Topic:
How to troubleshoot network availability when using the ManageBridge and Everbridge Mobile Apps and you receive one of the following errors:
network unavailable
service unavailable
Description:
Network availability can be adversely impacted even when your device has a strong cellular signal. Possible causes can include:
- Other Apps
- Low Battery
- Phone Settings
- Network Traffic
- Unavailable Cell Sites
- Cellular Network Saturation
- Electronic Device Interference
Other Apps
The more apps you have on your phone, the more bandwidth it will require. Apps that are not closed and continue running in the background consume bandwidth and signal. Free apps and games can expend particularly large amounts of bandwidth because they are often filled with advertisements. Furthermore, notifications from all of these apps can also drain your signal.
Low Battery
The mobile phone processor may not perform at its best to draw maximum possible wireless signal strength from the nearest cellphone tower or transmitter if the cellular battery is critically low.
Phone Settings
Mismatches in the phone’s date-and-time and current time-zone settings can cause glitches in service by preventing the device from connecting to its provider's server.
Network Traffic
It is not uncommon for cell signal to be slow or nonexistent in densely populated areas where many people are using their devices. Too many people competing for bandwidth in a single area can negatively impact network availability.
Unavailable Cell Sites
Cell phones operate by transmitting and receiving a type of electromagnetic wave called radio waves. Atmospheric conditions like weather directly effect the propagation of radio waves. Water impedes radio waves on the frequencies used by cellular networks. Therefore, major factors that can weaken cell phone signal include rain, snow, fog, clouds, and high humidity. It could also be that a network outage that has caused the problem if you are in a location that usually has good cellphone coverage. The reasons behind outages can range from bad weather (such as heat, cold, rain, and stormy conditions) to human errors and network changes.
Cellular Network Saturation
Bandwidth saturation is a phenomenon that occurs when all of a circuit's available bandwidth in a given direction is being utilized by a large upload or download. This results in high latency and performance issues as subsequent packets start to buffer, eventually timing out and displaying symptoms such as slow speeds and packet loss. Commonly overlooked causes of bandwidth congestion are large email attachments, back-up softwares such as Dropbox or iCloud, system updates (including mobile devices such as iPhones), and other similar circumstances.
Electronic Device Interference
Electronic devices are generally a rare source of interference, but they can have an impact. Cell phone signals are radio waves being transmitted at a certain range of frequencies. Electromagnetic waves that are generated by electrical devices can sometimes occur at frequencies that interfere with cell phone service, often because the cell phone is having trouble deciding which signal to use to transmit data packets.
This can happen with WiFi signal broadcasters. It is not uncommon to experience slowed data connections when the WiFi is on. Having many other electrical devices nearby, especially “smart” Internet of Things (IoT) devices, can cause interference.
Troubleshooting
If you are receiving a service or network unavailability message, or if your sessions are timing out, then please first ensure that you are using one of the three latest versions of the ManageBridge or Everbridge Mobile Apps, as our apps only support their three latest versions (see knowledge article EBS: System Requirements for Everbridge Suite, Everbridge Mobile Apps, and Visual Command Center), and that you have cellular connection (LTE/4G/3G). If the problem persists, then follow the suggestions below to improve the connection.
- Hard close the app (also known as "killing" the app).
- Turn your device's data off and then back on.
- Turn your device off and then back on.
- Switch the WiFi off or run the phone’s data through the WiFi router.
- For Android devices, clear the app data and then log back in to the app.
- Utilize a website or app such as Ookla to test the device's internet speed.
- Use a website such as Downdetector to check if your cellular provider has had an outage in your area.
- Check your battery status in case it is low and close any open currently-unused apps to preserve the battery and charge the device if possible.
- Verify that the phone’s date and time are set to your current time zone to prevent the device from disconnecting from its provider's server.
- Ensure that the data settings are configured to receive signal from the correct network generation(3G, 4G, or 5G) for the strongest signal in your area.
- Consolidate smart IoT devices as much as possible to a limited space to avoid them causing interference.
- Reset the network settings following the instructions below:
- Confirm that all updates from the carrier have been implemented. Please select the appropriate directions for your device posted below:
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