This has happened at least twice now in the past week. I try to send an MMS message and it takes forever. Last time it took 5.5 hours and during that time I was in both a 3g and a 1x area. Now it's doing it again. Is this typical for all carriers or is VM particularly bad? I'm thinking about switching to another carrier if I keep having trouble. I did just root my phone and put harmonia 2 on it but I've had successful sends since then also, so I don't think that's the issue.
-
After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.
Is it normal to constantly have problems sending MMS with virgin mobile?
- Thread starter gale65
- Start date
D
Deleted User
Guest
I am with VM in the UK and sending picture messages as always been hit and miss. VM say there is not a problem!
thanks. Today I was even having trouble sending SMS. It kept saying "searching for service. I emailed VM and they said to take the battery out for 15 seconds and if that didn't work, they gave me a long list of things to do on the phone. I suspect it's like a factory reset or something and since my phone is rooted I won't be doing that.
I wonder if my OV would work with straight talk if I got one of their sim cards. Maybe their service is better? Or maybe not.
I wonder if my OV would work with straight talk if I got one of their sim cards. Maybe their service is better? Or maybe not.
When talking about Virgin Mobile, you need to specify what country you are in. I am guessing you are not in the US, as VM in the US does not use Sim Cards. Unfortunately, VM in every country is run by a different provider, making it difficult to talk about problems without knowing which VM we are talking about.
I am in the US. And will fully admit I know less than nothing about the whole cell phone thing other than how to talk and text on one (and a few other useless things). But Straight Talk says you can just get a sim card from them and put it in your existing phone so I guess I can't do that with the Optimus V? I'll go now and see if there's a way to put my location in my profile.
Petrah
Psychotic Female
Virgin Mobile in the UK and Virgin Mobile USA are not the same company. They only share a name.
The two largest GSM companies in the US are AT&T and T-Mobile.
I looked on amazon and overstock and both sell unlocked gsm phones but there are a lot to choose from! So I'll need to do some heavy reading if I decide to go this route. I may also hit walmart and see what they have for at&t and t-mobile that I can use. I tried t-mobile once but they don't have data signals where I live, but they do sell them in town. So I could get one and then get the Straight Talk sim for it.
Or maybe I'll stay with VM for now. I'll see how it works this week.
Or maybe I'll stay with VM for now. I'll see how it works this week.
Petrah
Psychotic Female
You could always get the unlocked Galaxy Nexus HSPA+ for $349.00 (I came from the Optimus V on VM to this phone... omg, can we say "WOW!"?). Since it's a GSM phone, you can go to any GSM carrier (AT&T, T-Mobile or Straight Talk).
https://play.google.com/store/devices/details?id=galaxy_nexus_hspa
https://play.google.com/store/devices/details?id=galaxy_nexus_hspa
That's a beautiful phone. *drool* but I am leaving on vacation in less than 3 weeks so I don't think I would get it in time.
I'll second the Nexus, it is a really nice phone and, once it is back in stock, Google ships it quickly (they ship them second day air). One think you do need to watch for on unlocked phones is what bands they have (which carrier they were made to work for); despite both AT&T and T-Mobile using GSM they run their 3G on different frequencies. If you want the option of using both, you need a pentaband phone (it will actually work internationally) -- which the Google Galaxy Nexus is.
If you don't have good T-Mobile coverage, I'd like go with Straight Talk using an AT&T sim card. Virgin Mobile is always an option but it sounds like you may be in an area where Sprint has too many users with too little bandwidth. I switched to T-Mobile (which is working well for me) because of how slow VM was working for me (speeds as slow as 50 kbps), despite the fact that I seemed to have good signal strength.
Is google the only place to get one that is unlocked like that?
Yes, when your phone is "searching for service" it will run down the battery much faster.
Google is likely the cheapest way to get an unlocked Galaxy Nexus ($350) but it isn't the only place. Also, if you search the web, there are a number of places that you can buy unlocked phone of various brands including the Samsung Galaxy SIII or the iPhone.
That must be why my battery is dead even though I didn't do anything at all on my phone today. Every time I looked it was searching for service. I don't know if it would be any better on at&t though. I need to find out if a straight talk phone with an at&t sim will only run off at&t towers or any available. at&t doesn't have 3g in my area but sprint does (I know this is different than the phone signal it's always searching for).
Petrah
Psychotic Female
We had a short discussion some time back about this, and I believe the general consensus was to never give anyone your information via Facebook, Twitter, email etc unless you are doing so directly over the phone with Virgin Mobile. Especially on Facebook (we won't go into all the security BS that's been in the news about FB over the last several years).
Something to think about.
Edit: No. Don't tell them your phone is rooted. It's none of their business.
ok thanks. I just don't want to accidentally do something to my phone to brick it. They sent me an email recently about the MMS issue I was having with some instructions and I think they might have been a factory reset.
by the way I hate to call them. The broken English I get every time is painful to try to decipher.
by the way I hate to call them. The broken English I get every time is painful to try to decipher.
This is from the email they sent me. Is it a factory reset? I was actually having problems with MMS, not 3g. I know they're connected, yet separate. Very confusing.
If your 3G service is still not working after you power cycled the phone, please follow the steps below so we can reset your phone on our network: 1. Turn on your phone. 2. Press the Phone icon on the Home screen. 3. Dial #-#-8-4-7-4-4-6-#. 4. You are now in the Service Program menu. Tap Edit. 5. The MDN field will appear. Enter ten 1's (111 111 1111) and tap OK. 6. The MSID field will appear. Tap the field next to "Enter MSID". Enter ten 1's (111 111 1111) and tap OK. 7. Tap Done. The phone will turn off and back on by itself. Then, try these steps again and on the MDN screen, please enter your cell phone number xxxxxxxxxx, and on the MSID screen, please enter your network ID xxxxxxxxxx and hit OK. Please wait a couple of minutes to make a call and four hours to send messages, check your voicemail and retry for 3G service.
If your 3G service is still not working after you power cycled the phone, please follow the steps below so we can reset your phone on our network: 1. Turn on your phone. 2. Press the Phone icon on the Home screen. 3. Dial #-#-8-4-7-4-4-6-#. 4. You are now in the Service Program menu. Tap Edit. 5. The MDN field will appear. Enter ten 1's (111 111 1111) and tap OK. 6. The MSID field will appear. Tap the field next to "Enter MSID". Enter ten 1's (111 111 1111) and tap OK. 7. Tap Done. The phone will turn off and back on by itself. Then, try these steps again and on the MDN screen, please enter your cell phone number xxxxxxxxxx, and on the MSID screen, please enter your network ID xxxxxxxxxx and hit OK. Please wait a couple of minutes to make a call and four hours to send messages, check your voicemail and retry for 3G service.
Petrah
Psychotic Female
Since you're rooted and rommed, I'm guessing you know not to factory reset.
I'm not sure you'll be able to do that with that rom. If it were me, I would post in the rom authors thread (Leslie Ann) and ask her for some assistance. She may know a trick or two and/or know how you should best proceed.
On another thread someone mentioned that with VM you can have a good data signal and still have mms trouble. this thread: http://androidforums.com/optimus-v-all-things-root/576980-mms-messaging-problem-after-root.html and kwknott's post. He/she says that it uses data but goes through VM's MMS system. At the time of the trouble I was getting a perfect internet connection but the messages just wouldn't send.
I have a question though. When you go into the battery usage stats and it says time without a signal, is that a data signal or a phone (bars) signal? mine says 100% right now but it was in sleep mode the last few hours and I had data and wifi shut off via juice defender. But my battery still discharged a ton.
I have a question though. When you go into the battery usage stats and it says time without a signal, is that a data signal or a phone (bars) signal? mine says 100% right now but it was in sleep mode the last few hours and I had data and wifi shut off via juice defender. But my battery still discharged a ton.
