iPhone 4s losing data connection multiple times/day

I'm having the exact same problem. I can't get 3G data at various times during the day but only at my workplace. Weird thing is I had an iPhone 4 that started doing the exact same thing about a month or two ago. I thought it was the phone so it made my decision to upgrade to the 4s a bit easier. But this one is doing the same thing. Only thing that seems to help for an hour or two is reseting the network settings. Updating to 5.0.1 did not help at all.

Guys I have both good and bad news. Good news is I've solved the issue, bad news is it won't - supposedly - work for most of you.

If you bear with me, I'm going into some details and maybe this could ring some bells anyway.

I started rejecting the hypothesis "it is an iPhone issue", placed the microSIM into an adapter and used it with a PC into my 3G USB modem (which I am using at home).

While usually the connection is smooth and stable, with my iPhone's SIM the internet connection was always dropped by the remote server after 30 minutes. I did several tries, and it always ended up like this - dropped connection and no way to bring it back up. I had to eject the USB 3G modem and plug it back in to get it working again.

I noticed that the APN that was set as default was a WAP-type APN (specifically, wap.tim.it. my carrier is TIM - Italy), but I know iPhone prefers using another APN with this carrier (ibox.tim.it).

After setting this new APN, I was able to get uninterrupted data with the 3G USB modem.

After placing the microSIM back into my iPhone and setting the nex APN, I have never experienced the issue again (it's about two days now).

I hope this will help at least someone troubleshooting this issue, good luck!

SteManz, I have to admit, I have no idea what you are talking about. I appreciate the info nonetheless.

Same... the phone will show 3G, but data will not be present. I've had it occur a few times on my 64gb-4s but am unsure what triggers it.

Running on the Rogers Network.

I took my 4S to Apple on Saturday only to have them tell me to go back home and try a complete Restore.

After doing that, things are different but the same:

• Prior to doing the restore, my 3G connection would drop but my wifi connection would be fine when at home
• After doing the restore, my 3G connection seems more stable but my wifi connection failed last night while at home

My company IT guy came and took a look, and had no solutions other than to say it was a bug and that Apple would release a patch eventually, and that the other 7 people in my company who had upgraded to 4S had the same trouble.

When I had lost my Wifi at home recently, I did a reset of the network connections, which fixed the problem. I never bothered to re-enter my work wifi. During this consult with my IT guy, he re-entered the work wifi....I immediately lost the data connection, and had to reboot. Could this be some sort of conflict with wifi? I got rid of the work wifi,and so far so good.

tpero wrote:

So are other people who are experiencing problems using an exchange account?

YES! I am having the "I have 3G, but no data" issue. I am connected to the Exchange Server at the office, and am using Exchange for GMAIL.

When it goes down, none of my 3 emails connect-- Gmail, Comcast or and work which is exchange. Could be that Exchange is the culprit that knocks the others out, but not sure it works like that.....

This is all good stuff.

I do not actually have any accounts linked to Exchange, my account is a GMail account (not using the Exchange approach, just the standard iPhone GMail setup).

I did notice today that I heard the new mail sound, and then immediately after that my 3G connection stalled out. It was showing 4 bars, and the 3G logo was there, but nothing would load. I have been able to reset this by going to network and disabling 3G data and then re-enabling.

I have also seen this issue a few times when making the transition to and from my WiFi network at home.

But just wanted to say, I have seen this issue a number of times and DO NOT have an exchange account setup. I do have multiple Gmail accounts setup, however.

Neither I, nor my wife who is having the same problem, have Exchange set up.

My gut tells me this is an issue between IOS5 and device drivers related to the comm chipset, or just a comm chipset from a particular vendor or batch.

rottnmutt wrote:

My gut tells me this is an issue between IOS5 and device drivers related to the comm chipset, or just a comm chipset from a particular vendor or batch.

This is not new to iOS5. I had experienced the problem with 4.3.5 as well.

Well, after striking out with Sprint tech support (tried their ## update for the cell network, a network settings reset, and a full restore of the phone and setting it up a new phone) I called Apple Tech Support. They said those are the same things they would have suggested, and they sent me a replacement iPhone (for free as I bought the AppleCare Plus coverage). It is waiting for me at home, I will update after I give it a few days of use. I had been having the problem mostly on wifi, moreso than on the cell network, but did have it on both. Both before, and after the 5.0.1 update. My girlfriend has a Verizon iPhone 4, updated to 5.0.1 (also did 5.0 the day it was released) and has not had any data drop issues on cell or wifi (thus eliminating my wifi router as the culprit).

Out of curiosity, is anyone else having this happen:

I just lost data connection again on 3G and forced a restart. While establishing the 3G connection, the bars and the #G indicator briefly flash to have the bars then 310-410 3G before displaying AT&T or the carrier?

Being a user who has experienced this issue sporadically since purchasing my iPhone 4S (AT&T) on the day of its launch last month (Oct. 14), and after reading every comment in this discussion, I am inclined to believe the root cause of the "data connection loss" to be either an 1) iOS 5 and 5.01 defect; and/or, 2) iPhone 4S modem hardware/modem driver defect.

At times I have had 3-5 bars of 3G signal; though, unable to send SMS messages, send and receive emails, access websites using Safari, and utilize any app that requires an Internet connection. I am able, however, to place and receive voice calls every time this issue arises.

Updating my device from iOS 5 to iOS 5.01 last week (Nov. 11) did not resolve this issue.

I attempted to bring this to the attentions of AT&T and Apple. Both parties have requested that I perform a factory reset on my device, which I have done on two separate occasions, however, without any resolution to this issue whatsoever.

I agree with all of those in this and other Apple Support Community discussions who strongly urge Apple to acknowledge and disclose this issue to its affected customers. Shame on Apple for not only withholding such action, but for wasting their resources and customers' time by swapping defective used iPhones for defective new iPhones.