'No data service - Temporarily not offered by the mobile network' message on Samsung S8

[RickD]

I was in the USA on the 6th Dec 2018 during the data outage (I was happily roaming on a US network unaware of the issues back in the UK). Since landing at Heathrow on Friday 7th my Samsung S8 has been continually 'pinging' the following message: "No Data Service - temporarily not offered by the mobile network".

I have run through all the possible fixes with O2 Tech team on the 8th and the only option (after exhausting all the other items on their checklist) as far as they are concerned is for me to Factory Reset my phone (only a few weeks old!). Before I resort to this time consuming process that doesn't even offer any guaranteed fix I put this problem to the O2 Community in the hope someone else has found a fix.

I am pretty certain this is related to the data outage on the 6th as I have previously used my phone abroad and returned to the UK without any issues so the coincidence can not be ignored in my view. I understand that this may be an Android operating system issue but neither Samsung nor O2 seem to be able to offer up any solutions other than the nuclear one of a factory reset. Anyone got any ideas?

[MI5]

Yeah, good luck with that!

[gmarkj]

Have you tried your sim in another phone and another sim in your phone?

[RickD]

I don’t have access to another phone that will take the nano sim but O2 are sending a new sim out so I’ll update this post as and when it arrives and I’ve installed it. Fingers crossed!

[RickD]

New sim hasn’t sorted it. Think it’s time to offer the phone up for a repair or try to get O2 to investigate the signal in our area. 

[MI5]

I doubt it will be a phone fault.

[Sally]

Have same problem.  Since o2 went down on Thursday. Data notifycation message appears at home and when entering my street. Spoken to o2 who said it was my galaxy s8. I ask for new sim card to be sent. Rang Samsung customer service and they talked me through steps on phone to no avail. They assured me it was not my s8 but the network. Received my new sim card today. But message still annoyingly on phone. Will be getting back to o2. But don't reckon they are going to be much help but if there is any one who could solve this I am sure many o2 customers like us would be really grateful. Don't hold out much hope. Think another network might be the answer, as phone is so very expensive one can not bin it.

[RickD]

Hi Sally, sorry to hear you have the same problem but at last someone who can add weight to my case for O2 to sort this. I reported the issue [AGAIN] to the Guru team on Friday 14th. When I told the chap the steps I'd taken with my phone to resolve the fault he was with me in that it was likely NOT a phone fault. When I told him my neighbour had experienced the exact same fault since Fri 7th then he accepted it was highly likely a network/individual mast issue [my neighbour is on Android but doesn't have an S8]. They've told me the boffins who deal with signal/network issues will look into it and be in touch within 5 working days. Can I ask that you do the same Sally? The more of us that report this the better the chance of a fix. Can I ask where you live, village/town/county [as detailed as you feel happy divulging - don't post your address on here of course!] And also could you please let me know how you get on as you're the only one on here with this problem. Dial 202 and ask for the Guru team, you should get through to the right people. Finally, have you found a way on the S8 settings to mute those annoying notifications generated by the Phone app that tell us the mobile data services are temporarily not available? If so do share the fix! I've tried everything but it seems this particular notification can't be muted.

[Cleoriff]

@RickD

My husband with a S7 Edge, had exactly the same problem with the notifications about the outage. It was constant. He couldn't mute those, so just turned his phone to silent for a while.

He rebooted it (after a couple of times of me telling him to do it) and the notifications stopped.

[Sally]

Hi Rick.

Thanks for reply. I have got in contact with o2 today as you suggested.

Actually got someone who understood the no data situation. He talked me through my network settings and has stated it definitely is a network issue not my s8 mobile, as I live in a town with many masts.

He adviced to stop the message flashing on phone to switch the setting to 2g which has no data. So when I leave the house I have to switch back to 3g/4g. This has worked so you can leave mobile on in house and use wi fi.

He has noted my complaint and issues and like you I should hear within five working days.

So let's hope this data issue will be sorted.

All being well it will be sorted before Christmas.

[RickD]

Great news Sally and thanks for getting back with the update and for the temporary fix. I found a way this morning to silence those pesky notifications. If you press one of the up/down volume buttons [doesn't matter which] then this will bring up the media or ringtone sliders. Top right of that drop down screen is a little arrow head. Tap on that and it'll open up the other volume adjustments. Slide the notifications one all the way to the left for off. That seems to stop the no data notifications but also txts/WhatsApp notifications too so that may not suit you in which case your 2G fix may be better. I'll keep posting any updates.