sim + nexus 7 does not provide mobile data.

ZenFone 2- Will Not Recognize Canadian Sim Card

Need HELP Badly. Wont Recognize SIM
I ordered a zenfone 2 from Taiwan but its the ww version. My question is....I ordered it because it says that it supports 1700mhz/2100mhz and aws band 4...I am with Mobilicity in Canada...For the life of me I cannot get this stupid phone to recognize my sim card. Ive messed around with the settings, changed sim card slots...tried everything I can think of, and its still not working. Will any way u know of get it working?

As the guy wrote on reddit, your phone does not support this band...

Magister54 said:
As the guy wrote on reddit, your phone does not support this band...
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Click to collapse
Well, I'm using a WW phone on Wind in Canada, and it uses the exact same bands as Mobilicity (AWS 1700/2100). I did have to configure my APN settings, but that was about it. I think you also have to use SIM slot 1.
Sent from my ASUS_Z00AD using Tapatalk

Verizon Note 4 Not Unlocked......

HI
Why cant I use an international sim in my Note 4. I have tried 5 different sims. Its like the phone isn't even trying to search for networks when I put them in.
If I'm not in the USA I cant activate the Phone can I?? I Think this maybe the problem. Its like the phone locks out the Gsm bands until its activated on the Verizon network. Ive tried a dummy Verizon sim but no dice.
Thanks
In advance

You have to call verizon before you travel to different country to unlock the phone. They will do it. I did the same. I traveled to India and used different sim and it worked. But you need to use apn settings from that carrier to make data work on note 4.
Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

gersrt said:
HI
Why cant I use an international sim in my Note 4. I have tried 5 different sims. Its like the phone isn't even trying to search for networks when I put them in.
If I'm not in the USA I cant activate the Phone can I?? I Think this maybe the problem. Its like the phone locks out the Gsm bands until its activated on the Verizon network. Ive tried a dummy Verizon sim but no dice.
Thanks
In advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi even i have the same problem .Verizon should not lock as per their policy but they are doing so.Someone should put a case on them and sue them

The problem is when I was in the States I activated it on the Verizon Network, when I got home to Ireland phone worked fine with International sim.
Last week I did a Factory reset and its asking me to Activate on the Verizon network again and no sim is working, so I'm screwed I cant activate on the Verizon Network.
The thing I find funny is If you look at vn_mobiles root videos he is able to stick in his Vietnamese sim card after a Factory reset and have it work without having to Activate again on the Verizon Network. So am I missing something here?
I hope he can tell me if there is a work around for Activation because it seems to work for him.

gersrt said:
The problem is when I was in the States I activated it on the Verizon Network, when I got home to Ireland phone worked fine with International sim.
Last week I did a Factory reset and its asking me to Activate on the Verizon network again and no sim is working, so I'm screwed I cant activate on the Verizon Network.
The thing I find funny is If you look at vn_mobiles root videos he is able to stick in his Vietnamese sim card after a Factory reset and have it work without having to Activate again on the Verizon Network. So am I missing something here?
I hope he can tell me if there is a work around for Activation because it seems to work for him.
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Click to collapse
vn_mobiles is a scammer.Any solutions? You gave verizon customer care email id? I am sure they will unlock GSM if we give our imei number since locking LTE phones is against their policy.

Unfortunatly I think the problem is it can't be unlocked unless registered on the Verizon network first with an active Verizon Sim (Which it was before factory reset). As Im not in the states any more I can't connect to the network so I can't activate, so its not really unlocked.

My phone never been activated on verizon and have formated the phone many times and gsm works fine with no issue except the lack of band 3 support....
Are good with DFS tool? If so pm me to test a few things that might get your phone working...

Got it sorted thanks guys.
Really strange one. I tried another Verizon sim. Tried activating and of course it wouldn't let me as I'm in Ireland. But as soon as I start sticking my local Sims in they just start working. Going to guard this little Verizon Sim with my life. Lol

They are unlocked but they might be needed to have vzw sim for few seconds. I was in Poland for 2 months and used my now retired note4. Was getting edge,3g,h+
Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk

PapaDocta said:
My phone never been activated on verizon and have formated the phone many times and gsm works fine with no issue except the lack of band 3 support....
Are good with DFS tool? If so pm me to test a few things that might get your phone working...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello Sir
I actually bought a Samsung Note 4 910v from eBay which was being sold for parts which was not connecting any phone networks...
When I received the phone....it was on lollipop 5.0.1 and tried inserting a Orange Sim card from Mauritius network but It didn't work.
I flashed the note 4 to lollipop 5.1.1 and rooted it but still couldn't get the phone connected to a network...
I checked the phone IMei with Verizon ...it's clean
I read your post....please see image...
Could you help me with dsf tool or run a check of my phone plz...
Awaiting a positive reply from your side.

No signal when switch to umts mode only GSM mode is working on HTC one m8

Hi team I bought unlocked HTC one m8 and for 1st week it was working fine but now suddenly it's 3g data is stopped working. I only able to use 2g data and when I switch to umts mode so it shows no signal and if I change to auto mode so it catch the 2g signal only. I tried my Sim in another phone so it's working fine and tried another Sim in my phone so I am facing the same problem. Guys please help as I really love this phone.

karan0405 said:
Hi team I bought unlocked HTC one m8 and for 1st week it was working fine but now suddenly it's 3g data is stopped working. I only able to use 2g data and when I switch to umts mode so it shows no signal and if I change to auto mode so it catch the 2g signal only. I tried my Sim in another phone so it's working fine and tried another Sim in my phone so I am facing the same problem. Guys please help as I really love this phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello,
I have reported this thread to be moved to right Q&A in order to get expertise help on the problem.
-Vatsal

karan0405 said:
Hi team I bought unlocked HTC one m8 and for 1st week it was working fine but now suddenly it's 3g data is stopped working. I only able to use 2g data and when I switch to umts mode so it shows no signal and if I change to auto mode so it catch the 2g signal only. I tried my Sim in another phone so it's working fine and tried another Sim in my phone so I am facing the same problem. Guys please help as I really love this phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not enough info. Need the phone's CID, and what 3G (UMTS) bands used by your carrier.

redpoint73 said:
Not enough info. Need the phone's CID, and what 3G (UMTS) bands used by your carrier.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I Google and found this CID for my phone spcs_001. I got to know this from terminal emulator. Sorry but I don't know what band is used by my carrier.but I recently took 4g sim from my carrier which is working great on my brothers phone but not on my phone。I am using Airtel's 4g SIM and not able to use even 3g on it .

karan0405 said:
Sorry but I don't know what band is used by my carrier.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Call your carrier and ask them, they can answer this.
Nobody here can help you, if you don't give this simple information.

redpoint73 said:
Call your carrier and ask them, they can answer this.
Nobody here can help you, if you don't give this simple information.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, I have called my carrier and they advised that 2100 for UMTS (3G) and 2300 LTE (4g) band is used by Airtel.

karan0405 said:
Thanks, I have called my carrier and they advised that 2100 for UMTS (3G) and 2300 LTE (4g) band is used by Airtel.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You have the Sprint version of the phone (based on CID) which should be compatible with 2100 MHz (UMTS). This phone does not support 2300 LTE, but you may already be aware of that.
Are you sure your carrier's APN info is entered correctly?
You sure 3G worked for a week? Any changes that happened that could have have changed that?

Thanks for sharing this detail, I was not aware about the 4g which you mentioned. Yes my APN is correct and i have crossed checked with my carrier as well. And yes i have used 3g for a week and after that I took another SIM from my carrier(Airtel) 4g sim and just after that my 3g stopped working.
And I have checked my new sim in another phone so it's working fantastic but not in my phone. and I have checked my brother SIM in my phone so even that sim's 3g is not working on my phone. I could not understand all of sudden what went wrong which it stopped working.

karan0405 said:
Yes my APN is correct and i have crossed checked with my carrier as well. And yes i have used 3g for a week and after that I took another SIM from my carrier(Airtel) 4g sim and just after that my 3g stopped working.
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Click to collapse
Check the APN again, and that is the currently selected, active APN. All I can think, is that inserting another SIM changed the APN.

I checked again, but still same issue. What should I do any suggestion. Or could this be a software or hardware issue how to know this. Any idea

Using the Unlocked Pixel 2 XL with an overseas sim

Last year my wife and I took our Samsungs to Israel and they worked great with their system and wifi. Now my wife is there with the P2 xl and her wifi is fine but her system calls are spotty.
Has anyone used any systems while in other countries that could have some advice.
Google support said to clean or replace the sim.

I purchased the Pixel 2XL through ebay and currently use it in Latin America with a SIM card from my local carrier. No issues whatsoever. Might need a new SIM card most likely, I doubt they charge you for getting a new one.

New sim or try this one first. Go to mobile networks and switch to 2G/3G. Bad LTE/4G coverage together with VoLTE enabled can give reception issues.

Michiel0912 said:
New sim or try this one first. Go to mobile networks and switch to 2G/3G. Bad LTE/4G coverage together with VoLTE enabled can give reception issues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, I'll tell her to try a new sim.
FYI, the default setting for our Pixel's is Global. The 2 other settings are: LTE/ CDMA . or . LTE/GSM/UMTS

I get this option.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CTmBKrQ57-fVEqks7WwuNktjO0XnKa0-/view?usp=drivesdk

I like that more

Alternatively you can use:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ather.networkmode
Under preferred network type she can change to WCDMA Preferred (3G/2G) or GSM Only (2G) or WCDMA Only (3G).