My iphone 5 goes "no service".

I have been experiencing this problem ever since I got an iPhone 5 in September. I have replaced:

• the iPhone 5 itself (because of a faulty lock/sleep button)
• the SIM card (Orange UK)

I still experience this problem at least once per week after going through a coverage blackspot, particularly the northbound Blackwall Tunnel in London. I can see it happening because the signal strength is displayed on the car's display via Bluetooth. Sometimes if I press the lock/sleep button immediately after it happens, it changes from "No Service" to a signal in under a second, which further suggests it is a software bug.

I've noticed that my Orange UK nano-SIM causes the "Enable 3G" option to appear instead as "Enable LTE", even though Orange UK doesn't support LTE/4G; only EE-branded SIM cards support LTE/4G. I wonder whether this is of any significance in view of Damian's comments above.

NHF you sound like you have the exact same issue that I experienced. If you signed up to your contract with orange you may well be able make a free switch to ee (that solved my problem). I did that and I now enjoy a trouble free phone. I can also access 4g lte and its great. I did have to drop my data limit to 500 mb but that's not a problem as I have never used more that 200 mb ever in my lifetime.

Regarding your current situation. I tried absolutely everything. Even doing a complete and full restore of the system software.

If you haven't tried it get the latest carrier settings orange 13.2. Go to Settings > General > About And let it sit with that menu open for a minute or so. If there are any new carrier settings to be had the phone will prompt you to install.

With the latest carrier settings you may notice that there is now an option for 4g. I know on your contract with orange you cannot use 4g. It may or may not work. At least you know that you are running a different setting and that's where I believe the problem lies.

I know that orange is now owned by ee. So you are already on the same network with the same provider in essence. If you meet any resistance from them explain the problem and print out every page of this thread as ammunition. They are fully aware of this issue god knows I've been on the phone to them so much.

damianfromnewcastle upon tyne wrote:

If you signed up to your contract with orange you may well be able make a free switch to ee (that solved my problem).

If you haven't tried it get the latest carrier settings orange 13.2. Go to Settings > General > About And let it sit with that menu open for a minute or so. If there are any new carrier settings to be had the phone will prompt you to install.

It's not a free switch. Orange charge me £9/month for 800MB and various other allowances. If I switch to EE, I'd pay a whopping £21/month for 500MB, which is very poor value for money.

I have checked and I already have EE 13.2 in my carrier settings.

I am sitting at home now with my iPhone 5 and my

old Nokia 6233 on the same network (EE).The Nokia is

displaying a full five-bar signal,while the iPhone

is only on ONE.As I have said before on here,

this has been the case with all 3 generations

of iPhones that I have owned.

It almost certainly has to be a hardware

problem with the internal antenna.For me,I have

never had as strong a signal on iPhones as I had on

my Nokia's. Over and out.

It's well worth reporting this to Apple. I tried this today, but the guy I got through to just said that if there was an issue it would probably be fixed at some point. When I insisted that he take a report of the problem and give me a case reference, he immediately hung up and cut me off. When I redialled, I got through to someone very helpful who was already aware of the problem. He said the number of users affected is relatively small. This could explain the slow response to fixing it. Nevertheless he took a report and gave me a case reference. I suggest that you all report this too.

Had the same issue here after using the phone for 2 months....did not have the "no service" issue when I was abroad and using roaming but got that issue again when i touch down in Hong Kong. Thought it was the phones problem, brought it to my ISP(one2free/CSL) and they replace a new sim card, still having the same problem. After the "no service" is shown, it will not go back to LTE but got stuck at 3G, need to reset it and its back to normal again.

Based on all the forums i read through, most said it has to do with the iOS. Should I get my phone changed or wait for an update? As i know, even when they swap a phone, they are not giving u a brand new phone but a serviced one but mine is brand new when i bought it. Correct me if am wrong.

I wouldn't bother taking your phone back as the next one will be the same anyway. I have had the same issue with three new phones(brand new, not repaired ones). Read some of the previous posts about this and you will see the issue only appears to you when you lose signal for more than 10mins then you have to go to airplane mode and back, or reboot, to get the signal back. This is a pain in the butt as you may not be aware that you have lost service and have been some time without being able to take a call. Most of us are hoping apple will sort this out ASAP, because only way forward seems to buy someone elses brand phone or WAIT & ait & wait. I bought two apple i5's initially, but have returned one for cash, because it's bad enough having one phone that won't receive calls, but can't risk having two, so I've kept my old Nokia going instead, as that doesn't have any signal issues at all(Nokia just loses speaker volume when it ages a bit).

thanks PGT3!! Guess i just have to bear with it and wait for their update! Now am asking my friend's not to get iphone 5 as i don't have any issues with my iphone 4 actually. Apple better buck up or lose all their faithful supporters! On the good side, the phone's hardware is better then iphone 4. Thanks again for your reply! Cheers!

No worries, glad it was some help as it's good to know you haven't had to work through many of the checks and bull...t phone calls many of us have had to get through. These forums are a great place to share information and let off steam. I wonder if the issue has something to do with the power saving design as my Nokia is rated for about 15days stand-by yet can rip through the battery in two days sitting at home doing nothing as it seems to continually search for signal when none may be available. I have a Nokia N86 which is a rugged phone but this is the second one I have had where speaker volume deteriorates as the phone gets older. I didn't use it much on the net so it was quite adequate for my needs, but now I have i5 I am spoiled for ease of access and moving around so realistically can't go back now, so like everyone else I am holding out hoping Apple get their Sh.t together and sort this out pronto. I didn't want to go to other types and get hassled by viruses and virus protection software that slows down working speed to a snail pace. My HP PC has just gone blue screen from a virus but have had a trouble free run with my Apple Pro in that respect and don't have to wait 15mins to connect to the internet to be able to use the machine. I appreciate a new design will always have a few teething issues but we have got used to the idea of perfection these days and it's a bit of a downer when it is not achieved. Also Nokia connects to my car, picks up but won't transmit and receive voice so I have connected the i5 but am yet to receive a call to test it, so that may not be the end of my worries yet as I have heard rumours about connection issues with bluetooth between apple and non apple also.

As for bluetooth connections, i don't have any problems connecting to my Senheiser BT headset and Bose BT Speaker and it connects pretty quick as well. I do agree that nothing is perfect but then Apple is charging a pretty high price for it's products compare to other brands so they should make it better then others and not use the buyers as guinea pigs and test their products and report faults to them...that's kinda cheap!

Without Steve, Apple is going down...i guess.

not really a reply, just though I'd throw it out there.

Something occurred to me last night, something that I feel indicates that both carriers and apple are aware of issues; marketing.

I don't know what the situation is like in other countries, but where I live, they are not marketing iPhone 5! When iPhone 4 was released, there were TV commercials, there were offers, there were t-shirts… You could not go outside without being smacked in the face with an iPhone offer.

When iPhone 5 was released, the retailers here made a big fuzz, as expected. TV commercials, calling current customers with offers, having special release day open hours at the stores. They actually opened the stores at midnight to start selling this highly anticipated product.

But then, a few weeks later, the iPhone 5 was gone. For some reason they have reverted to iPhone 4. "You can now buy the iPad mini with iphone 4". "You can get the newest special offer, with iphone 4". "You can get new phones for the entire family, with high speed network and iPhone 4". I mean come on, the new iPad mini, and your pushing it with iPhone 4S when there is a brand new model that, supposedly, is way cooler and better…..

This is especially true for 3. I have not seen an offer from them regarding iPhone 5 for a long while now.

This feels to me like they are aware of the issues, and in an effort to minimize financial effects in form of compensations, repairs and man-hours dealing with disgruntle customers, the "retailer frenzy" has ben set on pause awaiting the "fix".

How are, especially 3, but generally providers handling marketing in the rest of the world?

I've had this problem since getting an iPhone 5 last September. I've tried all the suggestions in all the forums I can find relating to this problem, and none work. Today Apple replaced my iPhone but the problem still persists. I'm on Orange UK (now EE). Orange have already tried to update my SIM with various 'fixes' but no success.

However, although it's not a solution, I think I have found the reason and I'd be interested to know if this is the same for anyone else.

If my phone loses signal ('no service' displayed) and then finds a KNOWN wifi connection BEFORE it finds a new phone signal, the no service message persists and I have to force a new connection (airplane mode, restart or whatever). If I lose signal and then return to an area with a signal and there is NO known wifi network, I have no problem whatsoever.

I noticed this because I travel by tube and I'm out of signal for a long time, but when I surface my phone picks up a new phone signal no problem. However, when I'm at home and in my car park basement, or at work in the basement office and I resurface, I can wait all day (literally) for the phone to get a signal and it won't - I have to force it. The common denomonator? My home and office both have a wifi connection that my phone is hooked to.

I tested my theory, switched off my home wifi, went to the basement, waited for 'no service' then returned to the house. Instantly the 3G phone signal appeared!

So as I said, not a solution but obviously a software glitch that someone needs to fix pretty quickly!

As a footnote, I've seen a lot of people note this signal problem after they've been on the tube; that may be because they're connected to a public wifi that is found and connected to instantly upon exit.

swissclive wrote:

If my phone loses signal ('no service' displayed) and then finds a KNOWN wifi connection BEFORE it finds a new phone signal, the no service message persists and I have to force a new connection (airplane mode, restart or whatever). If I lose signal and then return to an area with a signal and there is NO known wifi network, I have no problem whatsoever.

That's an interesting theory, but the place where this happens to me most often is after going through the northbound Blackwall Tunnel, and I'm almost certain that there are no wifi networks, particularly known ones, at the northern exit. A very common factor here seems to be Orange UK.

Hi NFH, are you connected to BT Openzone Wifi (or similar)? It may be picking that wifi signal up on exit from the tube.

If this is a software glitch,then why are Apple taking so long to fix it! They must be aware of it.Because of this,I am almost certain that it must be hardware related.