Issues with mobile data

throw1001

Hi,

First of all, thanks everyone for the great work on GrapheneOS and all the community for the support.

I have some issue with the mobile data that I am unable to troubleshoot.

Very often (often enough to be an issue using the phone) I loose the mobile data connection. This is not related to signal strength of the mobile network, as the same behavior is reproduced independent of this.

I just lose mobile Internet, and see the exclamation mark next to the signal indicator. Sometimes, I do also loose for brief moments complete signal but most of the time there is full mobile signal when this happens.

This is happening with a downloaded SIM card. I used the card on 5G and then moved it to LTE, just to see if it works but the behavior is the same.

I am also using Netguard VPN, as a firewall on the phone. I have disabled Netguard to see if the issue is resolved, but it looks like this is not the issue.

Sometimes it may help to stop and start the mobile data or put the plane in airplane mode and back, but it also may be just a coincidence.

If I do not do anything, it will come back at some point, but it is happening so often that the preferred mode of using the phone is WiFi and it makes very unreliable to use the mobile data.

The phone is a Pixel 7 Pro running build number TQ2A.230305.008.C1.20230326

Any help in debugging this would be much appreciated.

de0u

throw1001 If you are using an eSIM maybe your physical SIM slot is free and you could try popping a friend's SIM card in to see if it makes a difference? Ideally not the same carrier.

Does this happen everywhere or only in some places?

dazinism

throw1001
I used to get network drop out and noticed my phone changing 4G to 3G a lot.
I went into settings and changed preferred network to '4G only' which solved the issue for me.

Oggyo

Sometimes it happened to me, I think, especially when I keep my cell-data off for a long time, and then turned on it doesn't work/connect. I found the fastest fix is to toggle Airplane mode OFF/ON.

throw1001

Oggyo In my case, I keep mobile data always on. I just stop and start it again to see if it helps getting the Internet to work again.

throw1001

de0u The physical SIM slot is also used. I have not tested to see if there is also an issue with that one, as I use it only in roaming. I will test once I get the opportunity.

This happens anywhere, so I could not link it to some places, where I could assume coverage was not optimal.

Sprout5888

This is interesting I get this same issue but only after an incoming phone call. Here is my ticket: https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/3351-mobil-data-does-not-work-after-phone-call

I have a feeling this has something to do with a small carrier. The OS was probably not optimized less than ideas ones.

throw1001

Sprout5888 I do not know how a small carrier is defined but I am getting this issue with what is considered a large mobile operator, albeit in a small country.

throw1001

Sprout5888 Also, in my case I cannot correlate the behavior with phone calls at all, as I am using mobile data all day and this just happens, independent of getting calls or not.

throw1001

dazinism Today I set the "Preferred Network Type" (Settings - Network & Internet - Internet - click the gear icon next to your network operator name - Preferred Network Type) to LTE. Before it was set to "5G (recommended).

With the 5G setting I have only seen LTE written next to the mobile signal symbol, and as far as I know LTE is a 4G technology. I also checked now and on the operator map the region where I am should be covered by 5G, but I have never seen 5G next to the mobile signal symbol. Looking further into this, it looks like the 5G is a paid option with my operator, which I do not have, so LTE is the maximum I can get anyway.

As I have set the LTE preferred network type only today, I will need a few days though to see if this setting solves the issue. After setting the LTE I still had this issue once and that it why I mention in my original message that it also happened on LTE, but it actually only happened once, so one occurrence is not really relevant.

Sprout5888

throw1001 I’m sorry for posting this question. I realized that the issue was caused by my network provider’s settings that were still set to iphone (my previous phone). I appreciate your help and support.

dazinism

throw1001 could try setting it to LTE only theres a chance that may help. It did for me in the past.

throw1001

dazinism I have been using the phone only with LTE (not LTE Only, will try this in the next days) for more than a day and unfortunately this still happens. The data connection drops randomly, so I cannot correlate with something. Sometimes I also see a full signal drop, but this is more rare.

Does anyone know a way to debug this, and get some more technical info, like what happens when the mobile Internet goes down, and so on. I am not familiar how mobile internet works, so any help would be appreciated.

[deleted]

This isn't a graphene issue, it's a well documented issue with the pixel 6 series that still affects the 7 series. I am on my second pixel 7 pro, I returned the first one due to this issue. That was running stock pixel software as well.

de0u

[deleted] This isn't a graphene issue, it's a well documented issue with the pixel 6 series that still affects the 7 series.

That would be important for people here to know about! Can you provide a link or two?

throw1001

[deleted] Thanks for the info. So basically you replaced your phone on the warranty because of the network connection issues. Do you still have issues with the replacement Pixel 7 ?

[deleted]

de0u Just search pixel 7 connectivity issues.

de0u

Sprout5888 Thanks for taking the time to report back! The information may help others.

GrapheneOS

@bluegrass You've previously stated you don't actually use GrapheneOS but rather a heavily modified OS.

bluegrass

GrapheneOS
I don't remember saying that.

I've said that in the absence of further development of Xprivacy Lua this OS is the next best thing. Prior to A13 yes I modified the "stock" OS by removing Google & manufacturer stuff and installing microG.

It's a very good OS and have to thank the developers for it. It's just some apps, despite adjusting some settings as suggested by other forum members refuse to work. Or if they do work it's not consistent.