[Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Questions & Answers] K_A_Beausoleil:
Invalid teleservide id soulution found

I need people to test this solution to make sure it works across all devices as the error seems to affect all android devices under certain conditions. If you would like to read how I came to this solution to help me check my work or you are just interested please keep reading, If you just want the solution feel free to skip to the bottom paragraph beginning with SOLUTION. If you try this solution, which I actually believe to be a solution and not a hotfix, please respond with 3 pieces of information: 1) Did it work. 2) What Android device you use and the version of Android you are using and 3) Your ISP (Internet Service Provider).

This data is very important.

STORY:

So, last month I switched to Android for a couple of reasons after having used iPhones since the iPhone 5. The two most important things to me were being able to stream music using the LDAC Bluetooth codec and having a crack at Samsung Dex to see if I could avoid buying a laptop next year. I was immediately happy with these features that had been the impetus for switching, but then something unexpected happened: the thing that I have always taken for granted, i.e. my phone sending/receiving calls and texts, was incredibly unreliable on this phone (Galaxy S20 Ultra). After doing some googling and finding the official forums (there seem to be 2 devoted to this issue and I will post this both places) I found the incredibly disheartening ‘hotfix’ of disabling WiFi calling to be completely unnaceptable. Not only because I don’t actually get cell service in my apartment but because a $1400 flagship smartphone should certianly not have less functionality in any area that an iPod Touch circa a decade ago.

Normally I would just take my faulty device down to a Verizon store because although I am in IT I specialize in computers more than phones, however since we have been in isolation this began an approximately 20 hour saga via the phone over the span of May 25th to June 19th. After trying everything I could glean might work from google, and following every step that Verizon tech support asked me to try and actually convincing them to update the carrier settings on my account I was finally given the OK to get a replacement device. It is important to note at this point that I had only been searching this error for my model phone and mistakenly had the idea that it was an incredibly rare issue that was a problem with a select few devices.

So, you can imagine my complete and udder shock after getting the replacement phone, setting it up, and getting the Invalid Teleservice ID Error 4 on the second text message I tried to send on the device. It took me about an hour to really get my wits together because at this point I was trying to come to terms with the very possible reality that I was not going to be able to use my phone at home reliably because I don’t have good reception over WiFi. When my faculties returned, I resolved to read every post I could find on this issue.

What I found is that this problem has been around since certain people started installing Android 8 on their phones and that they have been trying to get Verizon to offer an actual solution since 2017. So here we are 3.5 years later and almost 4 generations of Android later and “the best network” has so far failed to offer any sort of real solution to this problem. However, from getting the error on my new phone and seeing that the error was effecting essentially every model device Verizon sells (that runs Android) gave me a key piece of data: the problem has nothing to do with the device.

After getting deeper and deeper into some forums I noticed that one person reported that this problem only occurs for them when they use an Xfinity WiFi hotspot. That was my lightbulb moment. I am also an Xfinity customer. I then started searching the problem from that perspective and found that most of the people reporting the error and mentioning their ISP were either Xfinity or Spectrum customers, and now I was starting to feel like I might be onto something.

In terms of IT, networking is my weakest area. Nevertheless I dove into some forums that have tried to approach this problem from a networking perspective and although a lot of it was over my head I started to suspect there was something about the firewall on Xfinity and Spectrum routers that is causing the problem. After 72 hours of exhaustive testing ( not only is 24 hours approximately my previous record for not having the error, but I used that time to send out as much information via text messaging as possible to try to cause the error) I am ready to posit a hypothesis as to what is actually causing the problem and post the solution that is currently working for me.

As I have noticed that the problem is most likely to crop up for me when I am using Dex and a physical keyboard and have tried to send many texts in quick succession, the idea came to me that somehow trying to send a large volume of data exacerbates a problem that Xfinity and Spectrum routers have reliably delivering packets in the right order and format over the internet to the Verizon network. So, this is what I decided to try, and it has now worked for approximately 84 hours straight and has performed flawlessly under stress testing (Spamming 500 word texts and hi res photos to multiple people in quick succession using copy/paste).

SOLUTION:

I’m sure many of you who play video games have used a function on your routers to get around NAT issues called the DMZ. The DMZ allows you to put a device using a specific IP address on your personal network outside of the firewall and connect it directly to the internet. For a device that exists on this network wirelessly there is a simple step you must take first. You must assign your device a static IP. If you go into your router settings you will likely find that all devices on your network are assigned IP addresses via a system called DHCP. This essentially means your device will probably have a new IP every time you leave the house and return, so we need to make it the same every time so that the DMZ will function the way we want it to. Every router is going to have a slightly different settings menu, but you should be able to find a tab that lists the CONNECTED DEVICES on your network. What you need to do is change your phone from being a DHCP connected device and assign it a STATIC IP address. Finding the option to do this may be harder than actually doing it, all you need to do when you find the option is change the connection type from DHCP to Static and pick and IP address that will work for you. My network uses 10.0.0.XX for the devices on my home network so I assigned my phone to 10.0.0.99. Then I placed the 10.0.0.99 in the DMZ. In my router menu, the DMZ is under ADVANCED SETTINGS and when you select the DMZ tab, simply enter the IP address you chose for your phone.

To recap:

1)	Set your phone to a static IP

2)	Put that IP in the DMZ

That’s it. A valid criticism of this solution is that your phone is less secure, however I would respond that the likelihood of your phone being hacked is much smaller that that of a PC and if this slightly loosened security really bothers you, just use a VPN. A VPN will keep you safe in a Starbucks on their free public WiFi and it can protect you here (I actually had a VPN when I got my device and originally I thought it was the cause of the Invalid Teleservice error). CAUTION: There has been a crop of predatory VPN services lately that provide working VPNs, but will charge you a ridiculous amount. I use NordVPN (I found a code on YouTube that gave me 70% off six devices on a 3 year plan, that ended up costing about $100) but there are plenty of good services that will allow you to connect to the internet via a VPN on one device for approximately $2-3 a month.

So please, try this and report back. This error has been the bane of my existence since switching to Android and it is completely unacceptable that Verizon has had literally years to do figure out a solution to this problem and yet they have not. My end goal is not to receive credit but to make sure that in the future Verizon Tech Support actually knows how to help people solve this problem, and their techs don’t take your calls and then look the problem up on google, proceeding to be completely transparent in terms of having no actual knowledge of this issue and literally reading the same forums I have already been over and suggesting the non-solutions posted there in order, i.e. turn off WiFi calling and if that doesn’t work turn off ‘Advanced Calling’.

REMEMBER: If this solution does not work for you, please double check that your changes the router you use have stuck. I have previously had routers that will for reasons I don’t understand change the DMZ domain or switch a device back to DHCP from static or simply fail to save your changes properly.

I await responses eagerly.