Unable to send or receive media since 22nd July 2021

Re: Samsung Galaxy Mega 2 using Android 4.4.4 not being able to send or receive media using WhatsApp

Hi,

To run through what I have tried to solve the problem of media not being sent or received by Whatsapp since 22nd July.
Uninstalled and Reinstalled Whatsapp - no success
Blocked wifi and used Mobile data network - no success
Contacted my phone provider Three and ran through tests on phone with them - no success
Contacted WhatsApp help and tried their suggestions - no success
Reset phone and reinstalled WhatsApp - no success
Flashed original stock image from Samsung with Android 4.4.4 then only installed WhatsApp nothing else - no success
Tried a different ISP outside - no success
On sending from another phone to my Mega 2 phone the 2 ticks on the send phone would show blue even though on the receiving Mega2 phone it would have a blurred image with over writing saying "Unable to download please try again later"

After all this troubleshooting I am led to believe the problem is with WhatsApp or the servers it uses.

Then, while I was trying it once again on Monday testing between the Samsung Mega2 phone and my other phone it suddenly sent an image through. I realised that I had pressed the retry 5 times before it finally sent. It was then working for an hour or so before it stopped again.

When it had stopped working I tried again to send and yes, if i kept pressing the retry button it would always send on the 5th try and also then be able to receive media.

It would continue to be able to send and receive through WhatsApp for a limited time perhaps an hour or two. It seems to stop after a random time.

I have now tried this approach several times when it has stopped sending media and every time, if I then press the retry button 5 times it starts to send again for a short time.

This again makes me believe the problem is with WhatsApp or their servers as there is nothing but the stock image on my phone and WhatsApp.

Can anyone help me with this problem. Although my other phone, a Samsung Note 7 Edge, is unaffected, I do not believe I can be the only one having this problem since the 22nd July.

Thank you.