[FIXED] SAMSUNG GALAXY A71 NO NETWORK, BASEBAND UNAVAILABLE AFTER WATER DAMAGE

Samsung Galaxy A71 which was reported for No Network after water damage was found out to have no Baseband information. Absence of Baseband info will most definitely lead to a no mobile network issue.

In one of our former blogposts we discussed the effects of water on a circuit board and how water is dangerous and corrodes circuits' board leading to a harder repair processes driven at reviving the board. This Samsung A71 is lucky to have only baseband issue. How did we identify the problem as baseband issue when Network was unavailable on Samsung A71?

Samsung A71. Photo credit_GSMArena

No network problem on a Mobile phone could be caused by so many factors ranging from bad network cable to bad network antenna to bad sub-board etc. In the case of our Samsung Galaxy A71, we discovered the fault to be as a result of no baseband info.

Baseband information on Samsung A71 can be gotten from the phone's information available in settings.

How to get baseband information on Samsung A71

Open the settings application.
Select About phone.
Scroll down and find the baseband information.

That brings about the question, what is Baseband?

Baseband information of a mobile phone is composed of Baseband version which is installed via firmware and overseen by the Baseband processor or Baseband IC.

"The baseband version represents the version of the firmware installed on the device which is needed to establish communication between the mobile network and the integrated cellular radio hardware"

On the other hand, the baseband processor is a chip that helps convert digital data into radio frequency signals (and vice-versa) which can then be transmitted over a RAN (Radio Access Network). A baseband processor manages all the wireless radio functions of a cellular device.

Now I believe you understand what baseband is and why it is very necessary for every mobile phone as long as mobile network is concerned.

I remember someone asked a question that "Is Baseband the same as IMEI"

Now let me clear airs on that, while baseband establishes communication between the mobile network and integrated cellular radio hardware, IMEI which fully means International Mobile Equipment Identity is a 15-digit code that identifies a particular device with the SIM card input. Although both are needed for a phone to get valid network connection, IMEI is not in anyway related to hardware of a phone and it does not play a very important role on network like baseband. A valid IMEI means your mobile phone is eligible to run mobile network services and is identifiable, while the baseband does the work of transmission of radio signals.

A Mobile phone's IMEI info can be gotten by dialling *#06# while baseband can only be gotten via settings or third-party app as in the case of some MediaTek devices.

An invalid IMEI can be fixed by flashing the phone's firmware or manually inputting a valid IMEI via MTK Engineering app while no Baseband information could either be software or hardware.

While you're convinced that a particular mobile phone with no baseband info has no hardware fault, you can go ahead with flashing the software. If that doesn't fix it, then you're going to need to get onto the hardware section.

Now back into the matter, no baseband info on Samsung A71 led us straight to the transceiver and we had to reball SDR660.

SDR660 is a Network IC that controls Baseband and is used on:

Samsung A71
Samsung A92
Samsung A80
Samsung M51
Xiaomi Note 5
Xiaomi Note 5 pro
Redmi Note 6 pro
Redmi Note 7
Xiaomi Mi A2
Xiaomi Mi 8 Lite
Xiaomi Mi Note 3
Oppo R11 plus
Oppo RMX 1801
Oppo CPH 1893
Oppo RMX 1807
Nokia 6.1
Nokia 6.2
Nokia 7 Plus
Nokia 7.2
Nokia X6
Honor ARE-L22HN

Reballing SDR660 Network IC returned our Samsung A71 baseband back online and network was fully back. You could as well change SDR660 if yours still does not function properly after reballing it.

SDR660. Photo credit_Laxy Fix

Conclusion

After reading this blogpost I believe you should have been able to diagnose for Baseband fault, differentiate between Baseband and IMEI and how to fix no baseband issue on Samsung A71. If any part remains unclear to you do let us know via comments or via email.