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No iPhone 3G, EDGE or MMS Service After iOS 4.0 Update

By 69 comments Last updated November 17, 2011

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A number of iPhone users have reported loss of cellular data access (3G or EDGE) after the update to iOS 4.0.

Fixes

Reset all settings. Try this first. On your iPhone, select Settings, then Reset, then Reset All Settings. This will result in the loss of data created since your last backup, but may solve the problem.

Restore, but not from a backup. One less-than-ideal fix for this issue involves restoring the iPhone as a new device rather than from a backup. It appears that bad holdover data from iPhone backups can cause loss of data access. Restoring as a new phone will delete contacts and other data, but generally resolves this problem.

To do so, connect your iPhone or iPod touch to your computer, click “Restore” in iTunes, then choose “setup as new phone.”

Some incidences of this issue may require a DFU restore.

Download new carrier settings. On your iPhone, go to Settings > General > About. If prompted for a carrier settings update, install it.

Otherwise, go to http://www.unlockit.co.nz/unlockit/ on your iPhone and download new carrier settings.

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Show 69 Comments

  2. tshering says

    hey is it necessary to rmove d sim card before selecting the carrier at unlockit……
    i had tried it once wit my sim inside but it said unable to create profile

    Reply

  3. Doug says

    Bought 2, iPhone 3GS about 9 months ago. About 3 months ago, one started dropping calls. I spoke to ATT & Apple. ATT did some things to “reset the phone to the tower”, so they say. Apple did nothing. The problem began getting worse. If I’m talking on the phone and get a text, the call will drop. Always shows 3 to 4 bars in signal. Called ATT 9 times since the problem started, called Apple 3 times, and ATT also did a 3 way conference call with Apple & me, twice.

    Apple swears it is a software problem with ATT sim card, so ATT replaced the sim card. Did not help. ATT swears it is a hardware problem. Long story short, I have been paying over 100.00 for the past 3 months, but can’t make calls longer than 20 seconds. Home button also started acting up. Sometimes you have to push it very hard several times to get any reaction. And you have to push it on the right hand side of the button or it will not work.

    Apple finally gave in, because the hardware warranty is still good, and said to take it to the local Apple store for replacement, because of the home button, not because it was dropping calls. Well, Apple store in Lafayette Louisiana does not handle iPhones….hmmm there’s a kick in the teeth. Apple tells me to go to THAT store, but that store is useless when it comes to phones.

    So, I bring the phone back home, and called ATT again. This time to cancel the account. I have been a ping pong ball between Apple & ATT long enough.

    Again, they do conference call with Apple, but now Apple wants 35.00 from me to send them the phone… why?? The phone only weighs a few ounces, I can FedEx overnight for about 15.00. I refused to pay anything. It’s under warranty, and they have been shinning me on for 3 months. I told ATT that I wanted to end the conference call with Apple and proceed with canceling the contract. ATT said I had to pay a penalty for canceling early. I told them to take me to court, I refuse to pay that also, simply because I have paid over 300.00 in the last 3 months for service that I didn’t get. The phone is a great iPod, but a terrible phone during the last 3 months.

    So, then ATT steps up, and offers me a free phone upgrade, 3 months early. I was surprised, but interested. I refused their offer for another iPhone, simply because of Apple. I would never ever buy another iPhone. Not that they are all bad phones, but because support is non-exsistant, even with warrenty and Apple care. Apple has offered absolutely no support in the past 3 months. They have done nothing all the way through this nightmare, but blame ATT’s network, which is bull. I can use the other iPhone, make a call and talk for hours, hang up, call the same person with the bad phone, and the call drops within 20 seconds. I know it’s not the network. I did take ATT’s offer for the HTC 4 Inspire. My total out of pocket cost for this phone was 4.06.

    ATT waved all the fees and didn’t ask me for anything except 4.06 which was some kind of tax that they couldn’t get around.

    So, be careful spending money on Apple care…. because Apple, really doesn’t care!

    Reply

  7. dom says

    i had the “No Service” issue with my iphone 3g after updating the firmware to 4.2.1… for the life of me i couldn’t figure out why my phone would lose all of the network information after i restored it from backup… then i realized i backed it up in airplane mode (which is essentially a state of “No Service”), so basically i was backing up my phone with no network information at all. the fix is really simple for this however! if you are experiencing “No Service” after updating/backing up in airplane mode, just put the phone back in airplane mode for a minute or so and when you turn airplane mode back off, all of your network information will return and viola! back in business! let me know if this works for you.

    Reply

  8. Phoenix says

    Hi I updated my 3 GS to the latest version after months and
    months of avoiding it. I only did it thinking they had fixed the
    bugs that everyone was expierencing. But nope. After updating I had
    no carrier. But turns out someone suggested to turn airport mode on
    and then off and sure enough it worked! So thanks for that
    suggestion.

    Reply

  9. Shen Long says

    Follow shanman’s advice…. It works 100%
    shanman9 said at 9:58 AM on July 3rd, 2010: Heres how I got it
    working. 1. Go to cydia and add the repo cydia.xsellize.com 2. Look
    for supreme preferences 3.0. Install. 3. Go into winterboard and
    check supreme preferences 3.0 4. Go to settings/supreme preferences
    3.0/applications/phone/ switch on cellular data editing. 5. Now
    your cellular data network should be displayed in the normal
    area

    Reply

  10. wtmp says

    I tried everything above, then I ran across iwillholla’s post about ultrasn0w. As soon as I installed it, BAM! Everything started working again!

    Thanks iwillholla!!

    iPhone 3GS v4.1

    *(No service after updating to 4.1 – fixed)*

    Reply

  11. Mike Brown says

    Guys, thought of leaving a meaningful comment here: here is what I had: iPhone 4 OS 4.1 AT&T USA version. There are couple tricks that you will need to be aware. I didn’t know this but tried it and it actually work, my EDGE/3G internet access is now back online.
    My iPhone 4 is jailbroken with Limera1n with baseband 01.59.00 unlock using Ultrasn0w (used TinyUmbrella to update to OS 4.1 without update the baseband)
    Here we go:
    1. After your phone is jailbroken/unlock, you must take out the microsim card (very important step!!!!)
    2. Use your phone and access the Wi-Fi hotspot, use Safari and enter the following address: http://www.unlockit.co.nz/#_home from your iPhone!
    3. You will be ask to create a custom APN: you must search for your service provider for APN name, user ID, and password, my network wording is all “internet”
    4. Click create the custom APN, let the system do the work, it will show up in your profile in your setting page as : APN Carrier Settings
    5. Once finish, turn off your Wi-Fi network
    6. Reinsert your non-AT&T microsim, check to make sure you still can receive your carrier signal (my crash when I left the sim in there during the APN build)
    7. Now check to see if you can access EDGE/3G
    Note: another way to see if your APN had successfully change is to go Settings/General/About — Check your Carrier name (my said AT&T before but now change to my local carrier)
    It should now work………GOOD LUCK ALL

    Reply

  12. e7h says

    I restored my iphone 3G when I shouldnt have as i live outside the UK and the US. I bought it in the UK and I live in asia. It was then on recovery mode..the one with the USB and itunes icon connecting and i could only make emergency calls. I then blackra1n it and finally it works! wifi is ok.. only problem is my sim card is invalid. how do i unlock the sim card?? it shows ‘No Service’ pleeease please help!

    Reply

    • elliot says

      you have to jailbreak with redsn0w and theh get cydia and download and install ultrasnow that should fix the problem

      Reply

  13. Heather says

    Erica in message number 13 above had an easy solution! Turn on airplane mode for a few seconds and then turn it off. Service comes right back on! Try this first before all that long drawn out stuff.
    Thanks Erica!!!!

    Reply

  15. Mahdibond says

    I had the same problem on stc network in KSA, I just changed the Apn settings: jawalnet.com.sa, but left the username and password blank.
    I hope it will work you according to your own network apn.

    Reply

  20. farah says

    i just got my iphone 3Gs yesterday and found out that it was jailbroken instead of officially unlocked by the previous carrier/apple. and it was already upgraded to 4.0 by the shop owner. but when i tried to configure the internet for my phone (i’m using goTalk Australia for my iPhone) but there was no APN setting and I just got lost from there. pls help me anyone.

    Reply

  22. John says

    well guys, i had the same problem with my factory unlocked Iphone 3gs and i fixed it without having to reset the network or the phone, that’s how:

    1. Go to settings
    2.Scroll to messages
    3. Turn MMS Messaging off
    4. Turn MMS Messaging on

    Now your MMS is back to business 🙂

    Reply

  23. shanman9 says

    Heres how I got it working.
    1. Go to cydia and add the repo cydia.xsellize.com
    2. Look for supreme preferences 3.0. Install.
    3. Go into winterboard and check supreme preferences 3.0
    4. Go to settings/supreme preferences 3.0/applications/phone/ switch on cellular data editing.
    5. Now your cellular data network should be displayed in the normal area

    Reply

  24. shakey44 says

    35 3G help with 4.0, thanx for your post. had tryd everything with no luck until i tryd your idea, worked like a charm. thanx again

    Reply

  25. Gerry says

    I fixed my Internet and email problems by contacting my service provider and they sent me new settings

    Reply

  26. neige says

    Thank god…. I’ve spent 8 hours of the past 3 days looking for an out…

    I had a iPhone 3GS (new boot rom) jailbroken with Spirit. Installed iOS 4, lost cellular data and voicemail. MMS still worked.

    The new carrier settings fixed my cellular data problem! But still no voicemail? I’ve tried resetting network settings, retstarting, etc. Any one else have this issue?

    Reply

  27. Bettina says

    “Reset all settings. Try this first. On your iPhone, select Settings, then Reset, then Reset All Settings. This will result in the loss of data created since your last backup, but may solve the problem.”

    This suggestion has solved my problem with NO MMS after installing the iOS4 on my iPhone 3G S 🙂

    I had to go through a “Settings” > “General” > and set up some of my personal settings again… but everything else is still on my iPhone : ipod songs and albums, photos, folders and apps, etc.

    Thanks a lot!!! 🙂

    Reply

  28. Vishal says

    43 Dennis said at 10:20 AM on June 28th, 2010:
    “i can help everyone!
    RESTORE YOUR PHONE AS A NEW PHONE FOR 4.0 : MAKE SURE ALL YOUR MUSIC PICS CONTACTS ARE ON ITUNES.

    THEN ONCE DONE OPEN REDSNOW, AND SELECT YOUR IPSW YOU DOWNLOADED, THEN UNBLOCK INSTALL CYDIA BUT KEEP MULTITASKING ETC. ONCE DONE YOU WILL HAVE EVERYTHING BACK!

    NEED HELP? CONTACT [email protected] ( no caps)”

    YEA….so basically — DO NOT Check mark “CYDIA” but do select multitasking and wallpaper…..after doing this….my iphone will have multitasking, wallpaper & MMS????

    Reply

  29. Dennis says

    “i can help everyone!
    RESTORE YOUR PHONE AS A NEW PHONE FOR 4.0 : MAKE SURE ALL YOUR MUSIC PICS CONTACTS ARE ON ITUNES.

    THEN ONCE DONE OPEN REDSNOW, AND SELECT YOUR IPSW YOU DOWNLOADED, THEN UNBLOCK INSTALL CYDIA BUT KEEP MULTITASKING ETC. ONCE DONE YOU WILL HAVE EVERYTHING BACK!

    NEED HELP? CONTACT [email protected] ( no caps)”

    So do not install Cydia?

    Reply

  32. Brent says

    I have been searching all day to figure out how to get my data connection tab back on my 3G (jailbroken with redsn0w & unlocked with ultrasn0w) after upgrading to 4.0. This solution worked perfectly!!

    (I still don’t have a tab for my cellular data settings, but as this worked, I don’t really need it!)

    Thanks!!

    Reply

  33. abuhira says

    I was finally able to get my 3G data connection working (for internet, mail and app store). I had to use the following site to get mobileconfig file:

    http://www.iphone-notes.de/mobileconfig/

    I had to generate and have the mobileconfig file emailed to myself using my PC (the site does not work from iPhone safari).

    I have a iPhone 3G running iOS4 and it is JB and unlocked.

    PS – I do not have MMS enabled so cannot confirm.

    Reply

  35. Jake says

    i can help everyone!
    RESTORE YOUR PHONE AS A NEW PHONE FOR 4.0 : MAKE SURE ALL YOUR MUSIC PICS CONTACTS ARE ON ITUNES.

    THEN ONCE DONE OPEN REDSNOW, AND SELECT YOUR IPSW YOU DOWNLOADED, THEN UNBLOCK INSTALL CYDIA BUT KEEP MULTITASKING ETC. ONCE DONE YOU WILL HAVE EVERYTHING BACK!

    NEED HELP? CONTACT [email protected] ( no caps)

    Reply

  36. 3G help with 4.0 says

    Here is the fix.
    I used some websites and did a whole bunch of resetting this and that to fix the MMS and tethering issues for nothing. You fix APN then MMS doesn’t work so I finally came across this.
    To fix the MMS and have tethering enabled on your 3G 4.0 (the one I done it on) do the following;
    1. Restore your iPhone via iTunes 9.2
    2. Jailbreak with redsn0w – 0.9.5b5-3 (NOT redsn0w – 0.9.5b-4)
    3. Turn OFF 3G, Cellular Data, and Data Roaming
    4. Install Ultrasn0w
    5. And that’s it.
    You will finally have Cellular Data Network option on your iPhone settings/network option.
    After you do all this just key in your APN, MMS and Internet Tethering info.
    When I connected back to iTunes and set it up as a new iPhone. It worked like charm.
    I spent all of Friday afternoon and night resetting this and that but this simple solution fixed it all.

    Reply

  38. JGRuleme says

    Had no service after I upgraded to 4.0. DO a restore and activate a new phone, it will sink and I have service now… I have been miserable the last 2 days trying to get this crap done!!!

    Reply

  40. sushiman2000 says

    This website worked great for me! It sent me an email with a download that changed the APN settings that I was previously locked out of. I now have 3G in Ukraine using Utel.

    Reply

  41. iGoGo says

    Restore to factory default (not from backup) in iTunes worked for me. Reset on iPhone was nogo.
    Carrier setting in about changed from unknown to T-mobile 7.0 (NL)

    Reply

  43. KevinMichael says

    I need help, okay so ive done everything it says above. i have an iphone 3g 16 gb on 05.13.04
    or something like that, so i unlocked it with ultrasn0w and everything but i get no service at all.
    what do i do:[

    Reply

  44. bluboy says

    My phone had the same issue. AT&T brushed me off onto Apple and vice versa. I took the phone to the local Apple retailer. They did their thing and finnaly just replaced it since the 1 year warranty had’nt yet expired. No success in determining what the issue was with the store techs.
    3g worked great till I got home and synced to iTunes! Again no 3G. The phone displays its on the network in the top left of the status bar, but pages don’t load. This time I restored the phone as a new device and so far it seems to have worked.
    I’ve heard some speculation the issue may stem from the iTunes 9.2 push that came through. Something to do with a program called “Mingler”. But I have absolutely no idea as the about the accuracy of that, or what Mingler even
    is. I am certain though that no one should expect enthusiastic support from AT&T or Apple over via phone call. They both spun it to me as “cellular network” problem, as in its down. Neither acknowledgded that the 4.0 software push was not without its bugs.
    Good luck, all.

    Reply

  45. Joseph says

    So I finally broke down and RESTORED AS A NEW iPHONE!! I’m gonna punch one AT&T employee for every text I lost!

    The point is, I now have full usage back, PLUS there are a few new options in the settings menu I didn’t have before, including:

    Tethering option
    Cellular Data Usage counter

    So I’m forced to conclude whatever previous setting that was a part of my backup was messing up these new carrier settings/features

    Reply

  47. MingT says

    I can’t seem to access unlockit.co.nz, does anyone know of a mirror or another way to change the APN settings?

    Reply

  49. Ky says

    I also was running of 3.1.3 jailbroken and am having the same issues after upgrading to 4.0, I think my only option from here is restarting without backup and starting over.

    Reply

  50. Joseph says

    I don’t know if anyone has admitted this, but In 3.1.3 I was running a jailbroken iPhone 3GS –
    I upgraded to 4.0 and sure enough, I’m having this same issue.

    The unlockit fix took care of my 3G data services, but I still don’t have MMS capability – and for some reason my visual voicemail doesn’t work either.

    Reply

  54. StephenD says

    Hi, I’ve done a iphone restore but still can’t use MMS my 3G internet is working fine and all my settings are correct. Wish I hadn’t installed the iOS 4.0 🙁

    Any help??

    Reply

  55. iwillholla says

    After you restore to 4.0 and restore your back up settings, you might want to install ultrasn0w to make your phone get all of its data abilities back. Even if you are on an AT&T plan. I am an on an authorized carrier but i still needed ultrasn0w. The Dev-team saves the day AGAIN…

    Reply

  57. Erica says

    I turned Airplane Mode “on”, waited a few seconds, and turned it back “off”.. 3G came back right after.

    Reply

  58. Adam says

    http://www.unlockit.co.nz fixed my internet / data connectivity on Orange UK!
    However I still can’t use MMS. Is there a fix for that?
    On my version of 3GS I can’t put in the cellular data manually… I know what the MMS settings should be how can I input them?

    Reply

  59. Adam says

    This my internet / data connectivity on Orange UK!

    However I still can’t use MMS. Is there a fix for that?

    My version of 3GS I can’t put in the cellular data manually….

    Reply

  61. Will says

    i’ve tried everything on here besides restore and lose everything which i really, really, really don’t want to do…. and i still have no service.
    is there anything else?

    Reply

  62. Ryan says

    Oh my god…. i was freakin out thanks SO MUCH for the unlockit site!!! For people confused once they reach it click continue and then custom apn then all you haev to do is select your carrier =)

    Reply

  63. Alex says

    I had the same problem. I just did a hard reset by pressing the power off button together with the home button for 5 seconds. After the reset it was all back to normal.

    Reply

  67. Paul says

    After trying everything besides restoring my iPhone to factory settings and losing all my data I visited http://www.unlockit.co.nz/ and loaded new APN settings for my 3GS and now all is well. I’m glad I didn’t take my carrier’s advice and wipe my iPhone!

    Reply

  68. Rob Cottingham says

    Thanks for pointing me to Unlockit NZ. That fixed a problem that took up my whole evening!

    I’ve credited you on my blog. Thanks again!

    Reply