Mobile phone problem, emergency calls only
Ancient IDTV
Posts: 11,585 Forum Member
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My phone is a PAYG 2013 Samsung GT-E1230, and I'm with EE. Went to use it this morning and got the message Emergency Calls Only. I switched it off and on again, and it worked. Now it's reverted to the Emergency Calls Only state, and is not showing a network (EE) on the front page. It does have credit, and some charge. It's also showing three incomplete messages from EE, all sent this morning.
Is the network down/having problems? Is it likely to be the phone that is faulty? The weather is freezing here. Could that have anything to do with it?
Cheers.
Is the network down/having problems? Is it likely to be the phone that is faulty? The weather is freezing here. Could that have anything to do with it?
Cheers.
0
Comments
Does it have a physical SIM? Could try removing, cleaning and replacing it then seeing what happens. Alternatively can you contact EE?
It’s also a 2G phone so you might begin to see some coverage issues as some of the bandwidth is being repurposed for 4G.
I would consider changing to a more modern phone that will last you another decade. Something like the 4G Calling Nokia/HMD which are frequently on sale for less than £20.
I am considering transferring the SIM to a SIM free phone with a camera. I had a chat with the staff in the EE shop, and their cheapest phone is currently £130. The phone I'm usng cost £4.99 + I had to buy £10 of credit from an EE shop, and I've kept the receipt which is dated August 2013. When they fitted the new SIM, they did say that the phone receiving a 4G signal, but I don't much about all that stuff. Basically all I need is a basic phone maybe with a camera included. Don't need a smartphone.
It seems very unlikely (in fact, almost certainly not) to be 4G capable, especially at that price in 2013! 4G was launched in the UK in October 2012, and was pretty expensive for the first year or two, as were compatible phones. From what I can see about your model is that it's 2G only. BTW, EE is expected to start turning off their 2G network from May 2029 (ahead of completion by all networks still using it by 2033).
Like I say, I don't know about this stuff! That's what they said.
Ditto!
Unfortunately, it would appear that they don't know what they are talking about. For a start, that model of phone came out before 4G was even available!
It wouldn't be the first time, though, as someone in Dixons (when they were still around) told me that Freeview HD wasn't technically possible - in the very week that there were huge changes going on with Freeview (requiring everyone to do a retune) in order to free up the capacity required for the HD channels!
Anyway, the long and short of it is that, if you don't want a smartphone, just buy a new dumb phone from any retailer and put your SIM card in to it. All new phones sold since 2021 have to be 'unlocked' (i.e. not tied to any one specific network), so you're not restricted to having to buy one from EE in order to be able to use it on EE.
Note: you will undoubtedly find that it will take the smallest form of the SIM card (known as a nano SIM):
https://smarty.co.uk/blog/sim-card-sizes/
No intention of buying anything from EE. Been looking at phones on sale in ASDA and Argos so far.
The Nokia 105 which is subsidised by Vodafone is £13.50 in Argos. Just stick your EE SIM in it and it'll work and give you 4G VoLTE call quality.
Looks good, but if I do buy another phone I wouldn't mind getting one with a (reasonably good, some of them are just VGA quality) camera.