Mobile Data not connected

[WG1316]

My mobile Data appears not to be connected to anything.

It was working fine. I have only just noticed this in the past few days. My account shows that I have 9.98gb left. I changed my monthly contract commencing on the 4th March. (5gb plus 5gb rollover, which means I started with 10gb on the 4th March.)

Mobile Data is turned on. I have tried turning off and back on again, however no changes. I used to see the number 4 replace the wifi symbol at the top of the phone screen. Now all I see is the phone signal strength bars.

Phone works fine over any wifi I connect to.

[Paulina_Z]

Hi @WG1316,

Welcome back to our Community Forums! Thank you for your post and I'm very sorry to hear that you're having some issues with your Mobile Data!

Have you taken a look at our Mobile Data Not Working page to see if this can help? Please also take a look at the O2 Status page to see if there are any local issues impacting your services at the moment.

I'd like to take a look at our systems further to make sure all of your settings are correct. I'll send you a Private Message to confirm a few details. Please keep an eye out for a purple envelope at the top right corner of your Forum page. I'll be in touch soon. 🙂

Thank you! 

[WG1316]

It's okay Paulina. Chris_R and I have exchanged messages about this. I think I know the reason for what's happening. I just need to check something at a future date.

[WG1316]

Since my mobile data stopped activating automatically (when out of range of wifi), I have been to two separate phone shops where repairs are carried out. Both have identified two issues about the Virgin service near me, and both tell me there is nothing wrong with my phone. I am now on to the fourth sin card since last year - not because I asked for them. The 2 issues are:

1)   The local O2 mast is currently being worked on. It has been in this state for some time and it is unlikely to be finally fixed in the near future.

2)   Under 'Mobile networks' on my phone, and then under 'Access Point Names' there is a radio button next to the only network that is showing: Virgin Media Mobile Internet. The radio button (a circle) is clear and when I come off wifi that should become active without my intervention. (that must have been happening in the past as my loss of mobile data problem only started last month). Once I tap on the circle and make it a solid colour, I get mobile data. When I go indoors and my phone automatically connects to wifi, the radio button becomes deactivated. So it now seems that for the future I will need to manually activate that APN.

Unfortunately, to save money, I changed my monthly sim contract starting in early March, so I do not think it's going to be easy to change my provider. I need to check with Virgin. I do not understand the reason behind the repetitive sending of new sim cards. The underlying point seems to be that the problem is with my phone, when in reality it seems to be the Virgin/O2 network. 

[Chris_W1]

Hi WG1316, thanks for the message and welcome back to the forums. 

I am sorry to hear that you are having issues with the connection, does the blue circle happen on your device or have you tried this in an alternative and have the same issue? 

You may be still in the customer satisfaction cooling off period. Have you spoken to the cancellations team on 0800 183 1150 so that they can confirm this?

Have you checked the coverage checker here?

Chris. 

[WG1316]

Chris, I am on a rolling sim contract, so my understanding is that I can leave the contract when I wish.

The O2 mast I refer to nearby has been the subject of work for some time now. Both shops I visited yesterday with the phone told me the same thing about the mast. It's supposedly going to be for 5G eventually. When I contacted Virgin last week they were unable to go through whatever it was they wanted to try as the mast was down. I imagine that's why they tried sending me a new sim card - it gives the appearance that they are doing something.

The situation is not helped because of the flats I live in - I have no mobile/SMS signal inside the flat, so the APN and all the settings disappear.

The loss of mobile data (which extends to places I go to regularyl outside of my home area) has only seemed to start since I changed the contract at the beginning of March.

[Chris_W1]

Hi WG1316, thanks for the message. 

I am sorry that there is an issue with the service, we are migrating all customers from EE to 02 so this is where is may have changed. 

The Ofcom checker will show you the best coverage for you area. 

We would like you to stay with us but if you find that the network is unusable you have the option to cancel. 

We are always looking at improving the service and hopefully the mast is fixed soon. 

Kind regards, Chris. 

[WG1316]

Thanks for the message Chris.

Unfortunately, the focus seems to be my phone - which, as I have said, has been checked and re-checked. The key point for me is that because of the lack of coverage, the phone's settings are being dropped, and this is having a knock-on effect that seems to affect other phone settings. The result is that when there is no coverage, the APN settings and information disappears; checking the Sim results in unknown provider and unknown number is displayed instead of Virgin and my number, and it takes additional steps by me to try to get the mobile data active again when I leave my flat. This is most convenient and I think I have put up with the inefficiencies of Virgin long enough.

[Chris_W1]

Hi WG1316. 

Are you able to try the sim card in another phone to see if you have the same issue?

Kind regards, Chris.