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notourjimmy's profile

Tutor

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4 Messages

Tuesday, August 30th, 2016 2:04 AM

Upgraded iPhone 4S to iPhone SE - problem

Hello,

 

I recently upgraded my iPhone 4S to an iPhone SE with my gophone account. I went to the AT&T kiosk at the mall and they were able to cut my sim card to fit into the new SE, however, I am now experiencing very low signals on my iPhone. Before with the 4s I always had 4 bars, but now I only get 1 or 2 bars with the SE. Even just now as I'm typing this my SE is fluctuating between 2 bars and No Service even though I am standing still. Is this a problem with the SE or a problem with the sim card? 

 

I should add that when I left the Kiosk I had 5 bars of service then came home to back up my 4S and restore the back up to my SE. I also updated to iOS 9.3.5 at the same time. It was after I did all of these steps where I noticed the loss of service. Is it possible the iOS update is causing the loss of service? 

 

I also have no way of putting my sim card back in to my 4S since it was cut and I do not have an adapter.

 

Thanks for any help!

Accepted Solution

Official Solution

Employee

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3.5K Messages

8 years ago

iPhone 4S does not do LTE. The SE does. You may just be getting lower LTE signal due to less indoor signal penetration or interference. You may go into the iPhone settings, under CELLULAR. And DISABLE LTE for both VOICE and DATA. See what it shows for signal.

 

Also, and this is in my opinion and experience, but 2 bars of LTE is far better than 4 bars of 3G/4G when it comes to data speeds and MMS, SMS etc. Also the iPhone SE uses VOLTE for calls, the 4S does not. VOLTE calls are going to be of a higher audio quality even at a lower LTE signal strength...just as long as it isn't a single bar.

ACE - Expert

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16.5K Messages

8 years ago

Maybe they did a poor job of cutting the SIM card.

 

I'd go to an AT&T store and get a new card (I think they're free).

 

When solved / helped, please mark your question as solved by clicking "Accept solution". This helps other people to find an answer more quickly.

ACE - Expert

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64.7K Messages

8 years ago

Agree. Cutting the sim was a bad idea. Get a new one. 

Tutor

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4 Messages

8 years ago

Thanks. Will I be able to keep my number the same since it is a gophone account? Or will a new sim card require a new number? 

Tutor

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4 Messages

8 years ago

Thank you for your response. It was insightful. I turned off the LTE and I still have only 1 bar of 4G, sometimes it'll go up to two but it mostly just stays at 1 bar. Is that normal for the SE? I guess I've just had my 4S so long that I was used to the full bars all the time.

Employee

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3.5K Messages

8 years ago

Yeah get the new SIM card. Cutting a micro down to nano is not recommended at all. Well the iPhone 4S was a 3G phone. So it just didn't do LTE whatsoever.

 

What is the outdoor signal like?

Tutor

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4 Messages

8 years ago

the outdoor signal is the same as the indoor signal, between one and two bars on 4G. Very rarely have I seen it switch to LTE. Can I keep my number if I get a new sim card or will that somehow affect the gophone account I am on? Haha I didn't ask them to cut it, they just did it anyway. 

Employee

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3.5K Messages

8 years ago

Yeah get a new SIM. An actual nano-SIM

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