invalid teleservice id and other issues

[d0x360]

When sending a text message using Google's texting app on my note 9 running Android 9 I often get the invalid teleservice error and there is also another error I get but I can't remember as it's more rare.  Regardless if results in the text failing to send.

The only way to fix it is to enter airplane mode then exit it or reboot.

I also have call issues... I'll have full 4g service (and I've never had this issue before the note 9 and more specifically the Android 9 update).  I'll be talking to someone and I can hear them crystal clear but they can't hear me.  This happens a few min into a call and seems random.  I never lose service according to the phone and I can immediately redial or receive a call again after I manually end the call where the person can't hear me.

Since I have multiple issues and they are all service related (calls, text, data) and the only fix which is temporary is a reboot I think there is something wrong with my phone's antennas.

I'd like to get this fixed considering how expensive the phone is and it should still be under it's year warranty since I bought it in Nov 2018.

If I bring the phone to a Verizon store they chances of them being able to replicate the issue are likely small unless I stay there for a couple hours or more.

If the issue is replicated what will happen?  Will I get a refurbished phone someone else had on the spot or will my phone be fixed?  I'd prefer my own phone back obviously, especially since it's in perfect condition and the last time I got a refurbished phone from a warranty issue it was all scratched up and dirty.

Thanks in advance.

[vzw_customer_support]

Being able to rely on text messages is paramount. We can perform troubleshooting with you, and posibly solve the issue, without needing a replacement. Have you done any troubleshooting yourself, such as a power cycle, or resetting network settings?

CraigS_VZW

[d0x360]

Yea it is especially for me because I'm disabled and if I can't get texts, send texts or make calls it's a big issue.  Sometimes my phone will be "awake" and nothing happens and all of a sudden i get notifications about calls, voicemails and texts that had been sent hours prior.

I have rebooted, uninstalled and installed apps, factory reset, network reset disabled wifi calling, enabled wifi calling, tried different wifi networks, tried no wifi at all for the day (in case wifi was the culprit), cleared app caches, cleared app data, run the phone in "safe mode"...

None of the above made a difference and these issues started before the Android 9 update but seem to have become more prevalent since it was released.

I have tons of experience troubleshooting android as I've owned many..many Android phones including the 1st one ever, the HTC G1.  I've also generally rooted all my devices which allowed me to diagnose and usually fix issues myself but the Verizon (snapdragon) edition of the note 9 has no known method of root so I can't check myself whether there is a legitimate hardware issue.

I suspect there is because the issue has persisted through factor resets and going from Android 8 to Android 9.  I did another factory reset prior to the update so the phone would be "clean" but it didn't matter.

As I said in the original post my concern here is reproducing the issue.  It happens completely at random and the phone can be perfectly fine for most of the day.

I've checked signal strength in decibels and not just bars and strength has always shown itself to be fine but it's entirely possible for that to be inaccurate.

So I'm stumped.

Oh lastly I've tried using the phones default messaging and dialer apps as well as Google's versions and a couple others from the play store but the problems persisted regardless.

[snike3]

So, I'm in the same boat...

My Note9 gave the "Error 4: Invalid Teleservice ID" message out of the box direct from Samsung. It seemed to only happen when I was in low service areas (notably my desk at work and many areas of my house).

I worked with Verizon to debug the issue initially. They had me do a reset on the network setting, factory reset phone, replace the SIM card tray, disable WiFi, disable Bluetooth, tweak SIM card/location settings, and a couple other things I can't recall any more. Finally, they did some sort of network reset/reconfigure on their end. Nothing helped.

Finally, they had me swap SIM cards. That finally did the trick.  At least for a few months....

As soon as I got the Android 9 update, the issue came back.

I immediately went and got a new SIM card. That didn't fix it this time. So I contacted Verizon support via chat and they opened up a "network issue" ticket for me. A day later I got a phone call I missed, called in as the message said to so I could provide additional info. When I finally got a hold of someone, I was told the ticket was rejected. The rep then created another ticket, but of a different type and "escalated it". He said I'd get a call in 1-3 days.  Two weeks later, no call....

I finally got fed up with not sending or receiving texts and went to the Verizon store. They decided to just replace the phone.

I got the phone this morning. It appears brand new. No scratches or anything to indicate it's refurbished. However, I still get the error.

At this point I think the Note9 just has a really terrible radio in it and the software can't handle minor errors it introduces. I've had multiple HTC and Motorola phones and never had issues like this, and this phone is by far the most expensive one I've had.

I honestly don't know what to do... Maybe you'll get better support from Verizon than I have. I'd love to know if you end up getting it resolved.

[Brandon1776]

I've been having a similar issue on my Note 9 since the update I got on 04/16.  When I connect to wifi, not all wifi though, if my phone is idle for 5-10 minutes I can't send/receive calls or texts.  It's like something kicks in and blocks the cell signal because all other notifications come through just fine.  Worked with Verizon and Samsung support and tried everything from clearing cache's to re-flashing to finally being sent a 'like new replacement'.  Still seeing the issue so I don't know if it's some dumb setting that turned on with the update and remains on or what, but it's so frusterating. 

I was so excited for this Note because it was my first non-iPhone and I've LOVED it....up to this point.

[vzw_customer_support]

A random problem is often the most difficult to solve, Brandon1776. You came to the best place to get some more tips and tricks. After an exhaustive search of internal and external forums, we found others with the same issue, all since the latest update. One key phrase in your analysis got my attention, though: “It's like something kicks in and blocks the cell signal…” This gave me an idea. Please go to your settings, and then click on Connections. Click on Wi-Fi, then on the Advanced button in the top right. Ensure “Switch to Mobile Data” is turned off. Let us know if changing this setting helps. If you explore other settings on the Advanced tab, please also share what happens when making changes to those settings. Together, we’ll come up with the next steps to solve this mysterious issue.

GeorgeS_VZW

[whidaker1]

This isn't mysterious because other users are having the same issue.  See my last comment.

[kareenlv20]

I've had this issue this morning. After repeated attempts to resend, found Verizon Community. One of the suggestions was to reboot which I did. I was able to send text. “Switch to Mobile Data” was already turned off so I'm not sure if that suggested is helpful.

[vzw_customer_support]

Thank you for your patience. We recommend you to power off your device and remove SIM card for one minute. After a minute, insert SIM card and power on your device, test and keep us posted please.

MariaV_VZW

[K_A_Beausoleil]

ACTUAL SOLUTION FOUND

I need people to test this solution to make sure it works across all devices as the error seems to affect all android devices under certain conditions. If you would like to read how I came to this solution to help me check my work or you are just interested please keep reading, If you just want the solution feel free to skip to the bottom paragraph beginning with SOLUTION. If you try this solution, which I actually believe to be a solution and not a hotfix, please respond with 3 pieces of information: 1) Did it work. 2) What Android device you use and the version of Android you are using and 3) Your ISP (Internet Service Provider).

This data is very important.

STORY:
So, last month I switched to Android for a couple of reasons after having used iPhones since the iPhone 5. The two most important things to me were being able to stream music using the LDAC Bluetooth codec and having a crack at Samsung Dex to see if I could avoid buying a laptop next year. I was immediately happy with these features that had been the impetus for switching, but then something unexpected happened: the thing that I have always taken for granted, i.e. my phone sending/receiving calls and texts, was incredibly unreliable on this phone (Galaxy S20 Ultra). After doing some googling and finding the official forums (there seem to be 2 devoted to this issue and I will post this both places) I found the incredibly disheartening ‘hotfix’ of disabling WiFi calling to be completely unnaceptable. Not only because I don’t actually get cell service in my apartment but because a $1400 flagship smartphone should certianly not have less functionality in any area that an iPod Touch circa a decade ago.

Normally I would just take my faulty device down to a Verizon store because although I am in IT I specialize in computers more than phones, however since we have been in isolation this began an approximately 20 hour saga via the phone over the span of May 25th to June 19th. After trying everything I could glean might work from google, and following every step that Verizon tech support asked me to try and actually convincing them to update the carrier settings on my account I was finally given the OK to get a replacement device. It is important to note at this point that I had only been searching this error for my model phone and mistakenly had the idea that it was an incredibly rare issue that was a problem with a select few devices.

So, you can imagine my complete and udder shock after getting the replacement phone, setting it up, and getting the Invalid Teleservice ID Error 4 on the second text message I tried to send on the device. It took me about an hour to really get my wits together because at this point I was trying to come to terms with the very possible reality that I was not going to be able to use my phone at home reliably because I don’t have good reception over WiFi. When my faculties returned, I resolved to read every post I could find on this issue.

What I found is that this problem has been around since certain people started installing Android 8 on their phones and that they have been trying to get Verizon to offer an actual solution since 2017. So here we are 3.5 years later and almost 4 generations of Android later and “the best network” has so far failed to offer any sort of real solution to this problem. However, from getting the error on my new phone and seeing that the error was effecting essentially every model device Verizon sells (that runs Android) gave me a key piece of data: the problem has nothing to do with the device.

After getting deeper and deeper into some forums I noticed that one person reported that this problem only occurs for them when they use an Xfinity WiFi hotspot. That was my lightbulb moment. I am also an Xfinity customer. I then started searching the problem from that perspective and found that most of the people reporting the error and mentioning their ISP were either Xfinity or Spectrum customers, and now I was starting to feel like I might be onto something.

In terms of IT, networking is my weakest area. Nevertheless I dove into some forums that have tried to approach this problem from a networking perspective and although a lot of it was over my head I started to suspect there was something about the firewall on Xfinity and Spectrum routers that is causing the problem. After 72 hours of exhaustive testing ( not only is 24 hours approximately my previous record for not having the error, but I used that time to send out as much information via text messaging as possible to try to cause the error) I am ready to posit a hypothesis as to what is actually causing the problem and post the solution that is currently working for me.

As I have noticed that the problem is most likely to crop up for me when I am using Dex and a physical keyboard and have tried to send many texts in quick succession, the idea came to me that somehow trying to send a large volume of data exacerbates a problem that Xfinity and Spectrum routers have reliably delivering packets in the right order and format over the internet to the Verizon network. So, this is what I decided to try, and it has now worked for approximately 84 hours straight and has performed flawlessly under stress testing (Spamming 500 word texts and hi res photos to multiple people in quick succession using copy/paste).

SOLUTION:
I’m sure many of you who play video games have used a function on your routers to get around NAT issues called the DMZ. The DMZ allows you to put a device using a specific IP address on your personal network outside of the firewall and connect it directly to the internet. For a device that exists on this network wirelessly there is a simple step you must take first. You must assign your device a static IP. If you go into your router settings you will likely find that all devices on your network are assigned IP addresses via a system called DHCP. This essentially means your device will probably have a new IP every time you leave the house and return, so we need to make it the same every time so that the DMZ will function the way we want it to. Every router is going to have a slightly different settings menu, but you should be able to find a tab that lists the CONNECTED DEVICES on your network. What you need to do is change your phone from being a DHCP connected device and assign it a STATIC IP address. Finding the option to do this may be harder than actually doing it, all you need to do when you find the option is change the connection type from DHCP to Static and pick and IP address that will work for you. My network uses 10.0.0.XX for the devices on my home network so I assigned my phone to 10.0.0.99. Then I placed the 10.0.0.99 in the DMZ. In my router menu, the DMZ is under ADVANCED SETTINGS and when you select the DMZ tab, simply enter the IP address you chose for your phone.

To recap:
1) Set your phone to a static IP
2) Put that IP in the DMZ

That’s it. A valid criticism of this solution is that your phone is less secure, however I would respond that the likelihood of your phone being hacked is much smaller that that of a PC and if this slightly loosened security really bothers you, just use a VPN. A VPN will keep you safe in a Starbucks on their free public WiFi and it can protect you here (I actually had a VPN when I got my device and originally I thought it was the cause of the Invalid Teleservice error). CAUTION: There has been a crop of predatory VPN services lately that provide working VPNs, but will charge you a ridiculous amount. I use NordVPN (I found a code on YouTube that gave me 70% off six devices on a 3 year plan, that ended up costing about $100) but there are plenty of good services that will allow you to connect to the internet via a VPN on one device for approximately $2-3 a month.

So please, try this and report back. This error has been the bane of my existence since switching to Android and it is completely unacceptable that Verizon has had literally years to do figure out a solution to this problem and yet they have not. My end goal is not to receive credit but to make sure that in the future Verizon Tech Support actually knows how to help people solve this problem, and their techs don’t take your calls and then look the problem up on google, proceeding to be completely transparent in terms of having no actual knowledge of this issue and literally reading the same forums I have already been over and suggesting the non-solutions posted there in order, i.e. turn off WiFi calling and if that doesn’t work turn off ‘Advanced Calling’.

REMEMBER: If this solution does not work for you, please double check that your changes the router you use have stuck. I have previously had routers that will for reasons I don’t understand change the DMZ domain or switch a device back to DHCP from static or simply fail to save your changes properly.

I await responses eagerly.

[KH-OrnEsh]

Due to the age of this thread, it will be locked in order to keep discussions current. If you have the same or a similar question/issue we invite you to start a new thread on the topic.

[Nsellards]

Verizon clearly does not have a solution to an error generated by their own system. 

[Jay23monk]

I started experiencing the same issue on my Galaxy s10 when I moved about a mile south to a different part of Chicago. And the issue only occurs when I'm near my complex.. inside or outside. It never happens anywhere else which would lead me to believe there is something going on with the tower I'm connected to when here.

[Aahenp]

What do you think we have for options if it's the towe .  We have the same issue only at home. Really is bad and we miss incredibly important messages.  It was fine until the update but we also are not sure if its only at home as we work from home.  This is such a bummer.  We have Samsung 8 plus. So it isnt just the Note

[vzw_customer_support]

@Jay23monk ,

Thank you for those details, as it certainly helps with a better visual of where the issue is coming from. When you experience this error message in and around your complex, are you connected to Wi-Fi as well? Have you activated Wi-Fi Calling your on your phone? About how far would you say you'd need to travel before your connection improves without getting the error?

RussellM_VZW

[BaruceBruce]

Try turning off WiFi Calling. From other posts I have read there is a bug in android/ android messaging app that can lead to this behavior when connected to protected WiFi networks with WiFi calling enabled.

[d0x360]

It's a good idea but I already made sure it was off

[Shadowblade4]

It helped when you turn off wifi calling. Settings, advanced calling, turn off. Incredibly, texts go though again without issue.

[whidaker1]

Same issue.  Been on hte line with Verizon tech support for 40 minutes and nothing.  What's the solution Verizon?  I"m about 10 seconds from cancelling my Verizon service because I'm sitting next to a AT&T customer who has no issues.  I have a Galaxy S10.

[vzw_customer_support]

The last thing we want is to lose you as a customer, whidaker1. Our goal is for your device to work correctly. We certainly want to see if this a device or service issue. To clarify, what troubleshooting steps were completed with our tech support over the phone? We don't want you to complete duplicate troubleshooting steps.

GersonG_VZW

[JacketDove]

This worked like a charm for me! Thanks!