BUG: Unable to receive SMS & Phone calls (Xperia X (Dual SIM) / Intex Aqua Fish)

asked 2017-11-10 02:01:52 +0200

DarkStarSword
378 ●8 ●14 ●23

updated 2017-12-09 13:46:11 +0200

I posted this earlier in this related bug report, but as the symptoms are slightly different and the workaround for this report does not work for me I've decided to open this as a separate issue:
https://together.jolla.com/question/145376/bug-jolla-c-could-not-receive-smsphone-call/?answer=172392#post-id-172392

Ever since moving from Sydney to Melbourne a couple of months ago I have been experiencing a recurring issue (first on my Intex Aqua Fish, and now confirmed that this also occurs on my Dual SIM Xperia X F5122), where after some time the phone stops being able to receive calls or SMSs. The phone display does not indicate that anything is wrong - it appears to still be connected to the network with full signal strength, but if someone tries to call me they get a message that my phone is currently unavailable (I have voice mail, redirects, etc disabled). This is where the symptoms differ from the above bug report, where it would ring out instead (the workaround for the above issue where the phone prompts you to reboot also does not appear).

Since there is no indication that anything is wrong, it is hard to say how long it takes for this issue to manifest, but I typically notice when I try to log into a service that uses my phone for 2FA and I don't get the SMS, or someone complains that they could not get through to me. This typically happens within a few days of rebooting the phone, but today it happened within just a couple of hours.

Both of these phones have been using the same SIM cards when the issue occurred (the Xperia is to replace the Aqua Fish). My first SIM card for calls and SMS is on TPG in Australia, which is a reseller of the Vodafone network. My second SIM card is also on the Vodafone network (directly, not a reseller like TPG) for data. Both of these are connected to the "Vodafone AU" network (I can also sometimes see "Vofaphone AU R", but I get "problem with connection" if I try to use it). My Intex Aqua Fish is running 2.1.2.3, and my Xperia X is running 2.1.3.7 (with the config file changes from the community to enable use of the second SIM).

Notably, this issue only started for me when I moved from Sydney to Melbourne, which suggests to me that this is more than just carrier specific, perhaps depending on the specific network gear in use in the local towers. I can see two cellphone towers in the park right next to my place - I don't know if either of those are used by Vodafone, but my signal strength is pretty much always shown as maximum, at least on SIM 1.

Nothing I've tried will work around it - tried all combinations of prefer 2G/3G/4G, disabling data, manual/automatic network selection, etc. Switching flight mode on and off or rebooting are the only workarounds, but that is not acceptable. I did try to gather some logs, but the problem refused to occur while I was doing that. ~~~~I am going to try with SIM2 completely disabled over the next week or so to see if that does anything~~~~ Edit: No luck - still occurs with the second SIM disabled.

Update 2017-11-05: A similar, but different issue showed up today on my Xperia X where it lost connection to the network, but it actually showed on the display that neither SIM was connected - I have never seen this happen on the Aqua Fish: https://together.jolla.com/question/170394/xperia-x-loss-of-mobile-network/

Update 2017-11-10: This same issue just occurred on my Dual SIM Xperia X running 2.1.3.7 as well, where the phone indicated it was still connected but a TFA SMS did not arrive and when I tried to call it from my landline I was told it was unavailable. The phone indicated it was connected to 4G at the time, and was connected to WiFi, so was not using a mobile data connection. I had rebooted the phone only a few hours earlier, which makes this instance the fastest occurrence of this issue that I'm aware of.

Update 2017-11-25: Just confirmed that this occurs even with the second SIM card completely disabled. First SIM indicates full signal, WiFi connected, mobile data disabled. I'm going to activate diversions on unreachable to a landline to make this somewhat bearable, but of course that is not an acceptable workaround since it won't help when I'm away from home, and will not divert SMSs.

2017-12-06: Confirmed that it happened again (both SIM cards enabled since disabling the second made no difference and I actually need the second enabled).

2017-12-09: And again