If you’re receiving a message “all circuits are busy blocked” just before your call automatically disconnects, it would mean that your phone cannot perform outgoing connections.
Regardless of what cellular operator you’re using, this issue is in most cases internal, which means on your side. In this post, we’ll let you know exactly what it means and how to solve it.
The error message “all circuits are busy”, can occur whenever your coverage is bad, when you’re dialing a wrong number or simply the services are down. The problem can be solved by re-inserting your SIM card, changing your location, and checking if the receiver is blocking you.
Although that has to be enough to solve the issue, there is much more you can do to prevent the problem from appearing in the future.
Let’s first expose ALL possibilities, and then proceed with the solutions.
Does All Circuits Are Busy Mean You’ve Been Blocked?
We can answer this question as concisely as possible. No, it does not necessarily mean that you’re blocked by the receiver.
There are other conditions that if not met, you’ll be receiving this message, and many of them you can solve at home.
Here is a list of ALL known possibilities for this error feedback:
1. Poor Coverage
Depending on your current location and your operator, the coverage might not be at its finest at the moment. Changing your location will help.
2. Service Downtime
Sometimes operators go offline for a couple of hours, but that would be nothing to worry about since it does not depend on you.
3. Insufficient Service
Depending on the area where you’re living and the number of subscribers, the dedicated resources provided by your operator vary.
If your local area has a low customer rate, the resources might not be enough and you’ll often hear this message.
4. Temporary Bug
It could either be your SIM card or device that glitched, and you would need to perform some maintenance and troubleshooting to solve the issue.
How to Fix – “All Circuits Are Busy Blocked” Message?
Knowing all that we can proceed to the top-rated solution, so let’s jump right in.
Solution #1 Change Location
If you’re on a trip and trying to call from the forest, desert, or whatever you may be, you cannot expect to have sufficient coverage.
However, if you’re in your town where calls usually work well, but the “circuit busy” message started to appear all of a sudden, here is what you can do:
- Do NOT stand below large metal objects.
- Go to the other room and try to call.
- Go outside and try to perform a call.
- Go to the second/third story or as high as possible and try to call.
If you’re hearing this message recreationally, or when you’re changing location, it would mean that the problem has something to do with your local area coverage.
Try to find the “sweet spot” from where calls always work and use it when you need to reach someone.
On the other hand, if none of your attempts was successful, even at a location where previously calls were working, let’s proceed with the next solution.
Solution #2 Restart Your Device
Now when we’ve confirmed that the problem is not related to your current location, we’ll start focusing on your device.
Simply reboot your device, regardless of whether it’s Android or iPhone.
To reboot the device simply hold the power button for about 5-6 seconds until the turn OFF prompt appears. Then turn the device off and start it again after a few moments.
Once restarted, test to make a call and if it does not work, try calling another number.
Note: Remember that even if not necessarily, the “all circuits are busy or blocked” message can appear if somebody is blocking you so call someone from your family that you’re confident that it won’t block you.
Solution #3 Re-Insert SIM Card
Regardless of the operator, you’re using, Verizon, Sprint, or T-Mobile, their SIM cards are all the same.
Sometimes the card itself could have moved or lost electronic touch with the reader, probably because of physical damage to the device or maybe water.
To re-insert the SIM card safely, follow the steps below:
- Grab a needle, or the dedicated SIM card tool (usually in your smartphone’s box).
- Reach inside the little SIM card compartment hole and press hard.
- The SIM card holder should pop out.
- Pull it out slowly and remove the card.
- Take a good look at the card. Is it wet? Is it dirty? Is it properly inserted?
- When ready with the inspection, embed the card as it should be.
- Push the cardholder inside.
- Enter your PIN.
If the SIM PIN prompt does not appear, something is wrong with the SIM card or your phone’s SIM reader! Try to re-insert.
Solution #4 Remove VPN
If the calls were working previously, and the issue appeared all of a sudden, you might have installed bad software on your phone.
Remove ANY applications that you’ve installed before the occurrence of the problem to make sure that there is no ongoing VPN functionality from one of these apps.
Then make sure NO browser extensions were added prior to the problem and restart your device when you’re done. With that being said we can continue to the next solution.
Solution #5 Reset Cellular Settings & Update
If you still hear the “all circuits are busy blocked” message when you’re trying to reach someone, most probably you have no service.
It might be because of misconfigured settings or outdated firmware. In this solution, you’ll reset ALL cellular/network settings and update your smartphone to the latest possible firmware version.
Here is how to reset ALL network settings and update your phone:
- Go to Settings > General.
- Choose Reset > Reset Network Settings.
- Wait for the reset to complete.
- Go back to Settings > General.
- Choose Update.
- Tap on Update Software and wait.
- If new firmware is available, do not hesitate to apply it immediately.
Once your software is up-to-date, and your network settings have been reset, it’s time to call a proven number again.
If the calls are not working still, maybe there is a severe issue that is out of your capabilities. Let’s check what you can do.
All Circuits Are Still Busy/Blocked…
Take a look at your smartphone’s top-left corner when on the home screen.
Right before the name of your operator, there should be staircase-like bars representing the strength of your coverage.
- One bar is really bad
- Two bars are “so-so”
- Three and four bars are pretty good
If you have three or four bars, you shouldn’t hear the error message. If your bars are completely gone, well you don’t have coverage at all.
Solution?
Reach out to your mobile operator and report your problem. If you’re lucky it would turn out to be a temporary operator downtime and after a few hours, the services will come back up.
If not, maybe something is wrong with the SIM card or the support crew will discover an issue on their end.
There is no way to know unless you reach out so if you cannot solve the error using our solutions, now is the time to call for help.
Read Next: If I stop sharing my location on find my iPhone will they know?
Bottom Line:
To solve the “all circuits are busy or blocked” message you would need to change your location, uninstall any VPN apps or extensions and re-insert your SIM card. Then you should update your phone and reset ALL network settings to see if that will help.
Now when you know the reasons why the “all circuits are busy blocked” message appears, you will be aware of how to deal with this problem from now on.
Even if you were not able to solve the error yourself, your mobile operator will.
Kevin has over five years of experience working in various Tech startups and providing Technical solutions. He has contributed to many Tech publications and websites.