"Could not activate cellular data network" message on iPhone 3GS (iOS 4.1)

I have the same issue, Ibrought my phone in May as well from 3 - when I upgraged to OS4 the data stopped working but the wi-fi was fine. I have tried similar to you and nothing has worked. I now have booked a time for Apple Genius to take a look at my phone. By the sounds of it, you still have issues even after replacement.

Its driving me crazy - let me know if you figure this out. If anyone else knows, help us out please.

Greg

I had the same problem on the first day I bought the iphone4.
It was because I haven't yet activated the 3G data option with vodafone so they didn't allow me to establish a data connection.
The message disappeared soon after I activated the "mobile internet" option on my SIM and internet started working on my phone.

What did you do three months ago? A software upgrade?
I guess you have an APN problem. Unfortunately you can't edit the APN on the settings. I don't know whether is possibile to put links here so I suggest you to look for APN changing on google and see if you can manage to edit it.

I am having similar problems.

My network settings are correct and I can communicate both over 3G and WiFi.

However, every few minutes the connection is being dropped. A few seconds later it's back again. I can see this in an application I am developing. It's rather frustrating... 😟

In the console I see this message prior to the connection being lost and rebuilt:

"Mon Sep 20 09:44:58 PeterVs-iPhone-3GS configd[23] <Notice>: network configuration changed."

I have not changed anything to the configuration. What's even more strange is that I ONLY have 3G at this moment, i.e. WiFi is disabled.

What is changing the network configuration? And why does it mean that the current network connection needs to be torn down and rebuilt? After the network is back, there is no difference than before. So it gets torn down and rebuilt for no apparent reason.

I have logged a bug with Apple over a week ago, but haven't had any reply from them yet. I need more information about what is happening, and how I can prevent it. I'm not very happy having to grope in the dark, having to make guesses because somebody decided that he knows what's best for me.

This is happening on multiple iPhones with multiple different OS-es. So I am guessing it is related to my carrier (Vodafone). But I can't verify it because I'm not getting the tools from Apple.

Also, sometimes the message pops up. But most of the time the disconnect is short, and apparently the message is only shown if the disconnect takes a while.

In the console I see this very often:


Mon Sep 20 13:28:26 unknown CommCenter[30] <Notice>: Deactivated PDP context 0 that supports connection types 0x1
Mon Sep 20 13:28:26 unknown CommCenter[30] <Notice>: Error (64) activating PDP context 0 that supports types 1: kGprsUnspecified
Mon Sep 20 13:28:26 unknown configd[23] <Notice>: network configuration changed.

I have the same problem and I tried everything including factory restore. None of them worked.

Interestingly, when I roam outside the country with a different provider, data services work fine. So it seems to be a handshake issue with specific network providers.

It is driving me nuts. Any other suggestions welcome.

This happens to me when I'm not logged into a Wifi system and a cellular connection is shaky, at best (ie: a few dead zones in particular areas of my work place) and I try to download email, etc. If I go outside to find better cell-reception or log into Wifi, it works as normal for me.

I too have the similar Issue.My Cellular data was working fine till I upgraded to OS 4.1. Then every time I tried to connect I was facing the error " Cannot connect to Cellular data network" .But then I tried to turn on and off "Enable 3G" and then it worked . but now its stoped working too.

Hi,

I am having exactlty the same problem here. I'm on t-mobile who have checked their system and advised that there are no connectivity issues at their end. Put back to Apple and becuase my phone is out of warranty, they want £146 for an out of warranty repair.

Phone calls and wifi are fine but no connection over edge/3g to internet, including web, email or through apps.

I've tried reseting both phone and network settings, done a full restore, upgraded to 4.2, updated carrier settings, every reset and restore has been done and still no connection.

I've been trying to find aothers who have had the same issue and some have had success in constantly resetting the phone.

Has anybody managed to find a fix for this at all?