Pixel XL on Verizon MVNO - April Security patch has disabled my 4G.

Jul 2, 2012
20
4
0
Morganton
I had 4G before this update, but nothing I do, no matter how many different APN settings I try, no dice.

I'll tell you where I've been. Have had the phone at least a year and it came with Nougat.
As soon as I got it, I got a Total Wireless SIM (owned by Tracfone and running on Verizon's network) and activated it with no problems. Had full service. 4g, mms, etc. All was great.
Even when I got the 8.0 notification and I updated to Oreo, all worked fine.

A few months back, I got the 8.1 notification. I allowed it to install and when It booted back up, I had no service at all.

Found this thread, Android 8-1 - How to Edit Cellular APN, and one post in there got me with the phone setup and connected to my computer running ADB commands, which allowed me to at least add an APN.
Adding the standard TRACFONE.VZWENTP apn you can easily find via Google searching fixed the problem. (Had to add mms port of 80 but otherwise, all was perfect)

About a week back I get the 8.1 notification again, which i thought was weird since I was already running 8.1
Turns out it was the April Security Patch for 8.1 (i suppose as that's the only reasoning that makes sense to me right now).
After it installed and did it's thing, I only had 3G service, which around here is prone to many interruptions, aside from the slow speed.

I checked, and it's still using the APN I set up. Nothing has changed on that APN, nor anywhere else I can see.
I even added a new one with the same data, and same thing, 3G.

I've searched the threads here, tried some of the other suggestions but none have worked.
I've even went as far as to get Smail to unlock my bootloader (it's a verizon Pixel XL) and from there I've rooted installed twrp and rooted etc, all in hopes that I could try another method listed in that thread i linked above, using an adb shell with root permissions to view the "default" apn data, thinking maybe something in there is messing it all up.

I had no luck there because even though the phone is rooted now, there was something else I have to do to run an adb shell with root permission and seems the easiest way to get that done is just install a custom rom.

Still, what baffles me is, isn't this what the SIM card is partly for?
And why would software updates disable service, or parts of service?
Seems odd that a software upgrade would effect how the phone uses the service, especially when a custom apn is setup and unchanged.

I have scanned these forums for hours over the past few days and I would really love some direction on what to try next.
Any ideas are appreciated. Thanks!
 

acters

Member
Jun 1, 2017
28
4
0
Sometimes, the best thing to do is to go to total wireless and ***** at them till they deal with it. I don't think its something you need to stress over. It's Verizon's and Total Wireless's responsibility to get your 4g LTE back. I just dealt with T-Mobile with the same issue. no 4G but call and texting worked. APN set right but they did something on their side and got me back on track after handing them my phone.(in store)
 
  • Like
Reactions: kamikazeedriver
Jul 2, 2012
20
4
0
Morganton
Play around in the *#*#4636#*#* dialer menu just don't hit the update button beside the smsc input field
Oh wow, never knew about this. Brought up all kinds of options. Will mess around and see if I can find something useful.

Sometimes, the best thing to do is to go to total wireless and ***** at them till they deal with it. I don't think its something you need to stress over. It's Verizon's and Total Wireless's responsibility to get your 4g LTE back. I just dealt with T-Mobile with the same issue. no 4G but call and texting worked. APN set right but they did something on their side and got me back on track after handing them my phone.(in store)
I would but Total Wireless doesn't have a store front or even a kiosk. They're kinda like Straight Talk, but just for Verizon phones. Verizon naturally won't have anything to do with it since I'm paying their competition to use their network.
I had thought about going through the activation again, but when i put my IMEI # on their website now, it says my phone is not compatible. A year ago it said it was, and it has been until this update.

I've considered flashing 8.0 and see if that lets it work again, but I don't like the thought of not being to update my phone or i'll lose parts of my service.

Thanks for the suggestions yall. Will repost if the dialer code leads me somewhere helpful.
 

DR3W5K1

Senior Member
Aug 25, 2012
654
322
0
They are probably getting money hungry and want people to buy phones from them. There is a big chance that hidden menu could solve your problem though. Regarding the imei the only way that could be a problem is if yours was somehow stolen
 
  • Like
Reactions: kamikazeedriver
Jul 2, 2012
20
4
0
Morganton
They are probably getting money hungry and want people to buy phones from them. There is a big chance that hidden menu could solve your problem though. Regarding the imei the only way that could be a problem is if yours was somehow stolen
I think it shows up as an issue because I'm currently using it. I just tried it again and it said "there was an error." When I tried it a few days ago it had said the same, "there was an error, contact customer support"
It's possible that time it showed up as incompatible i had punched a number in wrong.
Can't confirm if it's the same IMEI i had a year ago but it would be weird if that changed.

Couldn't find anything in the hidden menu except when I checked "Carrier Provisioning Info" showed up that it last attempted it yesterday and had failed.
 

DR3W5K1

Senior Member
Aug 25, 2012
654
322
0
Well as a last ditch .. just a thought here. Pull the sim power on your phone delete the apn. Perform a reboot insert sim and wait. Still nothing? Check apn add if necessary and reboot. Profit?
 
Last edited:
Jul 2, 2012
20
4
0
Morganton
Well as a last ditch .. just a thought here. Pull the sim power on your phone delete the apn. Perform a reboot insert sim and wait. Still nothing? Check apn add if necessary and reboot. Profit?
I did try that after the april update.
With no APN, I get no service, which first happened right after the first 8.1 update. That lead me to adding the APN.
I haven't tried it since I've unlocked the bootloader.
I will try again before flashing back to 8.0.

8.0 was the last time my phone worked just fine with no custom APNs or anything.

I thank y'all for the ideas.

I would like to know if I'm the only one with this specific problem.

Is anyone else experiencing this issue with the 8.1 updates using a Verizon MVNO?
 
Jul 2, 2012
20
4
0
Morganton
For future reference that provisional menu will be populated with answers other than no. If you have the proper apn etc..
Want me to take a screenshot of the provisional menu? I don't know what I'm looking for in that menu.

As far as APN, it never needed to make one until the first 8.1 update but all worked fine afterwards. It's only since the April update that I have issues.

Will report back after trying to reset without the sim again
 
  • Like
Reactions: DR3W5K1

DR3W5K1

Senior Member
Aug 25, 2012
654
322
0
If a fresh image+apn doesn't fix it the only other thing that "you” could try would be replacing the Sim. Sometimes the Sim can fry. Could also be as easy as reseating it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: kamikazeedriver
Jul 2, 2012
20
4
0
Morganton
It's fixed

Here's what I had to do.
I did a wipe install (flash all.bat) of an 8.0 Oreo image as it was the last time I had LTE without even having to do anything (like setup a custom APN etc)
After that was successful, I did a no-wipe install of the 8.1 (April 2018) image, and afterwards, and once it was booted, all was well, I have LTE and everything with no custom APNs needed.

Thanks to everyone who offered help in getting me in the right direction.

In addition to what I previously mentioned that I had tried, I also tried:
-I did try a wipe install of 8.1 a few days ago but still with no success. Even with tweaking APN settings.
-I messed around with the carrier provisioning menu and could see I was not getting LTE and when I told the phone LTE only, then no service at all, so I set it back to LTE/CDMA/UMTS (that's what it was already on.)
-Tried dialer code *228 to "activate" my service, but that had no change.

I went back, this morning, to the thread I first looked at after the first 8.1 update I had which disrupted my service completely and ended up with me using an adb shell to do something that allowed me to add APNs and subsequently setup an APN that worked for me until the 8.1 April security update.
Noticed this post:
I have this same issue and the only solution I've found is to full wipe go back to 8.0 activate on Verizon's network (I too use a VZN MVNO) and then flash the full 8.1 package without wipe.
I can't say I understand why that worked when a completely fresh wiped install of 8.1 didn't, but it did so I'll take it.

The next thing I was going to try, if it hadn't worked, was changing the radio band in the provisioning menu as that seemed to work for another person.

Either way, all is well for now. Thanks for all the advice!
 
  • Like
Reactions: DR3W5K1

ThePhoneGeek

Senior Member
May 13, 2012
1,271
582
0
An Undisclosed Location
Noticed this post:


I can't say I understand why that worked when a completely fresh wiped install of 8.1 didn't, but it did so I'll take it.

The next thing I was going to try, if it hadn't worked, was changing the radio band in the provisioning menu as that seemed to work for another person.

Either way, all is well for now. Thanks for all the advice!
The only thing I've come up with is that starting on 8.1 flashing full wipe for VZN users (or perhaps limited to VZN MVNO's) with unlocked bootloaders is not allowing the device to activate on the network. I suspect VZN hanky panky at work but I am generally a skeptic that way. Once you get it the way you want it you can update each month with the full firmware but remove the -w in the flash-all.bat file and you should be good.
 
Jul 2, 2012
20
4
0
Morganton
The only thing I've come up with is that starting on 8.1 flashing full wipe for VZN users (or perhaps limited to VZN MVNO's) with unlocked bootloaders is not allowing the device to activate on the network. I suspect VZN hanky panky at work but I am generally a skeptic that way. Once you get it the way you want it you can update each month with the full firmware but remove the -w in the flash-all.bat file and you should be good.
My bootloader was still locked when these issues began with the first 8.1 update (which adding an APN fixed), and culminated in 3G only after the 8.1 April update.
I only unlocked it so I could hopefully find a solution, which thankfully was a success.
I'm just as skeptic as you are when it comes to VZN though. They have the best coverage in this area, and that's the only positive thing I have to say about them.