Mobian Mobile Data Doesn't Work

[pablo180]

Been using Mobian for a few days on a couple of different phones and with different SIM cards. Yet I have been completely unable to get mobile data to work at all. I have the icons 2G, 3G, 4G etc but there is never an actual data connection, yet from what I have read it should be working?

I am not sure if it is because the SIM cards that I am using are from piggy back networks - GiffGaff and Virgin Mobile in the UK - or whether there is some setting or set up that I am missing. Both SIM cards work in both phones and have data connections using UBPorts, this problem only occurs in Mobian.

I have tried setting up the APNs using the correct settings multiple times, with no luck whatsoever. Is there another step that I am missing?

[jyc88]

Have you tried using the latest nightly build or installing the most recent updates?

I was having issues with data not working in builds from early/mid July where trying to enable mobile data in settings would bring me to the page to select an access point, but the list would be empty. Some of the updates from July 21 seem to have fixed this for me though.

[dukla2000]

Been using Mobian for a few days on a couple of different phones and with different SIM cards. Yet I have been completely unable to get mobile data to work at all. I have the icons 2G, 3G, 4G etc but there is never an actual data connection, yet from what I have read it should be working?

I am not sure if it is because the SIM cards that I am using are from piggy back networks - GiffGaff and Virgin Mobile in the UK - or whether there is some setting or set up that I am missing. Both SIM cards work in both phones and have data connections using UBPorts, this problem only occurs in Mobian.

I have tried setting up the APNs using the correct settings multiple times, with no luck whatsoever. Is there another step that I am missing?

I had so much grief with Virgin (UK) that I swapped my contract to 3!

Yup it definitely seems related to MVNO, somewhere there is another thread about an MVNO in the USA causing pain. With Virgin I could get a data connection after playing with APN settings (all goto.virginmobile.uk) and rebooting repeatedly in a high strength signal area after about an hour. In a low strength signal area I got a data connection about once in 3 weeks (this was during strong lockdown!) With 3 I just never have a problem.

[pablo180]

Have you tried using the latest nightly build or installing the most recent updates?

I was having issues with data not working in builds from early/mid July where trying to enable mobile data in settings would bring me to the page to select an access point, but the list would be empty. Some of the updates from July 21 seem to have fixed this for me though.

I think that the build I am using is from 15/16th and is a nightly build that I have just been updating everyday. I have been trying the data again every day and have been having the same problem with the access point list being empty - that still seems to happen occasionally - restarting usually solved that, but still no data.

However I seem to have solved it. I tried again after the latest update last night, same result - no data. But although both GiffGaff and Virgin say that the Password field should be left blank, on a whim I entered "password" as the password. Both phones on both networks worked immediately after that, and I have had no problems since. So I can now use data on Mobian!

[pablo180]

Been using Mobian for a few days on a couple of different phones and with different SIM cards. Yet I have been completely unable to get mobile data to work at all. I have the icons 2G, 3G, 4G etc but there is never an actual data connection, yet from what I have read it should be working?

I am not sure if it is because the SIM cards that I am using are from piggy back networks - GiffGaff and Virgin Mobile in the UK - or whether there is some setting or set up that I am missing. Both SIM cards work in both phones and have data connections using UBPorts, this problem only occurs in Mobian.

I have tried setting up the APNs using the correct settings multiple times, with no luck whatsoever. Is there another step that I am missing?

I had so much grief with Virgin (UK) that I swapped my contract to 3!

Yup it definitely seems related to MVNO, somewhere there is another thread about an MVNO in the USA causing pain. With Virgin I could get a data connection after playing with APN settings (all goto.virginmobile.uk) and rebooting repeatedly in a high strength signal area after about an hour. In a low strength signal area I got a data connection about once in 3 weeks (this was during strong lockdown!) With 3 I just never have a problem.

There definitely seems to be a problem MVNOs and an odd problem with Virgin specifically. I managed to get the data working on both GiffGaff and Virgin by just adding a password to the APN that I already had set up following the network instructions. I set the password as just "password" and they both started working fine after that for data, even though that should have been left blank. I have a decent signal for Virgin so was able to get 4G and it worked really well after that.

However another problem that I have been having with Mobian and Virgin is that the signal just goes, and doesn't come back, sometimes for hours other times it just doesn't come back at all. It doesn't do this on any other network, just Virgin and even when I know I have a good signal. So even though data now works, I can barely ever use it. So I think I am also going to give up with Virgin and Mobian.

[User 18618]

Tangentially related, but Smarty (Three) offers different APN details, as they use a different band to Three.

I just switched to a Lebara SIM (Vodafone); hope I don't encounter this issue