Ok, I need some help quickly. I live on my phone for 2 businesses that I own.

I have a Samsung S7 Active, and for some reason, it has decided that it is not connecting to cell networks anymore. Wifi is fine, phone seems fine, won't find ATT for love nor money.

I'm going to call customer service on a landline and see if there is a problem they can walk me through, but failing that, I will be going to Best Buy to buy a new phone. (Look for a good rant later...)

What should I get? I had iPhones in the past and got off them for Android because Apple pissed me off. Now I have Android, and it hasn't been as seamless as the Apple experience tends to be, but it has been acceptable, until now. If I have a hardware failure, it has occurred at about the 2.5 year mark. Not great... If this is a software glitch, well, it shouldn't happen.

I need a quality phone that is rugged and reliable. I also want one that will last. I change my phone when I need a phone, not to have the latest and greatest each year.

I will be putting a lifeproof or other form of case on what ever I buy so that I don't inadvertently wreck it.

Suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Will likely be heading for Best Buy for the 11:00 open, so I can spend the rest of the day restoring data and reconnecting to synced devices.

You can tell, I'm looking forward to this...

I have a Google Nexus that you are welcome to use for a while. I can meet you to hand it over.

It might or might not be what you want for long term, but at least for immediate, it will alleviate the "got to buy one today" pressure.

Rugged and reliable = Apple in my personal experience with both platforms. Not to mention they hold their value much better.

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Originally posted by PowerSurge:
Rugged and reliable = Apple in my personal experience with both platforms. Not to mention they hold their value much better.

I agree, although "holding value" is probably not a factor for Artie -- he will most likely keep a phone until it no longer functions.

I personally prefer Apple, but Artie had some reasons (I can't remember) for going with Android.

My employer issues me an iPhone 6S+ and I have a Samsung Galaxy S9+ for personal use.

In my opinion, you first need to decide if you want Android or iOS.

My wife has an iPhone XR for personal use and a Samsung Galaxy S7 for work. My wife really summed this up best. She said that you can do more with an Android phone, but for the things you can do on iOS, it takes more steps to do them on Android.

Are you sure that you didn't accidently turn on Airplane mode or turn off cellular connectivity by accident?

Right now, Samsung on Samsung.com is advertising $300 off instantly a Samsung Galaxy S9 or S9+ on AT&T's network. I would expect BestBuy to price match that. The Samsung Galaxy S9 is $419.99.

I'd opt for the S9+ at $539.99, but that's just me.

The Samsung Galaxy S8 Active for AT&T IS $549.99 on Samsung.com. There is no Samsung Galaxy S9 Active. Samsung never released one.

It's a pitty you can't wait. The Galaxy S10 will be announced February 20th. Prices on S8's and S9's will surely drop even more.

I still use both S7 Active and S6 Active. There are no S9 Active, but AT&T is still selling the S8 Active. That may be your solution.

I'd grab V-Tail's Nexus to tie you over to the S10 which will be announced very soon. Otherwise, the Pixel 3 is known to have the very best camera right now on a smartphone (especially with Night Sight). And it runs pure Android so very fast.

I just bought a OnePlus 6. I'm happy with it. I've used HTCs flagship phones for the last eight years, latest one was a complete dud, returned it and got the OnePlus. The only compliant I have is a few less options in settings, at the same time for someone who wants a simple nbasic, but very powerful phone it's great. Comes with no bloatware.

Note, they are only available direct from manufacturer, so it won't work for you since you can't pop into Best buy and pick one up.

quote:

Originally posted by ArtieS:
I have a Samsung S7 Active, and for some reason, it has decided that it is not connecting to cell networks anymore. Wifi is fine, phone seems fine, won't find ATT for love nor money.

If you have both Airplane mode and WiFi on, the phone will still work with WiFi. But cellular will not work.

quote:

Originally posted by ArtieS:
Ok, I need some help quickly. I live on my phone for 2 businesses that I own...

You can tell, I'm looking forward to this...

You know I read things like this and I really have to wonder. I often see people on firearms forums criticizing cops for not being "gun guys". Yet then I'll see people who are relying on a piece of equipment like this and know nothing about it.

Smartphones are not that expensive any more. If I really needed to run my business(es). I would have a backup.

Think of it as having a backup gun in case your primary gun fails.

I was in the same situation several years ago when I realized that I had a computer sitting on my desk at work that I needed to do my job and I knew nothing about it except that it had a Dell logo on it. I decided at that point that I needed to start educating mself about the technology that I use.

When it comes to smartphones, you would be shocked to see how much view them in the same light a handguns. You could go over to MacRumors.com, please iPhone with Glock, replace Samsung with Sig, and you couldn't tell the difference from a gun forum and a smartphone forum.

Because smartphones are so personal, people tend to have a lot of emotional investment in their particular brand.

quote:

Smartphones are not that expensive any more.

The better ones are close to a grand$

quote:

Originally posted by ArtieS:
What should I get? I had iPhones in the past and got off them for Android because Apple pissed me off.

I can understand why people do that, but, in all honesty, every manufacturer and service provider will piss off some portion of its customer base at some point.

It's like the <name one> ISP sucks! and <name one> wireless provider sucks! things.

The point being: Leaving a manufacturer or service provider because they "pissed you off" may just have you jumping from one frying pan into another.

quote:

Originally posted by ArtieS:
Now I have Android, and it hasn't been as seamless as the Apple experience tends to be, ...

I came from the Android world. You got that right. They're not even close.

quote:

Originally posted by ArtieS:
... but it has been acceptable, until now.

Stuff breaks. Everybody's stuff breaks.

IMO you really need to decide whether you liked the Apple or Android experiences better. Their flagship phones will cost about the same.

From a price perspective the only advantage Android has is new economical phones are available. The Apple world offsets this by commonly available older phones that still get current iOS and apps.

We switched to Apple a couple years ago. The primary reason was I lost faith in the security of the Android ecosystem. Too many vulnerabilities in the Android OS--over and over again. Too many reports of too many apps with built-in malware on the Android Play Store. Then there's Google's treatment of Android users' data.

Since then I've become enamoured of Apples' device integration. There are some things I miss about Android, but, if I went back, I think I'd miss the smooth Apple experience more.

If you chose to go back to Apple and you want to buy new, I'd look at the iPhone Xr. If you want to buy used, refurbished, new old stock or demo devices to save money, I'd look at what's available in an iPhone 8 on Swappa. My wife's iPhone 6S still had 8 months of Apple warranty left on it when I bought it for her. So did my Apple watch. We saved a bunch buying those that way, and had essentially brand-new devices.

If you stick with Android the only thing I have is this: Samsung makes excellent hardware, for the most part, but I trust the company and their software even less than I do Google/Alphabet, so I'd never own a Samsung "smart" product--at least not one connected to the Internet.

quote:

Originally posted by smschulz:

quote:

Smartphones are not that expensive any more.

The better ones are close to a grand$

And in December cricket wireless was offering iPhone 7's for $150.00. Even by today's standards an iPhone 7 is still a very capable smartphone.

In the United States, if you need or just want a premium cellular experience, then you are going to be on either Verizon or AT&T post-paid and most likely using the latest iPhone. And you will pay a premium price for this experience.

However, if you can accept less than a premium experience, then your options increase. The less you can accept, the more options you have.

To put it another way, if you are unwilling or unable to pay more to get more, then you pay less to get less.

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:
Samsung makes excellent hardware, for the most part, but I trust the company and their software even less than I do Google/Alphabet, so I'd never own a Samsung "smart" product--at least not one connected to the Internet.

ensigmatic - can you please expand on what you wrote above? I would very much like to hear about the facts that support your opinion.

I'm still using my S5 active, it has been rock solid and I will probably keep using it until it dies. Due to work I have to play in the iOS world but my personal devices are android. My wife had iphones up to the 5 and she jumped to android and has never looked back.

As others have said, the major decision is android or iOS. If you are going to stay on android then consider taking vtail up on his offer until the new Samsung is released, that will cause a drop in prices across the older models.

quote:

Originally posted by Broadside:

quote:

Originally posted by smschulz:

quote:

Smartphones are not that expensive any more.

The better ones are close to a grand$

And in December cricket wireless was offering iPhone 7's for $150.00. Even by today's standards an iPhone 7 is still a very capable smartphone.

You just have to be very careful which you buy. Unlocked-from-the-factory and T-Mobile iPhone 7's have a different wireless chipset in them than unlocked AT&T iPhone 7's. The latter have poorer performance.

quote:

Originally posted by Broadside:
In the United States, if you need or just want a premium cellular experience, then you are going to be on either Verizon or AT&T post-paid and most likely using the latest iPhone. And you will pay a premium price for this experience.

That isn't even close to true any more. My wife and I are using iPhone 6S', bought used and LNIB, on T-Mobile, and get as "premium" an experience as anybody else.

Hell, at one of my best friends' homes we have a better "premium experience" than he and his wife do with their expen$ive Verizon wireless plan and expen$ive subsidized Samsung phones. Our travel outside the U.S. is even more "premium," because, for basic phone service, texting, and data sufficient for just email, we have to do and pay for precisely nothing extra.

It all depends on the market and area in which you use/need the device(s), but VZW and "at&t" no longer "own" the wireless market.

If it was me I'd go to the local phone store and see if the sim card failed. It's happened to me twice over the years and the phone was fine. Just needed a sim replacement.

Should be fun, I would stay with Samsung get as much phone as you can afford S9. I am going to wait as long as I can with my S7. Holding out for 5G phones.

Its possible that your sim card has gone bad. Ive seen it happen before.

Go to the local att store and have them swap it out for you.

Newegg.com has S7 Active for $109

FYI, the Samsung S10 is being released on Feb 20. Just in case you are considering the S9 but want the latest and greatest.

JP