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Iphone 4s No Service Fix

I know alot of people are so angry about this problem and i am one of you but i managed to follow this issue inorder to find a solution and finally after alot of work, i managed to find the problems that cause it and found a solution for every case possible.

let me start with the problems that cause this issue.


CASE 1 (SIM Cards): Iphone 4s requires a specific sim card wiring technique different a little bit than before.


Solution 1: Simply contact your carrier and order the newest sim card available. ( 128K better than 64K ) and it case the new micro sim card did not work, order a regular sim card and cut it to the size of the micro sim.


CASE 2 (Carrier Network) : Iphone 4s has 2 antennas giving it the ability to connect to 2 signals at the same time causing the signal to shift from one hotspot to another without cutting the network. but to achieve that, the connection between the two spots must be perfectly synchronized and from the same type ( ex: 3g to 3g or edge to edge or gprs to gprs or 2g to 2g. any light mismatch will cause the phone to lose the signal and never be able to abtain it back ( No service will appear, and you are forced to restart your device or reset network setings ). and unforunately, we dont have the option in the iphone 4s to restrict our device to a specific network type unlike older devices. Im not sure that apple can fix this issue with an update, its the responsablity of the network companies to remove such errors from their infrastructures.


Solution 2: Order the 2g only sim card or a 3g only sim card, and it will work perfectly untill a better solution is found " but both solutions have advantages and disatvanteges. The 2g line will let you obtain a very good signal all over the country but you will not be able to connect to 3g network.

while the 3g line will let you obtain a good signal only in specific areas in the country but you will be able to use cellular data. or if you have a factory unlocked device, you can try to swith to a different carrier


Case 3 ( Iphone Software ): Sometimes, when you udate your device firmware or download any ios, there is a possibilty of an orror to occur without being noticed and that error will not also be noticed during the installation of the firmware, ending up on your device causing fialure.


Solution 3: 1- download latest itunes 10.5.1

2- download a fresh ios 5.0.1 ( from itunes not from iphone device )

3- Go to DFU mode, Open itunes and restore as new iphone (to avoid any remaining traces of previous corruption or error)

4- Go to Settings --> Phone --> Sim Pin and turn it OFF

5- Turn On airplane mode and wait 15 seconds

6- Turn OFF airplane mode

7- Go to Settings --> Carrier --> Automatic ( turn it off and select your network manually )


Case 4 (Iphone Hardware): some series of the 4s and specially the first serie delivered, had a problem in teir sim reader, and to help you more to identify this seire, simply go to Settings --> General --> About and check the model number if it starts with MD2 then you are not lucky and you phone may never work with your carrier


Solution 4: if you have a factory unlocked device, please consider changing the carrier and give it a try 90 % of the times it work, other than that, you must take your iphone back and order a replacement.


I will be happy to answer any question

< Edited By Host >

iPhone 4S, iOS 5.0.1, Factory unlocked brand new device

Posted on Nov 26, 2011 4:50 PM

115 replies

Mar 13, 2012 1:58 PM in response to HussainDawnman

Ok I am not an expert but I myself am waiting for a new sim card from STC for someone to send me by mail here in Canada. But here are my suggesions (any high level users , please share your suggestions for the No service issue):


- Make sure your Iphone 4s is Factory unlocked when you purchased from STC (maybe it was locked to STC carrier and that is why you are having problems when using Chinese Carrier.


- Try to get someone back home to send you a fresh New 3g STC Sim card. Note they will disable your current one when issued.


- Maybe you can attempt to set up the phone as a New phone (instead of restore from backup) with the Saudi Chip inside and activate this way.


- Finally call 902 from your STC sim card (they do not charge roaming) and explain your problem to them.



The good news is NO service is better than invalid sim. Since you bought your phone from the carrier (STC) they should be able to solve / replace your problem.


Finally if you want peace of mind and you have extra money, just buy a factory unlocked phone from the Apple Store in China but make sure they activate it with the SAUDI chip in it before you leave the store.



Though i am Tamayouz (VIP) user with STC i never bought any device from the carrier. I always bought from England Apple Store or Canada Apple store because of the Genius Bar support and so it is factory unlocked.


I wish you all the best of luck. I hope STC solve your problem , or you will have to wait to go back to KSA and visit them to solve it.

Mar 13, 2012 8:26 PM in response to mobi007

Thank you for the suggestion mobi007.

I had my phone working fine for almost one month using STC and China Unicom. Both worked local & roaming. My iPhone 4S is a factory unlocked.


I had a chat with Apple support (USA) and they suggested that I check with STC.

My phone is still in "NO SERVICE" mode.


***I am about to make up my mind and cut ties with Apple & its products forever***

May 24, 2012 12:10 PM in response to Community User

found this on another thread not on an apple dicussion forum hope it helps


apn1960



We had the same issue , invalid sim card after updating to ios 5.1 , after many frustrating hours of trying everything from trying new sim cards from our provider....3 in total...to standing around the Apple Store for hours only to be told there was nothing they could do as the phone was out warranty...nice huh? Apple product screwed up by Apple software update....nothing they can do? My son took the phone to a little kiosk in the mall that does unlocking...and he figured it out! The phone was originally locked to another provider other than the one we are on so when the software updated it locked it back to the original provider...invald sim.....but get this , the original phone bricked with a fatal hardware issue so we were instructed to take it into the Apple store for a replacement.....turns out that all the replacement phones are locked to AT&T and then unlocked to be used with your provider , after we updated the software it locked it back to AT&T ....we are on Rogers. My son took the phone back into the Apple store armed with this information , they checked their records and low and behold were able to unlock it again....problem solved.

THE APPLE STORE CAN FIX YOUR PHONE!!!! Don't take no for an answer

Iphone 4s No Service Fix

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