Toggle from upper bands to lower bands
Your smartphone is capable of working in various bands and network types as it is built for network reception of different bands. If you are a 4G user and having trouble finding the 4G network, you can check the network to 3G which is more widespread. In case, you are unable to find 3G, you can proceed to 2G where although you won’t get access ultra-fast internet connections, features like calling and messaging someone will be available.
Toggle between network selection modes
There are actually two modes i.e. automatic and manual where the default is automatic and the term is pretty self-explanatory as automatic refers to when the phone registers for an available automatically while manual mode would require human intervention to register to an available network. If you are unable to find a network automatically, you can switch to manual mode and register to an available network. This is usually required when you are traveling and moving from urban to rural areas which have less network coverage.
Update the Android OS
Can an outdated Android firmware have an impact on my phone’s network? Of course yes and that’s because your phone usually slows down if you don’t update the phone for long which is just one of the many problems that you will face with outdated firmware. Further, bugs can be introduced in an outdated firmware which is vulnerable to attacks and therefore, it is recommended to keep the firmware updated. You can go through the available updates at Settings >> About Device >> System Updates >> Check for updates. Note that if your phone is old or has gone out-of-support, you can downgrade or choose custom ROMs to extend phone’s functionality and prevents bugs from affecting it.
Update all the applications
Yes, the same goes for all the apps that are installed on your smartphone as well. This is because outdated apps are vulnerable and can invite hackers or attackers to cause data theft or affect the phone’s performance, etc. You can check out if the updates are available for apps by opening the Google Play Store and then, tap on the three stacked lines to open Settings and select My apps and games and check for available updates.
Reset the phone
This is basically the mother of all fixes if indeed the problem is due to any software-related issue. You can perform a factory reset for which, the following the procedure.
- Turn off the phone by holding the power button and selecting the Power Off option from the menu.
- Next is to tap on the power button plus volume down button together and remember, you need to press volume down button a fraction of second before pressing the power button since if you did vice versa, the phone will turn on in normal mode.
- Wait for few seconds while holding onto the buttons and once the screen lights-up showing the Android logo on the screen, you can release the keys.
- You need to select ‘wipe data/factory reset’ from amidst the menu and proceed by selecting ‘yes — delete all user data’ on the resultant screen.
Check if the SIM card or the SIM tray is damaged
What if the SIM Card is not inserted properly or it has damaged due to constant pulling and inserting it in the SIM tray which can also damage the SIM tray. If you are unable to fix the problem even now, check if the SIM is inserted properly or not. You must check if the SIM Card is working properly or not. Similarly, check if the SIM tray is proper or not by inserting another SIM card.
Ask carrier’ service center for help
Still can’t crank up the bars on the network display on the right/left side of the screen? Report the issue to a service center where you will be able to verify the issue and get the resolution. For SIM card, you can turn towards your service provider’s gallery or store to get it replaced to fix if the SIM card was the problem all along.
