Can't send texts or make phone calls on Galaxy S4

Since yesterday evening I haven't been able to make phone calls or send texts. I have MetroPCS as my carrier and a Galaxy S4 android phone.

Whenever I make a phone call, the call ends immediately. When I send a text, it immediately tells me "Message not sent" and then says Message failed underneath my text. And sometimes (randomly) my friends don't even get my texts.

For some reason, it will start working normally again for a couple of minutes to a few hours and then goes back to having these problems. I already contacted my carrier and they did a network refresh for me, told me to take out my battery and SIM card constantly and still hasn't fully resolved my issue. I thought maybe it would be a faulty SIM card but the guy at the store just said to keeping popping the SIM card in and out when it happens.

I also tried resetting my APN to default and that seemed to help but then it gave me problems the moment I turned Wi-Fi on. I have Wi-Fi Calling disabled too so I don't understand why Wi-Fi and 4G/LTE is affecting my phone calls or text messages. Those 2 features only rely on signal alone right? 'Cause I always have perfect 5 bars of signal.

Anyone have any other solutions? This is getting frustrating.

This may not seem like the best solution, but have you tried putting your phone into Airplane mode, wait a few seconds, and then disable it?

Tried it just now. It worked for sending 2 texts then failed again afterwards.

Have you also tried resetting the phone as well? Be sure to back up your texts and photos to Google if you really want to save those.

Is the phone still under warranty as well?

I factory reset my phone and backed up my data and the problem is still there.

I guess it is. I've only had this phone since September.

See if you can get hold of another sim (assuming your phone is unlocked) and try to see if it works, otherwise get another metro PC sim from a store if you can.

Wait, did the S4 get the Android 5 update? I've had the Message not sent error on my Nexus 5.
The phone calls though, not sure. I'll see what I can dig up

obZen said:

Wait, did the S4 get the Android 5 update? I've had the Message not sent error on my Nexus 5.
The phone calls though, not sure. I'll see what I can dig up

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Nope, the S4 is still maxed at KitKat 4.4.2.

Tsutarja said:

Nope, the S4 is still maxed at KitKat 4.4.2.

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Really? Under my About device settings it says I have Android version 4.4.4, or is that something entirely different?

Alfieri said:

Really? Under my About device settings it says I have Android version 4.4.4, or is that something entirely different?

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I guess the source in which I read it from needs updating, because it said 4.4.2 was the max support.

Ah goodness, this is similar to the problem my iPhone is having in that I can't make any calls. I looked at the Apple site and it suggested to disable some things and reset the Network settings, which I did but that still isn't working. :/

Ahh, I had a similar problem with an iPhone 4s in the past. It could make quick calls, but for some reason the call drops after a short time. No SMS could be sent out of the device.

The first thing I did was call SingTel (carrier). Phone carriers always try to cheap their way out of the situation, and the unprofessional customer service officer instructed me to blow the SIM after trying all tips from Apple's website. Of course, it made me really mad and I quarrelled with him for over an hour. Finally, SingTel arranged for a SIM replacement. It was working fine ever since.

I guess MetroPCS is trying to cheap their way out too. Call them and demand for a SIM replacement. Or maybe you can try the MetroPCS SIM on another device and monitor the situation?

So it seems that my house is cursed. I spent a good amount of time outside in school and around the city and I was able to make calls and send texts with no issues. I go back home and I continue to have no issues. I guess going outside recharged my house's reception? lmao.

Alfieri said:

So it seems that my house is cursed. I spent a good amount of time outside in school and around the city and I was able to make calls and send texts with no issues. I go back home and I continue to have no issues. I guess going outside recharged my house's reception? lmao.

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In that instance, I would go online and check your carrier's coverage map of the services that you were being disrupted from while home and seeing how it is around where you live.

So according to MetroPCS's coverage map, my area is one of the best connections. Ha.