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Not receiving texts - possibly from other networks

SLM
On our wavelength

Hi

I have used my current Virgin Mobile account for several years now without any issues.

2 weeks ago I changed my phone and used my existing SIM.

The new phone immediately worked fine with both Voice & Texts.

However, without making any changes to my phone, on Monday (7/3/22) I stopped receiving replies to all of my texts. Note that my phone is not set to block incoming texts.

I have since found out the texts sent from my phone are being received, but the replies sent back to me are no longer being received.

My voice connection still works fine in both calling & receiving.

On further tests I have found I can send texts to myself from the same phone & these are received immediately (ie Virgin Mobile to Virgin Mobile).

I have found that I can use 2FA with one bank with immediate texts being received immediately.

However using 2FA with another bank it took a day to receive the text - the only text I have received other than those I can send to myself!

I hope someone can help. Thank you.

 

32 REPLIES 32

Zak_M
Forum Team (Retired)
Forum Team (Retired)

Good afternoon @SLM

 

Welcome back to the forums & thank you for taking the time to post. 

 

I am sorry to hear that you have had some issues with your mobile services. 

 

Could you possibly let me know what make and model the new phone is?  Was this taken out with us or did you purchase it outright? Do you still have your old phone to see if the issue occurs there as well? 

 

Kind regards,

Zak_M

SLM
On our wavelength

Hi & thanks for your prompt reply.

The phone is a Motorola G31 64GB (Model number: XT2173-3) which I bought from Argos.

The old phone was a Motorola Moto C Plus

Unfortunately the old phone suddenly stopped working after locking up occasionally over then previous month, otherwise my first option would have been to revert back to that phone. 

This is why I had been so pleased with the replacement as for the first couple of weeks as it had worked perfectly with both texts & voice.

As I am housebound & severely ill (unable to speak easily a lot of the time!) I rely on text messaging for keeping in contact with my brother who acts as my care helper.

As I was an IT professional for decades before I became ill, I have used much critical thinking to try & understand this problem. For example why it should suddenly stop receiving texts suddenly after working for almost 2 weeks, why it receives texts I send to myself perfectly when those text still have to enter the Virgin network & why I can receive 2FA texts from one bank immediately every time unless perhaps they are also within the Virgin network! I am also confused as to why the texts I send always reach the recipient immediately, but I can't receive their replies.

One other thing that has crossed my mind is that about a month or so ago, whilst I was still able to use my old phone I received a notification that my phone had automatically been switched to a SIM-less phone, when suddenly I started receiving a full strength signal. I have been wondering if this has somehow interfered with the phone swap, although the fact it worked fully for almost 2 weeks is a bit confusing!

I hope you can offer more advice as to how I can proceed.

Thank you.

enlli
Very Insightful Person
Very Insightful Person

There is no such thing as a SIMless phone as such You either use a physical SIM which you can remove or an eSIM which is programmed into an area of the phone's firmware but your model of phone can't use one of those.

The change in signal strength may be down to Virgin switching you from using the EE network for signal to Vodafone. There should be no change to the settings on the phone as far as SMS goes.

 

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SLM
On our wavelength

Thanks

That is what I thought & why I was highly confused by the brief pop-up notification that actually mentioned SIMless!

As it occurred at the precise time my signal went from poor to full strength I just connected the two events, but had presumed the network had changed.

It was only whilst trying to troubleshoot the current issue I found out that Virgin had been acquired from EE by Vodaphone or O2 a while back???

That would explain the full signal strength as being a radio ham I was notified by Ofcom who requested my input before they put a tower within 150m from my home around 15 years ago!

Thanks again for clearing that up in my mind.

SLM
On our wavelength

Please note that I marked a previous comment as being helpful & have now noticed my issue as being fixed!

This is definitely not the case - even though the comment was helpful my issue still exists.

SLM
On our wavelength

Hi @Zac_M

I replied to another comment & marked it as being helpful without realising that this would mark the issue of being answered & resolved.

Please note that this is definitely not the case - the issue still exists as described.

Thanks.

SLM
On our wavelength
That should be @Zak_M

Sorry, I seem to be messing this all up!

enlli
Very Insightful Person
Very Insightful Person

If I remember right you should be able to unmarked it

I'm a Very Insightful Person, I'm here to share knowledge, I don't work for Virgin Media. Learn more

Have I helped? Click Mark as Helpful Answer or use Kudos to say thanks

SLM
On our wavelength
Thanks