Verizon iPhone unable to make or receive calls

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John1988 Author

Level 1

13 points

Verizon iPhone unable to make or receive calls

Hello everyone, my Verizon iPhone is intermittently unable to make or receive calls (yes I do have reception). Has anyone experienced this before? I've called Verizon customer service and they were no help and suggested replacing the device at the apple store which I did. Verizon tech support ended up saying they would look into my issue with the network team, and contact me, which they never did. Apple sort of suggested it's a Verizon issue, and was not going to replace it for that reason, until I told them my battery was dieing quick too (luckily I had a screenshot of usage). So they're kinda blaming eachother- and I'm stuck in the middle with no support/help. I've tried ALL of the troubleshooting procedures. Do you think it's a Verizon or iPhone problem? What should I do?

One reason I think it's a Verizon issue is, I've had 2 iPhones that had the same problem- what are the chances of that? One reason I believe it's a Apple iPhone issue is because ALL of the Verizon phones in my household work perfectly all the time, except mine. Again it's intermittent, which is why I recorded videos.

Here is my brother's iPhone calling mine (both Verizon): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWvZN90_adk

My iPhone calling brother's: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZFS5iiNrus

My iPhone calling a friends phone: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGcB6uH0Ax8

My friend calling my iPhone: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCnJc4e_DAQ

Iphone 4, iOS 4

Posted on Apr 4, 2011 4:36 AM

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Answer 1

wjosten

Level 10

95,321 points

Apr 4, 2011 5:03 AM in response to John1988

As an experiment, go into Settings>General>Network...turn Cellular Data off. Are you able to freely make & receive calls now?

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Answer 2

John1988 Author

Level 1

13 points

Apr 4, 2011 5:53 AM in response to wjosten

My iPhone is currently working right now, can't really try it now, but will try when it stops working again.

I forgot to mention on the iPhone before this one when I first noticed this issue, my cellular data usage displayed 12GB on my iPhone. When I called Verizon, they said it only showed 288MB of usage on their system. Never happened again though, was just that one time.

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Answer 3

John1988 Author

Level 1

13 points

Apr 4, 2011 5:19 PM in response to John1988

Well I woke up today and it wasn't working again. I tried the cellular data OFF, still not able to make or receive calls. Right now my iPhone gets incoming calls, but can't make outgoing calls.

One thing I noticed when making a call is, the 3G symbol disapears right when I tap to call someone, and comes back right away when the call is ended/failed. Is this normal?

And how come sometimes the call will fail instantly, sometimes it takes 5,10,15,20,30 seconds to fail?

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Answer 4

John1988 Author

Level 1

13 points

Apr 4, 2011 5:43 PM in response to John1988

Okay nevermind, only 1/4 calls get through to my iPhone- and still not able to make any calls.

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Answer 5

Apr 4, 2011 7:15 PM in response to John1988

Yes it is normal for the 3G symbol to disappear when making or receiving calls. Verizon uses 1x for voice calls and 3G for data.

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Answer 6

John1988 Author

Level 1

13 points

Apr 4, 2011 7:39 PM in response to Merged Content 1

I see, was just wondering if it could be a cause of this problem. In your opinion do you think it's a Apple or Verizon issue?

Update: I guess it's not taking incoming calls again at all, mom just called our landline to tell me she called multiple times, and I never got any rings/missed calls...

Message was edited by: John1988

Message was edited by: John1988

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Answer 7

Max Leon

Level 1

25 points

Apr 4, 2011 8:00 PM in response to John1988

I would try to reset the network settings (Settings -> General -> Reset -> Reset Network Settings). That deletes wifi passwords but shouldn't delete anything else.

If that doesn't work, try:
http://www.apple.com/support/iphone/assistant/calls/

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Answer 8

John1988 Author

Level 1

13 points

Apr 4, 2011 8:26 PM in response to Max Leon

I have tried all the troubleshooting methods on the iPhone before this one multiple times by myself and with verizon tech support. Anyways, I gave it a try on this iPhone except the restore, because I want the apple genius to be able to run a diagnostic on it. I did the restore on my prior iPhone and he said he couldn't run the diagnostic because I restored it.

My results from the troubleshooting link:

1. Check Signal - I have 3/5 bars, still doesn't work

2. Reset Network Settings - I did that, still doesn't work

3. Verizon Update Preferred Roaming List - My iPhone gets "Call Failed" when dialing *228 (btw I already did this the day I got this iPhone).

4. Check Carrier - 4 of the 5 Verizon phones in my house work perfectly, so I doubt it's a carrier issue at this point. But I will give Verizon another call tomorrow morning to make sure.

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Answer 9

John1988 Author

Level 1

13 points

Apr 4, 2011 8:34 PM in response to John1988

It's kind of funny, my LG Voyager and LG Dare can dial *228- and they're not even activated lol... Yet my iPhone will get "call failed".

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Answer 10

Max Leon

Level 1

25 points

Apr 4, 2011 8:41 PM in response to John1988

1-3) Gotcha.
4)The Check Carrier means to make sure that your account is provisioned properly. But, if its working intermittently I wouldn't think that this is the issue.

I would definitely set it up for a repair:
http://selfsolve.apple.com

Or, you were talking about a genius, make an appointment:
http://www.apple.com/retail/geniusbar/

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Answer 11

John1988 Author

Level 1

13 points

Apr 5, 2011 4:19 AM in response to Max Leon

Here we go again, iPhone is draining battery fast with extremely high Cellular Network Data Usage currently at 20GB (Imagine if I didn't have an unlimited data plan). I don't think I'd be able to use that much data in a year...

Anyways on my last iPhone it went up to 12GB of usage, when I called Verizon it didn't sync with their system. They said it only showed 288MB of usage. Apple genius and Verizon were totally stumped when I told them this. This is so bizarre... driving me nuts because I want to know what the exact issue is!

Current Usage Stats:

Battery currently @ 10%
Usage: 2 hours, 21 minutes
Standby: 22 hours, 18 minutes

Call Time
Current Period: 1 hour, 5 minutes
Lifetime: 1 hour, 5 minutes

Cellular Network Data
Sent: 20.0GB
Received: 20.0GB

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Answer 12

sn4p2k

Level 4

1,228 points

Apr 5, 2011 9:59 AM in response to John1988

To be honest these are the solutions that may or may not work.

First thing I would try is rebooting the phone by holding the sleep/wake button and home button for 15 seconds until you see the white apple logo.

If that doesn't work I would restore from backup. If that doesn't work I would restore as new. If all else fails take it to your closest apple store they may replace the phone for a working one..

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Answer 13

John1988 Author

Level 1

13 points

Apr 5, 2011 11:05 PM in response to sn4p2k

I booked the first appointment today and exchanged it.

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Answer 14

Apr 7, 2011 6:12 PM in response to wjosten

We are having the exact same issue. I turned the data off and the phone worked. Verizon has a ticket out on this and is supposed to get back to us. What does it mean when the phone works with this data off?

We have 2 other iphones in the house. The issue only effects one. Verizon sent us a replacement phone and the same thing happens.

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Answer 15

John1988 Author

Level 1

13 points

Apr 7, 2011 10:15 PM in response to Maximus35

Verizon said they opened a ticket for me too, it's been over a week now- Verizon has not contacted me yet... I have had 3 replacement iPhones that had this issue (including the replacement I got yesterday). So now I don't think it's a problem with the iPhone. Weird that when I have FULL 5/5 reception bars the phone makes and receives calls perfectly.

Are you by any chance in Southern California? Maybe it's a tower that's bugged or having issues and Verizon doesn't know about it?

As for it working with data off, I have no idea.

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