Three Payg Sim and data connection issues

hpuse

Am helping someone elderly who has an LG Phone with 4G support and all of a sudden phone stop connecting to data since the last 2-3 weeks, calls and text are still working good. Data was working before, tried resetting network settings, mobile network connectivity settings, APN etc. No avail. 

Today I tried connecting by inserting my own sim card(vodafone) on the same phone and it is working perfectly fine. Wifi tethering with data (from my sim) also worked fine.

The android phone was purchased from Three store about 2-3 years ago, it is still receiving updates and patches. 

Went to Three store and they are dismissing nothing wrong with their network, they issued a new simcard - it hasn’t made any difference. 

Here is the spec from LG page, re: phones supported features 

GSM 900 32.5 dBm

GSM 1800 30.5 dBm

WCDMA B1 22.5 dBm

WCDMA B8 23.5 dBm

LTE B1 22.5 dBm

LTE B3 23 dBm

LTE B7 22 dBm

LTE B8 23 dBm

LTE B20 23 dBm

Apart from buying a new phone  or switching sim provider . Anyone would have any recommendation? 

flaneurs_lobster

Did the Three store check the APN settings?

The fact that the phone works with a Vodafone SIM probably means that it's a coverage issue. Did you try the reverse test? - put the Three SIM into your phone and see if there's a data connection.

hpuse

flaneurs_lobster said:

Did the Three store check the APN settings?

The fact that the phone works with a Vodafone SIM probably means that it's a coverage issue. Did you try the reverse test? - put the Three SIM into your phone and see if there's a data connection.

Thanks for your message.
Forgot to add that, yes,  the Three sim on my phone(iphone) works as it attaches to 5G network. The LG phone does not have 5G capability.

flaneurs_lobster

Can you turn 5G off on your iPhone when using the Three SIM? Wondering if Three's 4G signal is poor.

Any chance of taking the LG phone/3 SIM for a wander? Far enough to eliminate local geography and/or an iffy local mobile mast.

hpuse

Three network strength inside is low (2 bars) , but it is connecting to 5G on my phone and showing a decent stable speed of 10-15Mbps.

With the old LG phone, no data anywhere though there is signal shown on the phone.

hpuse

flaneurs_lobster said:

Can you turn 5G off on your iPhone when using the Three SIM? Wondering if Three's 4G signal is poor.

Any chance of taking the LG phone/3 SIM for a wander? Far enough to eliminate local geography and/or an iffy local mobile mast.

Yes, thanks! will report back - I also think it is a location/signal issue with Three signals and the phone’s 4G antennas not picking. But I wonder how Three can change something that was working?. I wonder whether it was 3G the phone was connecting to earlier and now that they may have/switched off 3G and the phone data stopped working?

flaneurs_lobster

hpuse said:

flaneurs_lobster said:

Can you turn 5G off on your iPhone when using the Three SIM? Wondering if Three's 4G signal is poor.

Any chance of taking the LG phone/3 SIM for a wander? Far enough to eliminate local geography and/or an iffy local mobile mast.

Yes, thanks! will report back - I also think it is a location/signal issue with Three signals and the phone’s 4G antennas not picking. But I wonder how Three can change something that was working?. I wonder whether it was 3G the phone was connecting to earlier and now that they may have/switched off 3G and the phone data stopped working?

Yes, I was wondering the same thing about the 3G switch-off - Three were supposed to have completed this at end of 2024 but I've read that (not surprisingly) there were areas where this happened later. I've got an app that was reporting a Three 3G signal locally at the beginning of this year (OpenSignal).

If someone's aware of an online resource where you can check this kind of thing maybe they'd let us know.

PHK

Which LG Phone is this ? LG stopped making phones in April 2021, and the servers are being switched off by the end of June. 

My guess, would be that Three either has poor 4G coverage on that area so the phone was falling back to 3G. Or they are using their Band 28 and 32 on that area which the LG can't use. 

hpuse

Phone is K420E 2019 model Android 8. It is not receiving updates(I was wrong) 
And yes, it looks like it is a Three’s signal issue may be from 3G switch off as it works outside for data.