[Resolved - March 2014] Issue with losing 3G connection

[techie_kev]

**This issue is now resolved, please see the final update below**

Hi everyone,

We are currently experiencing an intermittent issue where some handsets appear to be losing their data service.  This is affecting a small number of customers and some of you have already raised queries about it here on the Community.

To fix this issue, please just ‘power-cycle’ your phone (turn it off, wait a few seconds and turn it on again).  This may seem like the usual solution to many technical problems like this, but it serves to completely disconnect your phone from the network and it should then re-establish itself on the network again with a working connection.

We are working hard to get to the bottom of the issue.  Unfortunately due to the intermittent nature of the issue it is difficult to pinpoint the root cause but we are confident our engineers will get to the bottom of it shortly.

If you are continuing to have issues with your data, please double-check your data settings first to ensure that your phone is still storing the correct settings.

Techie Kev

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Final update: Wednesday 19th March at 18:00

This issue is now being marked as resolved. As I mentioned before, a fix was put in place by the other operator to stop sending the disconnect data message to our handsets. In the last two weeks we have done extensive testing and we have not seen the issue re-occur. The other operator has also tested this and has seen the same positive results.

We know this issue, in particular the amount of time it took to resolve, was extremely frustrating for you all. It isn’t something we have taken lightly. The fact the cause was outside our own network and core systems meant it took longer to pinpoint the issue.

Providing you with a reliable internet service is a key priority for us. We have invested considerably in improving your internet speeds and reliability over the past 12 months.   With this issue now resolved, we hope you will now be able to continue to enjoy fast and reliable data speeds on 48.

If you do have an issue using your internet then it will be related to another issue. Please check your internet settings first, if these are correct then please ask a 48 agent who can look into this for you.

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Previous updates:

(click on "more info")

More Info

Fri 7th March at 16:35

We are confident that this issue is now resolved.  A fix has been put in place by the other operator so that they are no longer sending the disconnect data message to our handsets.  This fix has undergone extensive testing by them to ensure it works correctly for both our customers and their own. We have also completed extensive testing today and we have not seen the issue occur again.

We will continue to monitor this closely over the coming days until we are sure this is fixed before we close this issue as resolved.

Tues 4th March @ 16:52

We are confident that we have finally got to the bottom of what is causing this issue. We have discovered that another network is sending a message to our customer’s handsets to stop it from using data.

This happens when a 48 phone loses coverage and then attempts to reconnect to the network. If the other network’s signal is stronger it picks this up first. This request should simply be rejected until the phone re-connects to 48, however in this case a message is being sent to the phone to tell it to disconnect from all data, even when 48 is picked up again.

A solution is being tested by the other network and we should have more information in the coming days. We really appreciate your patience with this issue. It has been a really complicated issue to get to the bottom of, particularly as this is another network affecting our customer’s handsets. All resources will continue to work on this until it is resolved.

Please remember, if you do lose your data connection, please just ‘power-cycle’ your phone (turn it off, wait a few seconds and turn it on again) to restore the connection.

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Tues 18th Feb @ 12:00

Following a number of different changes we have implemented on our systems, we are seeing a noticeable decrease in the number of customers reporting this particular issue.  We are now closely monitoring this to see if the issue has been resolved for everyone.

You can lose your data for a number of reasons (handset issue, congestion at peak times, local signal issue, etc).  The storms over the past week have also caused disruption to signals across the country, which could also have affected your data connection. So, it can be difficult to pinpoint if a customer losing their data is related to this particular issue.

A key symptom of this issue is the E, 3G or H symbol disappearing from your phone, but you still have a signal (the signal bars) and calls/texts are working fine, it is just your data that is not working.  A restart of your phone resolves the issue and the data symbol returns to your phone.

If you are still experiencing this exact issue and the 'phone restart' fix has worked for you we really want to hear about it from you.  There are some details that would be very useful for us to have, so if you could also let us know:

• Type of phone
• What services (calls, text or data) or apps you were using at the time
• General area you were in when it happened
• Has the issue happened just once or more often?
• Did your data symbol (E, 3G, H, H+, etc) disappear while you had no data?
• Did calls and texts work while you had no data?
• What data symbol did you see before lost data (E, 3G, H, H+, etc)
• When did you notice you lost data?
• Were you on the move when it happened?         

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4th February @ 15:43

We are still actively working on resolving this issue. We made a number of further updates to our systems overnight as part of this work. We are monitoring all our systems closely today to determine if these changes have fixed the issue. In the event these changes haven’t been successful it will help us narrow the focus to other potential reasons for customers losing their data connection.

Please let us know here on this Community post if you have lost 3G internet connection again today (after 6am on Tuesday 4th February).  Also, please let us know if you have been repeatedly losing your 3G connection and it now appears to be stable again.  Your updates here will help us determine the success of these changes.

Remember, a ‘power-cycle’ of your phone will resolve the issue if it happens to you.

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Tues 28th Jan @ 17:10

Just a quick update on the investigations into this issue. Due to the ongoing nature of it a dedicated investigation team from a number of our service providers will be working on it until the issue is resolved. A number of further tests are planned overnight and tomorrow morning to get to the root cause. I will continue to provide updates here on the progress of these tests.

Please remember, if you do lose your data connection, power-cycling (turn off and on again) your phone will restore the connection

[katieleahy]

can anyone tell me how to get connection back on an iphone 4? i dont know what the apn thing is about or how to find it on my phone...

[dalyer]

Follow all of the steps here:

http://community.48months.ie/t5/Need-Help/Samsung-Galaxy-phones-internet-settings/m-p/13363#M4013

Hope this helps.

[Anon]

katieleahy:

can anyone tell me how to get connection back on an iphone 4? i dont know what the apn thing is about or how to find it on my phone...

katie - When you say 'connection' I have to assume you mean 3G ? Internet connection ? check out the first post in this thread. Do a hard reset on your iPhone. Hold the power and the home button down and keep them down until the screen goes black and keep them down until the apple logo appears and let go.

If this doesn't work, then go to:

http://community.48months.ie/t5/Need-Help/Apple-iPhones-internet-settings/m-p/3358/highlight/true#M1...

This will tell you how to navigate the settings part of your iphone to where the 48months settings are.

And scroll down to find the instructions for the iOS you are using ... iOS6 ? or iOS 7 ?

[Anon]

ER 48 are a joke, I been having the same issues for weeks, Tek is a waste of time, they can't see how your cell connects to the network, yeah right haha, considering 48 is O2....... I use a dual sim cell with both an O2 & a 48 sim, never had a problem with O2 whatsoever, but with 48 a different matter. Main issue is 48 signals output is a lot weaker that the host, their parent company O2, so unless ur basically on top of an O2 mask, your going to be getting issues with 3G the further you are away from it and more so when your indoors.... To keep it basic and not get too tek, here's what happens and where users have issues... You have 4 main bandwidths, that's 2 / 2.5G.................. 3 & 3.5G currently with 4G going live with O2 soon.... 2 & 2.5G is GSM & GPRS ( known as WAP), but also there is 2.75G & 2.9G otherwise known as the EDGE network, mainly used to carry voice calls and sending texts / mms, you can still use data (with the latter EDGE network), wither its apps or the internet, but speeds are very slow, so with media streaming, forget about it. 3 & 3.5G are both UTMS with O2 using the adopted HSPA (3G) & HSPA+ (3.5G) for their network, but as with 2G, you also have 3.75G & 3.9G (both are HSPA+).... So basically you have the revolution of both 2G & 3G moving through the latter to 2.9G & 3.9G as advancements are made in technology which were now seeing with 4G eventually being rolled out here and currently 5G in development and testing, but will be a long time you see it here as were so far behind in technology advancement.... In basic, the latter (3.75 & 3.9G) faster speeds between your mobile using the network.... Back to the issues with people losing 3G connection..... From what I have figured out, the problem lies the HSPA network (that's 3G) as the latter HSPA+ (that's 3.5 / 3.75 / 3.9G) its fine, more power is used for HSPA + as its transfers higher data content to and from your mobile through the network meaning a better stronger strength in signal and a better coverage as with HSPA (3G), slower transfer rate, less demand, so weaker strength in coverage...... The problem comes down to two things: 1.) Coverage, wither your indoors or outdoors and how far you are away from an O2 mask. 2.) Type of mobile your using Coverage The closer your to an O2 mask and if outdoors, best signal, best strength, its when your indoors and/or further away, weaker coverage and more prone to interference (if indoors, from both structures and electrical products) so your mobile is less likley to connect to connect to the 3.5G or upwards. Your Mobile Er yes the type of mobile device you use affects also as mainly two issues affect the signal strength your getting.... Your mobile uses a transmitter to communicate with a network, most mobiles only use 1 with some of most expensive (currently using 2, most likely with the larger 5" above mobiles otherwise known and coined as "Phablets" . Also the design and layout and where the transmitter is on your mobile affects too. Your mobile is an electrical item, so the best way to look at mobile is like a heart.... when you exercise your heart beats faster .... Now to your mobile, main thing that affect your coverage are: Screen size, bigger means a larger capacity battery / larger battery size is require to run it, the brighter the contrast is set on your mobile the more power you consume running it, meaning your using more energy / current, generates a larger electrical / magnetic field, which means interference to the transmitter, weaker signal.... back to the heart, exercise = faster heartbeat............. more consumption your battery uses = more energy field it generates... The problem lies purely down the 3G HSPA bandwidth and not with any of the others, so if your using your mobile indoors and are a distance away from an O2 mask, its best to switch your mobile over to 2G and then switch back when your outdoors. Its a pain switching all the time, but a lot of people are having the same issues and doubt 48 will ever resolve the issue as it seems to be ongoing for a long time. I've got nowhere with them, just lame bull**bleep** replies that dragged on for 3 weeks and then get some **bleep** called Damien closing the request and marking it as solved, well it **bleep**ing ain't..... I've also attached a link, it shows where every mobile mask is for all the networks, it tells you, the mask ID, network operator it belongs to and the bandwidths the mask broadcasts, handy.... http://www.askcomreg.ie/mobile/siteviewer.273.LE.asp

[1amcn]

Hi oldbangergrey

Is your APN present & correct in your setting's list?

(Im not iphone savvy)

🙂






🙂

[300]

No signal and network down since this afternoon i checked with 4 other users all have same fault

any news about getting us back up and running?

[1amcn]

Hi 300

This could be an Area Mast issue, have you & your mates contacted 48 support?

Please do at the nearest opportunity.

Include your Town/County,Handset make/model & rough time-frame when 3G was lost.

Edit: Try a power cycle & check your APN is present & correct meanwhile.

http://www.48months.ie/help/ask-agent

Hopefully it'll be resolved soon...

🙂

[hazelbucks]

Hi, im also expericing issues with my interent connection, its not working at all, even when i restart my phone. somethimes even my phone service is going and not coming back for long periods of time.

Please help. 

[annah]

Having the same problem in Clonmel, my network is down completely since yesterday. On a standard membership with samsung pebble phone. The SIM keep refreshing, there's no bars and I can't phone or text.

[dalyer]

Bear in mind that there was a lot of storm damage last night in case this is a contributory factor here...

Edit: looks like it might be a factor for some people judging by this update which has just been posted:

Service disruption on O2 network to due severe wea..