If you’re the owner of a new Nexus 6P, and a user of Telstra’s networks, you’re no doubt aware by now that there are some concerning issues surrounding the phone’s compatibility with Telstra’s 4G network.
The issue, which seems to arise when moving from WiFi to cellular coverage affects users on 4G, who observe a “4G!” mark on their status bar, with no data connectivity. Users have variously reported needing to activate airplane mode or rebooting their phone to rectify the issue, which only provides a temporary fix until the issue reoccurs.
The good news is that Google have acknowledged the problem, as we know, and are working with Huawei to resolve it. For what it’s worth, we approached Telstra about the issue too, and while they were able to tell us informally that it was an issue for Huawei and Google to resolve, there was no official comment which is a little disappointing from them.
At this stage, it seems there’s not much that users can do but we suggest trying the following:
- If you’re unhappy with the phone, and the lack of 4G stability on Telstra is a major issue, we suggest talking to Google or the place of purchase, and discussing your options with them. You may be able to refund or exchange your handset.
- If 4G doesn’t matter too much to you, and you can wait a little while for a fix, you might like to try turning off 4G, and locking your phone to 2G/3G mode only. You can do this via settings. Some users are reporting that this doesn’t help, though.
- If you need 4G coverage to work reliably, turning off WiFi seems to be an obvious solution; as the issue often arises when handing over from WiFi to 4G, turning off WiFi means this won’t happen. Obviously, though, it means that you’ll be using mobile data for everything. Be careful that this is what you actually prefer. The other thing to bear in mind though is that the issue can (and reportedly does) arise independent of the WiFi->4G handover, meaning that this might not actually help.
With Google and Huawei working on the issue, it does seem reasonably likely that the issue will see itself resolved, but it might not happen overnight. We’ve seen in the comments on Ausdroid that a few users are contemplating return/refund options at this stage.
Please let us know if you’ve taken this step, and whether you’ve had any issues in obtaining a resolution from your place of purchase. We’re continuing to speak to Google and Huawei to better understand what’s going on, and bring you a timeframe as soon as we find one.
