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Phone has full signal but I can't use the internet

  • 23 June 2019
  • 69 replies
  • 127260 views
M

Greetings,

For the past few months I have been trying to resolve this issue with my T-Mobile service:

1.  Phone shows 3-4 bars of LTE, but the internet won't work

2.  My co-workers with T-Mobile are not experiencing any issues and they sit right next to me.

3.  When I'm with my spouse, their phone will work fine and mine won't

4.  I have tried turning WiFi off, resetting network settings, using a different phone - nothing resolves the issue

5.  I have called T-Mobile multiple times about the issue and the technician just tells me to reset my network settings or they send a device reset signal to my phone and it starts working again, but only temporarily

6.  I've ruled out the device and location at this point, so what else is their to test?

7.  Sometimes when I make calls, the device can't hang up and my phone locks up.  This has happened on 2 separate devices.  I have to do a force shutdown/restart.

Device:  iPhone XR, updated to the latest version of iOS.

A side note:  Why do I have to reset my network settings constantly?  Shouldn't my connection just work properly most of the time?

Thanks for any help, I am out of things I can try on my end.

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Best answer by tmo_chris 1 July 2019, 17:45

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69 replies

4

I have this exact probelm on iphone 11 for the past 3 months… good signal strength but zero data, cannot access the internet.  I’ve repeatedly called in to have it fixed, network resets and pings from my phone and countless restarts of my phone work for maybe a couple minutes to a couple hours, if they work at all.  My spouse’s line, on same account, on exact same iphone 11 works just fine when she’s sitting next to me.. and it happens all over the place, regardless of location.  

I

So I’ve reading through this topic just to see if anyone ever has their phone’s problem resolved. Unfortunately, no one. My mom experience this issue out of nowhere for a month now. I took the phone to T-mobile, they made us change the sim card, still didn’t work. Making phone calls to Apple, still not helping.

I

HI guysssss. After doing a few researches, I found out that new software update from Apple 14.5 and 14.6 doesn’t work well with T-mobile No Credit Check plan,  especially on iPhone 12 Pro max like my mom has. After updating to 14.6, her phone’s cellular Data stopped working, nothing but calls and text message. T-mobile made me to changed the Sim card,I also made a few calls to Apple, nothing worked. Now, all you need to do is to go on Apple.com and download the new iOs 15 beta!!!!!!!!!

Y

Check if your device is in do not disturb or airplane mode. And you can also reset network settings. If doing these and still can’t connect the internet, you can try an ios system recovery tool to fix the issue and contact carrier service.

H

ive had this issue for two weeks now , ive had new sims sent out to no change. at this point im switching from tmobile and the incompetency.

U

My son’s phone started this nonsense yesterday. Calls and SMS work. Some apps work, most apps do not. Took it to an Apple appointment thinking it was hardware issue. Apple ran checks even though tech said he’s had a bunch of iPhones lately, including his own, with the same issue. Confirmed no hardware issues on my son’s phone. Said all they know is that it is a T-Mobile issue and only affects apps that use a large amount of data. He said that apple can’t fix it, that it’s an issue with T-Mobile. Also has no idea if or when it will be resolved. My son’s phone is the only phone on our plan with the issue and it began yesterday. There have been no changes to his phone or the account for a couple of years. We’ve had T-Mobile for probably 10 years and after only 2 days of researching this, I’m ready to switch to Verizon. He’s running iOS 15.2.1, all apps are up to date, no VPN, no SIM card changes, same iPhone 12 he’s had from T-Mobile since release. 

H

Call T-Mobile and tell them to open him a new mobile account and transfer his current number to that phone. You will need to get a new SIM card in person at a T-Mobile store. If you can’t have customer service send you one and credit your account because you don’t have full accessibility to your device. I went through this situation and it I was told “our engineers are working on our towers in you area” DO NOT ACCEPT THAT ANSWER. A lazy agent will tell you that but a proactive agent will look into this case for you. It’s something wrong in T-Mobile’s system so they have to compensate you for that time you don’t have full service. Be diligent because I went through the issue for over a month but I didn’t give up and found an agent that listened to me and investigated thoroughly before finding the solution together. Again Call customer service > tell them to transfer you to the the department that’s responsible for account services > tell that agent your issue and that the solution is to open a new account that you can transfer your current number to , if they try to charge you for the SIM card , have them put some vouchers on your account for the inconvenience. You shouldn’t have to pay anything for tmobiles system failure. Best of luck everyone trust me I just went through this 2 months ago and got the job done by betting on top of their employees. Don’t let up !

U

HIS PHONE IS FIXED!!! After the 2nd trip to the local store, they general manager opened a ticket for my son’s phone. Said we should hear back in 24-48 hours. Several people in the store had the same issue. He already had his phone checked thoroughly by Apple. The TMobile store ran their checks and tried replacing the SIM card. They reset his phone to factory. Nothing fixed the issue. The specialist called tonight to fix his phone. She said the reason was because something called Web Guard had been blocking his access. We never turned that on, and he’s over 18 so I don’t see how that would have gotten activated on his phone unless the system did it somehow. She turned off Web Guard on his line, removed him from the network, had him power down his phone, added him to the network, and had him power back on. His phone is working. I don’t know if his phone really had that Web Guard activated or not, I’ve never heard of that feature and he started having the issue out of the blue about 8 days ago, but glad his phone is working again. 
 

 

A

This has been going on for a week now. When connected to data I can make phone calls and send messages on, but I can’t load any of my apps, refresh my email, and when I try to use the internet it’s saying no connection when I have 4 bars LTE. I went to T-Mobile the first time they reset my network settings and then told me to go to apple. Apple ran some test and said everything came back fine. They even put my SIM card in one of their phones to make sure it wasn’t just my phone acting up. The same thing happened so it’s not my phone. I then went back to T-Mobile where they changed my SIM card. All T-Mobile wants to do is blame apple and make me get a new phone when it has NOTHING TO DO WITH THE DEVICE. When im on wifi everything is perfectly fine. Ive ruled out location and device. Please give help.

U

@arymat read my post right above yours. Check to see if t-mobile activated web guard on your phone like they did on my son’s phone. 

A

@arymat read my post right above yours. Check to see if t-mobile activated web guard on your phone like they did on my son’s phone. 

Im on the phone with them right now about it

M
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T-Mobile will place the issue on you … make you spend hours on the phone. 
 

THE ISSUE IS THE NETWORK AFRER THE METGER AND THEYRE NOT BEING TRANSPARENT 

 

Temporary workaround is to constantly toggle the airplane mode.  This re-logs you onto the network forcing you onto active status.   
 

im convinced it’s some algorithm meant to parcel out data after the merger.  Awful.  

M
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Just go onto downdetector to see the SHEER number of reports of data failures.  It’s not you.  

U

***edited to add***
others have commented that it is a network issue. I fully believe that to be the case, as well. I didn’t ever turn on this Web Guard and it doesn’t make sense that it would’ve gotten activated after my son turned 18. The key to the fix was that the Specialist removed his phone from the network while he was powered off and then added his line back to the network. I’m assuming the Web Guard excuse is the on-the-phone equivalent of swapping out the SIM card in the store…a bait and switch so you don’t notice the real reason the phone abruptly stopped getting access to the data. So, if you are still having trouble accessing data, call t-mobile and ask for a specialist and have them remove your line from the network and add it back on.  
 

HIS PHONE IS FIXED!!! After the 2nd trip to the local store, they general manager opened a ticket for my son’s phone. Said we should hear back in 24-48 hours. Several people in the store had the same issue. He already had his phone checked thoroughly by Apple. The TMobile store ran their checks and tried replacing the SIM card. They reset his phone to factory. Nothing fixed the issue. The specialist called tonight to fix his phone. She said the reason was because something called Web Guard had been blocking his access. We never turned that on, and he’s over 18 so I don’t see how that would have gotten activated on his phone unless the system did it somehow. She turned off Web Guard on his line, removed him from the network, had him power down his phone, added him to the network, and had him power back on. His phone is working. I don’t know if his phone really had that Web Guard activated or not, I’ve never heard of that feature and he started having the issue out of the blue about 8 days ago, but glad his phone is working again. 

 

 

C

T-Mobile will place the issue on you … make you spend hours on the phone. 
 

THE ISSUE IS THE NETWORK AFRER THE METGER AND THEYRE NOT BEING TRANSPARENT 

 

Temporary workaround is to constantly toggle the airplane mode.  This re-logs you onto the network forcing you onto active status.   
 

im convinced it’s some algorithm meant to parcel out data after the merger.  Awful.  

 

Just wanted to say that I tried this, and it worked right away. I'd really like to know why it's happening, as I just joined T-Mobile, and I'd hate to have to toggle airplane mode every time I switch off wifi

L

Shot in the dark.  I was thinking something with the phone or software, but you tried a different phone.  Did you use your SIM in the different phone?

 

How about putting spouse's SIM in your phone and testing.   If problem still occurs, then check account status with T-Mobile customer service or possibly get a new SIM and see what happens.

 

That's the best I can come up with.   Nothing else comes to mind.

 

Good luck.

 

EDIT:  The APN suggestion seems reasonable.  I never had a problem like that with APN, so I'm curious to know if that turns out to be the solution.

good morming  i have this same problem.  i called Apple and they tell me to call t-mobile and still i cannot work my whatsapp.  when i am out the area of wifi i am not able to use it  no service also gmail   it tells me no connections  how do i create apn

 

S

Same problem here with my 16 yr old's phone... Webguard was indeed the culprit. I had spent a good four or five hours between talking to T-Mobile customer service in the Philippines, three visits to our local store and a visit to Apple. Everyone I contacted was completely clueless / helpless except for another customer service rep in the Philippines. On that final phone call I pushed him to check any filtering service that was on my son's phone and he discovered that Webguard was turned on. At that point a supervisor in the US joined our online chat, but neither could explain why webgard was on that line and on none of the three others in my household. 

After removing Webguard and rebooting the phone, everything worked normally and has been problem free since. Incidentally, when I called our local store to tell them of the solution they were totally disinterested... even though they told me lots of customers with the identical problem have been showing up in the past 2 weeks. Great way to stay on top of customer satisfaction! 🤔

F
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Same problem here with my 16 yr old's phone... Webguard was indeed the culprit. I had spent a good four or five hours between talking to T-Mobile customer service in the Philippines, three visits to our local store and a visit to Apple. Everyone I contacted was completely clueless / helpless except for another customer service rep in the Philippines. On that final phone call I pushed him to check any filtering service that was on my son's phone and he discovered that Webguard was turned on. At that point a supervisor in the US joined our online chat, but neither could explain why webgard was on that line and on none of the three others in my household. 

After removing Webguard and rebooting the phone, everything worked normally and has been problem free since. Incidentally, when I called our local store to tell them of the solution they were totally disinterested... even though they told me lots of customers with the identical problem have been showing up in the past 2 weeks. Great way to stay on top of customer satisfaction! 🤔

was it an actual TMO store or a 3rd party owned TMO store ? you can usually tell with the verbage you see around..if you see a lot of “by TMO” and not just things saying “TMO” then its a 3rd party owned store.

***I like many others come onto this site for assistance and to help others. Marking a reply as helpful or correct helps others with like issues when they try to search the site for assistance. I do not work for Tmobile and my suggestions and or opinions are my own**.~~~~ The site here is primarily peer to peer with some TMO moderation to keep the site in order..They do not have account access..The prefered method would be to contact TMO through either calling in (tier 1 support) or by contacting them through either Facebook/Twitter (tier 2 support)**~~~~
S

It was T-Mobile corporate... I've learned over the years not to waste my time with an affiliate store.

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