Cell Phone Can't Dial Out...

16 years ago

I keep my Cell Phone on even while charging at night. I just fear I'm going to miss an "emergency" call.

Well, for two days I couldn't dial out or receive calls. I called AT&T (my service) and they walked me through it.

Turn off the phone.

You remove the battery and the "sim" card and then put it back in.

Turn the phone back on.

Then the Customer Service Rep called me on the phone and it went through. Wha..La!

The Rep told me that you need to Shut Down the phone at least once a week. It is like a computer...it needs a rest to clear its signals.

I've owned a cell phone for 8 years and I've never had that problem. Am I the only one that is clueless?

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Comments (12)

Mystical Manns
16 years ago
That's a hard boot.

I use a smart phone, which grabs my emails from work too ... and if I do a hard boot, I have to go through a 20-minute reconnection process with the email service. It;s a pain in the patootie!

I've never heard of doing that on a regular basis with a regular cellphone.
JoanMN
16 years ago
strange, when we're in MN, I leave mine on for weeks on end. I've only had to pull the sim card and battery once in my old Nokia, never in my Razr. Now if only it would work in the middle of the Ocala National Forest, we can only get reception when we drive to a town. Hundreds of RV'ers and snowbirds here, and none of them can use their cells. And the power company has a big tower that a cell company could put a satellite one. Hopefully, it will happen one day.
JoanMN/FL
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maryanntx
16 years ago
I've never heard of that either. I never turn my cell phone off and I've never had to remove the battery and have no idea where the sim card is!
Happy_Go_Lucky_Gayle
Original Author
16 years ago
NO...NO...NO.....

I'm sorry...I wasn't clear...

You only do that process if you "screw up" by not turning your phone off at least once a week. I didn't know you were suppose to turn it off for a while once a week.

DON'T....MESS...WITH YOUR CELL PHONE...unless you know what you are doing. I'm a Tech Dummie.

Gayle
Mystical Manns
16 years ago
Gayle, I never turn off my cellphone! NEVER EVER! We don't have a landline, and I treat my cell just like a regular phone. It's gotta always be available to make or receive calls.
Happy_Go_Lucky_Gayle
Original Author
16 years ago
Well, this is the first time it has ever happened to me and the phone isn't even 1 year old.

Gayle
mellbee
16 years ago
Gayle,

I deal with cell phones on a daily basis. I work for the dealer for our local cell phone service company. Usually when someone has a problem with their phone the first thing that we do to trouble shoot them is to take the back off and resart the phone. You wouldn't believe how many problems this solves.

I've also been told by our tech suport that although it is okay to leave you cell phone on while it chargers, you should never, never, never leave your cell phone on a charger overnight.

Do you remember the old cordless phones where you had to let the battery die completely out before you put them on to charge? A cell phone battery is similar, except you do not have to let it die. Over charging the battery on your cell shortens the life of the battery. Most cell phones only take abot 2-3 hours to charge. You should charge your phone only until the indicator light lets yo know there is a full charge.

Hope this info helps!!
western_pa_luann
16 years ago
My husband has head a cell phone since the days when they were HUGE contraptions.
He never has his off (on call 24/7) and never has had to 'reboot' like you had to.
We have had Verizon all along... maybe that's the difference???
Happy_Go_Lucky_Gayle
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks Mellbee, for the info.

Geez! Whata dummy I am.

Gayle
cindyb_va
16 years ago
Gayle,
This happened to me also, about a year ago. The rep on the phone explained that when the phone boots, it receives updated software; if it has been a long time since it was hard-booted, it may be missing enough software that it doesn't work. She said powering it down, once a week, for just five minutes would prevent the problem in the future.

I wonder if this is an AT&T thing? That is my service, too.
FlamingO in AR
16 years ago
I have Alltel and my cell phone guy told me to turn the phone about once a day, and then turn it back on. And when I'm having problems, turn it off, take out the battery for a few seconds and then put it back in and power it up again. It seems to fix a lot of glitches in the phone, I have a Samsung phone. Alltel has great service techs. I've dealt with them before and have been really satisfied.
susanjf_gw
16 years ago
gads i only turn mine off when i'm in a no phone situation, if i can't go buzz mode..and have had it for 4 years? but then i don't have any bells and whistles...never have hooked up voice mail, etc...

Cell Phone Can't Dial Out...

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Mystical Manns

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