Sim card problems - no 4g only 3g

[majoosta]

I have a Nexus 9 LTE tablet which I have put my 4G sim in but am getting increasingly frustrated at not getting 4G. I had an iPad air which I couldn't get on with so went back to good old Android but am totally at a loss as to why I cannot ever get 4G?

I have looked at the settings and they seem okay, however, when I select 'mobile plan' in settings I get the message 'Vodafone UK has no known provisioning website' (?)

After a little research I have come across sim cards suddenly not being provisioned. Could this be the case? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[majoosta]

I'll take that as a no then. No Vodafone representatives willing to give technical advice? Thank you anyway.

[Retired-Simon]

Hi @majoosta

Apologies for the late reply. It’s taking a little longer than normal to respond.

The SIM you have, is it on a 4G plan and was it the one you used in your iPad?

If so, did you get 4G on your iPad okay?

If you’ve never been able to get 4G, please check our UK coverage map to check you should get 4G in your area.

If you’re in a 4G area and not getting it in more than one location, please contact Live help to check 4G is provisioned correctly on your account.

Thanks,

Simon

[majoosta]

Hi Simon,

Thank you for the reply. It is the same sim that I had in my iPad and I've also tried my 4g sim in my phone. The Nexus 9 was brand new and unlocked to any network and I have always got 4g at home albeit fairly inconsistent but I'm a train driver and don't even get it 4g in London.

I've been looking at bandwidths etc in case it was a US Nexus as only JUST available over here but it seems it should work in any case.

It's just a little annoying seeing the little 3G in the corner all the time when I'm on a 4G plan.

I've been over the settings a few times and reset the tablet too.

Thank you for your time.

Tony

[hrym]

At the risk of stating the obvious, you have checked that the device is set to use 4g (LTE) in settings, haven't you?

You also mentioned the question of whether it was a US spec device.  If it came with a UK mains plug, that would suggest it isn't.   However, if it has two pins, or any kind of adaptor, I'd be suspicious.   The most usual frequency issue is when the device is 850mhz instead of 900, and that would affect 3G rather than 4G.

If the SIM worked OK in the iPad, that suggests the problme doesn't lie there or with the account.

[majoosta]

It does come with a UK plug - I didn't think of that! Anyway, I have the mobile network settings as LTE on the preferred network option. I also tried sending the mobile settings via a text from your website but as it's a tablet account I'm unable to send an SMS to request the settings.

It's really frustrating but thank you for your help. Are there any settings I can try? When I select mobile account in the settings I get this message stating 'Vodafone UK has no known website provisioning' - haven't a clue what that means!

[hrym]

This is an odd one.   If your gettnig a working connection at all, it suggests the setup is OK - I think you said it works over 3G?   Also, if the SIM worked with 4G previously, there's no obvious problem there or at account level.

The only other thing I can suggest would be to get a new SIM and see if that resolves the issue.   They do get corrupted occasionally.

[Adam321]

Hi Tony,

I'm having exactly the same problem. My sim card was new, so had not been able to test it in another phone. I called Vodafone support and was told to go to a store where they would put the sim card in another phone and try to reset it. No joy, so I was given another sim card, but still the same issue.

It's very frustrating and I would like them to find a solution, so far the support I've received hasn't been good enough.

Please do let me know if you get it sorted out.

Adam

[hrym]

Is this exactly the same issue, or have you never been able to get 4G?   Assuming you're in an area where you should be able to get it, and there are no known issues, it's possible that 4G hasn't been correctly provisioned on your account.   If you talk to Live Chat (Contact Us at the bottom of the page), they should be able to help with this.

[majoosta]

Hi Adam,

Looks like I'll have to go into a store to get any joy. It's virtually impossible to deal with a human over the phone with Vodafone unless they're wanting to take your money. Not relishing doing it but I'll let you know if I get it sorted.