Vodafone is a British multinational telecommunications business and a leader in communication through mobile, television, and broadband. With over 300 million customers worldwide, it’s no surprise that you can expect a blip in service now and then.
Unfortunately, Vodafone’s mobile services have a history of connectivity difficulties. With such a large customer base, these hiccups are bound to happen once in a while.
Vodafone error code 21 is an excruciating error message to receive and is a problem that many Vodafone customers are experiencing with their SIM cards.
Why am I getting a Vodafone Error 21 message?
Vodafone Error 21 is code for “Facility not Supported”; which means that your mobile does not recognize your SMS and is therefore rejecting it.
Other customers who have had the same problem report not being able to:
- Make phone calls
- Receive telephone calls
- Send SMS messages
- Receive text messages
- Make use of the internet
What are my options to fix Vodafone Error 21?
Many customers have taken their phones into a Vodafone store to get a replacement SIM card, which has helped them resolve the error code 21 message. However, this may not be necessary. If you are encountering an error code 21 message, there are a number of things you could try to solve the error code issue.
Check if the destination phone number is correct
Whenever you get a Vodafone error code 21, it may be because you have entered an incorrect phone number. The wrong destination number is one of the most common causes of this error code. Check that the digits are correct, in their proper position and that you have not omitted any digit.
Check your account balance
If you don’t have sufficient balance to send the text, it may bring the error code 21. Log into your Vodafone account and ensure there are sufficient funds in your account. The error should be fixed once you top up your credit.
Restart your phone
Sometimes, your SIM won’t be able to read the SMS, so it is interpreted as an error code 21 – Facility not supported. This means that there is rejection due to the subscription not supporting SMS. As we have said above, it is a temporary problem. You can try to restart your phone to see if it solves the issue.
Swap the SIM and Reset
If your phone is dual SIM, you can try changing the SIMs to each other in an effort to resolve the issue.
If you do not use a dual SIM, check if your SIM is inserted correctly. You might also try to delete the SIM card, restart the device, and test again. You may need to do this because specific settings which you have put in place for your SIM card may predispose it to display Error 21. A hard reset will return it to the default manufacturer settings and ultimately resolve the problem.
Contact Customer support
Suppose you have tried all the above solutions to resolve a Vodafone Error 21 with no positive outcome. In that case, your next point of call is to contact Customer Support. It is the official Vodafone help site where you can send an email and put a call through to them for help with your SIM.
Replace your SIM
If you have followed these steps in an attempt to resolve the error with your SIM and even contacted Customer Care to no avail, the last resort is to order a replacement SIM card.
In conclusion, A Vodafone Error 21 message is a disturbance to your regular communication and day-to-day activities on your mobile network. The above steps are easy fixes you can try to get rid of the error code. However, you may inevitably have to replace the SIM.
If you encounter other Error codes not related to Error 21 that disturb your regular activities using mobile data on your Vodafone SIM card, please check out our Vodafone mobile data fixes.
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