What to do if the cellular data connection does not work on an Android smartphone to reset the mobile network.
When the cellular data connection is not working, we will notice at the top of the Android smartphone screen (near the clock) that the fast network symbol (LTE, 4G or 5G) does not appear or we will see only the slower networks (H +, 3G or 2G) appear, a clear sign that c there is some problem with the data connection. The reasons can be of various kinds and let’s see the most frequent ones that apply to any Android phone, be it Samsung, Xiaomi or other famous manufacturers.
READ ALSO -> what to do if the Wi-Fi on Android does not work and does not connect to the internet
data network does not take
If trying to activate the internet connection of the mobile phone you are unable to surf, there may be an internal error that can be easily solved by restarting the phone. In fact, there is an even easier way to reset a blocked connection, namely that of set the Airplane mode for at least 30 seconds, and then turn off the mode.
To get things right, you should set up Airplane mode, turn off your phone, wait a minute, turn it back on, and turn on mobile data later.
Problem with the operator
Before changing particular options on your phone, it’s worth checking quickly if there isn’t a temporary blackout for a problem with TIM, Fastweb, WindTre, Vodafone or one of the other virtual operators present in Italy. In case of national blackouts we can turn on the PC or use the Wi-Fi connection to access Twitter and discover the popular hashtags in Italy, so as to quickly find out if other people have the same problem with the operator we are using at the moment.
A search on Twitter can be enough to know if it is a problem only ours or general on which we can not help but wait. If, on the other hand, it is just our problem, before calling the call center operator for assistance, go ahead with the following possible solutions. To call assistance we can also read our guide Request TIM, WindTre, Vodafone, Fastweb operator assistance.
Check active traffic limit
On Android there is an option that blocks the mobile network connection if a certain data traffic limit is exceeded. This option is not activated automatically, but it may have been activated in the past and then been forgotten.
To make a quick check we go to Settings -> Data usage or on the app Security -> Data usage (on Xiaomi) and we ensure that the traffic usage graph has not exceeded the set limit. To be on the safe side, we turn off the data network limit and we try to navigate; if it goes, we reset the counter or set it on the day of the subscription renewal, taking care to set the real Giga limit present in the offer.
APN access point names
The Names of the access points (also called APN) are the network access parameters that are different for each mobile network operator. These parameters are automatically received by the SIM card, but it can happen that yes configurations are lost for some reason.
To reset the APNs, let’s go to Settings, we press on Cellular networks or his SIM cards and mobile networks, press on the configured SIM and finally go to the menu Access point names. From here you can check the APN set by touching it and check if the configuration is correct (comparing it with the official one that can be searched on the internet for each operator).
You can also reset APNs by touching the button with three dots in the top right and pressing on Restore default settings.
To find out the APNs of all operators we can also read our guide How to set the APNs of TIM, Vodafone, WindTRE, Iliad and other operators.
Attention to company contracts: on smartphones supplied by the company and used for work, the APNs may be different from the standard ones and will be requested from the technical manager.
Internet doesn’t work abroad
The data connection abroad should work as in Italy, especially if we navigate in the countries of the European Union, as also seen in the guide Free roaming in Europe: limits, conditions and additional costs. If we travel outside the European Union, roaming costs can be very high, so better not try to surf with the data network, using only Wi-Fi when necessary.
If we don’t sail abroad it is possible that we have blocked roaming on the data network: to deactivate this option (only within the European Union) we open the app Settings, let’s get to the menu SIM cards and mobile networks or similar items, let’s tap on Data roaming and, to the voice International roaming, we set to Always or his For exceptions only (to choose which apps can connect).
The 4G or 5G network is not working
In the case of the Internet connection never uses the fastest networks (4G and 5G) even if we requested this type of connection to our operator we could have run into two types of problems: the phone is badly configured or the phone does not support faster networks. In both cases, you can check that the phone can connect to a fast network by going to the app Settings, opening the menu Cellular networks or similar, selecting the active SIM, pressing on Preferred network type and setting the item Prefer 4G networks O Prefer 5G networks.
If the entry is not there, it means that smartphone does not support fast 4G or 5G connections. If we want a fast phone we can also read our guide Best phones with 5G built in.
Conclusions
Fortunately, most of the problems connecting to the 4G or 5G cellular data network on Android can be solved by acting from the phone settings or by activating or deactivating some specific item, without having to change phone or worse yet bring it to assistance because it is “broken” (or we better believe that it is broken).
If our phone does not pick up well or the signal is really too poor we can read our guides Optimize 4G (LTE) and 5G signal and data reception on Android and Troubleshoot weak or no signal on mobile phone.