Mobile networks are sadly still fickle creatures, even today. It’s hard to figure out why or how they go down, and then sometimes even harder to fix it if you don’t know the cause. In some cases, even when you know the cause, it’s hard to lock down a fix for the problem. Thankfully, for the mobile network not available message, it’s easy to troubleshoot.
Related: Troubleshooting Android Boot Problems
Troubleshooting the annoying error message takes time, but as long as the problem doesn’t solely lie with your mobile network, you’ll be able to connect again in minutes. Fixing the problem includes a number of basic troubleshooting steps for most Android problems, and enabling a few settings in certain cases.
What Causes the Mobile Network Not Available Message?
While some of the steps above describe how to fix the annoying message problem, not all of them explain why it happens. Thankfully, it usually comes down to the problem either being caused by your phone or your network.
What your phone or network is doing to cause the problem is a different story, but we’ve still got that covered here. Anyone network can be affected, from t-mobile, at&t, verizon, and even sprint. Once you know what’s causing the problem, and how to fix it, it’s easy to stop from happening again.
The Steps to Fix the Network Not Available Messages
Since I’ve already covered why this message can appear, let’s jump straight into what to do when this message appears. Follow these steps from the first to the last until the message finally goes away and your network connection is stable again.
1. Check Your SIM Card
One cause for the mobile network not available message is either a faulty, or a poorly inserted SIM card. Power your phone down before pulling your SIM card out.
Then access your SIM card slot and remove the card before putting it back in, making sure it’s secure. Once you’re satisfied with its placement, power your phone back on and see if you can connect properly.
2. A Quick Reset
This is the easy step to practically any troubleshooting scenario no matter what type electronic device you’re dealing with. If you have a problem of any kind, before you try anything else, turn your phone off, and then turn it back on again.
If quickly resetting your phone doesn’t do anything, let it sit for a little while after you turn it off before turning it back on again.
3. Perform a Battery Pull
This next step only applies to phones with easily removable batteries. If you can’t remove your battery without breaking your warranty, don’t attempt this step. If you’re using a phone like the note 5, you’ll need to follow other steps to get rid of the mobile network not available message.
While your phone is powered off, remove your battery and wait at least one minute, but preferably three to five if you can. Once you’ve waited for long enough, slot your battery back in and power your phone on.
4. Toggle Airplane Mode
This is something similar to a soft reset, where you quickly turn on airplane mode and then turn it back off.
If your airplane mode is already enabled, then this is a great time to switch it off. Swipe down from your quick menu to either enable or disable it.
5. Enable Roaming
Another one of the many causes of the mobile network not available message is data roaming. While roaming isn’t something you want enabled all the time, if you’re running into this message, switch it on to see if anything changes.
Under your Settings, and then under your wireless networks, find your cellular network settings. From there, just enable data roaming and see if you see any changes.
6. Run Any Firmware Updates
While this step doesn’t help if you can’t connect to any networks, when you can switch over to wi-fi, check for any firmware updates. If you have any available, take the time to download and install them to see if they fix the issue.
7. A Factory Reset
I don’t like recommending this step, but it’s the last trick in the troubleshooting toolkit for this problem. If a factory reset fails, then the problem is without a doubt either a hardware problem, or an issue with your network.
Follow these steps to factory reset your phone, but don’t forget to take as many precautions as possible(Cloud Storage) before attempting it.
Mobile Network Not Available Problem on the Samsung Galaxy Phones
There’s a specific fix for some variants of Samsung Galaxy phones that’s worth a shot whether you’re on the s5, or all the way up to the s8. You don’t need to download anything extra for this fix, just open up your dialer and follow these steps:
- In your dialer, dial *#*#4636#*#* exactly as shown.
- A new menu will show up, on it select phone/device information.
- Select run ping test.
- Select GSM Auto (PRL) from the next selection.
- Select the option to turn off the radio.
- Now reboot your phone and your network connection will be as good as new!
If you run into the same problem again on a galaxy device, repeat the steps above.
Conclusion
Thankfully, most cases of this message are fixed with a quick reset, but when the problem goes deeper, I’ve outlined what you can do about it. If it’s a network issue there isn’t much you can do but wait, or move to a different area, but at the very least you’ll knowwhythe problem is happening.
If you still have any questions about the mobile network not available error message, please ask us down below!
