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Phone disconnected from network since upgrading to 3.1

Since 3.1 update, my phone has been disconnecting from the network. That means I can't send/recieve calls or texts, and can't get to the data network using Safari or applications.

When I try to send a text or email, it shows that it wasn't delivered. When trying to make a call, it says that's its calling, but the call never goes through. Incoming calls go to voicemail instead of ringing the phone. When starting an app, I receive the following message "Network Error. Failed to connect. Please check that airplane mode is off." (It is). In Safari I get "Safari can not open page. Server not responding".

All the while, the phone is showing four bars on the 3G network. Turning 3G off or restarting the phone solves the problem. I have had to do that two, three, four times a day now. I've noticed many other people reporting this problem.

I spoke with Applecare yesterday, and they told me to go to ATT to replace my SIM card which I did last night. So far (twelve hours later), the phone is working. I'll report back in a couple of days if this did indeed fix the problem.

On a side note, I'm shocked that an update to the firmware could cause such a severe problem. Another gripe that I has is Apple's replacement policy. My current phone is a replacement to my original iPhone which had a defective GPS. When I spoke to Applecare yesterday, they confirmed that my replacement phone was a refurb, and not a new phone. My original phone was less than 30 days old when I reported the problem. I would expect a new phone within the first 30 days and not a refurbished phone in which I'm potentially inheriting someone else's problems.

I expected more from Apple. The iPhone is a great phone, but my excitement for the iPhone and Apple has dwindled considerably after they released such a buggy upgrade and after learning about their replacement policy.

iPhone 3GS, Other OS, OS 3.1

Posted on Sep 25, 2009 6:42 AM

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30 replies

Sep 30, 2009 1:43 PM in response to RBbeachbum

I'm having the same problems. Since upgrading to 3.1 I often can't make or receive calls, voicemails come hours or even day later and 3G, which was not all that great to begin with, is even worse. And, I live in Chicago! When my contract is up next year I am not getting another iPhone because Apple has shown they do not know what they're doing and AT&T is a lousy provider. I'm also not going to replace my iMac with another Apple product because I've lost faith in them as a company. The iPhone is very cool, but it's been a frustrating, unreliable rip-off. Certainly not worth $90 a month.

Sep 30, 2009 2:42 PM in response to Community User

Thanks apple for letting me upgrade my phone, sign a newer 2 year contract with the Deathstar and then providing a downgrade via a software update. I have been problem free since switching off 3G. Prior to this I found the problem more than once a day, with no idea if I missed calls prior to finding the issue each time. My question may be answered, but I find either the complete lack of knowledge at the store or hiding the fact they know there is a problem and not admitting it rather distasteful.

< Edited by Host >

Oct 1, 2009 1:44 AM in response to RBbeachbum

SInce installing 3.1 two weeks ago, the following problems have occurred and I want to log my experience along with 100's of others here:

1) Random shut-downs occurring once or twice a day typically after a time-out -- I have to do a manual reboot to resolve

2) Battery Life drastically reduced dropping from fully-charged to 50% within an hour -- I have to keep it plugged in at my desk whenever possible

3) Beginning 9/29, 3G reception is completely gone and calls are going right to voicemail -- I have temporarily turned off 3G under settings tonight to run with Edge (I will observe tomorrow how this may temporarily alleviate battery issue)

I have never experienced any issues with iPhone updates before, this is a first for me and all three issues are impacting my productivity. I hope Apple resolves this quickly and provides us a 3.11 update. Greg

Oct 1, 2009 11:35 AM in response to RBbeachbum

Per AppleCare's advice, I restored my phone to factory settings in iTunes and set up as new phone instead of using my last back up. This did not solve the problem. Unfortunately, I cancelled my appt. at the Apple store since the phone was working before the appt. These are things I've tried over the past two weeks per AppleCare's advice, none of which have solved the problem.

1) Restored to factory settings, then applied a backup.
2) Replaced the SIM card.
3) Applied the MMS carrier patch.
4) Restored to factory setting, then set up as new phone.

The only thing left at this point is to schedule another appt. at the Apple store and hope the replacement phone has 3.0.1 (unless Apple finally releases a patch for this problem before I get to the Apple store).

Oct 4, 2009 1:22 PM in response to RBbeachbum

Today I went to the Apple store and was given a replacement phone. (refurbished actually - don't get me started on the fact that less than 90 days ago I paid for a new phone, and the replacement is a refurb!)

Anyway, it has 3.0 on it. I wish that it had 3.0.1 since that version was a security patch and it worked fine. However, I will leave my phone at 3.0 until Apple resolves this problem.

Oct 4, 2009 2:03 PM in response to MG09

MG09, thanks for posting your experience. As I've posted in this thread and others, I picked up an "new" (refurb) phone today. It has 3.0 on it, and I was considering doing what you tried (downloading a new version of 3.1 and then applying it to my "new" phone). But because of your experience, I'm just going to wait until until Apple releases a patch for this.

APPLE, WHAT IS TAKING SO LONG?????

Oct 4, 2009 3:40 PM in response to bergy-san

this.

also my iPhone is barely past the 1 year warranty date so getting a replacement refurbished iPhone won't work for me..

bergy-san wrote:
So the solution to the software bug introduced in OS 3.1 is to downgrade my iPhone 3G to the Edge network. Hmmmm... *Does that mean they're going to refund part of my purchase price to reflect the drop in performance. How about AT&T refunding part of my phone bill each month since Apple made sure I can't use the performance I paid for.* What gives? When will a fix to the random paperweight problem going to be forthcoming from APPLE!!???@@?????

Oct 19, 2009 9:07 AM in response to RBbeachbum

I attempted the 3.1.2 update on Wednesday. It turned my iPhone (not jail broke) into a brick again. I tried all the things that were tried to get 3.1 to run on this iPhone with no results. So Saturday I went to the Genius Bar. They updated some of the firmware that iTunes can't and loaded 3.1.2. So far all is well, no coma and no network disconnect. Looks like a good update so far.

Oct 23, 2009 10:53 AM in response to RBbeachbum

I haven't seen the same issues since this fix which is good. I do see situations where I have one bar and no apparent connection which shifts to 5 bars and things start up again within seconds. I think they found the problem code and now they kill the connection and create a new one which I can live with. I'd seen this happen alot but it was quick until just now where it took a couple of minutes for it to happen - until that point it had exactly the same symptoms as before - no app would connect. So for the most part I am glad they found a fix for the code - I'd still like the dead connection to stop happening but we may never see a fix for that.

Phone disconnected from network since upgrading to 3.1

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