Made call, other person can't hear me.

[arjayjay]

Hi for last 2 weeks, during incoming and outgoing calls to  a variety of numbers, part way through the call normally less than 2 minutes the other person cannot hear me. I then go to press End Call and this takes a few seconds to respond on the phone ie not as quick as is normally.

I tried Vodafone online support who said they had fixed, but it's not. I also spoke to Carphone warehouse where I got the Phone (Samsung A3) and Vodafone contract last August and they said possibly to ask Vodafone for new SIM card and also try calls when I am outside of house (I have been ill and at home so haven't been able to do this yet). They recalled one other person having this issue over a year ago and for that person it was a Vodafone issue.

My question - as after a search of internet and lots of different advice - has anyone seen anything like this before and is this is likely to be a Vodafone or Samsung issue and if latter if it is likely to be a hardware or software issue. Please bear in mind phone has been fine for over 8 months.

any advice welcome , thanks

[BandOfBrothers]

Hi

I assume there is no dust or lint in the phones speaker mic and no case or screen shield maybe hampering the call. 

Is there any chance of water ingress into the phone ?

Try turning off 3G in the phones settings to force it into 2G which has been known to stabilise call quality. 

Process of elimination: Can you try you're Sim card in another phone to rule out either the Sim or Account or Phone which may be at fault. 

The phone may need to be looked at if your sim works ok in another phone ref call quality. 

Carphone Warehouse can help you with that or speak to Samsung via their uk support site. The phone comes with a 24 month warranty but does not cover damage by a drop or water damage. 

[arjayjay]

thank you for taking the time to reply :-). I don't know of anything that has changed to my phone physically in last few weeks that wold cause this - ie not dropped, no water etc.   Call quality is fine while i have it. The cut off is very abrupt and the amount of time varies each time before it cuts off.

I would try the vodafone sim card in my old samsung galaxy ace fleur but the sim card I have now is much smaller than the one I had ? I guess i can try in someone else's samusng A3 as long as it won't disrupt theri data etc to temporarily put my sim card in theirs?

Do you know how I change to 2G - sorry this is prob a basic question but can't see anywhere obvious in settings for this despite opening lots of setting options. Please can you advise? many many thanks

[BandOfBrothers]

You're welcome. 

The network shops have SIM card plastic adapters that you can sit the small SIM card in to make it temporarily bigger. Then you can try it in your other phone. 

To force the phone onto 2G go into the phones settings and toggle off 3G. 

[arjayjay]

Thanks Lee for tip re adaptors - Carphone didn't suggest that when I went in but will try Vodafone shop.

re switching to 2G in my phone  I looked this up on internet as the Samsung A3 doesn't have anything as simple as choosing between 2 and 3G 🙂 . Just so you know I had to go to More Networks/Mobile networks/Network mode and then had choice of differnt options - so I have changed from WCDMA/GSM to GSM only. Just need to make a call now to test 🙂

advice found on internet:

3G (UMTS) or 4G (LTE) enables you to achieve higher data speeds than when using 2G (GSM).
If you select LTE/WCDMA/GSM (auto connect), your phone automatically switches between the three network modes provided that you're within range of a 4G network.
If you select WCDMA/GSM (auto connect), your phone automatically switches between the two network modes provided that you're within range of a 3G network.
If you select WCDMA only, your phone can only connect to 3G networks.
If you select GSM only, you can't achieve high data speeds.

thanks again

[BandOfBrothers]

You're welcome @arjayjay

Some Mobile Network Shops charge approximately £5 for the plastic Sim Card adapters ,and other Network Shops do not. :smileywink:

[arjayjay]

PS I just checked network coverage as suggested by Anne and I can't get 3G inside, only 2 G but I don't know how to check if my phone is on 2G or 3G....also i do recall that next to the signal bars I am sure I used to get different letters shwoing (E? H?) which Carphone did explain to me last year ut these aren't showing now.... thank you 🙂

[hrym]

The indicator next to the signal strength bars will show you what sort of connection you have:

G or E = 2G

3G, H or H+ = 3G

4G or 4G+ = 4G

As well as coverage, did you check for any known issues in your area?   It would also be useful if you could try the phone in different locations, ideally both within the current cell area (to rule out signal path issues) and completely different ones.

It's also possible that a factory reset of the phone will solve the issue.   You need to make sure you have your content backed up before you do that.

[arjayjay]

Thank you for taking the time to reply.

and thanks for explaining what the different indicators are. I have noticed that I used to have indcators but I don't have any at all lately - at least while I am at home - does this mean anything?

I want to try and avoid a factory reset if I can due to all the back up issues so will try all the other things like trying phone in different location, new SIM card etc first.  But will do if all else fails

thanks again

[hrym]

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arjayjay wrote:I have noticed that I used to have indcators but I don't have any at all lately - at least while I am at home - does this mean anything?

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It suggets that you don't have a data connection.   It won't affect calls, but it does suggest that either you have mobile data turned off, or that there is indeed a network issue locally (which might also be affecting calls).  Were you able to do a test in other locations?