Siri- "Sorry, I am having trouble connecting to the network".

scragin wrote:

It may be clearly marked on the website, but when you go to buy an iPhone 4S they sure as h*ll don't mention it or the fact that it will work only intermittently and NOTHING like their ads plastered all over TV. I just bought my first smart phone 4 days ago and I'm very sour on the experience. Thought I was getting a robust product and it's anything but. Apple should be ashamed for their stealth beta release. I'm p*ss*d! Jobs is spinning in his grave...

It was clearly marked everywhere. You probably just chose to ignore it. I have beta tested many programs before. I was even a seeder for the beta 10.7.2 for Lion and it had plenty of bugs before it was released and probably still has some that the beta testers never found in their setups. Until it is final it will have problems and will not work all the time. I guess you would be even madder that Siri wasn't even on your phone in the first place.

I agree with KC7GNM. Siri works off and on for me too at times. I like my phone's features even without Siri- but really like my phone when Siri's present and working. I recognize the tremendous problem Apple must be having with all the hits their servers must be getting and have confidence that they will, eventually get it worked out so that Siri's more regularly available (read 24/7/365). I have a hunch that one day we'll look back at Siri as the infant she is but that we WILL recognize here as THE initial attempt at freeing users from a keyboard and mouse and really allowing users to have a dialog with their machines. I think it's the first real step forward in technology that can really make all other methods for inputing information into a computer or mobile device seem primative and klunkish by comparison.

The key distinction that the "get over it" folks have failed to mention is that "Beta" versions are generally "opt in" and are not the KEY FEATURE of a new product roll out ad campaign.

I seriously doubt that the average person saw the 4S rollout presentation.

What people remember are the ads, and it is clear that those ads created a performance expectations on the part of customors that are not being met, regardless of the "beta" distinction that is lost on folks.

If I'm approached to be a beta testing participant, I have a very different view of the product/service than if I have seen a $5 Million ad campaign that ONLY talks about this cool, gotta have, "Siri" thing.

Beta or not, Apple has created expectations in the average consumer that it has failed to live up to. And as many "average" users have shared in this thread..... "beta" is not a concept that are familiar with.

Sadly, this experience is reminiscent of one of many Microsoft much-hyped OS rollouts, that also failed to live up to the ads.

Regarding the approach to Siri, there are certain functions that should be autonomous on the phone regardless "internet connectivity". Things such as voice dialing, calendar functions and other functions related to data and services that reside ON THE PHONE should not be constrained by internet connectivity or the lack thereof.

Yeah my Siri never works. I live in Washington, DC, on the Verizon Network. All I ever get is "Sorry, I am having trouble…" It never works. If I don't get that message, it will just hang up until I give up. One time I asked "Siri, play Beastie Boys, Ill Communication, and nothing happened. I gave up. 20 minutes later my phone started playing the album in a client meeting. ***.

Beta or not, Siri *****, and works nothing like advertised.

I found the answer online and it works!!!!!!!!

f you can’t get Siri working on the iPhone 4s, try this;

- Disable Siri in the phone settings
- Reboot the phone
- Re-enable Siri

You may have to repeat this process up to three times. If it still doesn’t work, try the following instead;

- Disconnect the handset from the wireless network (if connected to one)
- Try to use Siri over 3G
- Re-enable the wireless network

Try again, and Siri should now be working.

Question I have been asking since the battery problems on the 4S started : how to swich of 3G if it is not necessary to be on ... so far I always had received a response that it is not available on the 4S (as opposed to the 3GS), and "why would you want to switch off 3G" ...

From your post above, I understand that you have found a way to use Siri without 3G ... how did you do that ?

I just got the iphone 4s and loved it. Siri worked at first and then stopped working. Siri keeps replying, "Im really sorry about this but i cant take any request right now. Please try back in a little while." i tried reseting my network settings and turning off then on after resetting network. it worked the first couple of days but was very slow at times and now is not working at all. I dont really want to take it back and get a different phone since im sure Apple will come up with a solution soon. Has Apple ever really let us down before? Is there really any other company comaparable to Apple that has created all the technology and accessories they have made? I dont think so! I think i will just go to the Appple store and sit down with someone and talk about what i can do.

Siri has worked fine for me for a few weeks. It worked this morning but, then, in the afternoon it did not work for several hours. Now it is working again.Since Siri has been working fairly reliably I though that Apple had fixed its problems.

I did nothing to my iPhone 4s to "make" it start working again. I wonder if the touted on-line "fixes" actually do anything or if there is just a temporal relationship with Siri starting to work again.

Only one conclusion I can draw. This must be a server problem, particularly one of server overload. If it were a hardware problem I wouldn't expect it to act this way. Moreover, if it IS a hardware or software problem then Apple has a BIG problem - at least from the number of "Siri not working" comments there are out there.

The comments that Siri is in "beta" and that we should expect problems are giving Apple too much of a pass on this issue. Siri continues to be advertised as a main feature of the iPhone 4s. Moreover, the number of complaints being made should certainly warrant a response from Apple on the issue.

Generally, I am quite happy with the 4s. If they can't get Siri to work reliably Apple should consider a software update though that automatically changes to the standard voice control when Siri is not working.

I live in West Texas and am using ATT service. My iPhone is still 5.0 since I hadn't been having battery life issues and don't want to chance the 5.0.1 update.

Nope, nope, nope. This does not work for me, still says, "I'm really sorry about this..blah blah"

I have rebooted the phone, quit all apps individually and rebooted, turned off/on Siri and Reset Network in various combinations - and numerous times - but Siri just does not work, and has not worked for four days now. Running IOS 5.0.1, AT&T 4S phone.

I think the Siri servers are down, but Apple does not seem to want to provide us with any status on the Siri servers so it's hard to say for sure. Maybe it's the Silicon Valley servers that are down and other parts of the country are working. Siri is so cool when it's working..<sigh>

Wow, I am finding this almost down right pathetic! Only had my phone since Saturday and already the Siri feature is broken. All day it's been giving that generic connection error message. When you have Apple marketing this function like it's the best thing since sliced bread. You would figure it could at LEAST function. I'll admit being an Apple fanboy. Honestly, I may start rethinking the brand real soon. What a discouragement Apple.....

This is SAD. Yesterday Siri is down and this morning is down too. Keep saying "Sorry, I am having trouble....". Internet has been running fine because my emails come through. Trying to keep rebooting the phone (remind me the infamous Windows restart btw) didn't help either. I wish Apple would come forward and tell us what's going on.

OK. Just used Siri to set a reminder and it worked fine. Within two minutes I tried to set a timer and got the dreaded "Sorry but I am having trouble connecting to the network" message. Two minutes, or less, later I tried again and Siri worked fine.

Doesn't sound like a hardware/software problem to me. Sounds like a server capacity problem or some other server related problem.

Beta or not, this needs to be fixed. In the meantime Apple should not be advertising the "service" as a benefit of the (otherwise excellent) iPhone 4s.

This forum is listed as an Apple support discussion forum. Does Apple have ANYONE monitoring this or is it just attempting to ignore the problem as it apparently tried with the iPhone 4 antenna problem?

I would certainly agree that it is the wrong way to go. Apple's continued silence on this issue, particularly with their history of initial silence on the antenna issue with the 4, is only creating ill will among users.

A simple "we know about the issue and are working on it" would suffice to demonstrate to the hundreds, and even thousands, of people having this problem that there is probably an end in sight.

Probably one of their lawyers told them not to admit that there is a problem! ;-)

I thought it was just server overload during the initial hype, but this has not improved (and none of the purported "fixes" have any lasting effect). Siri's novelty wears off very quickly when you realize it only works about 1/3 of the time. Typically, Siri can't connect to the network or cannot process any requests.

For Siri to be taken seriously, it needs to at least be able to connect. Once they figure that out, then they can work on how Siri handles requests.

Was not working in Tampa this past Saturday. But on Sunday it was back and fast.

I do not use it often because it is frustrating for the most part. The feature I like the most when it works is dictation when replying to emails and writing notes.