How to fix a Google Pixel 2 with poor or no cellular signal [troubleshooting guide]

Hello and welcome to today’s troubleshooting episode. This article will answer three common issues on the #GooglePixel2. As usual, the cases mentioned below are taken from reports we received from some readers of this blog. We hope you’ll find this helpful.

Problem #1: How to fix a Google Pixel 2 with poor or no cellular signal

I bought an unlocked Verizon Google Pixel 2 and am trying to use it on my AT&T service. It works just fine, but i don’t pick up any signal near my house or at my house. My bf and I are on the same plan and he gets signal perfectly. So did i when i was using my galaxy J3 Prime. If i go to more settings under my call settings i get a message saying “network or sim error” and under my about phone it says network is unknown and service state is out of service and mobile network is disconnected. Are there any solutions to this or am i just out of luck?

Solution: Before you do further troubleshooting, let’s be clear here as you did not indicate it. Is your Pixel only having an issue in the vicinity of your house or everywhere? If it’s just near or at your house, then it’s a possible poor coverage issue. For that, you must work with your carrier. It’s their job to help you figure out why there’s poor signal coverage at your place. They may or may not be able to help fix it.

If your Pixel is having an issue getting signal everywhere, that’s a different problem altogether. That means the phone either has software or hardware problem.

To see if this is a problem that you can fix on your end, follow our suggestions below.

Boot to safe mode

  1. There may be a third party app interfering with the operating system. To check, kindly boot the device to safe mode and observe it. Here’s how to do that:
    Press and hold the Power button until the menu options appear.
  2. Tap Power off from the given options.
  3. Allow your device to power off for a few seconds.
  4. Then press and hold the Power button until the Google logo appears. then release the button.
  5. With the Google logo still on screen, press and hold the Volume Down button.
  6. When you see the Safe mode label in the lower-left corner of the unlock screen, release the button.

Now that the phone is on safe mode, check the network signals again.

Reset network settings

There may be some incorrect network configuration that causes the problem. To ensure that your phone’s network settings are all correct, follow the steps below.

  1. From a Home screen, tap the Up Arrow icon to display all apps.
  2. Go to Settings app icon.
  3. Tap System About icon.
  4. Tap Reset options icon.
  5. Choose from the following:
    • Reset Wi-Fi, mobile & Bluetooth
    • Reset app preferences
    • Erase all data (factory reset)
  6. Tap RESET SETTINGS. Note If prompted, enter the PIN, password or pattern.
  7. Tap RESET SETTINGS to confirm.

Reseat SIM card

If you have a SIM card, try disconnecting it for a few moments before reinserting it. Some Android users fix network issues by doing this simple step.

Get a new SIM card

You can also try a new SIM card to see if there’s an issue with the card being used. If that won’t change anything, do a factory reset.

Factory reset

This should help you know if the problem is caused by a software bug. Be sure to back your files up before resetting the device.

To factory reset your Pixel 2:

  1. Ensure that the phone is turned off.
  2. Press and hold the Power and Volume Down buttons until the bootloader mode appears then release. It’s represented by an Android bot image with Start label on top.
  3. Press the Volume Down button to select Recovery mode then press the Power button to confirm selection. After doing so, your phone will flash the Google start screen momentarily then restarts in Recovery Mode.
  4. When you see the Android bot image with an exclamation point inside a red triangle with No Command label beneath, press and hold the Power button.
  5. Press the Volume Up button once then release the Power button.
  6. Use the Volume button to select Wipe data/factory reset option from the Android Recovery screen.
  7. Select Yes to confirm.
  8. Wait until the factory data reset process is finished.
  9. Select Reboot System Now.

Talk to your network operator

If all the device troubleshooting mentioned above won’t work, call your carrier and tell them about the issue. There may be an account or network issue affecting your location.

Problem #2: How to fix Google Pixel 2 wifi not working issue

My current situation is that I’m unable to restart or turn off my phone properly. When I try to restart/turn off my phone, it goes through the Google logo and then goes to a dark screen with the screen still on. I’m able to do the soft reset to get back into my phone, but my wifi is now not working. I can’t even access the wifi settings, when i click onto the option, the screen just freezes and turns black. I’m able to return to the home screen, via the home button and closing it. But I’m now not able to connect to any wifi networks. From the dropdown menu it shows that my wifi is on, but when i try to turn it off, it’s not responsive and does back to the on state. I’ve tried clearing cache files and resetting network settings, but these did not help. I’m not too sure if these two problems are linked to each other.

Solution: There may be an app bug or operating system bug that causes the phone to freeze randomly. Try booting the phone to safe mode first to see if it’s due to an app or not (steps provided above). If everything works on safe mode, then you know there’s a bad app behind it. To identify which of your apps is causing the trouble, you should boot the phone back to safe mode and follow these steps:

  1. Boot to safe mode.
  2. Check for the problem.
  3. Once you’ve confirmed that a third party app is to blame, you can start uninstalling apps individually. We suggest that you begin with the most recent ones you added.
  4. After you uninstall an app, restart the phone to normal mode and check for the problem.
  5. If your Pixel 2 is still problematic, repeat steps 1-4 until you’ve identified the culprit.

Should nothing change even when the phone is on safe mode, we suggest that you wipe the phone via factory reset. Refer to the steps above on how to do it.

Problem #3: How to fix Google Pixel 2 no network detected error

Dear sir or madame. I am currently living in France, my operator is bouyouges telecom and I recently changed my sim card because my phone gave me the error : no network detected. So I went in one bouyouges shop and they said that in fact, my sim was defective. I thought the problem was solved but not really. Now my phone is all the time connected to the network but I have problems with receiving and making calls, texting, using my mobile data. For example, I can not connect to 4g mobile data, when massaging, the massage is not sent and I need to resend the message multiple times. I have difficulties with receiving a call since people who wants to reach me are transferred to my voice mail. When I want to call,my phone shows me the error: not connected to network or tries to dial but never starts calling. For example, I can on reach 1G with my mobile data. Those problems don’t persist all the time but they occur on daily basis. Sometimes I can use my phone and I can call, text, receive calls but most of the time this is difficult. I tried to do factory reset but nothing changed. When I go in safe mode of my phone, everything works fine. My apn settings are all well set. I also tried to put my SIM in other mobile device. All works fine. So I don’t know how to solve this issue, maybe it’s a hardware problem? Antenna ? Thank you very much for your answer. Best regards.

Solution: If all network functionalities (SMS, MMS, mobile data) work normally when using your SIM in another device, that means your Pixel 2 is defective. Try installing system updates (if there are any available) and see if that works. Sometimes, modem issues manifests in the way your problems are described above. If your carrier is doing its job properly, they should be able to fix network issues by releasing updates. That’s why it’s always important that you keep your device up-to-date. If your Pixel is already running the most recent OS update, then there may be some other issues with its motherboard behind this trouble. To resolve such a situation, you must either have the phone repaired or replaced. If it’s still under warranty, you may be able to have it checked and repaired for free. If not, you’ll most likely have to pay for repair or replacement.


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