Phone Data Problems

[C Brewster]

Hey everyone. So I bought a Samsung SGH-i917 (one of the Focus' line I'm pretty sure) on eBay. It arrived in the USA and I updated it to the Windows 7.5 immediately with Zune, and then I had to take off for Spain right away, where I then proceded to unlock with a purchased unlock code. I bought a Yoigo SIM card, inserted it and everything works perfectly (messaging, phone calls) EXCEPT the data connection. I went to the "edit APN" tab under cellular and changed all the figures to match up with the Yoigo figures, but still nothing. No web, no whatsapp, no maps, nothing. It all works perfectly with a WIFI connection, but going off of the cellular 3G, nada. I thought maybe it was the card not working, but I tried the card in a friends phone and it worked just fine (although, his WAS an android phone).

Anyone have any ideas I can try in order to get this data working, but it's going to figure pretty heavily into my life over here. Sincere thanks for any advice anyone might have.

 

[Curtieson]

Hey everyone. So I bought a Samsung SGH-i917 (one of the Focus' line I'm pretty sure) on eBay. It arrived in the USA and I updated it to the Windows 7.5 immediately with Zune, and then I had to take off for Spain right away, where I then proceded to unlock with a purchased unlock code. I bought a Yoigo SIM card, inserted it and everything works perfectly (messaging, phone calls) EXCEPT the data connection. I went to the "edit APN" tab under cellular and changed all the figures to match up with the Yoigo figures, but still nothing. No web, no whatsapp, no maps, nothing. It all works perfectly with a WIFI connection, but going off of the cellular 3G, nada. I thought maybe it was the card not working, but I tried the card in a friends phone and it worked just fine (although, his WAS an android phone).

Anyone have any ideas I can try in order to get this data working, but it's going to figure pretty heavily into my life over here. Sincere thanks for any advice anyone might have.

Welcome to WPCentral!

I'd be curious..does your friend with the Android also have Yoigo? Try throwing his SIM into your phone...just one more level of trouble shooting.

I don't want to belittle but I also want to tie off the easy loose ends, sometimes the easiest answer IS the answer. Cellular data is turned on and the phone is not in airplane mode, correct? Can you send/receive picture messages (MMS)? You could have "data roaming options" turned off also?

 

[C Brewster]

Sorry for the huge delay...I was just living with the problem until recently, and now I find that I really want to try and find a fix. Yes Cellular Data is on and Airplane mode is off. Something that is extremely interesting is that the app "Whatsapp" actually works (most of the time), meaning that some level of cell data must be going through. When it doesn't work, I usually just have to turn off the cellular data, shut down my phone, and then restart it, turning the cellular data back on once the phone has started up. I HAVEN'T tried putting another carrier's SIM into my phone, but I think that's going to be one of the next steps, seeing as recently my phone is no longer connecting to Whatsapp, and that is a must have over here in Europe.

Lastly, about 3 or 4 times a month the data will miraculously start working perfectly, and I can use browser, maps, streaming, anything that requires internet. This will last anywhere from an hour to 2 hours before shutting down and leaving me dataless again.

So again, sorry for the huge delay and thank you for your original quick reply to help me with my problem.

 

[Curtieson]

Lastly, about 3 or 4 times a month the data will miraculously start working perfectly, and I can use browser, maps, streaming, anything that requires internet. This will last anywhere from an hour to 2 hours before shutting down and leaving me dataless again.

It kind of sounds like a Bands issue, in that you have a phone set up to use Bands X, Y, Z and over in Spain you are getting a solid connection on Band Y only, so it goes in and out as you move out of that coverage area.
Turning the phone off/on again will cause it to do a search for cellular service and reconnect to the line that works.

I am not positive on that, just a hunch; something you may want to research to find the specifics of your carrier/hardware.