HT201415: If you can't connect to a cellular network or cellular data

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Jamo265
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: iPhone 5 doesn't reconnect to the cellular network after losing signal. I have to toggle flight mode on/off for it to search any advice

Any advice on how to resolve this problem

iPhone 5, iOS 6.0.1

Posted on Nov 8, 2012 11:44 AM

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Jamo265

Q: iPhone 5 doesn't reconnect to the cellular network after losing signal. I have to toggle flight mode on/off for it to search any a ... more

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  • by dickreuter,

    dickreuter dickreuter Nov 9, 2012 1:57 AM in response to Jamo265
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 9, 2012 1:57 AM in response to Jamo265

    I have exactly the same problem. I'm using EE in the UK. What is your network provider? They already exchanged my phone so it is most likely not connected to a single device. It must be either a software issue with the iPhone (most likely) or alternatively an issue with the sim card (I'll have that exchanged later this week).

     

    Here are more people with that issue:

    https://discussions.apple.com/message/19970256#19970256

  • by Jamo265,

    Jamo265 Jamo265 Nov 9, 2012 5:12 PM in response to dickreuter
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 9, 2012 5:12 PM in response to dickreuter

    Well glad I'm not the only one.

    I'm on three network and it was great on my iPhone 4 always picked a signal up.

    Now then after hours of reading I tried the soft reset on my iPhone 5 and  it's not completely

    Solved the problem but it does seem to pick the network back up after a few mins ( a lot longer than on my Ip4 ).

    I hope apple sort this out soon as its looking it is a software problem.

  • by Lawrence Finch,

    Lawrence Finch Lawrence Finch Nov 9, 2012 5:18 PM in response to Jamo265
    Level 8 (38,305 points)
    Mac OS X
    Nov 9, 2012 5:18 PM in response to Jamo265

    When an iPhone (or any cell phone) loses signal it tries to reacquire it immediately. If it fails it waits a few sconds and tries again. If it again fails it waits longer and longer between tries, because each try drains a fair amount from the battery. It can eventually get to a minute or longer between tries. BTW, you can be within the range of a tower and still lose signal because all the channels are in use. 

     

    There's nothing to fix; this is the way it is designed to work. You can force it to do a rescan by turning it to Airplane mode for about 30 seconds. As the three network is the sparsest in the UK it is not unlikely that you can lose signal for long periods of time.

  • by StickyB83,

    StickyB83 StickyB83 Nov 27, 2012 8:10 PM in response to Jamo265
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 27, 2012 8:10 PM in response to Jamo265

    I have the same problem. I never had ths issue until the iphone 5. I have AT&T coverage. I'll try to use an App or check email and get the no data connection pop up. Annoying to have to toggle Airplane mode, but it does get you reconnected. Hope they fix this soon

  • by UK Martin B59,

    UK Martin B59 UK Martin B59 Dec 2, 2012 3:19 AM in response to Jamo265
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 2, 2012 3:19 AM in response to Jamo265

    My iPhone 5 does this. I got a similar answer to the one given by Lawrence Finch from an Apple genius. Thing is, this has never been an issue for me with iPhone 4, or 3G. And it's not only a minute or so, it seems to give up completely. My phone now regularly sits for an hour with no signal before I notice it and flick the flight mode. I've missed important calls and text messages. I can't accept this is a good explanation. Fair enough, I understand the principle but primarily this is a phone, not a battery saving device. It should not stop looking for service until you manually intervene surely?

  • by Lawrence Finch,

    Lawrence Finch Lawrence Finch Dec 2, 2012 8:41 AM in response to UK Martin B59
    Level 8 (38,305 points)
    Mac OS X
    Dec 2, 2012 8:41 AM in response to UK Martin B59

    Try turning off LTE in Settings. I've seen reports that LTE has difficulty reacquiring signal sometimes. This is a workaround, not a solution, but it may help until a real fix is released.

     

    BTW, I had similar problems with Verizon's LTE with a wireless hotspot a couple of years ago, when their network was new. The problem there was once it was connected to LTE it would not switch back to EVDO if it lost the LTE signal.