Motorola moto g

[batterseamike]

I purchased the handset on March 5 having had a software failure on my Huawei. It worked fine in UK but on arriving in Australia I was unable to reply to texts received, or to send texts. I was able to talk to Australian phones but not text. Vodafone AU says the phone is not compatible with their network. I spent over $50 calling Vodafone UK customer services on a new payg sim because mine said outgoing calls were barred although my onine account settings did not show this. Customer services checked with technical and they found, amongst other things that overseas calls were blocked although customer services could not see this. They made adjustments and instructed me to manually connect to another network and then to reset auto connect as my sim had not updated since arrival in Australia March 8. They said the sim should update alterations within 24 hours. But, of course, I can't connect to Vodafone UK to implement! The upshot is that no matter who I talk to I am unable to send text to anywhere, always getting the message "unable to send" But, I have just discovered, have been charged 75p every time I have tried!!!

[hrym]

It sounds as though you need to set up an Access Point (APN) for the Australian network.   Are there instructions for this on their website as there are on the UK one?

[batterseamike]

Thanks for the info, it's not something I've heard of before, or even know what it is! I'll have a look in the morning as I'm just off to bed. I'll let you know.

[hrym]

The best statring point would be to see if you can get a full manual for your device online.  That should help you with the access points - where to find them, set default etc.   Then Google for Vodafone Australia APN and see what you can find.

Briefly: APNs are small files that contain all the info such as links, log-ins etc necessary for the phone to connect the the internet over the mobile network.  The settings are different for each network.  What you're aiming to do is create a new one manually from scratch - effectively a form to fill in and then set as default (while you're in Australia).  When vf aus told you the device wasn't compatible, they may have been right, but my guess (since you can apparently use it for calls) is that it's not supported, which is slightly different.  That can mean that APNs can't automatically be sent to it, which is what would normally happen.

[batterseamike]

Thanks for the extra info. Not found the manual yet but have found set up APN instructions on vf au. They have a search section for specific phones and mine is listed. Going into the appropriate section for my phone I find that nothing has been set. I have entered all the listed items but that still leaves the following "not set"
Proxy, port, server, username and password.
In the instructions for my phone it stated that if they were blank on their list, those last two should also be left blank.
There is also a bearer which is "unspecified" and the MVNO type is shown as none.
Having entered all those instructed however, I am still unable to send a text.

[hrym]

Hmmm. Being unable to send a text is a network issue rather than an APN one.  Sorry, I missed that bit before (I take it we're talking plain text, not MMS?).  The user name and password for the UK are either web or wap.

Ah, just realised!  You need the correct message centre number for SMS in Australia.  Again, the appropriate website should have it.  Make a note of what it is now so that you can reset it when you're in the UK.

[batterseamike]

Yes, plain text is all I'm trying to send. I've managed to find where the message centre number is situated (dial *#*#4636#*#* ) and scroll down to SMSC) and found it blank so have entered vf au number (+61415011501). Tried sending text to myself and an Australian number. Both numbers gave a "message not sent" notification after about 3 minutes of sending.

[hrym]

As your phone is effectively now Australian, you might, tbh, be better posting on the Vodafone Australia site.

Two other possibilities:

1. Did you buy the phone unlocked or is it possibly locked to Vodafone UK? In theory, it shouldn't work at all if it is, but it's a possibility...

2. Have you tried a factory reset.  Another long shot and a bit of a pain (don't forget to backup first), but possibly worth a try.

Finally, I take it you've confirmed that the message centre number has saved properly on the phone?

[batterseamike]

Yes, I bought it from Phones 4u so it was not locked.
I am not prepared to do a factory reset as I don't have backup facility until I get home and don't want to lose my personal data.
I looked to check the number and found it blank again like before. When I entered it earlier I pressed update before exiting - I can find no other way of saving the entry.
You may be right about the vf au forum, their customer service have wiped their hands of me and putting the finger on vf UK.
I'm also wondering if I shouldn't just put up with it until I get home in 3 weeks. I'm sure it'll be fine again then.

[hrym]

I think your problem is going to be that it's all fallen between the cracks and no-one really knows what's going on.

Did you buy the phone SIM free and unlocked from any network?   The fact that you bought it from Phones4U doesn't necessarily mean that it was unlocked - most PAYG phones are locked, wherever you buy them.

If the tech team here pick this up, they may be able to tell you how to get a message centre number to stick, but I also have a feeling that it's defined by the SIM - though I also though it could be changed manually.

I found this, if it helps: https://forums.motorola.com/posts/df1d1e75b8

And this: http://androidadvices.com/change-message-centre-number-android-smartphones/