Lumia 950 XL Sim 2 Not Working

[Kunal Pahwa]

Sorry if this has been discussed somewhere already - searched but can't find it. I have the Lumia 950 XL purchased unlocked from the Microsoft Store here in Canada. I'm with Bell Mobility and have 2 phone lines (primary/secondary) with Nano SIM for each one.

With both SIMs in the phone, only the SIM 1 (Primary) line works and SIM 2 doesn't. It's turned ON in settings, but there's a cross over it and it's live tile says Emergency Only.

I tested SIM 2 in another phone and it works, so I popped it back in the phone again, and turned off SIM 1 - this caused SIM 2 to start working. I then turned on SIM 1 hoping I can get it to come on and have them both work together which didn't work.

Now I'm sitting here with this brand new phone and can't get 2 SIMs to work together on a DUAL SIM phone. Ironic.

Anyone else have this problem or know what could be causing it?

 

[Kunal Pahwa]

Bump!

 

[TechADD]

I have the 950 dual sim, I have a similar issue. I did some reading and found out that there is two kinds of dual sim phones. Active and standby. Microsoft uses standby. My 950 has two antennas one at the top and one at the bottom. One antenna is 4g the other is 2g. You can pick which sim uses the 4g but the second sim can only use 2g. The sim cards cannot share the same antenna at the same time. This phone would be so much better if it had two 4g antennas.

 

[Alexander Long]

This phone would be so much better if it had two 4g antennas.

Then the battery life will be even worse.
I didn't have issue with Rogers Sims. So I put my data only sim(supposely for my tablet but I use it on USB stick) on first one and my main voice /txt/data sim on second one, I didn't have any issue. And I can even switch to second one for data too, though they use the same shared data plan.

Anyone else have this problem or know what could be causing it?

Have you try to switch the Sims slots? Omak e th Sims are in right positions?

 

[DJ Man1]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfQLt_jmeUU
see this

 

[RN Eric]

At current I have LTE service with Bell and Telus. So few days ago I went to purchase the 950 XL because of the dual SIM feature. So booted up the phone and updated to the latest Anniversary Software. Afterwards I configured SIM 1 (Bell) as my data, but SIM 2 could only be used as 2G (Telus)...I could only get one of the two working at once. I manually changed the data SIM to SIM 2 (Telus) and it immediately picked up LTE signal, but my SIM 1 (Bell) couldn't work...

So someone has said that because both Telus and Bell have no 2G network (3G at the very minimum)....

So there is no workaround for Dual SIM Standby?

 

[John Riehl]

My dual sim 950 XL was working until sometime after December 29 2016, then it stopped. Same symptom as the OP--only one of the two SIMs will work at any one time. I'm on AT&T, so I thought maybe they changed something in their network, so I put two T-Mobile SIMs in the phone. Same result. I reloaded the OS with a factory reset...no change. Basically, whatever SIM is selected in the "Use this SIM for cellular data" pulldown in "Settings - Cellular & SIM" is the only one that gets any service--voice or data. Any thoughts?

 

[John Riehl]

OK...I know what's wrong now, and it can't be fixed. As TechADD mentioned in a post above, there are two antennas--4G and 2G. Whichever SIM you pick for cellular data uses the 4G antenna, and the other SIM uses the two G. Unfortunately, as of 1/1/17 AT&T shut down their 2G network (http://www.somedroid.com/2017/01/17/att-shut-down-its-2g-network-on-january-1/). So now the second SIM can't find a signal. Same problem for T-Mobile. I'm going to upgrade to an HP Elite X3. Talked to them last night, and they assure me that it won't run into the same problem as the 950 XL. Will let you know if it doesn't work.

 

[quek9]

OK...I know what's wrong now, and it can't be fixed. As TechADD mentioned in a post above, there are two antennas--4G and 2G. Whichever SIM you pick for cellular data uses the 4G antenna, and the other SIM uses the two G. Unfortunately, as of 1/1/17 AT&T shut down their 2G network (http://www.somedroid.com/2017/01/17/att-shut-down-its-2g-network-on-january-1/). So now the second SIM can't find a signal. Same problem for T-Mobile. I'm going to upgrade to an HP Elite X3. Talked to them last night, and they assure me that it won't run into the same problem as the 950 XL. Will let you know if it doesn't work.

Did HP Elite X3 work for you? Their documentation says it defaults to 2g just like the 950s.
HP Elite x3 - Using Dual SIMs (Windows 10 Mobile) | HP® Customer Support