You are likely here because your Android phone has popped up an error notice saying, “mobile network not available”, and you are looking for a solution. When this notice pops up on your cell phone, you will also notice that at that time, your phone loses network signal. As such, you cannot make or receive calls and text messages. If you use mobile data, in the absence of a network signal on your phone, that goes off too.
What causes this “mobile network not available” error situation? In simple terms, something has triggered a disconnection between your cell phone and the mobile network. It could be caused by a software bug in your phone, a temporary unavailability of your mobile network from the cell site or base station providing you service, or also due to a hardware fault.
Different Ways To Fix The “Mobile Network Not Available” Error
Below are a few quick things you can do to resolve the error and situation, and get your Android phone reconnected to the network.
Check For Network Coverage
You might be experiencing the “Mobile network not available” issue because you are currently out of your carrier’s network coverage. This is something that happens if you are commuting, especially outside of the city. It happens too on long bridges and tunnels where these is a gap in coverage between base stations that are spaced apart. What to do? Exercise some patience and you will be back with network coverage again, and the error will disappear as soon as your phone re-connects.
Use Flight Mode Or Airplane Mode
This is a very easy action. Swipe down from the top of your phone to pull down the notification menu, find Flight/Airplane Mode there and tap on it to enable it. What that does is disconnect your phone’s network radio. After a few seconds, tap it again to turn it off: this turns your phone’s network radio back on. If this fixes the issue, you will see the network bars show up on your phone again and you will be able to do calls, SMS, and mobile data once again. The “Mobile network not available” error will be gone, too.
An alternative way to access Flight Mode is to open your phone’s Settings > Network and internet > Airplane mode.
Restart Your Device
The easiest action you can take to get rid of the “Mobile network not available” is to restart your phone. It is actually one of the easiest things you can do to fix many problems and issues with any smartphone. When you restart your phone, you are carrying out a mild reset of its resources, including apps and software. If the error is from a software bug, a restart can fix it. Go ahead: restart your phone now to see if it connects to the mobile network after it comes back on.
Check Your SIM Card
Sometimes, the “Mobile network not available” issue is caused by a dislodgement of the SIM card in the SIM tray. This happens more especially if you had to cut your SIM card to fit into the tray. Open the SIM tray and pull out your SIM card, wait some moments, and then put it back in. Ensure that it sits in the tray properly and firmly before closing the tray. If it doesn’t, it might be time for you to go change that card for a new one.
Also, it is a good idea to check if your SIM card is damaged. One way to do this is to put it into another phone and see if it works there. If it doesn’t work in another phone, the problem might be a damaged or faulty SIM. Note that this is not foolproof: the problem could also be from your mobile network provider.
Check Your Mobile Network Provider
The “Mobile network not available” problem you are dealing with might be a problem from your mobile network carrier or operator. A quick step you can take is to ask people around you who are on the same carrier to check if they are having network signal on their phones. If they are, the issue might be local to you and not a network issue.
You can also put a call to customer care, or chat them up via WhatsApp or their social media channel to lodge a complaint. If there is a network issue, they will usually be in the know and tell you. In this case, all you have to do is sit back and wait for them to sort it out.
Contact A Service Centre Or Repair Shop
If you have tried everything else and ruled out network issues from your carrier/operator and SIM card issues, and your Android phone is still popping up the “Mobile network not available” error, it is time to consider taking the phone to an authorized service centre or repair shop. If your phone is under warranty, definitely take it to an authorized service centre, so it can be fixed at no cost to you.
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