Q: iPhone 4S dropping network and data at random

didnt work for me with 128k T-Mobile simcard (able to recive calls and sms but cant call and text, only sometimes).

When my 4s was bought in november and there were 5.0 on it the phone worked fine for few weeks with a sim from 2004! (cuted ofcourse) and then I installed this crap 5.0.1

Now still waiting what poples from the service will say, they just recived my phone today..

How can I know if I've a 64k or a 128k. I've an Orange LU contract on a MD235NF. What is the 2 char at end (CS, NF) ?

I think also that the problem occurs when the iPhone is switching between 3G and Edge. Is it possible ?

hello,

i believe the two letters at the end of the model no are some kind of localization difference,so there might be a difference in the american,british and some european types etc...just guessing

you'll find the type of your sim as follows:

settings-phone-sim applications-sim status

it will show a black screen and on the top it will say:

smart sim 128a (this is my case,you will have something else i suppose)

under that some more digits...

as you will hit the sim status button it might not respond at first so hit it again and again till it shows the black screen...

just to note,when i did have the network drops,i was not able to get through there,in fact i was using the responsiveness of the sim to the status request as proof that my phone is not in the network,had to restart the phone to get there...

also there are more models of the 128k sim the letter "a" at the end of mine is the model signature,i did see other models with letters "d" "e" ...

it might be that it does not work with all the 128k sims,just with the latest ones

but i definitelly believe it is not hardware related,and that this is and issue of iphone working only with a small number of latest sims,whych by the way is totally silly from apple if so...

good luck

Thanks Jurajpe, but I' don't have this menu.

In Setting-Phone : I've only the menu for the code PIN and others setting for calls and the option International Assist.

alright,so you do not see sim applications menu when you scroll all the way down? interesting,there is the answer to the model nimber difference then...

ok,when you got your sim,did you keep the big card from whych you pushed your sim out?it has your puk and bpin on it. ypu should have some long nimbers there and it will end in the way 64e or 128a (the letters may vary)...try that,or go to your providers shop and have them to check it out for you...

Yes I've the big card with my puk code at home. I'll look at this evening and give you feedback.

Thanks

i just tought about it...how old is your sim? is it the smart sim? you might not have the sim status menu because your sim is not supporting it...

i am still convinced that this is sim related...

can i ask those of you who replaced the sim for 128k one, and problem remained,what letter is after the 128"x"?

i got 128a and i am good since i got it...

cheers

Ok, Im listing ALL the solutions so far discovered towards the problem.

1. Swap Sim (try 64K or 128K sim card) ----- Success rate - 54%

2. Disable Sim Pin ----- Success rate - 83%

3. Switch off Call Forwarding, Call Waiting and switch on 'show my caller ID' ----- Success rate - 66% (including myself)

4. Make sure your MicroSim is properly cut/made. Success rate N/A

5. Upgrade to 9A406 ----- Success rate - 70%

god dam it! Again! Try beta 3, it's working!

I heard from Apple people if you download beta versions your iphone doesnt remain under warranty.

Jurajpe, I don't have any number on my card. I've only a barcode with his number. I didn't see a number with 64x or 128x. I'll ask to my operator. My SIM card is a new card changed on 2012-01-24.

Hello everyone, here is my experience with the iPhone 4S with dropping network and data at random.
I bought my  iPhone 4S 32 Gb with firmware 5.0 in early December 2011 and had no problems.
My phone Carrier is WIND Italy.
The dropping network is started in a sporadic and random when I updated to firmware 5.0.1 (9A405) with "NO SERVICE" on display then "Locked SIM".
Thinking it was a problem with the carrier WIND I immediately replaced the SIM with another new one.
The problems are not resolved.
Upgrade to iPhone firmware 5.0.1 (9A406)
At random, and not infrequently I can't make phone calls, SMS, web operations.
Recall carrier WIND and perform the verification tests with the SIM observing that when the iPhone switches from 3G to EDGE and vice versa, is not able to return to the BTS (antenna) 3G automatically.

So they change HLR cluster position in SIM for detect it in another position in the BTS.

Same issue.

So they ask me to try the same test, with the same SIM, with a Nokia E65 in both modes (automatic and manual 3G - GSM automatic and manual).
The Nokia in the same coordinates and with the same BTS had no problem. It switch automatically fron 3G to the Edge or GSM mode without issue.
Then I tried my SIM in another 4S 16Gb iPhone firmware 5.0.1 (9A406) and everything worked regularly in the same geographic area and with the same BTS.
I then tried again with my SIM in another one iPhone 4S 16Gb  5.0.1 (9A405) in the same geographic area and with the same BTS: No problem.
I decide to go to the Apple Store yesterday afternoon.

I explain the problem (they said not to be aware of the problem) and ... : They replaced the iPhone with the same model and same firmware 5.0.1 (9A406).
Now i use from 22 hours the new phone and it works fine without issue. I cross my fingers in the hope that is not present the same problem in the future.

At this point I think, for the moment, that some models have hardware problems.

I suggest to go the Apple for check your model.

Regards

hello,

well exactly that would be nice if you would have posted also...your model numbers of the original returned phone and the new one...so we could relate to and narrow down solutions individually...

anyway still do not believe it is a hardware problem,as everybody is saying that the problems started after updating to 5.0.1 from 5.0....unless the software update could have damaged the phones hardware...whych is very unlikelly...

or the code of the update could have been messed up by apple,why not.

i did have issues and have them no more after a new smart sim128a.

all our cases are different and it can be what i believe it is a combination of problems related to the sim card type and the way the iphone wants to use the network after the update and what it is allowed by the network...and the fact that i use it on a network whych is not officially carrying the iphone.my mums card (the iphone was her upgrade) worked perfect when tryed...in her network.

so if my mum was to keep the iphone, we would not even notice something is wrong and i would not be typing this right now...

cheers

Hello guys,

today I went to take the new micro sim card from another carrier I will try it later and update to tell u is this solution worked or not.

I posted here that u should turn off all the 3g settings, and today I turned on the celular data and my phone is working, again how long will see this is totaly unpredictible. It's like he's screwing with me now it's working and I just got my new micro sim from another carrier to try it )))

As I can see from many I concure with jurajpe that is not the hardware problem or malware. In this case probably u would have a much different problem with signal or something else on the phone and it would be recognized much eaiser, u would not have signal at all or some error that's def. The best argument is the new update, this pages were empty cause nobody had problem when update arrived boom.

As a conclusion I wish to everybodu to solve the problem...

Cheers

Ok.  @Jurajpe

For privacy i'll don't paste there the two model number but i'll report the result of it analized by there :

http://www.chipmunk.nl/cgi-fast/applemodel.cgi

You can try for every iphone.

the first one buyed is :

Name: iPhone 4S

Model: iphone_4S

Group1: iPhone

Group2:

Generation: 6

ModelCode: iphone_4S

Machine Model: iPhone4,1

Model introduced: 2011

Production year: 2011

Production week: 44 (November)

introduced test: GOED

CPU speed: 800MHz

Family name: Become a pro user to see this information. (sorry)

Screen size: 3.5 inch

Screen resolution: 960x640 pixels

Colour: Black

Capacity: 32GB

Factory: DN (China, Chengdu - Foxconn)

the new one is :

Name: iPhone 4S

Model: iphone_4S

Group1: iPhone

Group2:

Generation: 6

ModelCode: iphone_4S

Machine Model: iPhone4,1

Model introduced: 2011

Production year: 2011

Production week: 53 (January)

introduced test: GOED

CPU speed: 800MHz

Family name: Become a pro user to see this information. (sorry)

Screen size: 3.5 inch

Screen resolution: 960x640 pixels

Colour: Black

Capacity: 32GB

Factory: DQ (China)

So you can see that the first on was built in Foxconn in week 44 of 2011, but the new one was built in China in week 53 (January).

I don't know wich is the difference !

regards