No incoming calls in Tewkesbury

[#1]

For the past few days, I have been unable to receive any incoming calls in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire.  This is even when the signal is maximum strength (5 bars).  I have checked that Airplane Mode is not switched on, and also "Do Not Disturb" is not switched on.  All incoming calls go straight through to my Voicemail.  I can send and receive texts, and also I can make outgoing calls without any problem.

As soon as I leave the vicinity of Tewkesbury, I start to receive calls again!  (For example when I'm in Cheltenham or Gloucester, or points in between, incoming calls arrive perfectly.)  I suspect it must be a fault on the Tewkesbury cellphone mast, but I do not know how to report it.

 By the way, I recently had my old number ported to PlusNet. Could this have anything to do with the problem? It's very annoying ... to the point that I may have to discontinue my PlusNet Mobile account if it is not resolved.

Can anyone help.

Walt.

[#2]

If the phone works as expected away from Tewks then it is unlikely to be anything related to the phone or the number porting process. As you know PN use the EE Network. The EE site shows no faults for Tewkesbury (but with EE that means absolutely nothing) The coverage map indicates you should be fine for 2G and 3G so that rules that out of the equation.

The final question would be whether this problem started at the same time as moving to PN or have you had a full working service from PN and this is a new problem?

If new then it's a good chance that there is a local fault as you say - hopefully someone on the support team will see this but it's probably worth stacking up magazines and a flask of coffee and heading over to the web chat support - good luck!

[#3]

Hi waltdav1,

Thanks for getting in touch with us. You can check to see if there are any issues or network updates in the area by popping over to https://myaccount.ee.co.uk/networkchecker/checkservice; by clicking on the 'Keep me posted' tab, you'll be regularly notified of any changes. 

If everything appears to be up and running, feel free to drop me a private message and I'll be more than happy to look into this further for you. 

- Rebeka 

[#4]

Thank you very much to those who replied.

This problem seemed to start when I had my old number ported to PlusNet.  However, it is very intermittent and therefore extremely hard to track it down or arrive at any firm conclusions.  It has certainly happened on several occasions over the past 4 weeks, but only when I have been in Tewkesbury which is my home location.

Yesterday (28 Feb), every incoming call failed and was immediately diverted to Voicemail without ringing the phone.  I made numerous test calls from different phones and could not make the PlusNet phone ring.  However today (1 March), I have made 6 test calls from different networks and every call was successful!  I could not cause it to fail.

Thank you, Rebeka, for the offer of help.  It all seems to be working today, so I'll monitor the situation and see how I get on.  If the problem arises again, I'll get in touch with you by private message.

Fingers crossed.

Walt

[#5]

Ok no worries Walt. Be sure to keep us posted if anything changes.

- Rebeka 

[#6]

Hi Rebeka,

I'm sorry to say that respite was short-lived.  This morning, all incoming calls are failing and are being diverted immediately to Voicemail without ringing the phone.

I will send you a private message with my full details and would appreciate any help you can offer.  With regret, if this problem cannot be resolved quickly I'll have to change provider because a phone that does not receive incoming calls is of no use to me.

Walt

[#7 · Accepted solution]

Hi Walt, 

I'm sorry to hear that the issue has returned with regards to your signal. I can see that you have sent me a private message so I'll pick this up there and do my best to help.

-  Rebeka 

[#8]

Many thanks, Rebeka.  I'll wait to hear from you.

Walt

[#9]

@waltdav1 out of interest, from which network was your number ported? I 'm still debating whether to port my old number or not.

[#10]

Hi bin,

It was ported from the Three network.

The porting process went very smoothly.  I just don't know whether my present problems are connected with the porting of the old number. PlusNet are sending me a replacement SIM, so will have to wait and see if that solves the problem.

Walt

[#11]

The replacement SIM did not solve the problem.  My phone number has been ported TWICE ... once from O2 to Three, then subsequently from Three to PlusNet.  I am becoming more and more convinced that this is the root of the problem.

Walt

[#12]

Well, I am delighted to say that my problem of not receiving incoming calls in Tewkesbury has, at last, been resolved!

Not exactly a "fix", but a viable work-around.  After a couple of weeks of tests and experimenting, Technical Support told me to switch off 4G on my phone and see if I could receive incoming calls with the phone set to 3G.  Eureka!  It has worked. 

Receiving incoming voice calls has always been a problem ONLY in the Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire area.  This work-around suits me fine, because I only occasionally use data and internet via the mobile signal, so I can leave the phone set to 3G except when I actually want to use it for data.

I understand voice calls on the EE Network are carried only by the 3G signal ... not 4G, which is used for data/internet only.  When a voice call comes in, the network should send out a signal to switch the destination phone into 3G mode before attempting to connect the call.  For some reason, in Tewkesbury either that signal is not being sent out by the mast, or else my phone is not receiving it.  So the call fails.

Whatever ... my incoming service works perfectly now.  I would like to thank Rebeka for her patience and persistence in resolving this problem.  It is much appreciated!

I hope this information will be helpful to anyone else who encounters a similar problem.

Walt

[#13]

I'm glad you found a solution. Unfortunately this hasn't worked for me so I'm still waiting on a permanent fix