I’ve been mostly enjoying my fairphone 6 after switching from an S22 last year.
I have however recently realised that the issues I was having with sites sending 2FA SMS messages weren’t because they failed to send, but that my phone stopped receiving them.
Most people I chat with I chat with on other apps, or they have android, so we chat over RCS.
I recently got a new SIM card as a part of troubleshooting this, and when I installed it in the phone and tested it, it worked fine, however later that same day, the problem returned.
I can’t recieve SMS messages at all, and when I try to send one, it sends it 6 times over a few minutes time, before the messages app marks it as sent.
The only difference I can see when checking on my fairphone is that the APN name is “internet” instead of “TDC Internet” and for MMS it’s “MMS” instead of “TDC MMS" however all the other settings are correct (Android 15 doesn’t show/let you set MCC and MNC, so I can’t verify those)
I also checked my SMSC number, by dialling *#*#4636#*#* going to information and to the bottom, hitting refresh, and the SMSC code seems correct.
I’ve had a ticket with fairphone support for about a week now, but it doesn’t seem to have been picked up yet, so I’ll update here if I hear more there. I’ll also give my phone provider a call next week.
Last I talked to them I had no info other than “can’t receive SMS” and they didn’t find any issues on their end.
Yousee don’t publicly list their APN settings, but from what I could find through searching, and verifying with my old phone, I have the right settings.
I do plan to call them on monday (tomorrow) though
Also, internet and phone-calls work fine, it’s just SMS and MMS that have issues, and from what I can tell, SMS isn’t affected by the APN settings?
That’s more to do with the SMSC right?
I had recently the same problem only with the SMS, the others network services provided by the network company were working as usual. In the FP6, as you already mentioned and with Developers options activated you can go through Settings>Network&Internet> SIMs > Your provider company > APNs > Edit Access Point.
Edit: you can also directly reset the APN from the network provider and restart again.
Then you can select the network type and the preferences of the APN ( some of then you already mentioned). Restart the phone and for me was working after a while.
Furthermore with messages app there is a delay option, check this one is disable.
Resetting the APN in the settings and restarting the phone worked for me, but only for a while. After about 30 minutes it went back to not receiving the SMS but incoming and outgoing calls worked fine.
I receiced some SMS 2 hours ago, and now nothing goes in, nothing goes out. Restarting doesn’t help, resetting APN and then restarting doesn’t either. Mobile data from the very same SIM card is fine.
It’s fairly disappointing. Basically because my phone works with an esim from another netowork, it’s not a phone issue, and they recommend switching provider.
I understand their response, but it’s really a bummer
I guess if my provider isn’t responsive, there’s little I or Fairphone can do.
Here’s the response:
Dear Duckle,
Thank you for testing with a SIM card from another operator and providing the results. The good news is that your phone is working correctly with the other SIM, the successful test confirms that your device’s hardware and software are fully functional.
The root cause: carrier compatibility
The issue you’re experiencing is specifically related to your current network operator’s compatibility with Fairphone.
Your options moving forward
Switch to a supported operator (recommended) The most reliable, long-term solution is to switch to one of the operators from our VoLTE & VoWi-Fi compatibility list. This ensures full, reliable calling functionality on the 4G network.
Continue advocating with your current operator You can request that your operator add Fairphone to their whitelist or manually provision your SIM. While we cannot guarantee success, some operators do respond to customer requests.
I understand this is frustrating, and I’m sorry we cannot offer a more immediate solution. If you have any questions or need help choosing a compatible operator, please let us know.
