Vodafone LG G3 Android 5.0 loses service (generally overnight) and won't reconnect

[rodp]

Hi All,

First message here so apologies if I've not quite followed the right protocol or put this in the right board group.

I got a LG G3 (LG-D855 16Gb) a little while ago, mid 2015.  I updated it to android 5.0 OTA straight off and haven't had too many problems with it until just before Christmas when it started loosing service (so this is not APN data related I don't think but connecting to a cell / mast).  Overnight (generally), my phone would lose signal and then wouldn't reconnect to the mast.  I have tried selecting airplane mode, leaving it for some time and then turning airplane mode off but no luck.  I just get the little grey bars with a little arrow circling round all the time.  Even driving to a different area (commute to work is about 24 miles) didn't work.  The only way to get the phone to reconnect to Vodafone network was to reboot the phone.

Last week I tried updating the phone (october / november-ish update: Build number LRX21R.A1446038723 Software Version V21a-234-15) OTA but this didn't make any difference.  I've also tried the different network modes, GSM only and WCDMA only but this makes no difference either.

The symptons is that after a reboot with a few days (lets say 5 days) of the phone being on, the service is lost and the only way to get it back is to reboot.

My next step is to try safemode.  Can anyone tell me what this mode will prevent and prevent me from doing?  I agree that it could be an app causing the issue but does anyone have any suggestions in how to find the needle in the haystack more easily?

I could give a list of my apps if that would help?

Thanks for any advice in advance.

Rodp

downlaoded apps (sorry quite a few but I don't use them all the time!)

aGrep

Amazon

Amazon Kindle

Android System Webview

AndroidVNC

App Cache Cleaner

Avast Mobile Secutiry (does a weekly scan)

AVR-Remote

Barcode Scanner

BBC iPlayer

BBC Media Player

BBC Weather

Box

BSPlayer Free

Calculator

Capsule

Chess Free

Chrome

ClickShare Presenter

com.ginkgosoft.dlna.ctrl

Concur

CPU Monitor Advanced Lite

Discover

Downloads

Drive

DroidEdit Free

eBay

ECU Access Tester (car OBDII)

Ensemble Compose

exNetScan

Facebook

Favourite contacts Widget

FFmpeg Media Encoider

FM Radio

FTPServer

Gmail

Google App

Google Keyboard

Google Play Games

Google Play services

Google Play Store

Google+

Grand Piano

GSM Signal Monitoring

Hangouts

Helium

imediaShare

Internet Speed Meter Lite

ISS Detector

Key Plus

LG Backup (Sender)

Mahjong Solitaire

Maps

Marantz Hi-Fi Remote

Messenger

Mobile Print

MobilePASS

MX Player

My Data Manager

My Tracks

My Vodafone

My Web

MyPhoneExplorer Client

npower

OBCKey Fault Code Reader

OBDKey Mobile

Opera Mini

Out of Milk

Perfect Piano

Picasa Tool

Ping & DNS

QuickMemo+

QuickPic

QuickRemote

RAR

Say No To 0870!

SD Maid

Sea Battle

Sheets

Silent Mode Switcher

Skifta

Skype

Smart Tips

Smartworld

SMS Backup & Restore

Speedtest

SyncMe

Tasks

Textra

ThinkFree Viewer

UPnP Monkey

UPnplay

Viber

VLCRemFree

WhatsApp

Wifi Analyzer

WPS Office

Wunderlist

X-plore

Yahoo Mail

YouTube

[BandOfBrothers]

Hi

An app shouldn't really affect connecting to the Network. 

May I ask after you updated the firmware did you after a backup to preserve data carry out a factory reset which clears out redundant files. 

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. 

Does the issue happen in one area or everywhere ?

Sometimes SIM cards degrade which can be resolved by a sim swap to replace it. Any Vodafone shop can do this.  

Sometimes the modems in phones fail too which can affect holding onto signal. LG Mobile Uk Support maybe able to help too. 

[rodp]

Hi,

Thanks for the reply.  No I didn't take a backup (i lived dangerously!!) but could I do that now, factory reset and then restore or would that not help now? I'm worried I will lose Viber messages - can you confirm that this won't be the case if I back up, factory reset and then restore? (I know you can email the trascript but you lose access to all the pictures and videos which I'd like to keep to be honest).

I forgot to mention I already tried a new sim but this didn't seem to help.

I could go back to my old phone to see if it's stable but it's a Samsung S3 mini which doesn't have 4g so the problem I'm experiencing might not be as evident.  If you take this direction, it could mean that yes there is a problem with the phone and I'd need to bite the bullit and return it (it was a nightmare transfering my apps and app data from the S3 mini and I'd rather not have to go through all that again!).

I suppose I need to understand in more detail how long it takes for the error to occur so that if I change my phone then how long it might take for the problem to occur.

Vodafone Customer services did say that my area had been experiencing mast problems which could be compounding the problem but they say it's been fixed as of last Friday - but wherther there was another issue who knows!

Let me know about the backup procedure and I'll possibly give that a go.

If you factory reset dose that also mean you lose android 5.0 as it came with 4.3 originally I think?

Sorry for all the questions!

Thanks

Rodp

[BandOfBrothers]

Hi

If you perform a factory reset it goes back to the last firmware you downloaded. 

As for your back up my experience is with iCloud and iPhones. 

Maybe one of the other members can clarify and or perhaps do a google search. 

Sometimes when a mast has been fixed / upgraded it can take a short while to fully settle. Occasionally turning the phone off and on to reset connection between sim and network can help. 

[hrym]

First off, I think a factory reset is probably what's required here.   It would be part of any repair process, so you won't have lost anything that you wouldn't lose anyway.

The device will be reset to its out-of-the-box state, so any locally-stored content will be deleted.   You can back up either by copying the files you need to an external sd card or a computer.   My experience is with PCs and you should tell Windows to treat the device as mass storage so that you can access it as an external drive.   You'll need to navigate the file structure to find what you want, or it may be possible to copy everything across and work out what goes where later.  I'm not familar with Viber - does it store messages locally or on its own could servers?   In the latter case, I'd assume it would re-sync when you log in again, but I don't know for certain.   As long as your contacts and calendar are sync'd (usually with Google), they'll come back when you sign in.

If you use an sd card for backup, remove it before resetting as the process often erases them.

[rodp]

Hi,

Thanks for the replies so far.  I spoke to LG a few days ago and they suggested I try going onto Safe mode first.  I thought it might have resolved the problem (or at least indicated that the problem was due to an installed app) however after about 3-4 days again it lost signal - this time whilst I was at work and during the day.  The signal bar at the top is pale with a little circular arrow going round and round.  It never goes to a cross.

So what would my next step be?  Factory reset or does the fact that I get the problem in safe mode aswell mean something else is a foot?

I was thinking about trying one of the reset signal apps to see if I could get round the issue I'm experiencing (before I try a factory reset).  Do any of you have any thoughts on that?

Another sugestion - is there a way to debug the phone to see what happens at the point it looses signal?

Re viber.  I've used Helium in the past to trasnfer add and app data to phones with success for all bar Viber.  It seems the only way to save / restore the data is by rooting it giving you access to the Database file you need to get to.  Helium tries it's best but Viber resets the connection and removes all the meta data.  It's still there but you just can view it in the app.

Thanks in advance

Rodp

[hrym]

I'd go for the factory reset.  It would be part of any repair process, so you won;t have lost anything (as long as you've backed up first).   If it solves the problem, you won't have been without your phone while it's sent away.

[rodp]

Hi All,

I've been working through my plan of action and got a far a 4-5 apps from the top.  the loss of connection was starting to become more and more frequent so I tried a different approach and turn off the unit and physically took the battery out and put it back in (plus cleaned the contacts of the SD card and SIM).  Since then I've not had any outage.  I am also using a more powerful charger to charge it up overnight.

That combination although I'd say it's the taking the battery out completely seems to have settled it down again.  So should the problem arise again I will test to see if taking the battery out completely helps again.  If not, I'll then carry on with the steps mentioned (remove apps and then finallly (last resort) factory reset.

This is a rather long laborious test method but I think this is the best way to do it.

Thanks for all your advise so far.  Finger cross just taking the battery out and putting it back in sorts it out... I can live with that if it's only so often!

Cheers

Rodp

[hrym]

Thanks for coming back.  The battery-pull trick is one of the things that sometimes sorts out various niggles, so it may well be that you've fixed the problem.  Contact-cleaning shouldn't be necessary (though it's worth it for a new SIM), but may also have helped.

Fingers crossed for you that this lasts :smileyhappy: