IMessage won't activate my phone number

I've spoken to both Telstra and Apple. Apple admits that people are identifying that there is a problem with iMessage and have logged my call. Telstra admits nothing, however I think that my "Unknown" number issue in Settings > Phone is compounding the problem. Will be following up my account manager on Monday.

I did a complete restore from the DFU mode. By dioing that it seemed to download the iOS again which turned out to be 9A406.

Still don't have either the iMessage or number issued solved. Not sure if they're separate or related.

Yep, same problems here. Had iMessage working fine on telstra with my 3Gs phone, upgraded Friday wo a new 4S with a new sim card and the same Telstra number, now no iMessage or Facetime. Phone is eternally waiting for number activation in iMessage settings, or eventually says failed activation.

Def sounds like a Telstra problem, question is, how to get it resolved .....

I have tried most of the "solutions" posted in this forum earlier, including multiple reboots and syncing with itunes. I can send iMessage using my apple ID / email account, but thats not the point, want to send iMessages using my phone number.

Will certainly be waiting to see what the solution turns out to be .....

Looks like the issue is starting to gather a bit more attention:

http://crowdsupport.telstra.com.au/t5/Apple-iPhone/iMessage-Telstra-Carrier-Sett ings/td-p/29212

http://crowdsupport.telstra.com.au/t5/Apple-iPhone/iMessage-waiting-for-Activati on/td-p/29524

http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/1791351

You'll find more links from those posts.

Let's all get over to the Telstra forum and +1 that bad boy!

I think it's a Telstra issue too. My bf's iMessage (using his phone number) was working fine till I asked him to toggle it off and on... now his is saying "receive at email" only instead of number and email.

I have two iPhone 4S here at work, we turned iMessage off the other day to test MMS via the carrier (Telstra of course) Did you know MMS doesn't work on Telstra network when WiFi is active? Officially they don't support that, is Telstra response.

Anyway both of these iPhones now will not activate the phone number in iMessage, but they have activated the e-mail addresses. And Facetime still works as well.

Can send via iMessage to another phone number but the receiver does not get iMessage option when sending back.

I have Wi-Fi access on so hard to imagine how Telstra network is screwing this up, although I'm certain it is their fault somehow. Toggling WiFi fixed the MMS issue sending via 3G but hasn't helped with iMessage issue.

Or does the number activation go via the carrier regardless?....

Has anyone else noticed that now iMessage is screwed up that MMS messages are sending quicker? I used to get anywhere from 1 to 5 message send failures before it would go through and take up to 10 minutes to send, now iMessage is having problems my MMS messages are going through like lightning!!

Just wondering if anyone else is experiencing the same???

Eug

No luck 😟 razmee209

But since iMessages are working, it gives me confidence in the problem being solved.

Perhaps I'll try some of the tricks listed earlier in this forum for FaceTime.

That said - I will NEVER turn iMessages off again!!! 😉

i've had this problem for a while now. My iMessage would not reactivate. I gave it about a 20 minute break and tried to activate it. It finally worked. After that, quickly sign out of your apple id. By signing out, your iMessage will turn off again. Quickly turn it back on again. It should turn on easily. This also fixes the problem of iMessage using your email. Keep trying this! It took me about 3 tries. Hope I helped!

Hey... after having the SAME problem activating my iMessage (i had it working and having an factory unlocked iPhone 4S, i swapped SIM's once and then i couldn't get my number to activate again) a wonderful MAC GENIUS from my local store told me a solution that worked for another when all else fails (the DNS, auto-time, resetting, etc).

Call your carrier to see if they are blocking premium texts or third party texts.. some carriers have an auto-block to protect you from random charges or sometimes (like me) we put the block on ourselves.

I had my carrier remove this block and PRESTO... after they sent a network reset to my phone and i reset my network settings.. i turned on iMessage and FaceTime and they finally activated again!!!

I was able to put the premium block back on after and it still works just fine!!

Hope that works for those that couldn't get it to activate!

Just got a new iPhone 4S from from supported carrier Movistar and using it there.

Restored with iCloud from my iPhone 4 back up.

Every time I try to activate FaceTime I get an SMS from the following number:

+44 7860 015000

and the message says:

REG-RESP?v=3;r=609c3b07;n=+50588830900;s=024FAC2F27FFF

I can add an email to FaceTime and it works through the email but cel number doesn't get verified.

With iMessages it also stays stuck on verifying but I can receive and send iMessages.

I've decided to restore iPhone 4S via iTunes and set up as new but still get the same problems with FaceTime and iMessages.

I've tried the following:

* Making sure date and time were correct and set to automatic time zone.

* Made sure Region and Country were correct.

* Tried signing out of my Apple ID on the FaceTime page and back on.

* Restored Net Work Settings.

* Restored phone from iCloud back up of previous iPhone 4 which had FaceTime working.

* Set the phone up as new.

* Phone has international calling. It does send the SMS requesting FaceTime activation because it receives an international SMS with the code stated above.

* I've rebooted the phone after every change made.

Now, I just came back form my carrier, Movistar, and they say it's a software issue on Apple's side.

That they've had problems with many iPhone 4S's regarding verifying FaceTime number.

After everything I've tried I'm about 50/50 on wether their response convinces me cause I have not seen anything similar on forums.

Any help please??

also same Problem.

4S (5.1.1) iMessage and Facetimme won't activate the Phonenumber any more.
Apple ID is working.

On my Iphone 4 with iOS 6 Beta 3 its working and does activate (but with a different sim card/provider)

mizanini wrote:

... I am in Canada for the week, do you think that has anything to do with it? ...

It might. As explained previously, in North America Facetime and iMessage activation works by sending a text message to a special SMS short code. I think this short code may be different for different carriers, or at least in different countries. The carrier with whom you are roaming in Canada (likely one of Rogers, Bell, or Telus) may not be passing on that message correctly. If it worked for you before with Verizon, then when you reattempt to activate upon your return to the US it will probably work.

I don't know why Apple chose to do it this way, as not all carriers allow short codes, and, as you've noticed, short codes may not work between carriers and between countries. I think in Europe the iPhone simply sends a regular SMS to a properly-formatted international phone number. This may have the drawback of incurring an international text message charge (only when activating), but it is probably more reliable.

After reading a lot on the net, updating my iOS to latest version and spend a lot of money in SMSs I have came to the conclusion that this is a Movistar issue. It looks like they do not support silent SMS messages. I have also found that this happens in several countries. Also if you call tech support they say non-sense, they believe they know what they are talking about and they try to convince you.

It looks like I will have to wait until they decide to let us enable it.

I had my iMessage on my phone set up to use my phone number. Then I tried to connect my ipad to iMessage but it could only use my email, and it changed my phone to using my email too. I couldn't change my phone back to activating with my phone number. I found out how to to fix it though:

I had to go on my iPad and log out of iMessage with my apple ID, then logout on my phone too. Then I was able to log back in with my phone and use my phone number, but I can't use iMessage on my ipad without both going back to email.