How to fix Galaxy A3 if texts, calls, and mobile data are not working

Today’s troubleshooting article will help solve an issue for a Galaxy A3. As described below, the problem is about a certain A3 owner being unable to use network services such as texting, calling, and mobile data. To troubleshooting this issue, there’s a certain set of steps that must be done. Check them out below.

Problem: Galaxy A3 network services not working (texts, calls, and mobile data not working)

I have a Galaxy A3 (2016). Recently it wont allow me send texts, make calls or connect to internet via 4G unless I switch the phone off and on again. It then works for a few hours then stops. I don’t get any error messages with calls. When sending texts, after short while I get a ‘failed to send message’ notification. I regularly use Device Manager to clear the RAM etc. When I do a soft reset I leave the phone ‘off’ for a minute or so before switching back on again, so Ive tried that. Any ideas?

Solution: The problem can be due to a bug within the device, a network misconfiguration, or something totally outside it such as an account problem or a network outage. To troubleshoot this issue, you need to do some steps to narrow down the factors.

Forced reboot

Sometimes, bugs that appear to be complicated can easily be fixed by doing a simple step: restart. We get it that the user above already tried this before you contacted us but

for the benefit of others who may have missed this simple troubleshooting step, we suggest that this one must be done. Forced reboot can be done with these steps:

Press and hold the Power + Volume Down buttons for approximately 10 seconds or until the device power cycles. Allow several seconds for the Maintenance Boot Mode screen to appear.
From the Maintenance Boot Mode screen, select Normal Boot. You can use the volume buttons to cycle through the available options and the lower left button (below the volume buttons) to select. Wait for up to 90 seconds for the reset to complete.

Clear cache partition

Android uses a system cache, which is stored in the cache partition, to load apps quickly. Sometimes, this cache gets corrupted during and after an update, or for some other reasons. While this may sound harmless, a corrupted cache can eventually cause performance issues as well as a bunch of other minor annoyances. To ensure that your phone’s system cache is fresh, you can wipe the cache partition. This will force the phone to delete the current cache and replace it with a new one over time.

To wipe the cache partition on your Galaxy A3:

Turn off the device.
Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Home key, then press and hold the Power key.
When the green Android logo displays, release all keys (‘Installing system update’ will show for about 30 – 60 seconds before showing the Android system recovery menu options).
Press the Volume down key several times to highlight ‘wipe cache partition’.
Press Power button to select.
Press the Volume down key until ‘yes’ is highlighted and press the Power button.
When the wipe cache partition is complete, “Reboot system now” is highlighted.
Press the Power key to restart the device.

Reseat SIM card

In many network issues, disconnecting the SIM card can help. Make sure not to skip this troubleshooting step in fixing your problem.

When removing the SIM card, you want to make sure that you turn the device off first to avoid damaging it or the card. This is also important if you have an SD card inserted.

Install updates

Updates, be they for app or Android, are necessary not only in bringing about cosmetic changes but also for patches for coding issues or problems. By default, your Galaxy A3 should automatically install app and system updates but be sure to double check just in case.

Check in safe mode

Downloaded apps can sometimes interfere with Android, resulting to problems that include the one you’re experiencing. To see if one of your apps is to blame, try booting the phone to safe mode. Here’s how:

Turn the device off.
Press and hold the Power key past the model name screen.
When “SAMSUNG” appears on the screen, release the Power key.
Immediately after releasing the Power key, press and hold the Volume down key.
Continue to hold the Volume down key until the device finishes restarting.
Safe mode will display in the bottom left corner of the screen.
Release the Volume down key when you see Safe Mode.
Check for the problem.

If all network services work normally in safe mode, that means an app is the culprit.To identify which of your apps is causing the trouble, you should boot the phone back to safe mode and follow these steps:

Boot to safe mode.
Check for the problem.
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.
After you uninstall an app, restart the phone to normal mode and check for the problem.
If your Galaxy A3 is still problematic, repeat steps 1-4.

Reset network settings

This is a necessary troubleshooting step whenever a user encounters any network problem. Wiping your phone’s network settings will delete all user customized network setup including the list of wifi networks you’ve connected to and their passwords. If you are using a VPN, its settings will be deleted too. To clear network settings on your A3:

Open Settings app.
Tap General management.
Tap Reset.
Tap Reset Network settings.
Tap RESET SETTINGS button to confirm.
Restart your Galaxy A3 and check for the problem.

Factory reset

Wiping the phone to its factory state is a bit extreme but if the problem won’t be fixed at this point, you might as well try it. After all, the next step that you need to do is to contact your carrier. Factory reset will also help you tell if there’s any software bug behind the trouble. Here’s how it’s done:

Create a backup of your personal data.
Turn off the device.
Press and hold the Volume Up key and the Home key, then press and hold the Power key.
When the green Android logo displays, release all keys (‘Installing system update’ will show for about 30 – 60 seconds before showing the Android system recovery menu options).
Press the Volume down key several times to highlight ‘wipe data / factory reset’.
Press Power button to select.
Press the Volume down key until ‘Yes — delete all user data’ is highlighted.
Press Power button to select and start the master reset.
When the master reset is complete, ‘Reboot system now’ is highlighted.
Press the Power key to restart the device.

Contact network operator

If all the suggestions has not helped fix the problem, you need to talk to your carrier. There may be a provisioning issue on your account or an on-going network trouble is affecting your area.