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A question about mobile phones - tech help required pls

2 watchers
Aug 2023
3:09pm, 21 Aug 2023
9,953 posts
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GordonG
Hi all. I’ve got a Samsung A12 (Android) mobile phone. It’s about 3 – 4 years old, which is probably ancient these days. But it’s in very good overall condition.

My provider is ‘Smarty’, who use the 3 network.

I’ve noticed lately that people I’m calling can’t hear me – they say that my phone keeps cutting in and out. I’m having to repeat myself literally ten or more times (usually til I hang up in frustration). Each time I wander around the house, even go into the garden but it seems to make no difference.

It might be a coincidence but it’s only happened to companies with landlines, not people I’m calling on their mobile. Bizarrely, it seems to be the same point of the information they can never hear, e.g. if I'm telling them that my phone number is 12345 67890, they will hear 1234 7890. When I repeat it (again and again) they will still only hear 1234 7890 each time. Same with email: they'll get part of it and when I repeat it they'll hear the same part I've already told them.

It’s happened at least twice at home, but today it happened while out and about in central London so it doesn’t seem to be a location/indoors issue. And on all occasions, the thing I mentioned above about them not hearing the same bit of info happened.

Is this kind of issue A Thing with mobile phones? I know phones get slower in terms of loading apps etc over time, but has anyone known a situation with their phone calls getting worse in terms of the person not being able to hear them?

Is it a network issue to do with Smarty? Like I say, they use 3 and I'd have thought they were reliable enough.

Would appreciate your thoughts.

Ta
Aug 2023
3:34pm, 21 Aug 2023
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K5 Gus
Don't know the answer to your question, but if you have a family member or friend who's mobile phone takes the same size of SIM as yours, you could try putting your SIM into their phone and call some people. Then they could put their SIM into your phone and see if they have the same problem. This might help narrow down whether it's the actual phone or the network.
um
Aug 2023
4:11pm, 21 Aug 2023
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um
GordonG - seems you're not alone community.smarty.co.uk

Have you tried Smarty help? help.smarty.co.uk

Other ci=ommunity threads suggest 'asking to talk to a supervisor' if you're not getting good help, or being shunted around with things that aren't relevant
Aug 2023
4:18pm, 21 Aug 2023
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K5 Gus
HAve you set your phone up to use Wifi calling ? In general it improves the quality of mobile calls, whether or not it would help this particular problem I've no idea !
smarty.co.uk
Aug 2023
4:33pm, 21 Aug 2023
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GordonG
thank you both, that's really helpful.

excellent detective work, um!!
Aug 2023
9:30pm, 21 Aug 2023
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Lip Gloss
Can’t answer the above but can I also ask a question . I have a new phone (about 3 months) and for some reason my battery doesn’t seem to charge much any more . I’ve tried different chargers and sockets but nothing holding charge. Should I be reporting that as a fault already?
Aug 2023
9:52pm, 21 Aug 2023
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K5 Gus
Do you ever switch your phone off completely LG ? Sometimes an app can be running rogue in the background consuming power without you knowing. If you've not done so already, try doing a Restart.
Aug 2023
8:25am, 25 Aug 2023
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HappyG(rrr)
That's interesting Gordon. My instinctive answer was it had to be your phone, its mic, probably hardware, less likely software and def not the network. But I see um has linked to Smarty and 3 network being a potential prob! Shows what I know! Seems so strange for a network to be able to cause audio drop outs in that way.

I'm only posting cos my sis's phone does same when she calls me (including to my mobile) and it drives me mad. I may suggest she looks into it. Did you get it fixed yet? :-) G
Aug 2023
10:12am, 25 Aug 2023
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GordonG
Hi Happy. Thanks to um's link I decided that it wasn't likely to be my phone, or that it would be something that's likely to be fixed soon. As cheap as Smarty are I decided that its not worth it so I'm in the process of changing supplier
Aug 2023
10:13am, 25 Aug 2023
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GordonG
might also be worth reiterating that the problem with my phone - like others in that link - only happens when calling businesses, and probably then only those with 'choose 1 for...' systems. it's never happened to me calling M to M, so I suspect it's not the same problem with your sis. hope she gets it sorted!

About This Thread

Maintained by GordonG
Hi all. I’ve got a Samsung A12 (Android) mobile phone. It’s about 3 – 4 years old, which is probably ancient these days. But it’s in very good overall condition.

My provider is ‘Smarty’, who use the 3 network.

I’ve noticed lately that people I’m calling can’t hear me – they say that my phone keeps cutting in and out. I’m having to repeat myself literally ten or more times (usually til I hang up in frustration). Each time I wander around the house, even go into the...
  • Show full description...

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