3G Switch off: forced upgrade to a 'new' device
I have a brand new (less than 3 months old) mainstream phone from a leading manufacturer, which is ‘future proof’ in the short to medium term. This new Moto, only released December 2021, has 2100, 1800 and 800MHz capability, is provisioned for WiFi Calling/Vowifi (but doesn't work on Smarty) and is provisioned for 4G Calling/VoLTE (which I've just been told also won't work) ... Last week, Smarty contacted me giving 30 days notice "to upgrade to a new device to stay connected"! There’s no actual date for the switch off, only “mid-February”, so my phone could stop working on any random, unknown day, not coinciding with a billing period, leaving me out of pocket and out of data. To make matters worse, I have a Smarty Group plan with two identical phones, so that’s double the inconvenience. Smarty suggest getting a new phone and simply moving the sim across (there’s a cost of living crisis, right? I’m not in the game of shelling out a couple of hundred pounds every three months) or only using my handset in 3G areas (how far will I have to drive just to send a text message, haha). Actually, it’s in Smarty’s gift to certify more devices, saving pointless ££upgrades. Smarty Tech Support just need to force their settings to more devices. Two years on, the only Motorola fully supported (in their own words) for Wifi Calling on SMARTY is the G8 Power, even though others (such as my G31) are fully provisioned for Wi-Fi Calling. I wonder just how many Motos and other devices will now be deemed VoLTE incompatible re. the 3G switch off. SMARTY say that their friends at Three have a handy device tool which will show if your device is VoLTE compatible, but its not even an up to date list. After a time-wasting trawl through the list, only three Moto (release dates 2017 & 2018) out of 33 listed are compatible. Am I really supposed to 'upgrade' from a 2021 phone to a 2017 phone? I more than strongly suspect that the solution to my grief lies entirely with Smarty, as I have a dual sim phone. In the empty sim slot, VoWifi and VoLTE are switched on and raring to go. In the slot with the Smarty sim, all of a sudden they're greyed out. I messaged Smarty on social media with all the exact same information above and politely asking to be escalated to Tech Support. Below is all I got back (just platitudes) along with my reply and that’s the last I heard. Still at least I can rest easy in the knowledge that I won’t have any phone service, but I’ll be some kind of Smarty case study. The customer agent didn’t even ask me for my name and account details, to get back to me with an outcome. Smarty: “I understand your frustrations with the support for your device. The team are working on as many solutions as possible for the pending 3G switch off. I will raise this to the team as its great to get such insight into how this can effect customers on Moto devices -Nathan” Me: “Yes but I've had my 30 days notice of being abandoned by Smarty (a week ago), can’t afford to wait 3 more weeks and then wake up with no phone service one morning … Needs action not insight please. This is carrier-specific” Rant over, but I hope this is a useful 'heads up' for other users who will be affected. Or if anyone can help me out, please do. (Smarty would do well to look at the shambles last year that was BT Digital Voice - a similar switch off, on similar timescales, for similar reasons; this was abandoned as a complete fiasco, ill thought through from a customer experience point of view). Thanks Smarty, it was good while it lasted.UK SIM not working in Australia
Since arriving in Australia, I've been unable to use my Smarty UK SIM (just required for 2-step banking authentication etc as I have a local SIM for calls, texts and data). The SIM is recognised by my phone and multiple local phone signals are identified but for some reason I can't connect to any of them. The APN is now set to mob.asm.net but the change was made post-arrival in Australia - could this be the source of the problem? I've tried toggling all of the various settings on and off but without success. My local Aussie SIM works fine in my Poco F3 but it stops working when my Smarty UK SIM is added to slot 2 - my Smarty SIM is therefore currently residing in my old Motorola g(8). I was last in Australia in April 2024 and my Smarty SIM was connecting without any issues at that time. In the meantime, the 3G network has been turned off in Australia. I mention this in case it is significant but as the settings on my 2x phones allow me to select 5G (Poco F3) and 4G/LTE (Motorola g(8)), I assume this is not the root cause of the problem. I don't know if it's relevant but I should also note that I was unable to connect to either WiFi or mobile data while on the train to the UK airport. Ideally, a solution to this problem can be found but, if not, what are my options? 1. Smarty could send a replacement SIM to my UK address for a relative to post to Australia (it probably wouldn't arrive until after Christmas) 2. Is it possible sms messages to be forwarded to another number (similar to call forwarding for voice calls)? 3. I could do nothing (not a great option as I'm staying in Australia until after Easter 2025) 4. Are there any other options? All suggestions welcome. TIA
4gVolte problems
Apologies if this is a repetition. Please could someone help with a definitive answer to the 4g call debacle. Would like to know, if I contact a real person at Smarty will they turn on Volte calling for a samsung phone, or is it a lost cause and I go elsewhere or change handset? No one will say yay or nay. Been going round and round. God I hate cyclical conversations. Every time I ask I get a copy/paste of 'is your phone compatible?' Yes it it. Then ' just turn on 4g VolTe calling in settings.. ' I say I've done all that, then ' the government asked us to turn off 3g to make it better...etc' Three says its compatible, smarty says its compatible. I then get ' if your phone is incompatible you will have to change phone' But it's not. And then silence, no response, nada. I ask if this will change...we go back the beginning. Any one with actual knowledge could you say please Apologies for looong rant. Taken up bout 26 hours so far researching and trying to fix.
My Huawei B311 (4G) router has suddenly started receiving phone calls!
When SMARTY dropped 3G in my area my Huawei B311 router stopped receiving phone calls (and I bought a Tenda N300, which receives OTPs as a string of @s). This morning it is receiving calls. The light on the router turns blue which, AIUI, means it's dropped to 3G. What's going on? Anyone any idea? Anyway, I hope it stays this way. fuzzy. PS. Anyone want to buy a Tenda N300 router, going cheap?
Very poor signal - kent and London
I've noticed a marked degradation int he quality of service i've received over the last few months or so. While in Westfield shopping centre in Stratford, London, I had absolutely no signal whatsoever for most of the time I was there - relying instead on their wifi. I had no bars on either 4g or 5g and 3g was non existent. And this was on two visits a couple of weeks apart. Furthermore, lthe other day we visited Scotney Castle in Kent - and for the entire journey there and back we had little to no signal - in fact, we had a complete blackout of any signal on any of our phones (all on Smarty) for most of the journey. 4g had 1 bar but no data was available, and at the site of the castle there was no signal whatsoever. THis seems to be the trend and I am seeing other examples here and there with signal dropping or very weak signal with no internet. I realise 3g is being turned off, and I am wondering if this is affecting overall reception, with more gongestion on 4g as a result? Has anyone else noticed a notable degredation in performance and signal? We are on a variety of iPhones ranging from 11 to 14 Pro max, and a Oneplus 8.
Help please I can’t make a call or receive
Hi one and all, can anyone please help, I got my new sim, I activated the card, everything is working except I can’t make or receive any calls, if anyone tries to call me it sounds like my phone is ringing, but it’s not, I get a text message saying I have missed a call but I can’t call back, the phone isn’t in airplane mode, the phone is a Doro, any help would be appreciated, thank you all.